The effect of uncertainty on learning in game-like environments

Cataloged from PDF version of article.Considering the role of games for educational purposes, there has an increase in interest among educators in applying strategies used in popular games to create more engaging learning environments. Learning is more fun and appealing in digital educational games and, as a result, it may become more effective. However, few research studies have been conducted to establish principles based on empirical research for designing engaging and entertaining games so as to improve learning. One of the essential characteristics of games that has been unexplored in the literature is the concept of uncertainty. This study examines the effect of uncertainty on learning outcomes. In order to better understand this effect on learning, a game-like learning tool was developed to teach a database concept in higher education programs of software engineering. The tool is designed in two versions: one including uncertainty and the other including no uncertainty. The experimental results of this study reveal that uncertainty enhances learning. Uncertainty is found to be positively associated with motivation. As motivation increases, participants tend to spend more time on answering the questions and to have higher accuracy in these questions

Pirate plunder: game-based computational thinking using scratch blocks

Policy makers worldwide argue that children should be taught how technology works, and that the ‘computational thinking’ skills developed through programming are useful in a wider context. This is causing an increased focus on computer science in primary and secondary education. Block-based programming tools, like Scratch, have become ubiquitous in primary education (5 to 11-years-old) throughout the UK. However, Scratch users often struggle to detect and correct ‘code smells’ (bad programming practices) such as duplicated blocks and large scripts, which can lead to programs that are difficult to understand. These ‘smells’ are caused by a lack of abstraction and decomposition in programs; skills that play a key role in computational thinking. In Scratch, repeats (loops), custom blocks (procedures) and clones (instances) can be used to correct these smells. Yet, custom blocks and clones are rarely taught to children under 11-years-old. We describe the design of a novel educational block-based programming game, Pirate Plunder, which aims to teach these skills to children aged 9-11. Players use Scratch blocks to navigate around a grid, collect items and interact with obstacles. Blocks are explained in ‘tutorials’; the player then completes a series of ‘challenges’ before attempting the next tutorial. A set of Scratch blocks, including repeats, custom blocks and clones, are introduced in a linear difficulty progression. There are two versions of Pirate Plunder; one that uses a debugging-first approach, where the player is given a program that is incomplete or incorrect, and one where each level begins with an empty program. The game design has been developed through iterative playtesting. The observations made during this process have influenced key design decisions such as Scratch integration, difficulty progression and reward system. In future, we will evaluate Pirate Plunder against a traditional Scratch curriculum and compare the debugging-first and non-debugging versions in a series of studies

Reward, learning and games

The link between reward and learning has chiefly been studied scientifically in the context of reinforcement learning. This type of learning, which relies upon midbrain dopaminergic response, differs greatly from the learning valued by educators, which typically involves declarative memory formation. However, with recent insights regarding the modulation of hippocampal function by midbrain dopamine, scientific understanding of the midbrain response to reward may be becoming more relevant to education. Here, we consider the potential for our current understanding of reward to inform educational learning, and consider its implications for game-like interventions in the classroom

Digital Game Based Learning in Business Management Education: A Step from Entertainment to Digital Literacy

Recent years have seen an escalating interest in the use of digital games in pursuit of educational goals. The present research also examined the impact of using digital games on learning in higher education. Female participants (N=46) from a women university in Pakistan were assigned to an experimental condition. The effect of game design with moderating effect of 3D dimension modelling, game contents and social context was examined on learning effectiveness. Results found significant impact of game design with moderating effect of 3D dimension modelling and game contents on learning satisfaction. However, results did not show a significant impact of collaboration on learning satisfaction during the experimental play session. Results are discussed in terms of the potential for higher education learning games and technology to increase students’ perceived learning effectiveness. This study reinforces the use of digital games in higher education. It also emphasize the necessity of further research to evaluate the academic value of digital games in students’ learning and knowledge retention. Keywords: Higher Education, games, learning, Game Design, Game content

APPLICATION OF KAHOOT! IN EDUCATION GAMIFICATION

Современный уровень развития общества диктует новые требования к организации образования. Одним из актуальных направлений развития образования является геймификация образования, которая позволяет добиться высокой мотивации и вовлеченности студентов в образовательный процесс.Целью работы является проверка гипотезы о том, что использование игровых моментов в обучении, основанных на активном применении информационных технологий, в частности интернет-ресурса Kahoot!, повышает вовлеченность студента в образовательный процесс, его мотивацию при обучении, формирует комфортную среду, вызывающую интерес к изучению предметной области.Новизна исследований состоит в методической организации процесса обучения, в рамках которого выполняется текущий контроль усвоения материала, тем самым реализуя активные методы обучения. При реализации предлагаемого подхода использовалось интернет-ресурс Kahoot!, предоставляющий возможности активизации внимания и контроля усвоения материала студентами.Представленные в статье результаты подтверждают эффективность предложенного подхода и использования в его рамках Kahoot!, который позволил сформировать интерактивную электронную образовательную среду.The modern level of society development sets higher requirements for education. One of the most important trends in the development of education nowadays is the gamifacation, which allows to achieve high motivation and involvement of students into the educational process.The aim of the work is to test the hypothesis that the use of gaming moments in education, involving information technology, in particular the Internet-resource Kahoot!, increases the student’s involvement into the educational process, raise one’s motivation, and creates a comfortable educational environment that causes interest in subject learning.The novelty of the research consists in the methodological organization of the learning process, within which the current control is carried out, thereby realizing active teaching methods. When implementing the proposed approach the Internet-resource Kahoot! was used. It provides opportunities for activating attention of the students and controlling the learning progress.The results presented in the article confirm the effectiveness of the proposed approach and the use within its framework of Kahoot!, which allowed to create an interactive electronic educational environment

The effect of competition on learning in games

Today serious games are having an important impact on areas other than entertainment. Studies show that serious games have a potential of creating learning environments to better reach the educational and training goals. The game design characteristics and game elements are need to be explored in detail for increasing the expected benefits of the gaming environments. In this study, the effect of competition, one of the design elements of game environments, on learning is analyzed experimentally. The study is conducted with 142 students. The results of this study show that when a competition environment is created in a serious game, motivation and post-test scores of learners improve significantly. The results of this study are expected to guide the serious game designers for improving the potential benefits of serious games. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd

Using a game-based learning environment to develop the 4Cs

It is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the disparity between learning environments, the needs of students, and the expectations of the ever-evolving workplace in South Africa. This study investigated the influence of a gamebased learning environment on the development of the 4Cs (communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking) that students need to be successful in their studies and subsequently in industry. The data for the study was collected by means of reflective essays that were written by 145 first-year engineering students only one month after the completion of the game-based activity. A focus group interview was conducted with six participants and it shed further light on the students' experiences. Their comments, harnessed by analysing their essays qualitatively, confirmed that a game-based learning environment provided opportunities to develop the 4Cs. Thus, the implementation of game-based learning environments in higher education should be further investigated.https://unisapressjournals.co.za/index.php/Progressiohj2023Science, Mathematics and Technology Educatio

Design principles for introducing 21st century skills by means of game-based learning

Educators are drawn into a battle for student attention and engagement in any learning environment. This article describes how a learning environment can be changed into a game-based activity to ensure student engagement. Modules aimed at the professional development of students present numerous challenges in the structuring of learning environments that develop communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking skills, the 4Cs of 21st century skills. This article is based on an activity designed for 145 engineering students and intended to habituate them to the university while simultaneously exposing them to opportunities for the development of the 4Cs. During the design, execution and refinement of the learning environment in five consecutive years, 15 design principles that could be employed to facilitate the implementation of a game-based learning activity emerged. Student reflection essays, lecturer observations, field notes and a focus group interview conducted with tutors and colleagues were analysed qualitatively to inform the investigation into students’ experiences of a game-based learning environment aimed at their professional development. The voices of the students were used to confirm the value of this environment. The design principles can be employed in other learning environments to support practitioners’ game-based learning efforts.http:/journals.sagepub.com/home/ihehj2023Science, Mathematics and Technology Educatio

Can Gender Pronouns in Interview Questions Work as Nudges?

Organizations that are historically male-dominated have struggled to attract and retain an equitable representation of women (Debs et al., 2021; Germain et al., 2012; Hall et al., 2018) Using the two systems processing model from Cognitive Psychology, this study assessed whether gender pronouns can function as environmental cues (“nudges”) to disrupt the patterns of mental models on biases and stereotypes. It was proposed that participants can be “nudged” to decrease the impact of gender stereotype biases in the interview process in male-dominated professions (e.g., Information Technology) such that pronouns used in the interview questions will interact with the interviewee’s gender. Results from 1056 participants (Male = 498, Female = 558) revealed that proposed interaction was not supported, indicating that female pronouns did not improve female participants’ selection performance, interviewee engagement and other outcomes, but main effects by gender and by pronoun condition were found to be significant. Across conditions, women scored higher on Situational Judgment Test, used more words in Situational Interviews, while men took a longer time to respond, reported a higher sense of belonging, a higher intent to pursue employment and higher perceived organizational support. Across genders, the “you” condition had a higher score on word count (WTS = 12.57, p \u3c .05) and intent to pursue employment (WTS = 7.1, p \u3c .05). This is indicative that using second person “you” in scenarios may help participants assume the perspective of the agent, thus transcending the problems that may come with third-person pronouns

Impacto de una propuesta con aprendizaje basado en juego en educación física sobre el compromiso cognitivo y nivel disfrute en preescolares

Different studies have shown that play and motor activities supply numerous benefits in the bio-psycho-social dimension of children. In this regard, physical exercise with cognitive involvement has been proven to be the most encouraging alternative to promote cognitive improvements in students. The aim of this study was to verify if a gamified motor play proposal with cognitive involvement had the necessary characteristics to generate improvements in cognitive abilities, specifically, sufficient cognitive engagement and enjoyment level. An exploratory design was used in the study, and 19 children (14 girls and 5 boys) aged 5 participated. A playful proposal was designed with Game-Based Learning along with some elements of Gamification through the Moving Ghost Blitz game. The degree of enjoyment and cognitive commitment were evaluated and the SWOT and CAME matrices were applied to evaluate the design of the educational proposal. The results showed that the level of cognitive engagement was high (M = 2.16) as well as the overall enjoyment level (M = 8.16). The SWOT and CAME results proved that the method and materials made up a strong motivational element for the students, favoring their involvement in the game. In conclusion, this work allowed to verify the validity of this task for use within interventions aimed at the physical-cognitive development of the student, as well as making a better adjustment of these to the child's abilities, improving teaching practice and obtaining higher-quality programs.Diferentes investigaciones han comprobado que las actividades lúdicas y motrices aportan numerosos beneficios en la dimensión bio-psico-social de los infantes. En esta línea, el ejercicio físico con implicación cognitiva se ha comprobado que es la alternativa más alentadora para promover mejoras cognitivas en el alumnado. El objetivo de este estudio fue verificar si una propuesta de juego motor gamificado con implicación cognitiva poseía las características necesarias para generar mejoras en las capacidades cognitivas, en concreto, un suficiente compromiso cognitivo y grado de disfrute. En el estudio se utilizó un diseño exploratorio y participaron 19 niños (14 niñas y 5 niños) de 5 años. Se diseñó una propuesta lúdica con Aprendizaje Basado en Juegos junto con algunos elementos propios de la Gamificación a través del Juego el fantasma Blitz en movimiento. Se evaluaron el nivel de disfrute y compromiso cognitivo. También fue aplicada la matriz DAFO Y CAME, para valorar el diseño de la propuesta educativa. Los resultados evidenciaron que el nivel de compromiso cognitivo fue elevado (M = 2.16) al igual que el grado de disfrute global (M = 8.16). Los resultados DAFO y CAME demostraron que la metodología empleada y los materiales constituyeron un fuerte elemento motivacional para el alumnado, favoreciendo su implicación en el juego.  En conclusión, este trabajo ha permitido verificar la validez de la tarea para su uso dentro de intervenciones que tengan como objetivo el desarrollo físico-cognitivo del alumno, así como realizar un mayor ajuste de estas a las capacidades infantiles, mejorando la práctica docente y obteniendo programas de una mayor calidad