Prosocial digital games for youth : A systematic review of interventions

Digital games aiming to improve children health behaviours have received increasing attention from scholars and practitioners due to their societal importance. However, there remains a very limited understanding on the scope, application and relevance of prosocial games on youth. This review systematically investigates the literature base of empirical examinations of prosocial digital game interventions for children and explores the measures applied and their effectiveness. According to PRISMA guidelines, a systematic literature search was performed using five academic databases (EBSCO, Ovid, ProQuest, Scopus and Web of Science). To assess risk of bias in the analysis of included studies Cochrane developed quality assessment framework RoB2 and ROBINS-I were applied. Eleven studies met the inclusion criteria. Discussion of the reviewed studies highlights a heterogeneity of measures and lack of a consistent framework, mixed but promising results, and implications of skills and attitudes impacting prosocial behaviours. Finally, it proposes an agenda for future research on prosocial digital games focused on implementing clear theoretical frameworks and analysing key game design attributes to enhance prosocial digital games’ effectiveness

Influence of adaptability of Serious Games on learning outcomes and the application of knowledge and skills in professional training

Serious Games have been used in professional training to increase employee engagement and improve the results of training initiatives in this context. This work intends to investigate the influence of game elements, in adaptable Serious Games, according to the users\u27 interactions, in the increase of engagement in the game itself and, as the main objective, in the learning outcomes and the transfer of the acquired knowledge and practised skills to activities in the daily work. Using the Design Science Research methodology, this study is intended to develop a framework for the development and evaluation of Serious Games to improve the user experience, the learning outcomes, the transfer of knowledge to work situations, and the application of skills practised in the game in real professional scenarios

A Systematic Literature Review on the Evaluation of Business Simulation Games Using PRISMA

In recent years, organisational software process education has seen a considerable uptick in interest in adopting business simulation games (BSGs) as a novel learning resource. However, the lack of reliable and valid instruments to evaluate simulation learning outcomes inhibits the adoption and progress of simulation in Information System education. To fill this need, we performed a systematic review of 33 empirical studies using the PRISMA declaration approach to identify the different evaluation methods used to analyse BSG learning outcomes. We created a concept matrix using a didactic framework that categorised these assessment methodologies into three game stages (pre-game, in-game and post-game). We established a comprehensive evaluation strategy using this concept matrix, which teachers and researchers may use to choose the best appropriate evaluation method to analyse a wide range of learning outcomes of business simulation games

An Overview Of Learning Support Factors On Mathematic Games

 In this study, we examined the factors in game design that were used by developers to support the interests of mathematics learning. The aim is to overcome the lack of empirical evidence about the impact of factors in the game on learning outcomes, identify how the design of in-game activities affects learning, and develop an overview of general recommendations for designing mathematics education games. This study tries to illustrate the impact of game design factors in mathematics education games on the objectives and results of game-based learning

Instructional design in game based learning and applications used in educational systems

The paper examines literature on the subject of instructional design and game based learning with the aim of identifying its positive effects and impact on users. Special attention was given to learning, encouragement and development of skills acquired through the use of game based learning. Game based learning is considered to be a complex system that requires instructional support geared towards stimulating cognitive processes. Several empirical research papers which provide insight into this field of interest have been chosen. The second set of papers provides confirmation accompanied with an analysis of instructional support as a function of the learning support. Also included were recent works which indicated the need for further research and the heterogeneity of the existing research. Other works complemented the unit and are mutually interconnected by a methodological approach providing insight into the issues that should be investigated in the future

Juegos serios educativos como servicio: retos y desafíos

Cloud computing is a distributed computing technology that facilitates access to the resources in a dynamic, scalable and highly available manner. One of its service models is SaaS (Software as a Service) which allows executing Web applications in a flexible and elastic way while offering collaborative characteristics. The integration of SaaS in educational environments promotes academic performance and facilitates knowledge management, allowing for storage, exchange, access and synchronization of information. On the other hand, educational serious games promote among the people involved: collaboration, communication, social abilities, critical thinking and problem solving. The main objective of this investigation is to analyze the challenges that SaaS, with its collaborative and multitenancy characteristics present to the execution of educational serious games. This is named ESGaaS - Educational Serious Games as a Service. The analysis was developed based on a review of the existing literature through the methodology known as Systematic Mapping Studies (SMS) which facilitated the generation of investigation questions, search strategies, key words and inclusion and exclusion criteria applied to identify articles in several sources. This investigation facilitated the development of a list of functional characteristics that the educational serious games will acquire when used as software for service.La computación en la nube es una tecnología de computación distribuida que ofrece acceso a los recursos de manera dinámica, escalable y con alta disponibilidad. Uno de sus modelos de servicio, es el SaaS (Software as a Service) que permite ejecutar aplicaciones Web de manera flexible y elástica, además de ofrecer características colaborativas. La integración del SaaS en los entornos educativos potencia el rendimiento académico y facilita la gestión del conocimiento permitiendo almacenar, intercambiar, acceder y sincronizar información. Por su parte los juegos serios educativos potencian, entre los involucrados, la colaboración, comunicación, habilidades sociales, pensamiento crítico y resolución de problemas. El objetivo principal de esta investigación consistió en analizar los retos que SaaS, con sus características colaborativas y multiinquilino, ofrece a la ejecución de juegos serios educativos, lo cual denominamos ESGaaS – Juegos Serios Educativos como Servicio. El análisis fue realizado a partir de una revisión de literatura existente a través de la metodología denominada Systematic Mapping Studies (SMS) la cual permitió generar preguntas de investigación, estrategias de búsqueda, palabras claves y criterios de inclusión y exclusión que fueron aplicadas para localizar artículos en diversas fuentes. Como resultado del trabajo se elabora una lista de características funcionales que los juegos serios educativos adquirirían al ser utilizados como software como servicio.Facultad de Informátic

Which game narratives do adolescents of different gameplay and sociodemographic backgrounds prefer? a mixed-methods analysis

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate which narrative elements of digital game narratives are preferred by the general adolescent population, and to examine associations with gender, socioeconomic status (SES), and gameplay frequency. Further, the study aims to discuss how results can be translated to serious digital games. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Adolescents were recruited through school to complete a survey on narrative preferences in digital games. The survey included questions on sociodemographic information, frequency of gameplay, and an open-ended question on what could be an appealing narrative for them. Data were analyzed in a mixed-methods approach, using thematic analysis and chi-square analyses to determine narrative preferences and the associations between game narrative elements and player characteristics (gender, SES, and frequency of gameplay). RESULTS: The sample consisted of 446 adolescents (12-15 years old) who described 30 narrative subthemes. Preferences included human characters as protagonists; nonhuman characters only as antagonists; realistic settings, such as public places or cities; and a strong conflict surrounding crime, catastrophe, or war. Girls more often than boys defined characters by their age, included avatars, located the narrative in private places, developed profession-related skills, and included a positive atmosphere. Adolescents of nonacademic education more often than adolescents of academic education defined characters by criminal actions. Infrequent players more often included human characters defined by their age than frequent players. After performing a Bonferroni correction, narrative preferences for several gender differences remained. CONCLUSION: Different narrative elements related to subgroups of adolescents by gender, SES, and frequency of gameplay. Customization of narratives in serious digital health games should be warranted for boys and girls; yet, further research is needed to specify how to address girls in particular

Library not found: The disconnect between gaming research and development

Video games clearly have great educational potential, both for formal and informal learning, and this avenue is being thoroughly investigated in the psychology and education literature. However, there appears to be a disconnect between social science academic research and the game development sector, in that research and development practices rarely inform each other. This paper presents a two-part analysis of this communicative disconnect based on investigations carried out within the H2020 Gaming Horizons project. The first part regards a literature review that identified the main topics of focus in the social sciences literature on games, as well as the chief recommendations authors express. The second part examines 73 interviews with 30 developers, 14 researchers, 13 players, 12 educators, and 4 policy makers, investigating how they perceived games and gaming. The study highlights several factors contributing to the disconnect: different priorities and dissemination practices; the lag between innovation in the games market and research advancements; low accessibility of academic research; and disproportionate academic focus on serious games compared to entertainment games. The authors suggest closer contact between researchers and developers might be sought by diversifying academic dissemination channels, promoting conferences involving both groups, and developing research partnerships with entertainment game companies