A Conceptual Teacher-Learner Model for a Collaborative Learning with Serious Games

This paper introduces a conceptual Teacher-Learner framework for a collaborative learning with serious games. An initial study identified twelve attributesof educational serious games that can be used to support effective learning. These attributes are used in the conceptual framework to support learning and pedagogy in combination with a game. A considerable number of serious games have been developed over the last ten years, with varying degrees of success. Due to a lack of clear standards and guidelines for game developers; it is difficult to justify claims that a specific game meets the learner’s requirements and/or expectations. This paper defines a conceptual model for serious games that will contribute to their design and the measurement of achievement in meeting the learners’ requirements

Therapeutic serious game design guidelines for stimulating cognitive abilities of children with speech and language delay

The creation of an effective therapeutic serious game (TSG) is highly dependent upon its design and the fundamental knowledge of the users. Furthermore, the TSG is designed for a purpose to the users by incorporating the needs of the users in all design components.Although numerous studies have been conducted on guidelines for designing serious games, to date, studies on the specific TSG’s design guidelines for stimulating the cognitive ability of children with speech and language delay (CSLD) has yet to be comprehensively studied.Therefore, this study focuses on the set of design guidelines for the development of TSG for CSLD, specifically on cognitive stimulation.The TSG design guidelines in this paper are derived through the study of relevant literature, and best practices gained from interviews with experts in the area of speech pathology.These guidelines would be useful for researchers and game designers to design TSG for CSLD focusing on cognitive stimulation

Beyond Motivation and Engagement: Students’ Voices on the Use of Game-Based Learning in a Bachelor Computer Science Online Degree

Video games have many potential uses beyond pure entertainment, including their use in educational contexts. Yet, it remains really challenging to put together guidelines to design effective game-like interventions in educational contexts. This study examines existing work relating to gamification, game-based learning, and serious games, and finds there is still limited qualitative work concerning the student perspective and limited work developing pedagogical guidelines for developers wishing to develop effective game-based learning experiences. The study focuses on the perception of students in regard to game-based learning activities in the context of a BSc Computer Science online degree. Students enrolled in the online degree were invited to fill in an online survey after their experience with a selection of game-based learning activities in the online degree. Reflexive Thematic Analysis was used to evaluate the open-ended responses from 55 participants. First, quantitative and qualitative results revealed insightful information along with four overarching themes (“Complementary to lectures on topics that are usually hard or too abstract to teach”, “Allow students to take on identities and learn from different angles and perspectives”, “Balanced challenge and context relevance to minimise students wasting their time”, and “Reward players for their effort with meaningful rewards and provide a safe space for failure”), suggesting that game-based learning interventions offer more than just motivation and engagement. Second, technical and pedagogical principles emerged from the data analysis, proposing guidelines for future designers of game-based learning activities in similar educational contexts. Finally, the study provides a selection of twelve open-source and browser-based game-based learning activities, the ones students encountered in the BSc Computer Science online degree

Retrospective cognitive feedback for progress monitoring in serious games

Although the importance of cognitive feedback in digital serious games (DSG) is undisputed, we are facing some major design challenges. First of all, we do not know to which extend existing research guidelines apply when we stand the risk of cognitive feedback distorting the delicate balance between learning and playing. Unobtrusive cognitive feedback has to be interspersed with gameplay. Secondly, many effective solutions for providing cognitive feedback we do know might simply be too costly. To face both challenges, this study offers an efficient approach for providing unobtrusive and retrospective cognitive feedback in DSG. This approach was applied onto a game where feedback messages were triggered via simple rules about learners’ questioning behaviour on four dimensions. We found the experimental condition including such retrospective cognitive feedback (RCF) to yield better learning outcomes while maintaining similar motivation. Keyword

User interface evaluation of serious games for students with intellectual disability

We have designed and evaluated around 10 serious games under the EU Leonardo Transfer of Innovation Project: Game On Extra Time (GOET) project http://goet-project.eu/. The project supports people with learning disabilities and additional sensory impairments in getting and keeping a job by helping them to learn, via games-based learning; skills that will help them in their working day. These games help students to learn how to prepare themselves for work, dealing with everyday situations at work, including money management, travelling independently etc. This paper is concerned with the potential of serious games as effective and engaging learning resources for people with intellectual disabilities. In this paper we will address questions related to the design and evaluation of such games, and our design solutions to suit the individual learning needs of our target audiences

System development guidelines from a review of motion-based technology for people with MCI or dementia

As the population ages and the number of people living with dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) continues to increase, it is critical to identify creative and innovative ways to support and improve their quality of life. Motion-based technology has shown significant potential for people living with dementia or MCI by providing opportunities for cognitive stimulation, physical activity and participation in meaningful leisure activities, while simultaneously functioning as a useful tool for research and development of interventions. However, many of the current systems created using motion-based technology have not been designed specifically for people with dementia or MCI. Additionally, the usability and accessibility of these systems for these populations has not been thoroughly considered. This paper presents a set of system development guidelines derived from a review of the state of the art of motion-based technologies for people with dementia or MCI. These guidelines highlight three overarching domains of consideration for systems targeting people with dementia or MCI: (i) cognitive, (ii) physical, and (iii) social. We present the guidelines in terms of relevant design and use considerations within these domains and the emergent design themes within each domain. Our hope is that these guidelines will aid in designing motion-based software to meet the needs of people with dementia or MCI such that the potential of these technologies can be realized