Motivation and learning through the creation of educational games

O problema do insucesso escolar remete para a necessidade de novas estratégias pedagógicas para motivar e ensinar alunos. Vários estudos têm realçado o potencial dos jogos como veículos de aprendizagem e motivação. Colocar alunos no papel de criadores de jogos educativos é uma das possíveis abordagens à integração de jogos na educação, suportada pelo Construcionismo, com resultados positivos, mas ainda pouco aplicada em Portugal. Pretende-se investigar a criação de jogos educativos por alunos do Ensino Básico, em contexto de sala de aula, de forma a compreender os processos e efeitos desta estratégia pedagógica a nível de aprendizagens e motivação. A investigação assume o formato estudo de caso num Agrupamento de Escolas TEIP (Território Educativo de Intervenção Prioritária), e é composta por três fases: 1. Formação de professores, 2. Criação de videojogos por alunos do 5º ano (conteúdos de Matemática e Português), 3. Criação de jogos (digitais e não digitais) por alunos do 8º ano (conteúdos de 9 das 12 disciplinas, incluindo Matemática e Português). Para recolha de dados são utilizadas as técnicas observação participante, inquérito, análise documental e audiovisual. Os dados são analisados por estatística descritiva e análise temática. Resultados iniciais indicam que os alunos são capazes de criar jogos funcionais que representam a sua compreensão dos conteúdos trabalhados, com evidências de aprendizagem em termos de conteúdos curriculares, game design, competências tecnológicas e competências transversais. Existem ainda indicadores de motivação e envolvimento (como alunos a trabalhar durante o seu tempo livre ou a mostrar as suas criações fora da escola).The problem of school failure points to the need for new pedagogical strategies to motivate and teach students, especially in risk contexts. Several studies have highlighted the potential of games as vehicles for learning and motivation. Placing students in the role of game designers is one of the possible approaches to integrate games in education, supported by Constructionism, with positive results, but with scarce application in Portugal.This project intends to investigate the design of educational games by middle school students, in a classroom context, in order to understand the processes and effects of the proposed pedagogical strategy. The research consists of a case study in a TEIP (Educational Territory of Priority Intervention) School Group. The study includes three phases: 1. Teacher training, 2. Creation of video games by 5th grade students (contents of Mathematics and Portuguese), 3. Creation of games (digital and non-digital) by 8th grade students (contents of 9 of the 12 school subjects of the class, including Mathematics and Portuguese). Data is collected using participant observation, survey, documents, and audio-visual materials (games created). Data analysis is conducted through descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Initial results indicate that students are able to create functional games that represent their understanding of the contents approached, with evidence of learning in terms of curriculum contents, game design, technological skills and soft skills. There are also indicators of motivation and engagement (such as students working during their free time or showing their creations outside of school).O trabalho da primeira autora é financiado pela Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) com uma bolsa de investigação (PD/BD/127783/2016) no âmbito do Programa de Doutoramento em Aprendizagem Enriquecida por Tecnologia e Desafios Societais. Este trabalho é também financiado pelo CIEd - Centro de Investigação em Educação, projetos UID/CED/1661/2013 e UID/CED/1661/2016, Instituto de Educação, Universidade do Minho, através de fundos nacionais da FCT/MCTES - PT. Gostaríamos de agradecer à Direção do Agrupamento de Escolas onde foi implementado o projeto, por acomodar o estudo e torná-lo logisticamente possível, com um agradecimento especial aos professores e alunos participantes.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Students as creators of educational games: learning to use simple frameworks and tools to empower students as educational game designers

The design of educational games is a powerful pedagogical strategy that can only enter schools if teachers are given the necessary training and support. In this paper we present a training action course for teachers interested in learning how to use simple frameworks and tools to be able to either design educational games themselves or facilitate educational game design by their students. We propose a syllabus, a design framework, and a software solution for digital game creation. This approach has been used in Portugal with middle school teachers and students and has been shown to be effective, resulting in the production of functional educational games (digital and non-digital), with preliminary results showing positive outcomes in learning and engagement.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Educational video game design by 8th graders: investigating processes and outcomes

Although there is evidence that game design can have a positive impact on learning and engagement, there are still few studies researching the creation of educational games by students, particularly in the context of Portuguese schools. This study examines the design of video games by 8th graders, to teach Mathematics, in a classroom setting, with the objective of investigating how designing educational video games affects learning and motivation to learn. The research consists in a case study with twenty-eight 8th grade students. The students were given a preparatory session about educational game design, with a duration of three periods of 45 minutes, and then, a month later, eleven 45 minutes project sessions to create the games, over the course of a week, occurring during their class time. Participants worked in teams and designed video games to teach their colleagues about operations with bases and exponents (math powers). Multiple data sources were used in this qualitative research: participant observation; self-reported evaluation of engagement and learning outcomes; group interview with students; inquiry to participant teachers; games and game design documents. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. The results showed that all teams were able to design video games that represented their understanding of content knowledge, with different game mechanics employed, with learning outcomes in terms of math contents, game design, technological skills and soft skills. Students were motivated by the project, working during their free time and showing their creations outside the classroom setting. Game design lead to knowledge-building and collaboration. At the end of the project there was a sense of competence and accomplishment with students reporting being positively surprised by their creations. This paper discusses the effects of using educational game design by students as a pedagogical strategy, being particularly relevant to inform and guide teachers, school decision-makers, researchers and future research initiatives.This paper reports research developed within the Ph.D. Program Technology Enhanced Learning and Societal Challenges, funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, FCT I.P. – Portugal, under the contract PD/BD/127783/2016. This work is also funded by CIEd – Research Centre in Education, Institute of Education, University of Minho, through national funds of FCT/MCTES-PT. We would like to thank D. Sancho I School Group Direction for accommodating the study and making it logistically possible, with special recognition to Professor César Pereira for his collaboration and commitment, and to the partaking teachers and students. Thank you also to Rahul Banerjee, a researcher at the Center for Game Science, University of Washington, and creator of BlockStudio.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Criação de videojogos educativos por alunos utilizando o BlockStudio

O BlockStudio é um ambiente de programação sem texto, visualmente concreto, que se baseia em programação por demonstração e que, ao eliminar barreiras de conhecimentos de linguagem natural e de linguagem de programação, constitui uma ferramenta de autoria criativa facilmente utilizável por iniciados. Este artigo descreve o BlockStudio e apresenta um caso de utilização deste software por alunos do 8º ano de escolaridade do Ensino Básico, para a criação de videojogos educativos, no âmbito da disciplina de Matemática.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Artigos sobre jogos publicados nas Conferências TicEDUCA, Challenges e EJML: que categorias de atuação e qual a produção relativa a desenho de jogos por alunos?

Os principais objetivos deste estudo foram os seguintes: 1. Identificar os trabalhos apresentados nas conferências Challenges (Conferência Internacional de TIC na Educação), ticEDUCA (Congresso Internacional TIC e Educação) e EJML (Encontro sobre Jogos e Mobile-Learning) relacionados com jogos, publicados nos últimos 10 anos; 2. Classificar os artigos selecionados usando as categorias de aprendizagem baseada em jogos propostas por Holmes e Gee (2016); 3. Analisar os artigos pertencentes à categoria design. Os dados foram obtidos através dos livros de atas das três conferências em análise. Todos os trabalhos, de todas as edições dos últimos 10 anos (2007 a 2017), incluindo no seu título léxico derivado da palavra jogo (nos três idiomas admitidos para publicação) foram recolhidos para análise. O título, o resumo e as palavras-chave foram examinados para categorizar cada artigo como estudando uma das seguintes abordagens à utilização de jogos na educação: ação, estrutura, ponte e design. Os artigos classificados como pertencendo à categoria design foram analisados com detalhe e foi extraída informação sobre objetivo, metodologia, participantes, produtos e resultados. Os resultados evidenciam que cerca de 6.4% de todos os artigos publicados possuem palavras derivadas de “jogo” no título. Desses, 65% pertencem à estratégia de aprendizagem baseada em jogos categorizada como ação, 18% inserem-se na categoria estrutura, 7% na categoria design e cerca de 11% não correspondem a nenhuma das categorias propostas. Os artigos correspondentes à categoria design utilizam metodologias qualitativas (investigação-ação e estudo de caso) e apresentam resultados favoráveis à utilização desta estratégia.The main objectives of this study were: 1. To identify the papers presented at Challenges (International Conference on ICT in Education), ticEDUCA (International Congress on ICT and Education) and EJML (Games and Mobile-Learning Conference) published in the last 10 years; 2. Classify the selected papers using the game-based learning categories proposed by Holmes and Gee (2016); 3. Analyse the studies fitting the design category. The data were obtained through the proceedings of the three conferences under analysis. All works, from all editions of the last 10 years (2007 to 2017), including in the title any word derived from the word “game” (in any of the three languages admitted for publication) were collected for analysis. The title, abstract, and keywords were examined to categorize each article as belonging to one of the following approaches to the use of games in education: action, structure, bridge, and design. The articles classified into the design category were analysed in detail and information about objective, methodology, participants, products and results was collected. The results show that about 6.4% of all published articles have words derived from "game" in the title. Of those, 65% belong to the game-based learning strategy categorized as action, 18% fall into the structure category, 7% into the design category and about 11% do not correspond to any of the proposed categories. The articles corresponding to the design category use qualitative methodologies (action research and case study) and present favourable results to the use of this strategy.O trabalho da primeira autora é financiado pela Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) com uma bolsa de investigação (PD/BD/127783/2016) no âmbito do Programa de Doutoramento em Aprendizagem Enriquecida por Tecnologia e Desafios Societais. Este trabalho é também financiado pelo CIEd - Centro de Investigação em Educação, projetos UID/CED/1661/2013 e UID/CED/1661/2016, Instituto de Educação, Universidade do Minho, através de fundos nacionais da FCT/MCTES-PT.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Teaching fractions to primary school students with videogames: a comparison between instructivist and constructionist approaches

There are two key lines of research studying the effects that educational games have on students’ knowledge acquisition and motivation: one focusing on instructivist pedagogical strategies (placing students in the role of players) and one aiming constructionist ones (placing students in the role of educational game designers). There are scarce studies comparing the two strategies, with initial results indicating that the constructionist approach may bring greater benefits. Our research question is then the following: are there any differences in knowledge acquisition and motivation between students that design educational games and students that play educational games? Our results suggest that a constructionist approach might have a greater impact both on knowledge and motivation. Our paper describes a pilot study focusing on teaching fractions to elementary students using two different pedagogical strategies, instructivist versus constructionist, with videogames as instruction tools, in an informal learning environment.We would like to thank CESIS (Centre for Social Intervention Studies), in particular its team from the project "Percursos Acompanhados", for accommodating the study and making it logistically possible, a special thank you to Isa Monteiro and Marli Godinho for their support and kindness. Thank you also to the participants for attending the activities and their families for authorizing it. Thank you to Rahul Banerjee, research assistant at Center for Game Science, Washington University, and developer of Blockstud.io, for his readiness and kindness in our valuable discussions about the software's limitations and potential. Thank you to Leonor Duarte and Jose Falcao, primary school teachers, for our conversations, and their input on the written tests and games created for the study. Thank you to Jose Duarte and Ana Guedes for our analytical discussions about data treatment and presentation. We would also like to thank Instituto de Educacao of Universidade do Minho and FCT (Foundation for Science and Technology), Portugal, for financing this study.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Diferenciação genética e morfológica entre as formas pipiens e molestus do mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) Culex pipiens L. da região da Comporta, Setúbal, Portugal

Tese de mestrado, Biologia (Biologia Humana e Ambiente), 2008, Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de CiênciasO complexo de espécies Culex pipiens compreende alguns dos mais importantes mosquitos vectores com distribuição global. Os membros deste complexo são vectores de doenças humanas, como a filaríase linfática, a febre do Nilo e a encefalite de St. Louis. Culex pipiens Linnaeus, 1758 é a espécie do complexo Culex pipiens mais ubíqua em regiões temperadas. Nesta espécie estão descritas duas formas biológicas distintas que apresentam características fisiológicas e comportamentais particulares, a forma molestus e a forma pipiens. A maioria dos estudos em Culex pipiens L. que abordaram níveis de diferenciação genética entre estas formas tem incidido principalmente em populações do Norte da Europa, onde a forma pipiens predomina em habitats de superfície e a forma molestus ocorre quase exclusivamente em habitats subterrâneos. Esta separação física tem sido considerada um factor determinante para o isolamento genético entre as duas formas, consideradas por alguns autores como espécies incipientes. Contudo, no Sul da Europa, populações simpátricas de pipiens e molestus ocorrem em habitats de superfície, proporcionando assim a oportunidade de surgirem híbridos. Estes híbridos poderão servir como vectores-ponte na transmissão de vírus entre as aves (reservatório natural) e o homem. Neste trabalho determinou-se a variação morfológica entre as duas formas biológicas (pipiens e molestus) e estimou-se o nível de diferenciação genética entre as mesmas (com base na análise de ADN microssatélite), utilizando-se amostras provenientes da região da Comporta, Setúbal, Portugal. Tanto a análise morfológica (com especial ênfase para os caracteres comprimento das antenas e índice sinfonal das larvas e o caracter razão D/V da genitália dos machos adultos) e a análise genética concordam na demonstração da existência de duas subpopulações distintas de mosquitos na região em estudo, correspondentes às formas pipiens e molestus. Verificou-se ainda a presença de um número considerável de híbridos, sendo estes mais próximos da forma molestus. Os resultados são discutidos com base em aspectos evolutivos e epidemiológicos associados a esta espécieThe Culex pipiens complex is a group of sibling species that includes vectors of several diseases such as St. Louis encephalitis, lymphatic filariasis and West Nile Fever. One of these species, Culex pipiens Linnaeus 1758, is the most ubiquitous mosquito in temperate regions. It presents two distinct biological forms with different behaviour and ecology: pipiens and molestus. In northern Europe, the molestus form is found in underground habitats whereas the pipiens form occurs at the surface. In southern Europe, both molestus and pipiens forms occur in sympatry in surface habitats. In northern Europe the physical discontinuity between forms (underground versus surface) may reduce gene flow and thus promote isolation between the forms. The same does not necessarily hold for sympatric populations of southern Europe, where the absence of physical barriers to gene flow may extend the opportunity for hybridisation. Hybrids between the two forms have been reported, the occurrence of which is a major concern for public health. Hybrids may readily feed upon both mammals and birds and therefore have the potential to act as bridge vectors, incidentally transmitting arboviruses to humans from their natural avian reservoirs. Morphological and genetic (microsatellite) variation was determined in samples of pipiens and molestus forms, identified by molecular and bio-ecological approaches, from Comporta, Setúbal, Portugal. Both morphological data (with emphasis for the sinfonal index and the length of antennae in larvae and the D/V ratio in adult male genitalias) and genetic data provided evidence for the occurrence of two distinct populations corresponding to the molestus and pipiens forms of Culex pipiens L.. Hibrids between forms were detected and found to be genetically and morphologically related to the molestus form. Results are discussed regarding evolutionary and epidemiological aspects of this specie

Motivation and learning through the creation of educational games

Tese de Doutoramento em Ciências da Educação (Especialidade em Tecnologia Educativa)O problema do insucesso escolar remete para a necessidade de novas estratégias pedagógicas para motivar e ensinar alunos, especialmente em contextos de risco. Diversos estudos têm realçado o potencial dos jogos como veículos de aprendizagem, motivação e envolvimento. Colocar alunos no papel de criadores de jogos é uma das possíveis abordagens à integração de jogos na educação, suportada pelo Construcionismo, com resultados positivos. No entanto, são ainda escassos os estudos que investigam a criação de jogos educativos (jogos que incorporam conteúdos curriculares) pelos alunos, particularmente no que diz respeito ao contexto de escolas portuguesas. Nesta tese, investigou-se a criação de jogos educativos por crianças e jovens, em situação de sala de aula, e em contextos de risco de insucesso escolar, de forma a compreender os processos e efeitos desta estratégia pedagógica. A investigação consistiu num estudo de caso com alunos e professores de um Agrupamento de Escolas TEIP (Território Educativo de Intervenção Prioritária) do distrito de Braga, durante os anos letivos de 2016/2017 e 2017/2018. O estudo incluiu três fases: 1) Ação de formação de professores, 2) Criação de jogos digitais por dois grupos de 18 alunos do 5º ano (conteúdos de Matemática e Português) durante 4 sessões de 90 minutos, 3) Criação de jogos (digitais e não digitais) por uma turma de 28 alunos do 8º ano (conteúdos de 9 das 12 disciplinas da turma) durante 11 sessões de 90 minutos. A recolha de dados foi realizada com recurso às técnicas de observação participante, inquérito (por questionário e entrevista), e análise documental. Os dados foram analisados com estatística descritiva e análise de conteúdo. Os resultados mostram que os alunos são capazes de criar jogos funcionais que representam a sua compreensão dos conteúdos trabalhados, com evidências de aprendizagem em termos de conteúdos curriculares, game design, competências tecnológicas e competências transversais. Existem ainda indicadores de promoção da motivação, particularmente em termos de autonomia, pertença, competência e envolvimento com as tarefas. Os professores participantes consideraram a estratégia pedagógica proposta relevante. Foram identificadas como principais barreiras à sua aplicação limitações relacionadas com questões de tempo e de tecnologia. Esta tese conclui que a criação de jogos educativos por alunos é uma estratégia pedagógica exequível e relevante com efeitos positivos em termos da motivação e aprendizagem.The problem of school failure refers to the need for new pedagogical strategies to motivate and teach students, especially in risk contexts. Several studies have highlighted the potential of games as vehicles for learning, motivation, and engagement. Placing students in the role of game designers is one of the possible approaches to integrate games in education, supported by Constructionism, with positive results. However, there are still few studies that investigate the creation of educational games (games that incorporate curricular content) by students, particularly in the context of Portuguese schools. This thesis investigated the design of educational games by children and teenagers, in a classroom setting, and in contexts of school failure risk, in order to understand the processes and effects of this pedagogical strategy. The research consisted of a case study with students and teachers from a TEIP (Educational Territory of Priority Intervention) School Group in the district of Braga, during the school years of 2016/2017 and 2017/2018. The study included three phases: 1) Teacher training, 2) Creation of digital games by two groups of 18 students from 5th grade (contents of Mathematics and Portuguese) during 4 sessions of 90 minutes, 3) Creation of games (digital and non-digital) by a group of 28 students from 8th grade (contents of 9 of the 12 school subjects of the class) during 11 sessions of 90 minutes. Data was collected using participant observation, survey (by questionnaire and by interview), and documents. Data analysis was conducted through descriptive statistics and content analysis. Results show that students are able to create functional games that represent their understanding of the contents approached, with evidence of learning in terms of curriculum content, game design, technological skills and soft skills. There are also indicators of motivation and engagement (such as students working during their free time or showing their creations outside of school). There are also indicators of motivation, particularly in terms of autonomy, relatedness, competence and engagement with tasks. Participating teachers considered the proposed pedagogical strategy relevant. Limitations related to time and technology issues were identified as the main barriers to its application. This thesis concludes that the creation of educational games by students is a feasible and relevant pedagogical strategy with positive effects in terms of motivation and learning

Video game creation by students: a proposal for a systematic review of the literature

In order to better understand the potential benefits of the use of video game creation as a pedagogical strategy, it is important to know and to have a critical overview of the available research findings on this subject matter. Our research question is thus the following: What is the reported research concerning video game creation by students? The main goals of our study are: 1. To identify and map the research conducted so far within this subject area; 2. To search for and analyse evidence of relations between video game creation by students and behavioural and/or learning outcomes. In this paper we present a protocol for a systematic review of the literature intended to address the proposed research aims.The work of the first author is funded by the Portuguese national funding agency for science, research and technology (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, IP - FCT) with a research scholarship (PD/BD/127783/2016) under the PhD Programme in Technology Enhanced Learning and Societal Challenges. The authors would like to thank their colleague Sandro Monteiro for his advice and expertise with regards to protocols for systematic reviews of the literature.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio