PERCEIVED ENJOYMENT OF MOBILE MATHEMATICAL LEARNING GAMES

Conference ProceedingsPerceived enjoyment is often reckoned as one of the most important factors influencing consumer behavior in educational learning material. Without the educational application providing a positive experience, children are unlikely to interact with it. Previous research on the use of educational applications in mathematics education has focused primarily on the learning potential of these applications and has not adequately addressed the perceived enjoyment. The purpose of this paper is to address this gap and to investigate the perceived enjoyment of mobile mathematical learning games. This study adopted the GameFlow model and Game-Based Learning model as theoretical base. A mixed method research methodology was employed where qualitative and quantitative data was gathered through surveys and semi-structured interviews. Twenty-six children, aged 10 to 13, from selected schools in one of South Africa’s provinces, participated in the study. The results indicate that the interest, fantasy, sensation and goal constructs, as well as the reward systems of mobile mathematical learning games, were most influential in terms of perceived enjoyment. The findings of this study could be used by educators and parents in the evaluation and selection of mobile mathematical learning games

Leveling up Instruction: Action Research Evaluating the Impact of Gamification on the Intrinsic Motivation and Academic Performance of Students Disaffected From High School English Language Arts

The purpose of this action research was to evaluate the impact of gamification on the intrinsic motivation and academic performance of students disaffected from high school English language arts (ELA). Three questions guided this study: (a) how does gamification affect the intrinsic motivation of students disaffected from high school ELA, (b) does gamification affect the academic performance of students disaffected from high school ELA, and (c) what recommendations can students offer after reflecting on their experiences with gamification? The game elements of challenge, narrative, role-play, and teamwork were incorporated into the design of a five-week instructional unit focused on research and argumentative writing skills. Participants (n=19) were purposefully selected from the teacher-researcher’s 12th grade ELA courses based on their disaffection relative to their peers. Utilizing a convergent parallel mixed methods approach, data were collected through the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (Ryan, 1982), focus group interviews, and a teacher-made assessment of student learning (i.e., Argumentative Research Skills Assessment). Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics and correlation tests. Qualitative data were analyzed inductively using constant comparative methods. The results revealed a significant increase in participants’ intrinsic motivation and academic performance after exposure to gamification. While significant associations were found between participants’ feelings of intrinsic motivation and competency, no significant associations were found between gamification and academic performance. These findings indicated that while gamification affected the intrinsic motivation of participants through supporting their feelings of autonomy and relatedness, its greatest impact came through supporting their feelings of competency. Moreover, while participants’ academic performance increased after exposure to gamification, the lack of significant associations rendered it impossible to say whether gamification itself resulted in this increase. Participant recommendations, implications, and limitations to the study are provided

Continuance use intention of primary school learners towards mobile mathematical applications

Conference ProccedingMobile educational applications include some of the most useful learning tools that have ever been developed. Games for learning are most effective when multiple sessions are involved, in other words, when users replay the games. Previous research on the use of educational games in mathematics education have focused primarily on the learning potential of these games and have not adequately addressed the continuance use intention, or the replay value, of these games. This is a serious gap in literature due to the fact that mobile mathematical applications will only be able to assist primary school learners to improve their math skills if they continue to use these apps on a regular basis. The purpose of this paper is to address this gap by investigating the continuance use intention of primary school learners towards mobile educational mathematical applications. This study adopted the Flow Theory, GameFlow and EGameFlow model, Game Based Learning model and the Technology Acceptance Model adapted to mobile gaming as theoretical base. A mixed method research methodology was employed where qualitative and quantitative data was gathered through surveys, individual observations and focus groups. Twenty-six children, aged 10 to 13, from selected schools in one of South Africa's provinces, participated in the study. The results indicate that the fun, fantasy, immersion and sensation constructs were the most influential in terms of the continuance use intention. The findings of this study could be used by educators and designers of educational mathematical applications in the evaluation of the re-use potential of these applications

EXAMINING THE USE OF USER-CENTERED DESIGN IN GAMIFICATION: A DELPHI STUDY

This study examined using the user-centered design (UCD) approach in gamification product development with the research question, What opinions do experienced gamification designers have in using the UCD method as they develop and design gamification products? Through the multi- phase interactions between researcher and participants of this Delphi study, specific survey questions were developed such as, how does the UCD method work in gamification design, how well does it work, and suggestions on how it should be used. Gamification design experts were recruited as research participants and four Delphi rounds of data collection were conducted. Thirtythree design heuristics within five themes (UCD workflow, defining players, play testing, gamification evaluation, and user participation) about using UCD in gamification were created from Phase A. Participants’ consensus on these design heuristics were examined through three rounds in phase B: four design heuristics or statements were removed, seven design heuristics or statements did not reach consensus based on a series of stability calculations, and all the remaining design heuristics reached consensus. Findings of this research also included gamification design challenges and recommended references for gamification design beginners. This document includes a listing of design heuristics and recommendations, as well as suggestions for future studies on gamification design

Physiological Self Regulation with Biofeedback Games

Mental stress is a global epidemic that can have serious health consequences including cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. Several techniques are available to teach stress self-regulation skills including therapy, meditation, deep breathing, and biofeedback. While effective, these methods suffer from high drop-outs due to the monotonic nature of the exercises and are generally practiced in quiet relaxed environment, which may not transfer to real-world scenarios. To address these issues, this dissertation presents a novel intervention for stress training using games and wearable sensors. The approach consists of monitoring the user’s physiological signals during gameplay, mapping them into estimates of stress levels, and adapting the game in a way that promotes states of low arousal. This approach offers two key advantages. First, it allows users to focus on the gameplay rather than on monitoring their physiological signals, which makes the training far more engaging. More importantly, it teaches users to self-regulate their stress response, while performing a task designed to increase arousal. Within this broad framework, this dissertation studies three specific problems. First, the dissertation evaluates three physiological signals (breathing rate, heart rate variability, and electrodermal activity) that span across the dimensions of degrees of selectivity in measuring arousal and voluntary control in their effectiveness in lowering arousal. This will identify the signal appropriate for game based stress training and the associated bio-signal processing techniques for real-time arousal estimation. Second, this dissertation investigates different methods of biofeedback presentation e.g. visual feedback and game adaptation during gameplay. Selection of appropriate biofeedback mechanism is critical since it provides the necessary information to improve the perception of visceral states (e.g. stress) to the user. Furthermore, these modalities facilitate skill acquisition in distinct ways (i.e., top-down and bottom-up learning) and influence retention of skills. Third, this dissertation studies reinforcement scheduling in a game and its effect on skill learning and retention. A reinforcement schedule determines which occurrences of the target response are reinforced. This study focuses on continuous and partial reinforcement schedules in GBF and their effect on resistance to extinction (i.e. ability to retain learned skills) after the biofeedback is removed. The main contribution of this dissertation is in demonstrating that stress self-regulation training can be embedded in videogames and help individuals develop more adaptive responses to reduce physiological stress encountered both at home and work

Formative Research on an Instructional Design Theory for Fostering Self-Efficacy Through Gamification

The merits of gamification as a learner-centered pedagogy that positively influences learner engagement and motivation are widely established in the literature; yet, few studies have ventured beyond motivation to consider the impact gamification has on self-efficacy. Moreover, guidance for the effective design and development of gamified instruction is lacking. This study describes formative research conducted on the Gamification for Enhancing Learner Self-Efficacy (GELSE) instructional design theory, which was developed to guide the design of gamification aimed at fostering self-efficacy. The goal of formative research is to identify improvements for an instructional design theory based on a designed instance of the theory. The GELSE theory was applied to an undergraduate community health nursing course in a fully online, accelerated degree program. The theory was evaluated by answering the following questions: 1) What methods of the GELSE instructional design theory were perceived to be more effective?, 2) What methods of the GELSE instructional design theory were perceived to be less effective?, and 3) What improvements can be made to the GELSE instructional design theory?. Data was collected in this qualitative study through open-ended questionnaires, focus group interviews, semi-structured one-on-one interviews, and observations of online learner activities and social interactions. The results show that the GELSE instructional design theory is effectual for guiding the design of gamified instruction intended to foster learner self-efficacy. Additionally, the findings from the research yielded a number of recommendations for improving the GELSE theory