ENHANCING USERS’ EXPERIENCE WITH SMART MOBILE TECHNOLOGY

The aim of this thesis is to investigate mobile guides for use with smartphones. Mobile guides have been successfully used to provide information, personalisation and navigation for the user. The researcher also wanted to ascertain how and in what ways mobile guides can enhance users' experience. This research involved designing and developing web based applications to run on smartphones. Four studies were conducted, two of which involved testing of the particular application. The applications tested were a museum mobile guide application and a university mobile guide mapping application. Initial testing examined the prototype work for the ‘Chronology of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah’ application. The results were used to assess the potential of using similar mobile guides in Brunei Darussalam’s museums. The second study involved testing of the ‘Kent LiveMap’ application for use at the University of Kent. Students at the university tested this mapping application, which uses crowdsourcing of information to provide live data. The results were promising and indicate that users' experience was enhanced when using the application. Overall results from testing and using the two applications that were developed as part of this thesis show that mobile guides have the potential to be implemented in Brunei Darussalam’s museums and on campus at the University of Kent. However, modifications to both applications are required to fulfil their potential and take them beyond the prototype stage in order to be fully functioning and commercially viable

Gamification Strategies for Music Educators: An Online Continuing Education Course

This curriculum project is designed to provide music educators in the public and private sector with introductory knowledge about the topic of gamification and game-based learning, framed within the scope of an online continuing education course. It is meant for adult learners who teach young musicians in the K-12 range. The course offers a set of strategies and step-based processes that help transform a traditional music lesson plan into an interactive and meaningful learning experience that leverages games. The games created by the students in the course can serve to motivate music students by incorporating a sense of competition and personal achievement in and out of the classroom. Research in game-based design will demonstrate the usability of gamification within music education. This project aims to provide gamified knowledge delivery methods and assessment tools that apply to students in K-12. While one of the goals of gamification is to enhance music education through the creation of fun activities, the curriculum does not lose focus on the importance adhering to the National Core Arts Standards of creating and performing. 1 Game-based learning can complement hard-work and consistent practice through the use of game elements during a music lesson. Educational games can be a valuable method of instruction when a student struggles to understand complex subjects such as music theory by helping the student develop necessary critical thinking skills. Game-based music learning can also increase student interest and participation during class. Keywords: gamification, game-based learning, gamified system design, engagemen

ICT and gamified learning in tourism education: a case of South African secondary schools

Tourism is often introduced as a subject in formal education curricula because of the increasing and significant economic contribution of the tourism industry to the private and public sector. This is especially the case in emerging economies in Asia and Africa (Hsu, 2015; Mayaka & Akama, 2015; Cuffy et al., 2012). Tourism in South Africa – which is the geographical setting of this research – is recognised as a key economic sector. At secondary level, tourism has been widely introduced at schools throughout South Africa since 2000 and has experienced significant growth (Umalusi, 2014). Furthermore, information and communication technology (ICT) has rapidly penetrated public and private sectors of the country. ICT affords novel opportunities for social and economic development, and this has especially been observed in the fields of both tourism and education (Anwar et al., 2014; Vandeyar, 2015). Yet, the many uses and implications of ICT for tourism education in South Africa are unclear and under-theorised as a research area (Adukaite, Van Zyl, & Cantoni, 2016). Moreover, engagement has been identified as a significant indicator of student success in South Africa (Council for Higher Education, 2010). Lack of engagement contributes to poor graduation rates at secondary and tertiary institutions in South Africa (Strydom et al., 2010; Titus & Ng’ambi, 2014). A common strategy to address lack of student engagement is introducing game elements into the learning process: the so-called gamification of learning (Kapp, 2012). The majority of research in this field has been conducted in more economically advanced and developed regions, and there is a paucity of research in emerging country contexts. It is argued that gamification can be effectively utilised also in these contexts to address learner engagement and motivation. This study aims to contribute in this respect: firstly, by investigating the extent to which ICT supports tourism education in South African high schools through the lenses of Technology Domestication Theory (Habib, 2005; Haddon, 2006) and Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1977). Secondly, the study aims to examine gamified learning acceptance within tourism education in a developing country context. The research assimilates three separate studies. Study 1. The Role of Digital Technology in Tourism Education: A Case Study of South African Secondary Schools The study was designed as an exploratory analysis, based on 24 in-depth interviews (n=24) with high school tourism teachers and government officials. An analysis reveals that teachers recognize ICT as essential in exposing students to the tourism industry. This is especially the case in under-resourced schools, where learners do not have the financial means to participate in tourism activities. However, ICT is still limited in its integration as a pedagogical support tool. The major obstacles toward integration include: technology anxiety, lack of training, availability of resources, and learner resistance to use their personal mobile devices. Study 2. Raising Awareness and Promoting Informal Learning on World Heritage in Southern Africa. The Case of WHACY, a Gamified ICT-enhanced Tool The goal of the study was to present the World Heritage Awareness Campaign for Youth (WHACY) in Southern Africa. A campaign was dedicated to raise awareness and foster informal learning among Southern African youth about the heritage and sustainable tourism. The campaign employed an online and offline gamified learning platform, which was supported by a dedicated website, Facebook page, wiki and offline materials. In one year of operation the campaign reached more than 100K audience. For the evaluation of the campaign, a mixed methods approach was used: focus groups with students (n=9), interviews (n=19) and a survey with teachers (n=209). The study attempted to assess user experience in terms of engagement and conduciveness to learning and explored the possibility of a gamified application to be integrated into the existing high school tourism curriculum. The perspectives of South African tourism students and teachers were here considered. Study 3. Teacher perceptions on the use of digital gamified learning in tourism education: The case of South African secondary schools. The study is quantitative in nature and investigated the behavioural intention of South African tourism teachers to integrate a gamified application within secondary tourism education. Data collected from 209 teachers were tested against the research model using a structural equation modelling approach. The study investigated the extent to which six determined predictors (perceptions about playfulness, curriculum relatedness, learning opportunities, challenge, self-efficacy and computer anxiety) influence the acceptance of a gamified application by South African tourism teachers. The study may prove useful to educators and practitioners in understanding which determinants may influence gamification introduction into formal secondary education

Bringing Light into the Dark - Improving Students’ Black-Box Testing Competencies using Game-Design Elements

As software becomes increasingly complex, there is a growing need to enhance quality assurance in software engineering. However, the lack of qualified human resources is a barrier to performing software testing activities in software companies. At the same time, software testing can be considered a tedious task and is often not done at the necessary level of detail, e.g., designing test cases. However, it is crucial for novice programmers and testers to acquire and improve their testing competencies, and to utilize testing techniques, e.g., black-box testing. Teaching software testing is often based on theoretical instructions, resulting in limited practical experience. As a result, students may not develop the necessary testing mindset, highlighting the need for more extensive software testing education. To address this issue, this paper utilizes a design science research approach to implement a gamified learning system that promotes black-box testing competencies with empirical insights from a field test

COLLABORATIVE GAMING APPROACH IN ONLINE LEARNING TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ ENGAGEMENT

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, students in Indonesia were required to study from home for about the past two years. It affected learning activities that made students less engaged. This research offers the Online Collaborative Gaming Approach model to improve students’ engagement and participation in English learning. Inviting 58 students as research participants, the researchers reported the implementation of the Collaborative Gaming Approach and evaluation based on students’ perspectives. This study employed Classroom Action Research utilizing students’ scores, questionnaires and interviews, to measure the criteria of success. The result of the study showed that the average score in the quiz game activity inceased after the implementation of the quiz game (from 74,1 to 88,64). The result of the questionnaires also stated that 94.83% (55) students agreed that quiz game activities gave positive perceptions on the affective aspect, 91.38% (53) students agreed that quiz game activities gave positive perceptions on the social aspect, and 94.83% (55) students agreed that quiz game activities gave positive perceptions on the cognitive aspect. The result of the data showed that the collaborative gaming approach gives a positive impact on students. It implies that the practice of the collaborative gaming approach can increase the students’ engagement

Content review using Kahoot! with aeronautical engineering students

[EN] In the framework of the subject “Analysis of aeronautical structural components” included in the Master of Science of Aeronautical Engineering at the Universitat Politècnica de València, the application Kahoot! is employed in order to review the technical content and obtain feedback of the level of knowledge acquired by the students. Kahoot! allows developing multiple choice interactive quizzes that are solved in the classroom. Using this type of tools enhances the attention of the students and helps to create interesting discussions making the students be part of the teaching-learning process. Besides, the platform allows analyzing the results of the technical content reviewed which, in turn, permits the lecturer to adapt the didactic material to a real scenario. Furthermore, the results obtained from the assessment survey show the high level of satisfaction of the students with an activity which allows them to learn in a fun way. In conclusion, the application of Kahoot! for content review helps to perfect the teaching-learning process and improves academic performance in an attractive and engaging environment.http://ocs.editorial.upv.es/index.php/HEAD/HEAD18Albero, V.; Ibáñez, C. (2018). Content review using Kahoot! with aeronautical engineering students. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 1117-1124. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD18.2018.8158OCS1117112

Gamification of in-class activities in flipped classroom lectures

For higher education, the question of how in-class activities can be supported in large lectures is of great relevance. This paper suggests a gamified flipped classroom approach to address this challenge. In an experimental study, N = 205 educational science students performed either gamified in-class activities using a gamified quiz with points and a team leaderboard, or non-gamified in-class activities using exercise sheets. In line with the theory of gamified learning, the results show a positive indirect effect of gamification on application-oriented knowledge that is mediated by learning process performance. Furthermore, based on a self-determination theory framework, the results show positive effects of gamified in-class activities on intrinsic motivation and social relatedness, but no significant effect on competence need satisfaction. The study provides insights into a particular casual construct of game design elements (points and team leaderboards) triggering specific mechanisms (immediate task-level feedback and team competition) affecting a mediator (learning process performance) that in turn affects a learning outcome (application-oriented knowledge)

Gamified flipped classroom in education: a systematic review

Nowadays, gamified flipped classrooms (GFC) are a cutting-edge teaching method. Using gamification techniques with flipped classrooms (FC) significantly positively affects teachers and students. This study reviews the impact of GFC research on education methodically. Hence, the study investigated a comprehensive literature review of 52 empirical research publications published between 2018 and 2022 in various electronic databases and on the web. Note that the review established the foundation for the significance of upcoming research projects by critically assessing and evaluating the different inconsistencies in the literature. In addition to examining the contradictory results of previous research, the study offer a framework as well as guidance for future researchers in terms of theoretical models, methodology, game tools or online platforms, game activity, game elements, variables, and the impact of a GFC

A Novel Web Based Support Tool for Learning Random Variables

Battle of Distributions: A Web Based Learning Support ToolIn probability and statistics, a random variable is a function that assigns a number to eachoutcome of a random experiment. Random variables have various applications in differentscientific and engineering fields. There is an inherent complexity in dealing with randomvariables and their distribution models. It takes a lot of careful thought and practice to fullyunderstand these concepts and their applications. We have identified two issues that contributethe most to the difficulty students experience learning the subject: 1) the complexity of themathematical logic behind the probability theory and 2) lack of motivation to attempt andexplore more problems due partly to the static nature of textbook problems. Therefore, ourobjectives were to enhance students\u27 understanding of random variables and to increasemotivation for learning by developing an interactive web-based tool.In creating our module, we have focused on 3 related random variables that rise in engineeringapplications frequently, namely, Poisson, Exponential and Erlang. The web module consists of 3main components: Gym, Shop, and Rink. Gym provides students with a framework to test theirknowledge on the mentioned random variables. They carry out the mathematical analysis hereand explore different problems to observe the link between the 3 random variables. Shop andRink provide entertaining elements where students have the opportunity to shop for items such asenergy drinks to empower them to face their opponent in Rink. The more problems they solvecorrectly in the Gym component, the more credit they will have to shop and increase their chanceof winning a fight. (Figures 1-3 on the next page depict some of the graphical user interfacewindows of the module). The Gym component addresses our first objective to increase studentsunderstanding of the concept of random variables. The Shop and Rink components address oursecond objective to increase students\u27 motivation by incorporating gaming elements into themodule.We assessed the effectiveness of the module by measuring the change in cognitive and affectivebehavior of students. We utilized independent diagnostic measures, a homework assignmentand a quiz that exclusively cover the three mentioned random variables to assess the changes inthe cognitive behavior. We performed the Mann-Whitney U-test to analyze the data and compareperformance in control and treatment groups. Our findings show that the treatment groupstudents did better than the control group in both measures. The p-value indicates that thesuperior performance of the treatment group is statistically significant.We also developed a survey to evaluate the students\u27 affective behavior by measuring theirmotivation for learning and their perceptions of effectiveness of the module. Majority of students(82%) enjoyed doing the web module problems more than the textbook problems. Students agree(91%) that they would explore the web module problems beyond what they are asked to and 86%feel that web module was more motivating than the textbook.Figure 1: Main WindowFigure 2: Gym WindowFigure 3: Rink Windo