Understanding the fidelity effect when evaluating games with children

There have been a number of studies that have compared evaluation results from prototypes of different fidelities but very few of these are with children. This paper reports a comparative study of three prototypes ranging from low fidelity to high fidelity within the context of mobile games, using a between subject design with 37 participants aged 7 to 9. The children played a matching game on either an iPad, a paper prototype using screen shots of the actual game or a sketched version. Observational data was captured to establish the usability problems, and two tools from the Fun Toolkit were used to measure user experience. The results showed that there was little difference for user experience between the three prototypes and very few usability problems were unique to a specific prototype. The contribution of this paper is that children using low-fidelity prototypes can effectively evaluate games of this genre and style

Mobile learning: benefits of augmented reality in geometry teaching

As a consequence of the technological advances and the widespread use of mobile devices to access information and communication in the last decades, mobile learning has become a spontaneous learning model, providing a more flexible and collaborative technology-based learning. Thus, mobile technologies can create new opportunities for enhancing the pupils’ learning experiences. This paper presents the development of a game to assist teaching and learning, aiming to help students acquire knowledge in the field of geometry. The game was intended to develop the following competences in primary school learners (8-10 years): a better visualization of geometric objects on a plane and in space; understanding of the properties of geometric solids; and familiarization with the vocabulary of geometry. Findings show that by using the game, students have improved around 35% the hits of correct responses to the classification and differentiation between edge, vertex and face in 3D solids.This research was supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council Design Star CDT (AH/L503770/1), the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) projects LARSyS (UID/EEA/50009/2013) and CIAC-Research Centre for Arts and Communication.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The effects of graphical fidelity on player experience

Graphical assets in video games have become increasingly complex over the years, but little is known about their effect on player experience (PX). In this paper, we present results of a controlled study with 48 participants comparing how abstract and stylized graphics influence player experience in casual games. Our results show that high-fidelity graphics result in a more positive impression of the game. However, we also show that many effects are only present in the game with a more challenging mechanic. This shows that casual games can be compelling and enjoyable to play despite simplistic graphics, suggesting that small game developers and researchers need not focus on elaborate visuals to engage players. Copyright © 2013 ACM

Heuristic usability evaluation on games: a modular approach

Heuristic evaluation is the preferred method to assess usability in games when experts conduct this evaluation. Many heuristics guidelines have been proposed attending to specificities of games but they only focus on specific subsets of games or platforms. In fact, to date the most used guideline to evaluate games usability is still Nielsen’s proposal, which is focused on generic software. As a result, most evaluations do not cover important aspects in games such as mobility, multiplayer interactions, enjoyability and playability, etc. To promote the usage of new heuristics adapted to different game and platform aspects we propose a modular approach based on the classification of existing game heuristics using metadata and a tool, MUSE (Meta-heUristics uSability Evaluation tool) for games, which allows a rebuild of heuristic guidelines based on metadata selection in order to obtain a customized list for every real evaluation case. The usage of these new rebuilt heuristic guidelines allows an explicit attendance to a wide range of usability aspects in games and a better detection of usability issues. We preliminarily evaluate MUSE with an analysis of two different games, using both the Nielsen’s heuristics and the customized heuristic lists generated by our tool.Unión Europea PI055-15/E0

Telehealth for expanding the reach of early autism training to parents.

Although there is consensus that parents should be involved in interventions designed for young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), parent participation alone does not ensure consistent, generalized gains in children's development. Barriers such as costly intervention, time-intensive sessions, and family life may prevent parents from using the intervention at home. Telehealth integrates communication technologies to provide health-related services at a distance. A 12 one-hour per week parent intervention program was tested using telehealth delivery with nine families with ASD. The goal was to examine its feasibility and acceptance for promoting child learning throughout families' daily play and caretaking interactions at home. Parents became skilled at using teachable moments to promote children's spontaneous language and imitation skills and were pleased with the support and ease of telehealth learning. Preliminary results suggest the potential of technology for helping parents understand and use early intervention practices more often in their daily interactions with children

Effects of cross-age tutors with EBD on the mathematics performance of at-risk kindergarteners

Challenges with numerical proficiency at an early age can lead to substantial gaps in learning and are associated with detrimental long-term outcomes. Additionally, the academic and behavioral needs of students with emotional-behavioral disorders (EBD) have been identified as some of the most challenging to address. The purpose of this study was to identify the effects and related outcomes of utilizing cross-age tutors (i.e., older students) with, or at-risk for EBD to deliver a number line board game intervention to kindergarten students at-risk for mathematics disabilities. A concurrent multiple baseline design across participants was utilized to evaluate results related to the following research questions: (1) What effects will a number line game delivered by a cross-age tutor with EBD have on the early numeracy knowledge and skills of kindergarten students at-risk for math disabilities? (2) Can students with EBD effectively serve in the role of cross-age tutors (i.e., implement instruction with fidelity and increase tutees’ number sense skills)? (3) What effects will the training and implementation of the cross-age tutoring program have on the tutors’ behavioral performance as well as overall risk status for EBD? Tutoring sessions took place for 25–30 minutes, three times per week, over 10 weeks. Results suggest this cross-age tutoring program to be an effective and feasible model for significantly improving mathematical performance of tutees at-risk for mathematics disabilities and, to a lesser extent, the behavioral ratings of students with EBD. Distal measures showed the intervention’s moderate effect on tutees’ mathematics performance and large effect on decreasing tutors’ risk-status for EBD. Tutors implemented the intervention procedures with high rates of fidelity and, in combination with the significant gains by their tutees, demonstrated the ability of students with EBD to effectively serve as cross-age tutors. In assessing the social validity of this instructional model, the implementing special educator rated the intervention to be effective and beneficial, although challenges were identified in the area of scheduling. All tutors and tutees perceived the program as effective in promoting mathematics skills for the tutees and positive behavioral developments for the tutors. Limitations, implications for practice, and areas of future research are discussed.Special Educatio

Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the Childhood Development Initiative's Mate-Tricks Pro-Social Behaviour After-School Programme

Mate-Tricks is an after-school programme designed to promote pro-social behaviour in Tallaght West (Dublin). Tallaght West has been designated as an area of particular social and economic disadvantage with high levels of unemployment. Mate-Tricks is a bespoke intervention that combines elements of two pro-social behaviour programmes: the Strengthening Families Program (SFP) and Coping Power Program (CPP). The programme is a one-year multi-session after-school programme comprising 59 children-only sessions, 6 parent-only sessions and 3 family sessions, with each session lasting 1½ hours.The intended outcomes of this programme are stated as follows in the Mate-Tricks manual: enhance children's pro-social development; reduce children's anti-social behaviour; develop children's confidence and self-esteem; improve children's problem-solving skills; improve child-peer interactions; develop reasoning and empathy skills; improve parenting skills; improve parent/child interaction. This evaluation reports on the pilot of this programme. Of the 21 outcomes investigated, 19 showed no significant differences between the children who attended Mate-Tricks and the control group. However, there were 2 statistically significant effects of the Mate-Tricks programme and 3 other effects that approached significance. The lack of effects and the few negative effects found in this study replicates findings in several recent studies of after-school behaviour programmes

Implementation fidelity of a computer-assisted intervention for children with speech sound disorders

© 2017 The Speech Pathology Association of Australia Limited Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Background: Implementation fidelity refers to the degree to which an intervention or programme adheres to its original design. This paper examines implementation fidelity in the Sound Start Study, a clustered randomised controlled trial of computer-assisted support for children with speech sound disorders (SSD). Method: Sixty-three children with SSD in 19 early childhood centres received computer-assisted support (Phoneme Factory Sound Sorter [PFSS]–Australian version). Educators facilitated the delivery of PFSS targeting phonological error patterns identified by a speech-language pathologist. Implementation data were gathered via (1) the computer software, which recorded when and how much intervention was completed over 9 weeks; (2) educators’ records of practice sessions; and (3) scoring of fidelity (intervention procedure, competence and quality of delivery) from videos of intervention sessions. Result: Less than one-third of children received the prescribed number of days of intervention, while approximately one-half participated in the prescribed number of intervention plays. Computer data differed from educators’ data for total number of days and plays in which children participated; the degree of match was lower as data became more specific. Fidelity to intervention procedures, competency and quality of delivery was high. Conclusion: Implementation fidelity may impact intervention outcomes and so needs to be measured in intervention research; however, the way in which it is measured may impact on data