Interactive virtual method applied in urban design education. Mixed Approach

La memòria d'aquesta tesi tracta sobre l'ús de la transformació digital en l'ensenyament i els processos de disseny urbà, a través de conceptes innovadors i metodologies pràctiques. L'objectiu és promoure l'ús de tecnologies digitals, en particular per avaluar la inclusió de la realitat virtual en diversos entorns d'ensenyament formals i informals del disseny urbà col·laboratiu, per tal de millorar, accelerar i augmentar el seu impacte social de forma positiva i millorar l'ensenyament universitària ajudant al fet que els estudiants consolidin amb major efectivitat les seves habilitats. Amb les característiques d’un sistema de realitat virtual, podem provar la nostra hipòtesi en funció de demostrar: (1) La implementació d'estratègies virtuals gamificades en el camp del disseny urbà generarà una millora i motivació en la participació ciutadana i dels estudiants, ja que l’entorn és més dinàmic, real i permet un disseny col·laboratiu àgil gràcies a les tecnologies visuals immersives, mentre avaluen críticament el resultat d'un disseny urbà i prenen decisions. (2) L'ús de sistemes virtuals interactius per a la comprensió de l'espai tridimensional millora en els estudiants i professionals la percepció de la comprensió de l'espai, generant major enteniment de les condicions d'ubicació, dimensions i relacions dels espais urbans, i defensar els arguments de projectes urbans i propostes urbanes definides interactivament que proven diverses estratègies d'acció. Per provar les nostres hipòtesis, fem servir un mètode quantitatiu i qualitatiu aplicat en diferents escenaris i als diferents perfils d'usuaris, estudiants, professionals i usuaris finals. Els resultats mostraran que és possible potenciar la transformació digital, millorar la motivació pública, la implicació i la satisfacció en els processos de presa de decisions urbanes, així com complementar l'adquisició de competències urbanes específiques necessàries per a la professió en estudiants d'Arquitectura.La memoria de esta tesis trata sobre el uso de la transformación digital en la enseñanza y los procesos de diseño urbano, a través de conceptos innovadores y metodologías prácticas. El objetivo es promover el uso de tecnologías digitales, en particular para evaluar la inclusión de la realidad virtual en diversos entornos de enseñanza formales e informales del diseño urbano colaborativo, con el fin de mejorarlo, acelerar y aumentar su impacto social positivo y mejorar la enseñanza universitaria ayudando a que los estudiantes consoliden con mayor efectividad sus habilidades. Con las características de un sistema de realidad virtual, podemos probar nuestra hipótesis en función de demostrar: (1) El uso de sistemas virtuales interactivos para la comprensión del espacio tridimensional mejora en los estudiantes y profesionales la percepción de la comprensión del espacio, generando mayor entendimiento de las condiciones de ubicación, dimensiones y relaciones de los espacios urbanos, y defender los argumentos de proyectos urbanos y propuestas urbanas definidas interactivamente que ensayan diversas estrategias de acción. (2) La implementación de estrategias virtuales gamificadas en el campo del diseño urbano generará una mejora y motivación en la participación ciudadana y en los estudiantes, ya que es un entorno de colaboración más dinámico, real y ágil gracias a las tecnologías visuales inmersivas, mientras evalúan críticamente el resultado de un diseño urbano y toman decisiones. Para probar nuestras hipótesis, utilizamos un método cuantitativo y cualitativo aplicado en diferentes escenarios y a diferentes perfiles de usuarios, estudiantes, profesionales y usuarios finales. Los resultados mostrarán que es posible potenciar la transformación digital, mejorar la motivación pública, la implicación y la satisfacción en los procesos de toma de decisiones urbanas, así como complementar la adquisición de competencias urbanas específicas necesarias para la profesión en estudiantes de Arquitectura.The memory of this thesis deals with the use of digital transformation in the teaching and processes of urban design, through innovative concepts and practical methodologies. The objective is to promote the use of digital technologies, in particular, to evaluate the inclusion of virtual reality in various formal and informal teaching environments of collaborative urban design, in order to improve it, speed up, and increase its positive social impact and improve university teaching by helping students consolidate their skills more effectively. With the characteristics of the VR system, we can test our hypothesis based on demonstrating: (1) The use of virtual-interactive systems for the understanding of three- dimensional space improve in students and professionals the perception of the comprehension of the space, generating a greater understanding of the location conditions, dimensions and relationships of urban spaces, and defend the arguments of urban projects and interactively defined urban proposals rehearsing various strategies of action. (2) The implementation of virtual gamified strategies in the field of urban design will generate improvement and motivation in citizen participation and students as it is a more dynamic, real and agile collaborative environment thanks to the immersive visual technologies as they critically evaluate the result of the urban design and make decisions. To validate our hypothesis, we use a quantitative and qualitative method applied in different scenarios and to a different profile of users, students, professionals and end users. The results will show that it is possible to empower digital transformation, to improve public motivation, implication, and satisfaction in urban decision-making processes as well as complementing the improvement of the perception of the comprehension of the space needed for the profession in Architecture students

Virtual learning scenarios for qualitative assessment in higher education 3D arts

Using enhanced learning technologies (TEL) including immersive virtual reality environments, we are seeking to achieve a new way of assessing subjects of 3D arts. We have developed a project based on Scenario Centered Curriculum (SCC), where the students have to think, design, convey, validate, and build a civil project using new technologies that help in the assessment process. We have used gamification techniques and game engines to evaluate planned tasks in which students can demonstrate the skills they developed in the scenarios. The assessment is integrated in the creation of a 3D complex model focused on the construction of a building in a virtual space. This whole process will be carried out by gamification techniques to embed the assessment of the 3D models with the objective of improving students learning.Author's final draf

GAMIFICATION APPLIED TO FACULTY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: A CASE STUDY

GAMIFICATION APPLIED TO FACULTY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: A CASE STUD

Innovation in urban design education

How can we incorporate into our educational system the emerging technologies, new processes and new habits of society to improve public motivation, implication, and satisfaction in urban decision-making processes? New technology implementations in the teaching field largely extend to all types of levels and educational frameworks. However, these innovations require approval validation and evaluation by the final users. The premise is that the technology used in Virtual Reality (VR), is familiar to the Architecture students, which preview to work on specific parameters and outcome, and on the contrary, citizens with a profile not related to the field get more excited and perceive the technology as a more efficient tool. To prove this, we use a quantitative method to evaluate the satisfaction of citizens related and not related to the Architecture field. Using an interactive visualization process in a real environment, we obtained adequate feedback that allowed the optimization of this type of experiment in future iterations. The results show that the degree of satisfaction when using an advanced visualization technology was satisfactory with a differentiation between user’s profilesPeer ReviewedPreprin

Gamification and Advanced Technology to Enhance Motivation in Education

This book, entitled “Gamification and Advanced Technology to Enhance Motivation in Education”, contains an editorial and a collection of ten research articles that highlight the use of gamification and other advanced technologies as powerful tools for motivation during learning. Motivation is the driving force behind many human activities, especially learning. Motivated students are ready to make a significant mental effort and use deeper and more effective learning strategies. Numerous studies indicate that playing promotes learning, since when fun pervades the learning process, motivation increases and tension is reduced. Therefore, games can be very powerful tools in the improvement of learning processes from three different and complementary perspectives: as tools for teaching content or skills, as an object of the learning project itself and as a philosophy to be taken into account when designing the training process. Each contributions presented in this book falls into one of these categories; that is to say, they all deal with the use of games or related technologies, and they all study how playing enhances motivation in education

Virtual interactive innovations applied for digital urban transformations : mixed approach

© 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY licenseThe cities in which we live are changing rapidly, presenting the scenery to debate future visions of transformative designs and its impact on the city. In order to take advantage of the changes and opportunities offered by the inclusion of digital technologies, an accommodation of the digital transformation into the visualization of Urbanism is required. It is a challenge for organizations and society to question the status quo and experiment often. The discussion about the increasing integration of digital technologies in urban spaces involves a number of questions relating to the complex processes of transformation that impact cities, like economic, social, political, and environmental. The main goal of the paper is to present the use of Digital Transformation in processes of urban design through technological innovation in which the diverse forms of active citizenship operate from below as agents of innovation, inclusion and social development. The results showed that it is possible to empower Digital Transformation –as for example the use Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) systems in collaborative urban design– to improve public motivation, implication, and satisfaction in urban decision-making processes.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Methodologies of learning served by virtual reality: a case study in urban interventions

A computer-simulated reality and the human-machine interactions facilitated by computer technology and wearable computers may be used as an educational methodology that transforms the way students deal with information. This turns the learning process into a more participative and active process, which fits both the practical part of subjects and the learner’s profile, as students nowadays are more technology-savvy and familiar with current technological advances. This methodology is being used in architectural and urbanism degrees to support the design process and to help students visualize design alternatives in the context of existing environments. This paper proposes the use of virtual reality (VR) as a resource in the teaching of courses that focus on the design of urban spaces. A group of users—composed of architecture students and professionals related to the architecture field—participated in an immersing VR experience and had the opportunity to interact with the space that was being redesigned. Later, a quantitative tool was used in order to evaluate the effectiveness of virtual systems in the design of urban environments. The survey was designed using as a reference the competences required in the urbanism courses; this allowed the authors to identify positive and negative aspects in an objective way. The results prove that VR helps to expand digital abilities in complex representation and helps users in the evaluation and decision-making processes involved in the design of urban spaces.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Gamification, Online Learning and Motivation: A Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis in Higher Education

As a motivational teaching practice, gamification does not always work as expected. This paper supports these findings and adds the factor of online teaching analyzing the results of an experiment carried out in an online higher education context to test the relevance and motivational efficacy of ludic methodologies using learning and knowledge technology. Three groups of students (n=78, n=64, and n=74) participated in gamified experiences in the same subject. These groups were offered different approaches to the experiences, only one of which included a reward. Neither of the gamified experiences was compulsory. The results show how the use of technologies and gamification is not as appealing as it may seem and how other aspects—such as teacher-student relationship and interaction, rewards, and the sense of alienation generated by online teaching—influence student participation. The low rate of participation indicates that teachers must consider not only those students who participate but also those who do not. The main conclusion is that not only the methodology is important, but also the performance and the fact that student-teacher relationship in online education is more demanding, affectively speaking. Thus, those students who were in direct contact with the teacher during the execution of the gamified experience present a higher level of involvement. This is a factor to consider for the motivational needs of online university students where intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and direct interaction play essential roles

Impact of Gamification on an Online Middle School Classroom

Gamification is defined as the use of game elements in non-game contexts. The gamified element explored in this thesis is a leaderboard with various forms of engagement being tabulated. This study investigates the impact a leaderboard has on the behavioral engagement of an online middle school classroom. Research has revealed that elements of gamification can increase engagement but there is a gap in research that focuses solely on a leaderboard as an intervention to increase engagement. Also missing from the literature were studies conducted in middle school settings. The study presented in this thesis addresses these limitations and provides value to the knowledge base. A quasi experimental study using classroom observations was conducted. During the study, a total of 8 classes (4 control and 4 intervention) of an online English Language Arts class were observed over the period of 5 weeks. During the intervention, a leaderboard was used to measure behavioral engagement

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