An Emerging Model of Creative Game-based Learning

We consider the integration of creative approaches to problem solving into pervasive games is a natural extension of play for creative thinking – one that can innovatively drive technology-led changes to the facilitation of creative thinking and pose a new genre in serious gaming for learning. This paper presents an initial proposal of a new model of creative game-base learning (CGBL), which emerged through mapping of established characteristics of climates that encourage creativity and innovation to characteristics of effective serious games

Games for health for children - current status and needed research

Videogames for health (G4H) offer exciting, innovative, potentially highly effective methods for increasing knowledge, delivering persuasive messages, changing behaviors, and influencing health outcomes. Although early outcome results are promising, additional research is needed to determine the game design and behavior change procedures that best promote G4H effectiveness and to identify and minimize possible adverse effects. Guidelines for ideal use of different types of G4H by children and adolescents should be elucidated to enhance effectiveness and minimize adverse effects. G4H stakeholders include organizational implementers, policy makers, players and their families, researchers, designers, retailers, and publishers. All stakeholders should be involved in G4H development and have a voice in setting goals to capitalize on their insights to enhance effectiveness and use of the game. In the future, multiple targeted G4H should be available to meet a population's diverse health needs in developmentally appropriate ways. Substantial, consistent, and sophisticated research with appropriate levels of funding is needed to realize the benefits of G4H

Evidenzen immersiver auditiver Narrationen für die psycholinguistische Förderung

Narrative Immersion hat sich in medienpsychologischen Studien als wesentlicher Mediator für die Wirkung von Unterhaltungsangeboten erwiesen . Diese Erkenntnis kann nutzbar gemacht werden, um sog. Entertainment-Education Formate zu entwickeln, die den Erwerb von Sprachkompetenzen unterstützen. Es wird angenommen, dass das Unterhaltungspotential von Geschichten eine immersive Rezeption unterstützt, die in einer hohen Aufmerksamkeit für die dargebotenen Informationen resultiert. Wenig erforscht ist bislang allerdings das Potential immersiver Hör angebote für die Sprachförderung, obgleich sprachliche Daten hier in besonders wohlgeformter, und hilfreich-redundanter Weise vermittelt werden und eine intensive Verarbeitung nahelegen.An der TU Dortmund werden deshalb seit einigen Jahren Hörspiele zur Sprachförderung nach medienpsychologischen (Ziel: Immersion) wie psycholinguistischen (Ziel: sprachförderliche Wirksamkeit) Kriterien entwickelt und systematisch evaluiert (http://www.wetterschacht-detektive.de). Im Vortrag werden die Befunde einer experimentellen Untersuchungsreihe präsentiert, die sich auf sprachunauffällige und mehrsprachige sowie SLI-Kinder im Vor- und Grundschulalter beziehen. Es wird deutlich, dass Kinder in beiden Altersgruppen Sprachstrukturen aus einem Hörspiel bereits nach einmaliger Rezeption übernehmen und über eine mehrmalige Rezeption verfestigen, sodass sie fest im Sprachwissen verankert werden können. Diese Wirksamkeit bezieht sich nicht nur auf semantische, sondern auch grammatische Dimensionen. Voraussetzung ist allerdings ein durch die narrative Immersion induziertes Interesse an dem Hörspiel

Reward-based or meaningful gaming? A field study on game mechanics and serious games for sustainability

Despite investigating digital gaming for commercial purposes, less scholarly attention exists on digital gaming for societal purposes such as sustainability (“serious games”). The current study investigates whether a serious game can enhance sustainability marketing outcomes, including knowledge, value-in-behavior, and behavioral intentions longitudinally (pre-gameplay to post-gameplay). Further, the study seeks to understand the influence of reward-based and meaningful game mechanics on these sustainability marketing outcomes. We recruited 387 participants for a week-long field study using a serious game which encourages household energy conservation. The findings show that the serious game significantly increased sustainability knowledge, value-in-behavior, and sustainable behavioral intention after one week. Reward-based game mechanics (badges and trophies) significantly influenced sustainability knowledge and indirectly influenced value-in-behavior via sustainability knowledge, whereas reward-based (points) and meaningful (educational messages) game mechanics had little impact. The results empirically support the conceptual model theorization—underpinned by a “do–learn–feel” behavioral learning approach—which possessed superior fit to a “do–feel–learn” rival model. This study provides novel insights regarding eliciting value-in-behavior longitudinally within serious games. Our multidimensional approach to assessing reward-based game mechanics extends prior studies and suggests that higher-tier rewards are more influential than lower-tiered rewards to achieve sustainability marketing outcomes. We further demonstrate that reward-based game mechanics outperform meaningful game mechanics at influencing desired outcomes, challenging existing gaming literature