DESIGNING SERIOUS GAMES FOR A SUSTAINABLE WORLD

Computer games can be used to educate and persuade. In this paper we investigate the potential of “serious games” to foster values to create a sustainable world. Although the idea of using games to persuade people raises ethical concerns, we draw inspiration from the 17 UN sustainable development goals, focusing on goal 6 – Clean water and sanitation. This research project uses design science research to propose and demonstrate design artefacts via the creation of a game prototype. We believe that this approach has the potential to lay the foundation for the future design and development of serious games for sustainability

Serious electronic games as behavioural change interventions in healthcare-associated infections and infection prevention and control: a scoping review of the literature and future directions

Background The uptake of improvement initiatives in infection prevention and control (IPC) has often proven challenging. Innovative interventions such as ‘serious games’ have been proposed in other areas to educate and help clinicians adopt optimal behaviours. There is limited evidence about the application and evaluation of serious games in IPC. The purposes of the study were: a) to synthesise research evidence on the use of serious games in IPC to support healthcare workers’ behaviour change and best practice learning; and b) to identify gaps across the formulation and evaluation of serious games in IPC. Methods A scoping study was conducted using the methodological framework developed by Arksey and O’Malley. We interrogated electronic databases (Ovid MEDLINE, Embase Classic + Embase, PsycINFO, Scopus, Cochrane, Google Scholar) in December 2015. Evidence from these studies was assessed against an analytic framework of intervention formulation and evaluation. Results Nine hundred sixty five unique papers were initially identified, 23 included for full-text review, and four finally selected. Studies focused on intervention inception and development rather than implementation. Expert involvement in game design was reported in 2/4 studies. Potential game users were not included in needs assessment and game development. Outcome variables such as fidelity or sustainability were scarcely reported. Conclusions The growing interest in serious games for health has not been coupled with adequate evaluation of processes, outcomes and contexts involved. Explanations about the mechanisms by which game components may facilitate behaviour change are lacking, further hindering adoption

An evaluation of the Australian Football League Central Australian Responsible Alcohol Strategy 2005-07

In a community context of high alcohol consumption and high rates of interpersonal violence, the strategies implemented were successful in decreasing alcohol consumption and related undesirable behaviours at football games. However, these measures have resulted in unintended consequences: decreased numbers of spectators attending games, decreased canteen sales and falling sponsorship. The decreased revenue has raised serious issues about sustainability of the alcohol intervention, and stimulated discussions with government and others about strategies to maintain this important alcohol reduction policy

Conceptual Ambiguity Surrounding Gamification and Serious Games in Health Care: Literature Review and Development of Game-Based Intervention Reporting Guidelines (GAMING)

Background: In health care, the use of game-based interventions to increase motivation, engagement, and overall sustainability of health behaviors is steadily becoming more common. The most prevalent types of game-based interventions in health care research are gamification and serious games. Various researchers have discussed substantial conceptual differences between these 2 concepts, supported by empirical studies showing differences in the effects on specific health behaviors. However, researchers also frequently report cases in which terms related to these 2 concepts are used ambiguously or even interchangeably. It remains unclear to what extent existing health care research explicitly distinguishes between gamification and serious games and whether it draws on existing conceptual considerations to do so. Objective: This study aims to address this lack of knowledge by capturing the current state of conceptualizations of gamification and serious games in health care research. Furthermore, we aim to provide tools for researchers to disambiguate the reporting of game-based interventions. Methods: We used a 2-step research approach. First, we conducted a systematic literature review of 206 studies, published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research and its sister journals, containing terms related to gamification, serious games, or both. We analyzed their conceptualizations of gamification and serious games, as well as the distinctions between the two concepts. Second, based on the literature review findings, we developed a set of guidelines for researchers reporting on game-based interventions and evaluated them with a group of 9 experts from the field. Results: Our results show that less than half of the concept mentions are accompanied by an explicit definition. To distinguish between the 2 concepts, we identified four common approaches: implicit distinction, synonymous use of terms, serious games as a type of gamified system, and distinction based on the full game dimension. Our Game-Based Intervention Reporting Guidelines (GAMING) consist of 25 items grouped into four topics: conceptual focus, contribution, mindfulness about related concepts, and individual concept definitions. Conclusions: Conceptualizations of gamification and serious games in health care literature are strongly heterogeneous, leading to conceptual ambiguity. Following the GAMING can support authors in rigorous reporting on study results of game-based interventions

Participatory Arts-based Game Design: Mela, a Serious Game to Address SGBV in Ethiopia

The emerging body of work on participatory game design (PGD) highlights the significance of working with end-users’ voices as the starting point. This is particularly critical in serious games that seek to impact social change in areas such as sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). This article, which is based on fieldwork with 16 college instructors in four agricultural colleges in rural Ethiopia, draws together concepts of participatory visual methods (particularly cellphilming), PGD and a game universe perspective to offer an engaging and interactive approach to the design of serious games. We refer to this as ‘Participatory Arts-based Game Design’ (PAGD), an approach that was used to create Mela, a serious game to address SGBV in Ethiopian agriculture colleges. Exploring Mela game’s participatory and engaging design process, this article offers a framework for serious game development to address critical social change issues that go beyond the game itself. It has the potential to not only place the end-users at the centre but to recognize the critical role of engagement and immersivity in a field oriented towards impact and sustainability

VALUES-BASED DIGITAL GAMES: Designing a digital game platform to foster sustainability in early childhood

Research suggests that many digital games include violence and about half of the violent incidents have negative repercussions such as increased aggression, serious injuries or death in the real world (APA, 2015; Children Now, 2015; Gentile 2014). This influential nature (Bogost, 2006) of digital games calls for research on ways in which the digital games can be leveraged instead. This is especially relevant for the early childhood context when players are most malleable (Gentile, 2014; Tootell, Freeman, & Freeman, 2014). Most individuals develop their value systems, habits, and attitudes through play in these early years (Epper, Derryberry, and Jackson 2012). “Play”, in today’s digital age, is facilitated by technology in the form of digital games. This makes digital games a powerful means of fostering values, attitudes, and developing social and emotional learning in children (Hromek and Roffey 2009). Using design science research, this research aims to tap into the power of digital games by creating a platform for designing digital games that foster values, including sustainability principles in early childhood

SLR - Análisis del Aprendizaje Basado en Juegos Serios en las Prácticas de los Estudios de Ingeniería

Este trabajo se trata de un Análisis Sistemático de la Literatura del uso de los juegos serios en los estudios de ingeniería.15 página

Learning sustainability by making games. The experience of a challenge as a novel approach for Education for Sustainable Development

[EN] Nowadays, the programs of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) are designed for changing attitudes on environmental, economic, and social dimensions. In this context, and considering the varied ages of the participating students, it is necessary to implement appropriate pedagogical methods that are generally different from the traditional ones. Among the available approaches, Sustainability serious games (SSGs) appear to be an ideal candidate to facilitate ESD providing students with opportunities to experience the complex issues of sustainability. Besides learning by playing SSG, another relevant opportunity, capable of engaging teachers and students into a relevant and meaningful learning context, is learning by making SSGs, capable of engaging teachers and students into a relevant and meaningful learning context. In light of these comments, this paper proposes a major contribution to the research on learning by making games through a detailed discussion of the results obtained during a University Challenge experience, where students were involved in the design and development of SSGs. The Challenge involved 59 higher education (HE) students who were asked to work in groups to create a (per-group) prototype of a SSG aimed at improving the sustainability of our campus. Results of the Challenge assessment show that this learning approach can indeed be considered a valuable alternative for ESD.Cravero, S.; Strada, F.; Lami, I.; Bottino, A. (2021). Learning sustainability by making games. The experience of a challenge as a novel approach for Education for Sustainable Development. En 7th International Conference on Higher Education Advances (HEAd'21). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 651-659. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAd21.2021.13192OCS65165

Personalization in Serious and Persuasive Games and Gamified Interactions

© Lennart Nacke, 2015. This is the author’s version of the work. It is posted here for your personal use. Not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in CHI PLAY '15 Proceedings of the 2015 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play, https://doi.org/10.1145/2793107.2810260Serious and persuasive games and gamified interactions have become popular in the last years, especially in the realm of behavior change support systems. They have been used as tools to support and influence human behavior in a variety of fields, such as health, sustainability, education, and security. It has been shown that personalized serious and persuasive games and gamified interactions can increase effectivity of supporting behavior change compared to "one-size-fits all"-systems. However, how serious games and gamified interactions can be personalized, which factors can be used to personalize (e.g. personality, gender, persuadability, player types, gamification user types, states, contextual/situational variables), what effect personalization has (e.g. on player/user experience) and whether there is any return on investment is still largely unexplored. This full-day workshop aims at bringing together the academic and industrial community as well as the gaming and gamification community to jointly explore these topics and define a future roadmap.Österreichische ForschungsförderungsgesellschaftPeer-reviewe