The determining factors of service value and satisfaction for edutainment services in Malaysia

Edutainment is a growing business in our country and it is precisely to study the service value and satisfaction to learn about customers behaviors. The purpose of this study is to identify antecedents of service value and satisfaction and determine the relationship and which antecedents are most influential on value and satisfaction. This research used a nonprobability with mall intercept convenience sampling and 130 respondents were participated in this survey. This study employed the Descriptive analysis, Correlation analysis, and Multiple Regression Analysis. For the data analysis, we have used 127 questionnaires and 7 questionnaires were eliminated due to incomplete. The results of this study are supported that overall service marketing mix and service quality have a positive and significant relationship between service value and service satisfaction. Meanwhile, the most influential antecedents on value are the physical evidence and service quality, for service satisfaction is the service quality. Our research suggests that the edutainment marketing managers should create an effective service marketing mix strategies which leads to customer perceived quality, perceived value as well as perceived satisfaction

Exploring digital comics as an edutainment tool: An overview

This paper aims t oexplore the growing potential of digital comics and graphic novels as an edutainment tool.Initially, the evolvement of comics medium along with academic and commercial initiatives in designing comicware systems arebriefly discussed. Prominent to this study, the methods and impact of utilizing this visual media with embedded instructional content and student-generated comics in classroom setting are rationallyoutlined.By recognizing the emerging technologies available for supporting and accelerating educational comic development, this article addresses the diverse research challenges and opportunities of innovating effective strategies to enhance comics integrated learning across disciplines

Integrating mobile robotics and vision with undergraduate computer science

This paper describes the integration of robotics education into an undergraduate Computer Science curriculum. The proposed approach delivers mobile robotics as well as covering the closely related field of Computer Vision, and is directly linked to the research conducted at the authors’ institution. The paper describes the most relevant details of the module content and assessment strategy, paying particular attention to the practical sessions using Rovio mobile robots. The specific choices are discussed that were made with regard to the mobile platform, software libraries and lab environment. The paper also presents a detailed qualitative and quantitative analysis of student results, including the correlation between student engagement and performance, and discusses the outcomes of this experience

A Paradigm Shift from Optimal Play to Mental Comfort: A Perspective from the Game Refinement Theory

The game refinement theory focuses on the game designer perspective, where its application in various types of games provides evidence of the occurring paradigm shift. Utilizing the logistical model of game outcome uncertainty, it provides a platform for incorporating gamified experience observed in games to be adopted in domains outside of game while retaining the context of the game. Making games as a testbed, the implications of the game refinement theory have been observed in the educational and business perspective, while further explored its utility in interpreting some states of the human mind. In addition, a holistic view of design in games and in the real-world environments was discussed, where the prospects of the game refinement theory were also highlighted

Adaptive Nonparametric Image Parsing

In this paper, we present an adaptive nonparametric solution to the image parsing task, namely annotating each image pixel with its corresponding category label. For a given test image, first, a locality-aware retrieval set is extracted from the training data based on super-pixel matching similarities, which are augmented with feature extraction for better differentiation of local super-pixels. Then, the category of each super-pixel is initialized by the majority vote of the $k$-nearest-neighbor super-pixels in the retrieval set. Instead of fixing $k$ as in traditional non-parametric approaches, here we propose a novel adaptive nonparametric approach which determines the sample-specific k for each test image. In particular, $k$ is adaptively set to be the number of the fewest nearest super-pixels which the images in the retrieval set can use to get the best category prediction. Finally, the initial super-pixel labels are further refined by contextual smoothing. Extensive experiments on challenging datasets demonstrate the superiority of the new solution over other state-of-the-art nonparametric solutions.Comment: 11 page

Game-based evacuation drill using augmented reality and head-mounted display

Purpose–Evacuation drills should be more realistic and interactive. Focusing on situational and audio-visual realities and scenario-based interactivity, we have developed a game-based evacuation drill (GBED) system that presents augmented reality (AR) materials on tablet computers. Our current research purpose is to improve visual reality (AR materials) in our GBED system. Design/methodology/approach–Our approach is to develop a new GBED system that superimposes digital objects (e.g. 3DCG elements) onto real-time vision using a marker-based AR library, a binocular opaque head-mounted display (HMD) and other current easily available technologies. Findings–Our findings from a trial experiment are that the new GBED system can improve visual reality and is appropriate for disaster education. However, a few problems remain for practical use. Research limitations/implications–When using the GBED system, participants (i.e. HMD wearers) can suffer from 3D sickness and have difficulty in moving. These are important safety problems in HMD-based systems. Social implications–The combination of AR and HMDs for GBEDs (i.e. integrating virtual and real worlds) will raise questions about its merits (pros and cons). Originality/value–The originality of our research is the combination of AR and an HMD to a GBED, which have previously been realized primarily as simulation games in virtual worlds. We believe that our research has the potential to expand disaster education

Virtual Conductor for String Quartet Practice

This paper presents a system that emulates an ensemble conductor for string quartets. This application has been developed as a support tool for individual and group practice, so that users of any age range can use it to further hone their skills, both for regular musicians and students alike. The virtual conductor designed can offer similar indications to those given by a real ensemble conductor to potential users regarding beat times, dynamics, etc. The application developed allows the user to rehearse his/her performance without the need of having an actual conductor present, and also gives access to additional tools to further support the learning/practice process, such as a tuner or a melody evaluator. The system developed also allows for both solo practice and group practice. A set of tests were conducted to check the usefulness of the application as a practice support tool. A group of musicians from the Chamber Orchestra of Malaga including an ensemble conductor tested the system, and reported to have found it a very useful tool within an educational environment and that it helps to address the lack of this kind of educational tools in a self-learning environment.This work has been funded by the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad of the Spanish Government under Project No. TIN2010-21089-C03- 02 and Project No. IPT-2011-0885-430000 and by the Ministerio de Industria, Turismo y Comercio under Project No. TSI-090100-2011-25

Pairing craft-making with Mandarin eBooks: An investigation into the use of craft for language learning by pre-schoolers

Bilingual ethnic Chinese parents are concerned about their preschoolers’ learning of their mother tongue. Many allow their children to learn Mandarin by accessing language applications on mobile devices. However the effectiveness of solely using mobile devices as a learning tool for preschoolers is debatable. This paper presents a field investigation on how adult-facilitated craft-making, generates greater interest the reading of Mandarin eBooks and retention of the stories. The data suggests pairing of activities may be useful to children from across language abilities. This also highlights a need for designers and educators to formulate a holistic design approach in the development of preschool mobile learning content

An emotional student model for game-based learning

Students’ performance and motivation are influenced by their emotions. Game-based learning (GBL) environments comprise elements that facilitate learning and the creation of an emotional connection with students. GBL environments include Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs) to ensure personalized learning. ITSs reason about students’ needs and characteristics (student modeling) to provide suitable instruction (tutor modeling). The authors’ research is focused on the design and implementation of an emotional student model for GBL environments based on the Control-Value Theory of achievement emotions by Pekrun et al. (2007). The model reasons about answers to questions in game dialogues and contextual variables related to student behavior acquired through students’ interaction with PlayPhysics. The authors’ model is implemented using Dynamic Bayesian Networks (DBNs), which are derived using Probabilistic Relational Models (PRMs), machine learning techniques, and statistical methods. This work compares an earlier approach that uses Multinomial Logistic Regression (MLR) and cross-tabulation for learning the structure and conditional probability tables with an approach that employs Necessary Path Condition and Expectation Maximization algorithms. Results showed that the latter approach is more effective at classifying the control of outcome-prospective emotions. Future work will focus on applying this approach to classification of activity and outcome-retrospective emotions.</jats:p