Selecting Serious Games for the Computer Science Class

The aim of this paper was to investigate models to select serious games for use in the computer science class. The lack of a useful framework to select serious games that meet the teaching and learning objectives presented a significant obstacle when serious games where introduced into tertiary education. This paper briefly discusses three frameworks, the RETAIN model, the four-dimensional framework, and the magic bullet model. Lecturers evaluated serious games using the guidelines suggested by each of these models and their perceptions of the models were captured using a short questionnaire. Using descriptive analysis to analyse the data, the results are that lecturers prefer the four-dimensional framework when considering and selecting serious games as a teaching tool in the computer science class. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n21p39

A serious game for developing computational thinking and learning introductory computer programming

Owing to their ease of engagement and motivational nature, especially for younger age groups, games have been omnipresent in education since earliest times. More recently, computer video games have become widely used, particularly in secondary and tertiary education, to impart core knowledge in some subject areas and as an aid to attracting and retaining students. Academics have proposed a number of approaches, using games-based learning (GBL), to impart theoretical and applied knowledge,especially in the computer science discipline. Our research is concerned with the design of an innovative educational game framework focused on the development of Computational Thinking (CT) skills, and herein we introduce a serious game, based on our framework, which encourages the development of CT skills to facilitate learning introductory computer programming. We describe how a limited number of key introductory computer programming concepts have been mapped onto the game-play, and how an equivalent set of skills characterising CT can be acquired through playing the game. A survey response group of 25 students, following computer science and related degree programmes but with very diverse backgrounds and experience, provided initial usability feedback on the game. Their feedback confirmed that they found the game enjoyable, and also universally believed that this approach would be beneficial in helping students learn problem-solving skills for introductory computer programming. Feedback from this group will be incorporated in a revised version of the game, which will now be subject to rigorous experimental evaluation and analysis, to provide structured empirical evidence in support of our approach

Videogames as an incipient research object inMathematics Education

[EN] This article presents a review of research made in the eld of mathematics education onthe use of video games in the classroom. These investigations have focused on four areas:impact in academic performance focused on mathematical contents, speci c mathematicalcontents learning, videogame design elements for mathematical learning and relation bet-ween videogames and problem solving. Finally, we propose two research new approachesthat have not been explored so far, like the use of commercial videogames for mathema-tical activities or the use of simulation games as environment to promote mathematicalmodeling[ES] En este artículo presentamos una revisión de las investigaciones realizadas en el ámbito de la Educación Matemática sobre el uso de videojuegos en las aulas. Hemos identificado cuatro aspectos que han centrado estas investigaciones: el impacto sobre el rendimiento académico en matemáticas, el aprendizaje de contenidos matemáticos concretos, los elementos de diseño de videojuegos para el aprendizaje de las matemáticas y la relación entre los videojuegos y la resolución de problemas. Finalmente, proponemos dos nuevos enfoques de investigación que todavía no han sido explorados, como el uso de videojuegos comerciales para desarrollar actividades matemáticas o el uso de videojuegos de simulación como entorno para promover la modelización matemática.Albarracín, L.; Hernández-Sabaté, A.; Gorgorió, N. (2017). Los videojuegos como objeto de investigación incipiente en Educación Matemática. Modelling in Science Education and Learning. 10(1):53-72. doi:10.4995/msel.2017.6081.SWORD5372101Prensky M. (2001). Digital game-based learning. McGraw-HillSalen K., Zimmerman E. (2004). Rules of play: Game design fundamentals. MIT press. Bishop A. (1991). Mathematical enculturation: A cultural perspective on mathematics education. Springer Science & Business Media. de Guzmán M. (2007). Ense-anza de las ciencias y la matemática. Revista Iberoamericana de Educación. Vol. 43, 19-58Clark, D. B., & Martinez-Garza, M. (s. f.). Prediction and Explanation as Design Mechanics in Conceptually Integrated Digital Games to Help Players Articulate the Tacit Understandings They Build through Game Play. Games, Learning, and Society, 279-305. doi:10.1017/cbo9781139031127.023Vigotsky L. S., Cole M. (1979). El desarrollo de los procesos psicológicos superiores. Ed. Crítica. Barcelona.Gros, B. (2007). Digital Games in Education. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 40(1), 23-38. doi:10.1080/15391523.2007.10782494Charsky, D. (2010). From Edutainment to Serious Games: A Change in the Use of Game Characteristics. Games and Culture, 5(2), 177-198. doi:10.1177/1555412009354727Ke F. (2009). A qualitative meta-analysis of computer games as learning tools in "Handbook of research on effective electronic gaming in education". IGI Global, pp 1-32. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-59904-808-6.ch001Gee, J. P. (2003). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. Computers in Entertainment, 1(1), 20. doi:10.1145/950566.950595Dickey, M. D. (2005). Engaging by design: How engagement strategies in popular computer and video games can inform instructional design. Educational Technology Research and Development, 53(2), 67-83. doi:10.1007/bf02504866Connolly, T. M., Boyle, E. A., MacArthur, E., Hainey, T., & Boyle, J. M. (2012). A systematic literature review of empirical evidence on computer games and serious games. Computers & Education, 59(2), 661-686. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2012.03.004Rosas, R., Nussbaum, M., Cumsille, P., Marianov, V., Correa, M., Flores, P., … Salinas, M. (2003). Beyond Nintendo: design and assessment of educational video games for first and second grade students. Computers & Education, 40(1), 71-94. doi:10.1016/s0360-1315(02)00099-4McFarlane A., Sparrowhawk A., Heald, Y. (2002). Report on the educational use of games. TEEM (Teachers evaluating educational multimedia), Cambridge.Hamlen, K. R. (2011). Children’s choices and strategies in video games. Computers in Human Behavior, 27(1), 532-539. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2010.10.001Özyurt, Ö., Özyurt, H., Güven, B., & Baki, A. (2014). The effects of UZWEBMAT on the probability unit achievement of Turkish eleventh grade students and the reasons for such effects. Computers & Education, 75, 1-18. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2014.02.005Radford, L. (2009). «No! He starts walking backwards!»: interpreting motion graphs and the question of space, place and distance. ZDM, 41(4), 467-480. doi:10.1007/s11858-009-0173-9Kebritchi, M., Hirumi, A., & Bai, H. (2010). The effects of modern mathematics computer games on mathematics achievement and class motivation. Computers & Education, 55(2), 427-443. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2010.02.007Bai, H., Pan, W., Hirumi, A., & Kebritchi, M. (2012). Assessing the effectiveness of a 3-D instructional game on improving mathematics achievement and motivation of middle school students. British Journal of Educational Technology, 43(6), 993-1003. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8535.2011.01269.xKe, F. (2008). A case study of computer gaming for math: Engaged learning from gameplay? Computers & Education, 51(4), 1609-1620. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2008.03.003Van den Heuvel-Panhuizen, M., Kolovou, A., & Robitzsch, A. (2013). Primary school students’ strategies in early algebra problem solving supported by an online game. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 84(3), 281-307. doi:10.1007/s10649-013-9483-5Chow, A. F., Woodford, K. C., & Maes, J. (2011). Deal or No Deal: using games to improve student learning, retention and decision-making. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 42(2), 259-264. doi:10.1080/0020739x.2010.519796Bottino, R. M., Ferlino, L., Ott, M., & Tavella, M. (2007). Developing strategic and reasoning abilities with computer games at primary school level. Computers & Education, 49(4), 1272-1286. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2006.02.003Deterding, S., Dixon, D., Khaled, R., & Nacke, L. (2011). From game design elements to gamefulness. Proceedings of the 15th International Academic MindTrek Conference on Envisioning Future Media Environments - MindTrek ’11. doi:10.1145/2181037.2181040Barzilai, S., & Blau, I. (2014). Scaffolding game-based learning: Impact on learning achievements, perceived learning, and game experiences. Computers & Education, 70, 65-79. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2013.08.003Panoutsopoulos H., Sampson D. G. (2012). A Study on Exploiting Commercial Digital Games into School Context. Educational Technology & Society, Vol.15, N.1, 15-27.Modi, G., Yang, P., Swann, A., & Dafny, N. (2006). Behavioral and Brain Functions, 2(1), 1. doi:10.1186/1744-9081-2-1Hernàndez-Sabaté, A., Joanpere, M., Gorgorió, N., & Albarracín, L. (2015). Mathematics learning opportunities when playing a Tower Defense Game. International Journal of Serious Games, 2(4). doi:10.17083/ijsg.v2i4.82Frejd P., Arlebäck J. (2017). Initial Results From An Intervention Using a Mobile Game App To Simulate A Pandemic Outbreak. Proceedings of ICTMA 17.Kiili, K. J. M., Devlin, K., Perttula, A., Tuomi, P., & Lindstedt, A. (2015). Using video games to combine learning and assessment in mathematics education. International Journal of Serious Games, 2(4). doi:10.17083/ijsg.v2i4.98Pope, H., & Mangram, C. (2015). Wuzzit Trouble: The Influence of a Digital Math Game on Student Number Sense. International Journal of Serious Games, 2(4). doi:10.17083/ijsg.v2i4.88Feng, J., Spence, I., & Pratt, J. (2007). Playing an Action Video Game Reduces Gender Differences in Spatial Cognition. Psychological Science, 18(10), 850-855. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01990.xFoster, S. R., Esper, S., & Griswold, W. G. (2013). From competition to metacognition. Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - CHI ’13. doi:10.1145/2470654.2470669Calder N. (2010). Using Scratch: An Integrated Problem-Solving Approach to Mathematical Thinking. Australian Primary Mathematics Classroom, Vol.15, N.4, 9-14.Chorianopoulos, K., & Giannakos, M. (2014). Design Principles for Serious Video Games in Mathematics Education: From Theory to Practice. International Journal of Serious Games. doi:10.17083/ijsg.v1i3.12Wouters P., Oostendorp H., Vrugte J., Vandercruysse S., Jong T., Elen J. (2016). The effect of surprising events in a serious game on learning mathematics. 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Cognitive and affective perspectives on immersive technology in education

This research explains the rationale behind the utilization of mobile learning technologies. It involves a qualitative study among children to better understand their opinions and perceptions toward the use of educational applications (apps) that are available on their mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets. The researchers organized semi-structured, face-to-face interview sessions with primary school students who were using mobile technologies at their primary school. The students reported that their engagement with the educational apps has improved their competencies. They acquired relational and communicative skills as they collaborated in teams. On the other hand, there were a few students who were not perceiving the usefulness and the ease of use of the educational apps on their mobile device. This study indicates that the research participants had different skillsets as they exhibited different learning abilities. In conclusion, this contribution opens-up avenues for future research in this promising field of study.peer-reviewe

Which game narratives do adolescents of different gameplay and sociodemographic backgrounds prefer? a mixed-methods analysis

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate which narrative elements of digital game narratives are preferred by the general adolescent population, and to examine associations with gender, socioeconomic status (SES), and gameplay frequency. Further, the study aims to discuss how results can be translated to serious digital games. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Adolescents were recruited through school to complete a survey on narrative preferences in digital games. The survey included questions on sociodemographic information, frequency of gameplay, and an open-ended question on what could be an appealing narrative for them. Data were analyzed in a mixed-methods approach, using thematic analysis and chi-square analyses to determine narrative preferences and the associations between game narrative elements and player characteristics (gender, SES, and frequency of gameplay). RESULTS: The sample consisted of 446 adolescents (12-15 years old) who described 30 narrative subthemes. Preferences included human characters as protagonists; nonhuman characters only as antagonists; realistic settings, such as public places or cities; and a strong conflict surrounding crime, catastrophe, or war. Girls more often than boys defined characters by their age, included avatars, located the narrative in private places, developed profession-related skills, and included a positive atmosphere. Adolescents of nonacademic education more often than adolescents of academic education defined characters by criminal actions. Infrequent players more often included human characters defined by their age than frequent players. After performing a Bonferroni correction, narrative preferences for several gender differences remained. CONCLUSION: Different narrative elements related to subgroups of adolescents by gender, SES, and frequency of gameplay. Customization of narratives in serious digital health games should be warranted for boys and girls; yet, further research is needed to specify how to address girls in particular

Towards a Lightweight Approach for Modding Serious Educational Games: Assisting Novice Designers

Serious educational games (SEGs) are a growing segment of the education community’s pedagogical toolbox. Effectively creating such games remains challenging, as teachers and industry trainers are content experts; typically they are not game designers with the theoretical knowledge and practical experience needed to create a quality SEG. Here, a lightweight approach to interactively explore and modify existing SEGs is introduced, a toll that can be broadly adopted by educators for pedagogically sound SEGs. Novice game designers can rapidly explore the educational and traditional elements of a game, with a stress on tracking the SEG learning objectives, as well as allowing for reviewing and altering a variety of graphic and audio game elements

Heuristic Evaluation for Serious Immersive Games and M-instruction

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016. Two fast growing areas for technology-enhanced learning are serious games and mobile instruction (M-instruction or M-Learning). Serious games are ones that are meant to be more than just entertainment. They have a serious use to educate or promote other types of activity. Immersive Games frequently involve many players interacting in a shared rich and complex-perhaps web-based-mixed reality world, where their circumstances will be multi and varied. Their reality may be augmented and often self-composed, as in a user-defined avatar in a virtual world. M-instruction and M-Learning is learning on the move; much of modern computer use is via smart devices, pads, and laptops. People use these devices all over the place and thus it is a natural extension to want to use these devices where they are to learn. This presents a problem if we wish to evaluate the effectiveness of the pedagogic media they are using. We have no way of knowing their situation, circumstance, education background and motivation, or potentially of the customisation of the final software they are using. Getting to the end user itself may also be problematic; these are learning environments that people will dip into at opportune moments. If access to the end user is hard because of location and user self-personalisation, then one solution is to look at the software before it goes out. Heuristic Evaluation allows us to get User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) experts to reflect on the software before it is deployed. The effective use of heuristic evaluation with pedagogical software [1] is extended here, with existing Heuristics Evaluation Methods that make the technique applicable to Serious Immersive Games and mobile instruction (M-instruction). We also consider how existing Heuristic Methods may be adopted. The result represents a new way of making this methodology applicable to this new developing area of learning technology

A sweetspot for innovation:developing games with purpose through student-staff collaboration

Within industry as well as academia, developing games that have wider impact on society has been of particular interest in the last decade. The increasing use of terms such as ‘games with purpose’, ‘serious games’ and gamification’ has been mirrored in a flurry of activity in games research. Broader applications of games beyond entertainment are now well-understood and accepted, with universities and companies excelling in creating games to serve particular needs. However, it is not explicitly clear how undergraduates of game design and development courses can be directly involved in serious game creation. With most undergraduates inspired by commercial games development, and the games industry requiring that universities teach specific technical skills in their courses, balancing the research aspirations of academics with the educational requirements of an appropriate undergraduate course can be a difficult balancing act. In this paper, the authors present three case studies of games with purpose developed through collaboration between undergraduate students and academic staff. In all cases, the educational value of the projects for the students is considered in relation to the research value for the academics, who face increasing demands to develop research outcomes despite a necessity to provide a first-rate learning experience and nurture future game developers