A comparison of methodological frameworks for digital learning game design

Methodological frameworks guide the design of digital learning game based on well founded learning theories and instructional strategies. This study presents a comparison of five methodological frameworks for digital learning game design, highlighting their similarities and differences. The objective is to support the choice of an adequate framework, aiming to promote them as a way to foster principled digital learning games design. This paper concludes that: (i) interactivity, engagement and increasing complexity of challenges are fundamental factors to digital learning game design; (ii) the pedagogical base, the target, the possibility of doing game assessment and the presence of practical guidelines are the selection criteria that influence most the choice of a methodological framework, and (iii) the development of digital learning games - preferably by different research teams - is needed to provide empirical evidence of the utility of framework-based design

Games in Higher Education

International audienceThis entry presents an overview of how and why Learning Games are used in higher education.Learning Games can be defined as games that are designed to captivate the learners’ attention and facilitate their learning process. They have explicit educational purposes and can be used for teaching at all levels of education. All types of games can be used for learning: board games, card games, role-playing games, First Person Shooter games, simulation games, management games, puzzle games, treasure hunts…The main characteristic of Learning Games for higher education is the fact that they are designed to teach specific complex skills taught at university or during professional training programs. Unfortunately, it is not infrequent to observe strong opposition on the part of this target audience to this mode of learning, that these adult students associate with children.The use of Learning Games in primary school seems natural to teachers and is encouraged by specialists in didactics and neuroscience. This learning technique is much less frequently used in middle school and is almost completely absent from higher education. Yet teachers at all these levels are faced with the same problems, such as lack of motivation and investment, for which games are known to be an effective solution. This entry presents an overview of the games that can be used for higher education and the reasons why some teachers and students still show resistance to this type of learning. The numerous advantages of games for higher education will then be presented, citing games presently used in universities, in graduate schools and for professional training. Finally, thisDraft : Marfisi-Schottman I. (2019) Games in Higher Education. In: Tatnall A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Education and Information Technologies. Springer, Chamentry presents the current research questions that need to be addressed concerning the design of games for higher education and the acceptance of these games by teachers

A survey of haptics in serious gaming

Serious gaming often requires high level of realism for training and learning purposes. Haptic technology has been proved to be useful in many applications with an additional perception modality complementary to the audio and the vision. It provides novel user experience to enhance the immersion of virtual reality with a physical control-layer. This survey focuses on the haptic technology and its applications in serious gaming. Several categories of related applications are listed and discussed in details, primarily on haptics acts as cognitive aux and main component in serious games design. We categorize haptic devices into tactile, force feedback and hybrid ones to suit different haptic interfaces, followed by description of common haptic gadgets in gaming. Haptic modeling methods, in particular, available SDKs or libraries either for commercial or academic usage, are summarized. We also analyze the existing research difficulties and technology bottleneck with haptics and foresee the future research directions

Integrating narratives into decision making for complex systems engineering design issues

Engineering decision making and design requires collaboration between groups from different disciplines, each with different tools, vocabulary, and concerns. Traditional engineering decision-making tools are generally based on understanding the decision makers’ values, modeling uncertainty with probability, and selecting the alternative that maximizes utility. This rational approach to decision making may not be well understood or used by many stakeholders involved in the engineering design process. Constructing narratives, a basic means of human communication, may aid in engineering communication and comprehension and help with decision making. Narratives represent events by means of a story and usually include characters or agents who cause events and to whom events happen. This paper recommends three methods for how the use of narrative can be applied to the area of engineering decision making. These methods include connecting the decision maker to the analysis, creating narrative simulations for training decision makers, and fostering consensus in problems with multiple stakeholders. An illustrative example of designing a better cookstove for the developing world demonstrates the role that understanding narratives of various stakeholders can play for accomplishing complex systems engineering

Design of a Mixed-Reality Serious Game to Tackle a Public Health Problem

Part 3: PostersInternational audienceDespite the emergence of several game-based initiatives in health, aiming to train students and professionals and to support patients rehabilitation, some public health problems remains neglected. Mosquito-borne diseases are a global public health concern. Education and awareness of population are an important intervention strategy and should be part of public health policies, given that individuals behavior may affect the transmission dynamics of diseases. For instance, improper storage of water can become a breeding site for the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the vector of dengue, zika, chikungunya and urban yellow fever viruses. Most of Aedes foci are in or near people’s homes and the control of mosquitoes population is essential to prevent these diseases. We believe that games are a powerful tool and can be used to support awareness and behavioral changes regarding public health issues. This paper presents the current development stage of a serious game designed to support actions based on education and engagement of population aimed at vector surveillance and control. A mix of a 2D game with augmented and virtual reality modules and the real world itself will provide the proper environment to offer fun with the purpose of helping to deal with this complex problem. The development is based on agile principles, with short cycles involving activities of conception, design, construction and evaluation. Some partial results are game design, prototypes and demos. Future work includes designing and conducting an experimental study to evaluate effectiveness and efficiency regarding knowledge acquiring and behavioral changes