Migration of an Escape Room–Style Educational Game to an Online Environment: Design Thinking Methodology

The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak has led to a sudden change in education, closing schools and shifting to online teaching, which has become an enormous challenge for teachers and students. Implementing adequate online pedagogical approaches and integrating different digital tools in the teaching process have become a priority in educational systems. Finding a way to keep students' interest and persistence in learning is an important issue that online education is facing. One possible way to establish engaging and interactive learning environments, using the energy and enthusiasm of students for educational purposes, is the use of game-based learning activities and gamification of different parts of the educational process. This paper presents a use case of migrating an escape room–style educational game to an online environment by using the design thinking methodology. We wanted to show that the design thinking methodology is useful to create engaging and motivating online games that provide educational value. Starting from students’ perspective, we created a simple digital escape room–style game where students got an opportunity to self-assess their knowledge in computer science at their own pace. Students tested this prototype game, and their opinions about the game were collected through an online survey. The test's goal was to evaluate the students' perceptions about the implemented digital escape room–style educational game and gather information about whether it could achieve students' engagement in learning computer science during online teaching. In total, 117 students from sixth and seventh grades completed the survey regarding the achieved student engagement. Despite the differences in students’ answers about game complexity and puzzle difficulty, most students liked the activity (mean 4.75, SD 0.67, on a scale from 1 to 5). They enjoyed the game, and they would like to participate in this kind of activity again (mean 4.74, SD 0.68). All (n=117, 100%) students found the digital escape room–style educational game interesting for playing and learning. The results confirmed that digital escape room–style games could be used as an educational tool to engage students in the learning process and achieve learning outcomes. Furthermore, the design thinking methodology proved to be a useful tool in the process of adding novel educational value to the digital escape room–style game.publishedVersio

Comparison Of Learning Experiences And Outcomes Between A Serious Game-based And Non-game-based Online American History Course

The use of online courses continues to increase despite the small amount of research that exists on the effectiveness of online educational environments. The little research that has been conducted has focused on evaluating factors taken into consideration during the adoption of online learning environments. One notable benefit often cited is the ability to incorporate multimedia such as video games. Although game researchers and developers are pushing for the use of video games for educational purposes, there is a lack of research on the effectiveness of serious video games. When paring the increasing use of online educational environments, the push to use serious video games, and the lack of research on the effectiveness of online learning environments and video games, there is a clear need for further investigation into the use of serious video games in an online format. Based on current literature, no other known study has conducted an analysis comparing a serious game-based and non-game based online course; making this a unique study. The purpose of this study was to compare student learning experiences and outcomes between a serious game-based and non-game based online American History course. The data sources were data provided from Florida Virtual School (FLVS) and student and teacher interviews. Random samples of 92 students were statistically analyzed. A group of 8 students and 4 teachers were interviewed. FLVS data provided were analyzed using an independent t-test and the Mann-Whitney test and the student and teacher interview were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results of an independent t-test revealed that there was a significant (p \u3e .01) difference in the mean number of days necessary to complete the course (MGB = 145.80, SDGB = 50.64, MNGB = 112.63, SDNGB = 49.60). The Mann-Whitney results indicated a significant difference between course performance and the type of American history course (Z = -5.066, p \u3e .01); students in the serious game-based online course had an A average whereas students in the non-game-based online course had a B average. The thematic analysis of the relationship between student performance and motivation in both courses indicated that students and teachers of the game-based online course provided more reasons for student motivation than the students and teachers in the non-game-based online course. The thematic analysis of what aspects do students perceive as helpful and/or hindering to their learning indicated that students and teachers of the game-based online course provided more desirable, more helpful, less undesirable, and less hindering aspects for their course than the students and teachers in the non-game-based online course. As a result of the unique nature of this study, the findings provide new information for the fields of research on online learning, serious video gaming, and instructional design as well as inform instructional-designers, teachers, education stakeholders, serious video game designers, and education researchers

Gamificacion in education and active methodologies at Higher education

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in applying Gamification in Education, which can be defined as the application of game design elements to learning activities. Its purpose is to motivate students by creating an engaging learning experience that can keep students focused on the learning task and its application in the classroom, is still in its emergent stages. Gamification is a great challenge for education, particularly in Higher Education Institutions (HEI) in such a traditional context, as is the case with courses like Management and Administration Business, Finance and Accounting, Marketing and Market Research, Chemistry, Accounting and Administration and Business Communication. This paper presents a study, applied in the 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 academic years, in which the teaching method focuses on a blended learning approach, through the implementation of a flipped classroom model and also through the introduction of online gamification activities such Kahoot! application. Kahoot is a game-based learning platform, used as educational technology that can easily be used for initial, formative and summative assessment of students’ knowledge using individual or collaborative team work mode, adding vitality, student engagement, and also meta-cognitive supports to higher education classrooms with limited instructor or student training required. The participants, in the study, were about 3 000 students of 17 different subjects from the aforementioned courses, of the Malaga University and Polytechnic of Porto. The results of this study suggest that this model improves student learning and are of relevance to researchers, educators and game-based learning designers.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec

GAME EDUKASI SEBAGAI MEDIA PEMBELAJARAN IPA KELAS V DI MI MIFTAHUL HUDA DONGOS

Currently the world is experiencing an outbreak of a disease caused by the corona virus or Covid-19 (Coronavirus Diseases-19). WHO has declared Covid-19 as a pandemic that is troubling the whole world. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on the world of education. Educators implement online schools to ensure students can continue learning at home. Based on the results of observations and interviews at MI Miftahul Huda Dongos, the implementation of online learning is considered less effective, because it causes boredom and boredom, especially in natural science (IPA) subjects. Too much material also causes students to be lazy to study the material, so students are less motivated and enthusiastic to learn science. Based on the above problems, the researcher aims to design a science educational game, namely a learning game while playing and made with the Construct 2 application using the GRAPPLE method. Educational games are designed with the aim of increasing motivation and enthusiasm for students to learn science subjects. This game is called Earthquake (Science Educational Game). This application has been tested by material experts with 100% results, 100% media experts and 93.14% respondents, which means this application is very feasible to use. The result of this research is the application of “Earthquake” (Science Educational Game) to provide knowledge about the function of human organs

Gamified-Assessment For Learning Indonesian as A Foreign Language: Heuristic Evaluation Approach

While the current assessment mostly repletes with paper-based or switching to online-based to see the assessment efficiency, gamified-assessment is underexplored yet. Even though the widespread of gamification phenomenon has been observed in the particular foreign language, the scarcity of game-based for assessment in learning Indonesian as foreign language forces this study to heuristically evaluate ‘travelling-like’ game. It aims to assess non-native students in higher education for learning Indonesian as a foreign language (BIPA). To this end, the study was supported by six Indonesian teachers who are currently teaching the Indonesian language in various countries or regions. The outcome of the study is thirteen heuristics which contains a set of checklist items related to an educational game framework called HEDEERS. Both the heuristics and the discussions can identify essential aspects of assessment design in both educational and game perspectives that will impact users experiences for learning the Indonesian language in a better approac

An investigation into the potential of collaborative computer game-based learning in Higher Education

Advocates of game-based learning argue that computer games have the potential to transform university education, motivating and engaging a new generation of learners in a way that traditional education does not. The research described in this thesis, grounded in the fields of education, human-computer interaction and game design, questions this assumption and considers the case for computer game-based learning in Higher Education. Initial research found that positive motivation for games-based learning is by no means universal in adults, and that a propensity to play games recreationally does not imply an enthusiasm to use games for learning. However, even reluctant gamers were willing to try game-based learning if it was perceived to be an efficient way to learn. Criteria were developed for the design of effective educational games, based around theories of constructivist learning. These informed the development of two collaborative game-based activities with identical learning outcomes: an adventure game and an online version of a traditional teambuilding exercise. Questionnaires were developed to measure self-reported learning and engagement and 112 students participated in an experiment to compare educational effectiveness between two groups, one using the adventure game and the other the teambuilding activity. No significant difference was found between the two conditions, with the exception that those students who used the teambuilding game had a significantly greater perception of control than those who used the adventure game. This study challenges the assumption that games will revolutionise education because they lead to increased motivation and engagement. Instead, it argues that there is a potential for increased engagement through educational games, but this is because they embody the principles of interactive, collaborative and experiential learning. Overall, this research offers an insight of the nature of adult game playing, practical guidance for the development of educational games, a validated tool for measuring post-experiential engagement, a critical analysis of usability testing techniques for multi-user games, and a genuine rationale for the use of game-based learning.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

An Initial Exploration of the Perspectives and Experiences of Diverse Learners\u27 Acceptance of Online Educational Engineering Games as Learning Tools in the Classroom

This Work-In-Progress falls within the research category of study and, focuses on the experiences and perceptions of first- and second year engineering students when using an online engineering game that was designed to enhance understanding of statics concepts. Technology and online games are increasingly being used in engineering education to help students gain competencies in technical domains in the engineering field. Less is known about the way that these online games are designed and incorporated into the classroom environment and how these factors can ignite inequitable perspectives and experiences among engineering students. Also, little if any work that combines the TAM model and intersectionality of race and gender in engineering education has been done, though several studies have been modified to account for gender or race. This study expands upon the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) by exploring perspectives of intersectional groups (defined as women of color who are engineering students). A Mixed Method Sequential Exploratory Research Design approach was used that extends the TAM model. Students were asked to play the engineering educational game, complete an open-ended questionnaire and then to participate in a focus group. Early findings suggest that while many students were open to learning to use the game and recommended inclusion of online engineering educational games as learning tools in classrooms, only a few indicated that they would use this tool to prepare for exams or technical job interviews. Some of the main themes identified in this study included unintended perpetuation of inequality through bias in favor of students who enjoyed competition-based learning and assessment of knowledge, and bias for students having prior experience in playing online games. Competition-based assessment related to presumed learning of course content enhanced student anxiety and feelings of intimidation and led to some students seeking to “game the game” versus learning the material, in efforts to achieve grade goals. Other students associated use of the game and the classroom weighted grading with intense stress that led them to prematurely stop the use of the engineering tool. Initial findings indicate that both game design and how technology is incorporated into the grading and testing of learning outcomes, influence student perceptions of the technology’s usefulness and ultimately the acceptance of the online game as a learning tool. Results also point to the need to explore how the crediting and assessment of students’ performance and learning gains in these types of games could yield inequitable experiences in these types of courses

Epidemic: Learning Games Go Viral

In this case study, we document the development and user-testing of Epidemic: Self-care for Crisis, an online educational resource that invites users (aged 14-20) to develop game-based knowledge and practices around prevention, self-care and (mis)information in the face of contagious diseases - a timely project, given the ongoing anxieties, and false (and not so false) alarms, over SARS, Avian Flu, and H1N1. The game Contagion, the forerunner to Epidemic, mobilized the conventions and mechanics of single-player adventure games to engage players 'experientially' with health- and disease-related understandings: we configured the same basic self-care information as "narrative knowledge", intended to mobilize players' attention and intelligence voluntarily, using narrative as a rhetorical strategy. We were using narrative's traditional, paradigmatic function within literate cultural forms of interpellation - stories of playful, pleasurable persuasion designed to engage players, Epidemic takes a decidedly different tack towards delivering the same educational content. Reconfiguring digital play within social networking conventions affords us a design-based platform for fundamental theory development in game-based learning. Epidemic's modular, Flash and XML-based design allows for accessible and straightforward creation and editing of educational content, both textual and visual: players can generate and publish their own virus-like avatars, stop-motion animations, and disease-related public service announcements. Some interesting divergences in play-based education on community health/self care, between interactive narrative and social-networking configurations for ludic knowledge representation, appear noteworthy.  Our user-testing, we argue, signifies a further innovation in the field of educational game design, leaving behind the clichéd concern over 'what did you learn today' in favor of focusing on when and how laughter, engagement and attention are most at work. Taken together, these innovations instantiate an approach to digitally-mediated learning that construes and practices assessment differently than in traditional education (and in educational technology design), which are more concerned with propositionally identifiable learning outcomes.  In the case of Epidemic, however, we are more concerned with how play-based learning design can best support the cultivation of responsible and critically-informed attitudes towards public health