Evaluating First Experiences with an Educational Computer Game: A multi-Method Approach

This paper presents our evaluation approach for a specific case study, namely the evaluation of an early prototype of an educational game with children aged between 12 and 14 years. The main goal of this initial evaluation study was to explore children’s first impressions and experiences of the game on the one hand and to assess the students’ ideas and wishes for the further development of the game on the other hand. The main challenge for the evaluation activities was the selection of the appropriate methodological approach, taking into account children as a special user group. We opted for a combination of different, mainly qualitative and explorative methods that were reported beneficial for work with children in the human-computer interaction (HCI) field. By presenting our multi-method approach, in particular the different steps and procedure within our study, other researchers can get inspirations for follow up activities when evaluating games with children as well as benefit from our experiences in exploring more collaborative methods and methodological combinations

SmallTalk: Using tangible interactions to gather feedback from children

Gathering opinions from young children is challenging and different methods have been explored. In this paper we investigated how tangible devices can be used to gather feedback from children in the context of a theater performance. We introduce SmallTalk, a tangible survey system designed for use within a theater space to capture what children, aged 4 to 9, thought of a live performance they had just seen. We describe how the system was designed to build on previous feedback methods that had been tried; while at the same time meeting the constraints of the challenging theater context. We present results from seven deployments of SmallTalk and based on these we briefly discuss its value as a method for evaluating the theater performance. We then look at how the results validated the system design and present several design implications that more generally relate to tangible feedback systems for children

Introducing a Pairwise Comparison Scale for UX Evaluations with Preschoolers

This paper describes the development and validation of a pairwise comparison scale for user experience (UX) evaluations with preschoolers. More particularly, the dimensionality, reliability and validity of the scale are discussed. The results of three experiments among almost 170 preschoolers show that user experience cannot be measured quantitatively as a multi-dimensional construct. In contrast, preschoolers’ UX should be measured directly as a one-dimensional higher order construct. This one-dimensional scale encompassing five general items proved to be internally consistent and valid providing evidence of a solid theory-based instrument to measure UX with preschoolers.status: publishe

Finding fun:characteristics of non-formal technology education in Oulu

Abstract. Education is not a singular, straight line from kindergarten to a diploma anymore for everyone. It is important to know and acknowledge the different types of out-of-school learning experiences young people can embark on in the quest for mastering a trade or just to have a good time. In this exploratory study into the world of non-formal technology education in the area of Oulu, Finland two different instances of varying levels of non-formality were investigated and how participants find fun in these situations since it is apparent that if something is non-mandatory to attend to, there should be some type of enjoyment found in the process. Tiedekoulu and Koodikärpät-kerho are clubs geared towards children and teens that have interest in playing with, making and programming technology. The observations with field notes were done in five different types of programming clubs and three different robotics ones with interviews that were conducted with 10 participants (ages 8–17), 6 parents and 6 instructors from these clubs. From the previous literature the practices and qualities of non-formal education could be defined, what fun is and how it manifests in children while they attend pedagogical situations. From this framework, the results of the analysis suggest that there are three main ways children and teenagers have fun in non-formal education: fun from the tasks they are doing, social fun by sharing with other attendants and pedagogical fun with instructors. Some attributes of the observed clubs were categorized as well along the lines of formal/non-formal/informal and the practices of the clubs were explored. Besides these findings, the limitations and implications for future research were also looked at

A mobile application for collecting feedback from children in the support family system

Tässä työssä suunnitellaan Hemmo ja minä -mobiilisovellus, jonka avulla Pelastakaa Lapset ry voi kerätä palautetta tukiperheissä käyviltä 4-12-vuotiailta lapsilta. Sovelluk- sella kerätyn palautteen avulla halutaan sujuvoittaa tukiperhetoimintaa selvittämällä lapsen kokemuksia tukiperheviikonlopusta. Mobiilisovelluksen suunnittelun haasteena oli kohderyhmän suuri ikähaarukka, sillä nuorimmat käyttäjät eivät vielä osaa lukea ja toisaalta vanhemmat lapset voivat kokea 4- vuotiaille suunnatun sovelluksen helposti lapselliseksi. Nuorimpien lasten ehdoilla so- velluksesta piti luoda erittäin helppokäyttöinen, jotta sitä voi käyttää lukematta ohjeita ja lapsen tulee voida antaa palaute helposti kirjoittamatta. Työ kattaa mobiilisovelluksen konseptin luonnin ja arvioinnin, sen sisällön suunnitte- lun, interaktiosuunnitelmat sekä käytettävyyden ja käyttäjäkokemuksen arvioinnin. Työn konkreettiset tuotokset kattavat paperille tehdyt rautalankamallit sovelluksen ra- kenteesta, rautalankamallien täydentämisen tietokoneella, verkkotyökalulla toteutetun interaktiivisen prototyypin sekä arviointitulosten pohjalta luodun listan kehityskohteista. Mobiilisovelluksen käyttöliittymän kehitysehdotuksista tärkeimmiksi voidaan nostaa kahden käytettävyysongelman korjaus ja muutamien käyttäjäkokemusta parantavien elementtien lisäämisen. Tämän diplomityön valmistuessa on sovellus ehditty ottaa käyttöön noin kymmenellä tukiperheessä käyvällä lapsella. Tarkoituksena on tässä työssä ja sen ulkopuolella suori- tettujen arviointien pohjalta kehittää sovellusta niin, että kaikki ikäryhmään sopivat lap- set voisivat antaa sillä palautetta tukiperhekäyntinsä jälkeen

Kids Play - Designing a touch screen game with children

Playing is an important part of the development of young children. The growth in number of touch screen devices owned by families has offered game designers an opportunity to create new kind of playing experiences also for young children. In order to design appealing games for children they should be included in the game design process. With age-appropriate methods the design process can be a fun activity for the participants and offer valuable results to support the design work. This thesis describes a design process of a children’s music genre game where children participa- ted in one phase of designing the game. The game was built for the Apple iPad device. Altogether 52 children aged between 3 and 7 years participated in design workshops. The game was designed and tested together with these children by using age-appropriate co-creation and research methods. The workshop results were used for designing and developing the early stage prototype into a finalized product. Literature study was conducted on children’s cognitive development, children’s different roles in design processes and methods where children are an essential part of the process. Based on the found material a detailed structure for sessions to be held in 5 day workshop was planned. Used methods included the Fun toolkit, Cooperative inquiry, Mixing ideas and Layered collaboration. Some changes to the original methods had to be made, because the available timespan was shorter and the participating children were partly younger than the ones the methods were created for. The workshops initially provided qualitative and quantitative results which were analysed after the workshops. The most important benefit from organizing the workshops was to be able to “go in- side” of children’s minds. Observing them while they were playing and seeing what is interesting to them and makes them laugh was very important source of insight and inspiration. Based on this knowledge the following key game element themes were formed: abnormalities, achievements, funny failures, stardom / pretend play and surprises. These themes were used as the basis for further game design work. The overall game concept was reformed and new features were designed

Examining the Potential Use of Geospatial -Informatics Technologies to Engage Northern Canadian First Nation Youth in Environmental Initiatives

Having experienced climatic warming before, First Nations people of the Albany River basin in sub-arctic, Canada, have already shown the ability to be adaptable to external influences. However, societal changes and the current accelerated rate of environmental change have reduced First Nations people ability to adapt. In addition, young people are no longer going out on the land as much. Fort Albany First Nation community members have commented on the lack of connection that some youth have with the land. A disconnect with the environment by youth can threaten the adaptive capacity of sub-arctic First Nations. As identified by Fort Albany First Nation community members, one potential tool that could influence the youth to become more aware of their land, is the collaborative geomatics tool. The collaborative geomatics tool is based on the WIDE (Web Informatics Development Environment) software toolkit. The toolkit was developed by The Computer Systems Group of the University of Waterloo to construct, design, deploy and maintain complex web-based systems. The collaborative geomatics tool supports a common reference map, based on high-resolution imagery. Three environmental outreach camps were held from 2011-2012, programming utilized place-based education as the platform to engage youth in their environment and community and begin using the associated mapping technology. All camps utilized the newly developed collaborative-geomatics tool and a camera ready handheld Global Positioning System (GPS) while participating in various activities that engaged them in their community and environment. The outreach program worked well in connecting youth with knowledgeable community members allowing for the direct transfer of traditional knowledge in a culturally appropriate manner, that is, learning through observation and doing, as well as other culturally-appropriate educational strategies. In addition, the informatics tool supported the archiving of this knowledge through the uploading of geospatially tagged pictures taken by the youth

Head Up Games : on the design, creation and evaluation of interactive outdoor games for children

This thesis proposes a new genre of outdoor games for children, namely Head Up Games. The concept was inspired by the observation that existing pervasive outdoor games for children were mostly played head down, as the predominantly screen-based interaction of existing games required constant attention of the children. First, the vision of Head Up Games is described and illustrated with several design cases (Chapter 2). In contrast to the head down games, Head Up Games aim to encourage and support rich social interaction and physical activity, play behaviors that are similar to play behaviors seen in traditional outdoor games (such as tag and hide-and-seek). The design process of Head Up Games poses several challenges. In User Centered Design it is commonly accepted to start the development of a new product using low-fi mock-ups, e.g., paper prototypes, and evaluate these with end-users. In the case of Head Up Games this proved to be difficult, as the emerging game experience is significantly altered when using paper prototypes. Therefore, a study was carried out that used high-fi prototypes, i.e. working, interactive, prototypes, from a very early stage in the design process (Chapter 3). This way, the effect of interactions on the game experience can be addressed earlier and better in the design process. Furthemore, having access to technology early in the design process, allows designers to better explore the design space. However, designers often do not possess adequate skills to quickly prototype interactive products, particularly products that need to be evaluated in an outdoor context. Such a development is often costly and time-consuming. Therefore, the RaPIDO platform was developed (Chapter 4). The platform not only includes the appropriate hardware for creating outdoor games, but is also bundled with software libraries, to allow designers not specifically trained in software engineering to adopt the platform easily. RaPIDO was evaluated using a case study methodology with two Industrial Design master students. The evaluation not only focused on the usability of the platform, but, more importantly, how the use of the platform affected the design process. The main conclusion of the study was that the designers indeed were able to rapidly create mobile games, and that the hardware offered was suitable for creating outdoor games. Furthermore, issues were identified with regard to writing the game software, e.g., managing the complexity of the software. Finally, for evaluating Head Up Games with children two methods were applied: the Outdoor Play Observation Scheme (OPOS) was used to quantify the intended play behavior. Furthermore, GroupSorter was developed to provide a framework to interview a group of children simultaneously, resulting in qualitative comments. Both OPOS and GroupSorter were applied for evaluating three Head Up Games, which are described in Chapter 5