Adaptive serious game development

Learning is a process that is associated with a lot of effort and perseverance. In learning theories, motivation can be observed as a key factor. In some cases learning can become playing if the learning experience is so intrinsically satisfying and rewarding that external pressures or rewards for learning are of secondary importance. Serious games are able to increase motivation for learning by realizing diverse approaches which can address cognitive as well as affective learning. By using a variety of elements such as visual environments, story-lines, challenges, and interactions with non-player characters, serious games can be optimal learning environments. Even though, they have such motivational power, several studies have shown that there are no known forms of education as effective as a professional human tutor. This paper explores the interaction of human tutors with learners in a serious games with the focus on `Social Development Theory´. It will present results that show how human tutors observe players in executing learning tasks, and interacting with the game environment in serious games. Based on the results of this studies we provide a definition of adaptivity for serious games.