Exploring gamification approach in hazard identification training for Malaysian construction industry

In recent years gaming products have increasingly been used to enhance learning and training development in academic and commercial sectors. Games have become more pervasive; they have been adopted for use in many industries and sectors such as defense, medicine, architecture, education, and city planning and government as tools for workers development. In Malaysia, it has been reported that the construction industry holds the third highest record of occurrences of accidents at work. Therefore, safety training is inevitable to reduce the alarming rate of accidents on construction sites. However, currently, available safety training approaches are still lacking in terms of delivering hands-on training and are more theoretical- instead of being more practical-based. This is due to the nature of the construction environment itself in which safety training involving certain hazards that cannot be implemented hands-on as it may bring harm to trainers, trainees and the environment. Gaming is an approach that applies technology to provide an almost real experience with interactive field training, and also supporting the theory of learning by doing with real case scenario. The purpose of this paper is to seek and explore the differences in existing gamification genres such as simulation game, role-playing, action game, strategy game and etc. Data were collected through available literature. The findings of the study show that serious game is a suitable genre to be adopted as an approach in hazard identification training for the construction industry in Malaysia

Computer games development class with appreciative learning approach: from the perspective of bloom’s taxonomy

Both computer games development and appreciative learning approach are still at the infancy stage of utilization at educational setting. The purpose of this study was to explore what lower secondary students learned from the application of appreciative learning approach in computer games development class. Triangulated data comprising of interviews, logbooks, visual captures, researchers’ observations, and games were produced. NVivo software was used to support data management. The compiled codes were clustered to create themes pertinent to Bloom’s taxonomy. As a result, computer games development within appreciative learning approach environment was found as positively related to students’ cognitive, affective, and psychomotor development. Nevertheless, caution is warranted in making inferences as different students gained different learning experiences and outcomes, analogous to different players generated different outcomes in computer games

Expressivity of Creativity and Creative Design Considerations in Digital Games

Currently little is known about how creativity is expressed in digital entertainment games or what specific design elements may foster it. Using a qualitative methodology, this article reports on the findings of 24 semi-structured interviews and 14 narrative surveys with regular players of different types of digital games. Using a hybrid thematic approach to analysis involving both deductive and inductive phases, three main categories relating to the expressivity of creativity were discovered and one category relating to the specific game design considerations which give rise to such creative opportunities. Creativity was found to be expressed in terms of creative problem-solving involving the creation of novel strategies, solutions and approaches to problems; in terms of appropriation involving emergent play practices and how gameplay was adapted for alternative goals; and finally, in terms of affective change involving the personally meaningful insights and changes in attitudes/perceptions which games elicited. Design considerations were also identified relating to: freedom of play, environment, replayability, tools, avatar design and content creation. By shedding light on the grey area of creativity in digital games and illuminating how games may support and promote creativity in players, this article provides a basis for future research and can help inform game design practices in both digital entertainment games and games specifically designed to facilitate creativity

Using Reflexive Photography to Investigate Design Affordances for Creativity in Digital Entertainment Games

This article aims to provide an account of the use of reflexive photography in capturing player creativity in practice and present a guide to how game design can support player creativity. While previous literature has examined some aspects of player creativity in digital games, there remains a dearth of work, which examines how design elements of games contribute to creative behavior. Using a reflexive photography method with photo-elicitation interviews, this study identifies eight design affordances for player creativity in digital games and outlines the effectiveness of the reflexive photography method within the context of digital games. The identified design affordances related to the degree of flexibility of the game structure (e.g., open versus linear), narrative exploration, extent and diversity of game variables, opportunities for content creation, environmental interaction and exploration, avatar customization, progression, and replayability. Implications for the design of games that support creativity are discussed

Serious gaming approach framework for construction hazards identification

Construction-related workers are always exposed to occupational hazards ona construction site. Hence, safety training is inevitable to reduce the alarming rate ofaccidents on sites. However, due to the nature of construction environment which ishazardous and harmful current safety training is still lacks hands-on approaches.Training assisted by affordable technology such as serious game would be aneffective tool to improve learning and has become a new approach to trainingdelivery. It offers safer, interactive and entertaining learning environment for theconstruction-related workers. Therefore, the aim of this study is to develop a seriousgame framework for hazard identification training module. To develop thisframework, the Garris‘s Input-Process-Outcome game model is adopted as thefoundation and five objectives are laid out. The first objective is to determine themost suitable instructional design method and the second objective is to determineserious game attributes to support the effective learning. Through content analysismethods, the findings show that there are 12 attributes of the serious game andGagne‘s Nine Events Instructional Methods Design is able to support an effectivelearning. The third objective is to understand user characteristics. Data wascollected from 319 construction-related workers using questionnaires and analysedusing mean comparison and ANOVA. Findings confirmed that they belong toindependent learners‘ category and inclined to ‗vigilant‘ and ‗brooding‘ types ofdecision-making style. These objectives become the basis for Input phases of theframework. The Gagne‘s instructional method also laid out the learning expectationfor Outcome phase i.e. skills, cognitive and affective learning. The fourth objectiveis to design the process of hazard identification. Through content analysis,Recognition-Primed Decision making model (RPD) is chosen and merged withhazard identification process and hierarchy of control to establish the Process phaseof the framework. All the findings are incorporated to achieve the fifth objectivewhich is to develop the serious game framework. The framework is validated bythree experts specialised in education, construction safety, and informationtechnology. They agreed that this framework would be able to enhance learning interm of skills, cognitive and affective learning. Finally, this serious game frameworkwill provide a safer, more affordable and interactive as well as entertaining forhazard identification training delivery in the construction industry

Uso criativo das tecnologias da informação e comunicação na educação superior : atuação de professores e percepção de estudantes

Tese (doutorado)—Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Psicologia, Programa de Pós-graduação em Processos de Desenvolvimento Humano e Saúde, 2017.As tecnologias da informação e comunicação (TICs) têm sido amplamente implementadas no contexto educacional, inclusive na educação superior. Apesar de a literatura apontar que as TICs, de maneira geral, promovem o desempenho criativo e a motivação para aprender dos estudantes, elas não vêm sendo utilizadas em todo seu potencial, uma vez que ainda existem entraves os quais dificultam sua inclusão como recurso pedagógico. Desse modo, o presente estudo teve como objetivo comparar três grupos de professores universitários – os que fazem uso criativo (Grupo TICsCriat), os que fazem uso tradicional (Grupo TICsTrad) e os que não fazem uso das TICs (Grupo NãoTICs) nas suas práticas em sala de aula – no que se refere à avaliação feita por eles acerca do papel das tecnologias digitais na prática docente, focalizando o desenvolvimento da criatividade e motivação de seus estudantes. Ademais, compararam-se as percepções dos educandos pertencentes aos três grupos de professores, quanto à extensão em que as práticas docentes relativas ao uso ou ao não das TICs favorecem a expressão da criatividade e o desenvolvimento da motivação para aprender. Participaram do estudo nove professores e 249 estudantes universitários de uma instituição de educação superior (IES) pública. Foi realizada uma entrevista semiestruturada com os professores visando investigar sua percepção sobre o uso das TICs como apoio pedagógico e foi aplicada a Escala Avaliação da Literacia em Informação para Professores. Aos estudantes foram aplicados o Inventário de Práticas Docentes para a Criatividade na Educação Superior e a Escala de Motivação para Aprender de Universitários. Os relatos obtidos a partir das entrevistas foram tratados mediante a Teoria Fundamentada nos Dados (Grounded Theory). Os dados quantitativos provenientes de escalas e de inventário foram analisados por meio de estatística descritiva e inferencial. Os resultados indicaram que os professores de todos os grupos relataram haver, na utilização das TICs, vantagens e desvantagens. No entanto, em seus relatos, não se apresenta uma forte ligação entre a tecnologia digital e o desenvolvimento da criatividade dos estudantes. Os docentes queixaram-se ainda das dificuldades na implementação das tecnologias digitais em sala de aula, especialmente no que tange ao apoio dado pela universidade. Quanto à percepção dos alunos, o Grupo NãoTICs avaliou, de forma mais favorável que os alunos dos grupos TICsCriat e TICsTrad, o incentivo a novas ideias, o clima para expressá-las, e a avaliação e metodologia de ensino de seus professores. Não houve diferença significativa entre os grupos quanto ao interesse dos professores pela aprendizagem do aluno. O Grupo NãoTICs apresentou menor nível de motivação extrínseca se comparado ao Grupo TICsCriat, no entanto, não houve diferença significativa em relação à motivação intrínseca dos estudantes. Esses resultados sugerem que a decisão de não usar as TICs está relacionada ao estilo de ensino de cada professor. A falta de apoio da administração da universidade é uma das maiores dificuldades enfrentadas pelos docentes para implementar as TICs em sua sala de aula. No que diz respeito aos resultados concernentes aos estudantes, o uso de tecnologias digitais para a educação não necessariamente melhorou as práticas docentes para criatividade ou motivação. Como qualquer estratégia pedagógica, o uso das tecnologias em questão, na sala de aula, deve ser bem planejado e estar de acordo com os objetivos os quais se pretende alcançar. É também importante entender que outros fatores, além do uso das TICs, influenciam essas variáveis.Information and communication technology (ICT) has been widely implemented in educational settings, higher education included. The literature points out that ICT can promote creative performance and motivation to learn. However, it has not been used to its full potential yet. There are barriers that make it difficult to include them as a pedagogical resource. Therefore, this study aimed to compare three groups of professors – those who make creative use (Creative-ICT Group), the ones who make traditional use (Traditional-ICT Group), and those who do not use ICT in the classroom (Non-ICT Group) – regarding their evaluation of the role of digital technologies in teaching practice to develop students’ creativity and motivation. The perception of the students of these three groups towards the extent to which the use of ICT as a teaching practices favors the expression of their creativity and the development of their motivation to learn were also compared. Nine professors and 249 undergraduates of a public university participated in this study. The professors were interviewed about their conceptions regarding the use of ICT to develop creativity and to motivate their students and they answered the Assessment of Literacy in Information for Professors Scale (ALIP). The students answered the Educational Practice for Creativity in Higher Education Inventory and the Motivation to Learn Scale for Undergraduates. The Grounded Theory was used to interpret the reports obtained by the interviews. The quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results indicated that the professors of all groups have reported that the use of ICT has advantages and disadvantages. However, they do not make a strong connection between digital technology and the development of the students’ creativity. They also complained about the difficulties to implement the digital technologies in their classroom, especially regarding the support given by the university. Concerning the students’ perceptions, the undergraduates of the Non-ICT Group have evaluated their professors’ incentive to new ideas, the climate for the expression of ideas, and their evaluation and methodology of teaching better than the students of the Creative-ICT Group and the Traditional-ICT Group. There was no significant difference between the groups regarding the professors’ interest in the student’s learning. The Non-ICT Group had lower levels of extrinsic motivation than the Creative-ICT Group, however, there was no significant difference concerning the students’ intrinsic motivation. These results suggest that the decision not to use ICT is related to the professors’ style of teaching. The lack of support from the university administration is one of the biggest difficulties professors face to implement the ICT in their class. Regarding the students’ answers, the use of digital technologies for education does not necessarily improve the educational practices to develop undergraduates’ creativity or their motivation. Like any pedagogical strategy, the use of digital technologies in the classroom should be well planned and in accordance with the purposes that are sought to achieve. It is also important to understand that other factors, besides the use of ICTs, influence these variables

I want to be a Game Maker : Experiences of digital game making with eleven year olds

The purpose of this study was to empower a mixed group of eleven year old students with the skills to program digital games and then research the stages of development they go through whilst designing and authoring a game. This study also strived to identify the benefits children gained from a gaming literacy perspective. This research used a qualitative case study approach. The analysis of this study was based on multiple data sources: statistics collected from the web portal used during the workshop; informal conversations with the children and teachers helping out with the workshop; participant observation and analysis of the games created. Through the participation in this workshop the children were introduced to the Scratch programming language. The structure of the gaming workshop was influenced by pedagogic approaches to teach creatively for creativity and to introduce programming through a full system approach (Selby 2011). The stages that children go through whilst creating a digital game are similar to a number of phases discussed in previous research (Robertson 2011, Resnick, Maloney et al. 2009). However the stages of development outlined in this research highlight the importance of the social aspect in game development. Group testing not only has an effect on the game being tested but also acts as a source of cross fertilisation of ideas between the students testing the game and the students developing the game. The game making experience provided the students with a possibility to enact their systematic thinking when designing their games as a system made up of interrelated subsystems. Prior gaming experience contributed to the way the games were designed and allowed the students to engage with game making using a playful attitude. The students were competitive yet cooperative whilst making their games. All the games were complete and demonstrated that the children were savvy about multimodality. They created games that were well balanced from the difficulty point of view and that provided the game players with instructions on how to play as well as implemented appropriate feedback mechanisms

Creativity and Learning in Digital Entertainment Games

Creativity has been investigated in areas such as education, the workplace and psychology. However, there remains little in the way of a unanimous definition of what it means to be creative – with various conceptualisations illuminating different aspects of this multifaceted phenomenon. However, it is for the most part agreed that creativity contributes to a wealth of positive outcomes such as openness to experience, cognitive flexibility and emotional wellbeing. Furthermore, creativity is instrumental in facilitating a meaningful learning experience as learners can actively formulate and experiment with ideas in an authentic context. In this way, the creative process leads to ultimately the creative expression itself and subsequent positive effects such as learning. With such a wealth of positive effects, it is surprising that creativity has not been more extensively investigated within the area of digital entertainment games. Digital games provide an authentic and active context which fosters intrinsic motivation and offer numerous opportunities for players to be creative. As such, this thesis attempts to address this gap by presenting an account of current literature on creativity in digital games, and the results from three empirical studies. The first study comprised of 24 semi-structured interviews and 14 narrative surveys and identified three unique forms of creative expression, along with three different player constructed conceptualisations of what it means to be creative in games. Further circumorbital constructs related to creativity were also identified, including creative transfer, affordances for creativity and learning outcomes from being creative. The second study consisted of an online survey completed by 251 respondents and resulted in the development of the Creativity in Gaming Scale (CGS), in addition to providing a quantitative examination of what players learn from engaging in the different forms of creative expression, and what aspects of creativity are most likely to transfer. The third study focused on affordances for creativity in digital games and utilised the reflexive photographic method alongside photo-elicitation interviews with 9 participants to identify eight types of affordances to support the different types of creative expression. This research provides an extensive account of creativity in digital entertainment games; presenting the construct from the standpoint of the player. As such, the findings not only contribute towards presenting a holistic definition of creativity, but also highlight that creativity is an important aspect of player experience. The role of creativity in the learning process is extrapolated, with findings drawing a link between different forms of creative expression and what players may learn from being creative. Similarly, the transferable nature of creativity is investigated, with findings pointing to the different aspects of creativity which may transfer, and what areas of life they may transfer to. Finally, by identifying the specific affordances for creativity in games, the final contribution of this research is towards informing the design of games which may actively promote creativity in players