Jumpy – Reinforce Learning about Reinforcement Learning from an AI's Point of View

The topic of Artificial Intelligence is gaining in importance and so is the need to learn about the core principles of AI. In this tool paper, we present Jumpy, an educational jump ’n’ run game designed to provide hands-on experience with reinforcement learning. The students take the AI’s point of view and act as an AI system themselves. While playing and thereby using reinforcement learning, they learn about key concepts like agents, reward functions, and policies. The tool is intended for use in classroom settings, with students working in pairs and participating in guided discussions. We evaluated Jumpy with more than 120 students aged 11–12. One third formed an experimental group while the remaining students served as a control group and used the tool after the formal evaluation. Both groups completed a questionnaire before and after the intervention. The results indicate a shift in students’ attitudes towards AI and an increased familiarity with AI-related concepts.