Requirements for optimal learning environment for an online project risk management game

Several authors have questioned the effectiveness of using lecture-based teaching to provide students with enough confidence to apply project risk management. Gaming was proposed as a solution. However, despite widespread use of games in teaching project management, it is still not clear what conditions provide optimal learning through games. Another shortcoming with the existing games is oversimplification.  This paper addresses these shortcomings and proposes a game design that captures real-life challenges associated with applying the project risk management process; a design that prompts an appreciation for project complexity as well as providing students with the opportunity to experience the consequences of ignoring or following the risk management process. The paper also identifies and elaborates on the requirements for optimum learning, and distinguishes between two types of requirements: 1) learning requirements, and 2) qualitative requirements.  Learning requirements identify the learning outcomes of the game. These requirements were identified through structured and semi-structured interviews with senior project managers from several management-consulting firms. The challenges and the corresponding tactics that are adopted in practice in order to manage project risks were thus identified and ranked. These results are also presented in light of supporting literature. The challenges and associated tactics were mapped into a set of eight requirements representing the learning outcomes of the game. These requirements were then mapped to the design using four instructional methods: a briefing lecture, a team-based assignment, an online computer simulation, and a debriefing lecture. All these methods were linked by a real-life project case and executed in a gaming context to improve engagement.  Qualitative requirements represent important conditions that must be present for optimal learning. These were identified through structured interviews with continuing education students taking a master's degree in project management. This empirical study resulted in four qualitative requirements that must be considered in the game design: 1) ownership, 2) relevance, 3) feedback, and 4) adaptation.  The paper also presents the evaluation results of the game design. The purpose of the evaluation was to examine the game's ability to capture the two sets of requirements identified above.   &nbsp

Risk analysis of software process measurements

Quantitative process management (QPM) and causal analysis and resolution (CAR) are requirements of capability maturity model (CMM) levels 4 and 5, respectively. They indicate the necessity of process improvement based on objective evidence obtained from statistical analysis of metrics. However, it is difficult to achieve these requirements in practice, and only a few companies have done so successfully. Evidence-based risk-management methods have been proposed for the control of software processes, but are not fully appreciated, compared to clinical practice in medicine. Furthermore, there is no convincing answer as to why these methods are difficult to incorporate in software processes, despite the fact that they are well established in some business enterprises and industries. In this article, we challenge this issue, point out a problem peculiar to software processes, and develop a generally applicable method for identifying the risk of failure for a project in its early stages. The proposed method is based on statistical analyses of process measurements collected continuously throughout a project by a risk assessment and tracking system (RATS). Although this method may be directly applicable to only a limited number of process types, the fundamental idea might be useful for a broader range of applications

Shall we play a game?

In response to real and perceived short-comings in the quality and productivity of software engineering practices and projects, professionally-endorsed graduate and post-graduate curriculum guides have been developed to meet evolving technical developments and industry demands. Each of these curriculum guidelines identifies better software engineering management skills and soft, peopleware skills as critical for all graduating students, but they provide little guidance on how to achieve this. One possible way is to use a serious game — a game designed to educate players about some of the dynamic complexities of the field in a safe and inexpensive environment. This thesis presents the results of a qualitative research project that used a simple game of a software project to see if and how games could contribute to better software project management education; and if they could, then what features and attributes made them most efficacious. That is, shall we— should we— play games in software engineering management? The primary research tool for this project was a game called Simsoft. Physically, Simsoft comes in two pieces. There is an A0-sized printed game board around which the players gather to discuss the current state of their project and to consider their next move. The board shows the flow of the game while plastic counters are used to represent the staff of the project. Poker chips represent the team’s budget, with which they can purchase more staff, and from which certain game events may draw or reimburse amounts depending on decisions made during the course of the game. There is also a simple Java-based dashboard, through which the players can see the current and historical state of the project in a series of reports and messages; and they can adjust the project’s settings. The engine behind Simsoft is a system dynamics model which embodies the fundamental causal relationships of simple software development projects. In Simsoft game sessions, teams of students, and practicing project managers and software engineers managed a hypothetical software development project with the aim of completing the project on time and within budget (with poker chips left over). Based on the starting scenario of the game, information provided during the game, and their own real-world experience, the players made decisions about how to proceed— whether to hire more staff or reduce the number, what hours should be worked, and so on. After each decision set had been entered, the game was run for another next time period, (a week, a month, or a quarter). The game was now in a new state which the players had to interpret from the game board and decide how to proceed. The findings showed that games can contribute to better software engineering management education and help bridge the pedagogical gaps in current curriculum guidelines. However, they can’t do this by themselves and for best effect they should be used in conjunction with other pedagogical tools. The findings also showed that simple games and games in which the players are able to relate the game world to an external context are the most efficacious

Avaliação de jogos voltados para a disseminação do conhecimento

O conhecimento é um recurso valioso que pode ser capturado, codificado, armazenado e disseminado para a sociedade por meio de diferentes tipos de mídias. Os jogos educacionais são mídias voltadas para a educação e usados para transferir e adquirir conhecimentos em diversas áreas, sendo um dos seus benefícios importantes, possibilitar que alunos possam ter experiências práticas. A engenharia de software é uma área que tem buscado nos jogos uma forma alternativa para sair do ensino excessivamente centrado no professor para tentar proporcionar uma maior aplicação prática dos conceitos. Vários jogos já foram desenvolvidos para apoiar o ensino e aprendizagem da engenharia de software. Entretanto, ao desenvolver ou utilizar jogos educacionais é importante realizar avaliações da qualidade destes artefatos para assegurar que trazem benefícios a fim de justificar sua utilização. Um jogo de qualidade é aquele que tem objetivos educacionais bem definidos, motiva os alunos para os estudos e promove a aprendizagem de conteúdos curriculares por meio de atividades divertidas, prazerosas e desafiadoras. Este trabalho propõe um modelo para a avaliação da qualidade de jogos educacionais baseado no modelo de avaliação de treinamentos de Kirkpatrick, nas estratégias motivacionais do modelo ARCS, na área de experiência do usuário e na taxonomia de objetivos educacionais de Bloom. A estrutura teórica do modelo e um questionário para a coleta de dados com base da percepção dos alunos foram criados e são apresentados. O modelo foi testado com três jogos educacionais para avaliação de sua validade e confiabilidade, com o emprego de técnicas estatísticas, além da avaliação de sua aplicabilidade e utilidade. Os primeiros resultados foram satisfatórios e espera-se que este modelo possa trazer contribuições para a qualidade de jogos educacionais e a orientar professores na seleção e uso deste tipo de material de ensino e aprendizagem.Knowledge is a valuable resource which can be captured, codified, stored and disseminated to society through different types of media. Educational games are media-oriented education and used to transfer and acquire knowledge in several areas. One of the important benefits of educational games, in addition to theoretical knowledge, is enabling students to have practical experiences in classroom. The area of software engineering has sought a game alternative in order to move away from teacher focused education and to provide a greater practical application of concepts. Several games have been developed to support teaching and learning of software engineering, however, in the process of developing or using educational games it is important to perform quality evaluation to ensure that these artifacts provide benefits and by doing so, justify its use. A quality game is one that has well-defined educational goals, motivates students to study, and promotes learning of the curricular content through enjoyable and challenging activities. This work proposes a model for evaluating the quality of educational games based on the model of training evaluation by Kirkpatrick, the ARCS model of motivational strategies, the area of user experience, and the taxonomy of educational objectives by Bloom. Both the theoretical framework of the model and the questionnaire to collect data based on the perception of students were created and here presented. The model was tested in a series of three case studies to evaluate its validity and reliability through the use of statistical techniques and evaluation of its applicability and usefulness. Early results were satisfactory and it is hoped that this model can yield insights into the quality of educational games as well as guide teachers when selecting and using such material for teaching and learning

Modelo conceitual para criação, aplicação e avaliação de jogos educativos digitais

Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia e Gestão do Conhecimento, Florianópolis, 2014.Os jogos educativos digitais têm o potencial de agregar valor ao processo de ensino e aprendizagem de conteúdos em sala de aula. Todavia, os professores ou mediadores desse processo enfrentam dificuldades para a aplicação desses jogos no contexto da sala de aula, seja pela falta dos princípios pedagógicos na sua criação, seja pela falta de mediação na sua aplicação, ou até mesmo da avaliação da eficiência e eficácia do uso desses jogos. Nesse sentido, este trabalho buscou desenvolver um modelo conceitual para a criação, aplicação e avaliação de jogos educativos digitais para o contexto do processo de ensino e aprendizagem em sala de aula. Os procedimentos metodológicos utilizados foram preponderantemente a pesquisa bibliográfica e de campo, com a utilização do Design Science Research Methodology (DSRM) para o desenvolvimento do modelo conceitual. O início desta pesquisa, conforme apresenta o DSRM, foi o projeto e desenvolvimento do jogo educativo digital denominado de Simulador Ambiental (SA). A partir da experiência realizada com a criação do jogo, concomitantemente com os avanços das pesquisas bibliométricas e aleatórias, foi concebido o modelo conceitual desta tese. O modelo conceitual foi aplicado em sete turmas na Faculdade Senac, no município de Florianópolis (SC), totalizando 125 alunos. Constatou-se que houve melhora na percepção dos alunos quanto ao seu nível de aprendizado no conteúdo do jogo utilizado (SA). Portanto, os resultados alcançados nesta pesquisa demonstraram positivamente a consistência do modelo conceitual, oferecendo aos desenvolvedores de jogos, assim como aos mediadores da prática pedagógica e às demais partes interessadas no processo de ensino e aprendizagem com o uso de jogos educativos digitais em sala de aula, um caminho pelo qual eles possam criar, aplicar e avaliar a qualidade dos jogos e a didática de aplicação destes.Abstract : Digital educational games have the potential of aggregating value to the teaching and learning of content process in the classroom. However, teachers or mediators of this process face difficulties on applying these games in the context of the classroom, given the lack of pedagogical principles in their creation, or the lack of mediation in their application, or even of the efficiency and effectiveness evaluation of using games. Thus this study sought to develop a conceptual model for the creation, implementation and evaluation of digital educational games to the context of teaching and learning in the classroom. The methodological procedures used were mainly bibliographical and field research, using the Design Science Research Methodology (DSRM) for the development of the conceptual model. The beginning of this research, as presented by the DSRM, was the design and development of digital educational game called Environmental Simulator (SA). The conceptual model of this thesis was designed from the experience on the game creation, simultaneously with the advances of bibliometric and random searches. The conceptual model was applied to seven classes in the Senac Faculty located in Florianópolis - Santa Catarina - Brazil, reaching a lotal of 125 students. The results showed an improvement in the students' perception about their level of learning in game content used (SA). Therefore, the positive results achieved demonstrated the conceptual model consistency, allowing game developers, as well as mediators of pedagogical practice and other stakeholders in the teaching and learning process interested on the use of digital educational games in the classroom, a way by which they can create, implement and evaluate the quality of games and the didactic on their implementation

The Use of System Dynamics Simulation Models in Project Management Education

This thesis explores the impact of using System Dynamics (SD) as a simulation tool to help learners understand complex, dynamic concepts in project management education, and specifically with the learning of the theory associated with Earned Value Management (EVM). SD simulation models have been used widely but mainly in business contexts to support managers in the decision making process. However the application of SD in the field of project management education has been limited and particularly in terms of assessing its potential impact to help improve learners’ skills and understanding about project management concepts. ‘Projects’ are considered to be complex information feedback systems, characterized by causality and underlying dynamic relations between multiple variables, and the ability of junior project managers to apply and experience higher practical skills in the management of these complex systems presents a real challenge in the higher education context. The ability of SD to simulate the behaviour of a system, to reveal the underlying relationships, and to help visualize its dynamic changes over time, makes SD a potential modelling tool to help supporting the learners in the project management education area. This study sets out to evaluate the use of SD in an instructional context to help postgraduate project management students to visualize and to more understand the complex dynamic relationships in the concept of EVM, a topic that features significantly in project management education. In this study, SD was deployed to teach EVM through a series of computer based models to visualize changes of multiple interacting variables over time. The SD simulations were evaluated and improved in a series of pilot and formal studies. In an experimentally controlled study involving 46 students, EVM content was delivered with SD simulations and using traditional methods respectively. Results, both quantitative and qualitative, demonstrated a positive impact of SD on the learning of the EVM concept. Recommendations of further work to deploy SD in the delivery of complex project management content and other challenging topics, with wider pool of learners are discussed

The Use of System Dynamics Simulation Models in Project Management Education

This thesis explores the impact of using System Dynamics (SD) as a simulation tool to help learners understand complex, dynamic concepts in project management education, and specifically with the learning of the theory associated with Earned Value Management (EVM). SD simulation models have been used widely but mainly in business contexts to support managers in the decision making process. However the application of SD in the field of project management education has been limited and particularly in terms of assessing its potential impact to help improve learners’ skills and understanding about project management concepts. ‘Projects’ are considered to be complex information feedback systems, characterized by causality and underlying dynamic relations between multiple variables, and the ability of junior project managers to apply and experience higher practical skills in the management of these complex systems presents a real challenge in the higher education context. The ability of SD to simulate the behaviour of a system, to reveal the underlying relationships, and to help visualize its dynamic changes over time, makes SD a potential modelling tool to help supporting the learners in the project management education area. This study sets out to evaluate the use of SD in an instructional context to help postgraduate project management students to visualize and to more understand the complex dynamic relationships in the concept of EVM, a topic that features significantly in project management education. In this study, SD was deployed to teach EVM through a series of computer based models to visualize changes of multiple interacting variables over time. The SD simulations were evaluated and improved in a series of pilot and formal studies. In an experimentally controlled study involving 46 students, EVM content was delivered with SD simulations and using traditional methods respectively. Results, both quantitative and qualitative, demonstrated a positive impact of SD on the learning of the EVM concept. Recommendations of further work to deploy SD in the delivery of complex project management content and other challenging topics, with wider pool of learners are discussed