Middle-to-High School Girls as Game Designers – What are the Implications?

The percentage of young women choosing educational paths leading to science and technology-based employment has been dropping for several years. In our view, the core cause for this phenomenon is not a lack of ability, but rather a combination of low self efficacy, misconception of the IT field, and lack of interest and social support from families and peers. The specific aim of this paper is to discuss a case study – a class named Gaming for Girls. This class was offered to middle and high school girls three times from Fall 05 to Summer 06. In these classes, female students assumed the role of designers and developers engaged in developing their own games using commercial game engines. Based on this experience, we assert that through the activity of designing games using game engines, girls can (a) gain an understanding of the game development process, (b) acquire computer science skills, and (c) increase their confidence level with regards to computing

Playing With A Career in Ruins : game Design and Virtual Heritage

L'article esboça les diferències entre contextos virtuals convencionals i jocs de computadora, i discuteix que els punts forts específics i debilitats en l'ús de jocs d'ordinador per crear reconstruccions arqueològiques exigeixen una reflexió curosa i ben orientada. Aquests límits inclouen el problema de l'aprenentatge procedimental vs. el prescriptiu, el pensament conceptual, la càrrega cognitiva, la interacció no violenta i l'autenticitat històrica. Es proposen de forma breu possibles solucions que inclouen el desenvolupament de gèneres de jocs de rol, incorporant bioretroalimentació, l'adopció de límits difosos i de localització indeterminable, al·ludint a les creences culturals diferents per mitjà de la física basada en àmbits, i en l'ús de tècniques de joc d'estil detectivesc per ajudar a transmetre coneixements.El siguiente artículo traza las diferencias entre contextos virtuales convencionales y juegos de computador, y discute que los específicos puntos fuertes y debilidades en la utilización de juegos de computador para crear reconstrucciones arqueológicas exigen una reflexión cuidadosa y bien orientada. Estas limitaciones incluyen el problema del aprendizaje procedimental versus el aprendizaje prescriptivo, el pensamiento conceptual, la carga cognitiva, la interacción no violenta y la autenticidad histórica. Se proponen de forma breve posibles soluciones que incluyen el desarrollo de géneros de juegos de rol, incorporando bioretroalimentación, la adopción de límites difusos y de localización indeterminable, aludiendo a las diferentes creencias culturales por medio de la física basada en ámbitos, y el empleo de técnicas de juego de estilo detectivesco para ayudar a transmitir conocimientos prescriptivos (tal como se transmiten en los textos arqueológicos) a una audiencia más amplia.The following paper outlines differences between conventional virtual environments and computer games, and argues the particular strengths and weaknesses of using computer games for creating archaeological reconstructions need to carefully thought out and addressed. Limitations include the problem of procedural versus prescriptive learning, conceptual thinking, cognitive loading, non-violent interaction, and historical authenticity. Several possible solutions are briefly outlined, which include developing role-playing genres, incorporating biofeedback, adopting vague and indeterminable place-like boundaries, alluding to different cultural beliefs through realm-based physics, and emplying detective-style game techniques to help convey prescriptive knowledge (such as conveyed in archaeological texts) to a wider audience

The Abertay Code Bar – unlocking access to university-generated computer games intellectual poperty

Progress report on a digital platform and dual licensing model developed to unlock access to a University repository of new and legacy computer games based Intellectual Property (IP) assets for educational and commercial use. The digital creative industries have been identified by a number of governments as a priority area in delivering sustainable economic growth. Code Bar is an innovation that allows digital products to be commercially successful beyond the end of the Dare competition or coursework submission. To be selected for Code Bar, game products must be well designed for both player and market; technically robust (i.e. operating consistently and reliably on a single/multiple platforms), and be free from ambiguity around 3rd party IP. We describe various technical, pedagogic and legal challenges in developing the digital platform, licensing model and packaging of computer games products for release through the platform. The model is extendable beyond computer games to other software products

Designing Mobile Educational Games on Voter‟s Education: A Tale of Three Engines

The rapid growth of mobile learning is influenced by the ability to access learning content anytime and anywhere. The on demand capability is available because mobile devices allow for convergence of internet and communications technologies. At the same time, the availability of engines makes development of mobile applications faster and seamless. However, not all mobile development engines are alike. This paper discusses on the development of mobile learning applications using mobile development engines in teaching Filipinos on responsible voting. Specifically, this paper discusses how AndEngine, Ren’Py, and homegrown Usbong were used to develop a mobile board game and a mobile comic book to promote responsible voting to the Filipino youth

Teaching Prevention through Design (PtD) Principles Using a Non-Traditional Pedagogical Strategy

abstract: Many accidents occur during construction and maintenance of facilities. Both research and practice have demonstrated that decisions made during the design and planning phases before work at a construction site can influence workers’ safety. The Prevention through Design (PtD) concept is the consideration of construction site safety in the design of a project. In one research study, more than 200 fatality investigation reports were reviewed, and the results showed that 42 percent of fatalities reviewed were linked to the absence of the PtD concept (Behm, 2005). This work indicates that the associated risk that contributed to the incident would have been reduced or eliminated if PtD had been utilized. Researchers have identified the reasons for not applying the PtD concept. The predominant reason is that most architects and design engineers do not learn about construction safety and construction processes required to eliminate construction safety hazards through design. Therefore, Prevention through Design education of architects, design engineers, and construction managers is vital. However, in most curricula, there is no room for an entire course focused on PtD. Therefore, one researcher implemented 70 minutes long lecture-based intervention in a project management class of the civil engineering discipline, but it did not prove effective (Behm, Culvenor, & Dixon, 2014). Hence, there is an opportunity to teach PtD to students using alternative teaching strategies such as computer games. Computer games are routinely considered as the most important and influential medium by college students. In this research study, a serious game and a paper-based game (paper version of the serious game) were developed and implemented. The aim of the study was to measure the effectiveness of alternative teaching methods to train students for safe design thinking. The result shows that the computer game engaged the students in comprehensive hazard recognition challenges. The learning experience of the students was compared to two other interventions: paper-based game and lecture-based teaching. The in-class lecture and the computer game were effective in delivering the prevention through design topics. The game was more effective compared to the lecture. The paper-based game failed to motivate students to learn. This dissertation discusses the possible reasons for success and failures of these pedagogical approaches.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering 201

A case study of augmented reality serious games

The study introduced in this paper examines some of the issues involved in the design and implementation of serious games that make use of tangible AR environments. Our motivation is to understand how augmented reality serious games (ARSG) can be applied to some very difficult problems in the real gaming world. Emphasis is given on the interface and the interactions between the players and the serious games themselves. In particular, two case studies are presented, ARPuzzle and ARBreakout. Results from both case studies indicate that AR gaming has the potential of revolutionizing the way that current games are played and used as well as that it can help educate players while playing

Virtual Reality Games for Motor Rehabilitation

This paper presents a fuzzy logic based method to track user satisfaction without the need for devices to monitor users physiological conditions. User satisfaction is the key to any product’s acceptance; computer applications and video games provide a unique opportunity to provide a tailored environment for each user to better suit their needs. We have implemented a non-adaptive fuzzy logic model of emotion, based on the emotional component of the Fuzzy Logic Adaptive Model of Emotion (FLAME) proposed by El-Nasr, to estimate player emotion in UnrealTournament 2004. In this paper we describe the implementation of this system and present the results of one of several play tests. Our research contradicts the current literature that suggests physiological measurements are needed. We show that it is possible to use a software only method to estimate user emotion

A Serious Games Development Environment

Un ambiente per lo sviluppo di Serious Game