Learning style analysis in adaptive GBL application to teach SQL

The benefits derived from delivering learning content in ways that match the student's learning style have been identified in classroom learning and eLearning. Although there is limited empirical evidence in adaptive Games-Based Learning (GBL), adaptivity has been identified to have the potential to improve learning effectiveness. This paper presents the results of a study to investigate the use of learning styles in GBL particularly in identifying the learning style in GBL including the learning style's fluctuation during the learning process. For the purposes of this study, a game with two game modes was developed: 1) non-adaptivity mode and 2) a mode that had an in-game adaptive system that dynamically and continuously adapted its contents according to the student's interactions in the game. In both modes, the interactions between the participants and the game were recorded in a database. The study was performed with 60 students in Higher Education. The results show that the learning style identified by using a learning style questionnaire is not always consistent with the learning style identified in the game. The results also show the learning style fluctuates during the learning process in GBL although there is a tendency for participants to choose the same learning style as the learning style identified outside the game in the first mission of the game. The number of mistakes committed by participants has been identified to have a strong correlation to the fluctuation. The results contribute to the body of empirical evidence in adaptive GBL particularly in identifying the learning style fluctuation in GBL and the paper provides recommendations on the use of adaptivity in GBL to accommodate this fluctuation.     

最大延迟排序的两人合作博弈

现实活动中存在大量需要由多人合作才能共同完成某项工作的情况。文中研究了在工件加工时相同的情况下,以最小的最大延迟作为加工成本的两人合作博弈问题,每人有一台用于加工工件的机器。建立模型时,不但考虑到合作双方的效率,且充分体现公平性原则,通过确定这批工件的一个恰当划分,将工件分配给两台机器,使得相应的合作收益分配合理,能被双方接受。文中先分析了模型最优解的存在性以及解的个数,并最终采用几个数值算例验证了模型的有效性。     

Implicit and explicit training in the mitigation of cognitive bias through the use of a serious game

Heuristics can interfere with information processing and hinder decision-making when more systematic processes that might lead to better decisions are ignored. Based on the heuristic-systematic model (HSM) of information processing, a serious training game (called MACBETH) was designed to address and mitigate cognitive biases that interfere with the analysis of evidence and the generation of hypotheses. Two biases are the focus of this paper—fundamental attribution error and confirmation bias. The efficacy of the serious game on knowledge and mitigation of biases was examined using an experiment in which participants (N = 703) either played the MACBETH game or watched an instructional video about the biases. Results demonstrate the game to be more effective than the video at mitigating cognitive biases when explicit training methods are combined with repetitive play. Moreover, explicit instruction within the game provided greater familiarity and knowledge of the biases relative to implicit instruction. Suggestions for game development for purposes of enhancing cognitive processing and bias mitigation based on the MACBETH game design are discussed.     

Expanding exertion gaming

While exertion games-digital games where the outcome is determined by physical exertion-are of growing interest in HCI, we believe the current health and fitness focus in the research of exertion games limits the opportunities this field has to offer. In order to broaden the agenda on exertion games, we link the existing fields of sports and interactive entertainment (arguing these fields have much to offer) by presenting four of our own designs as case studies. Using our experiences with these designs we highlight three key strategies to guide designers in the creation of richer exertion game experiences: designing a temporal trajectory through games with reference to the way exertion changes over time, designing for the inevitable and not necessarily negative effects of pain in exertion games, and designing for the highly socially situated nature of exertion gaming.     

The Trojan Player Typology: A cross-genre,cross-cultural,behaviorally validated scale of video game play motivations

While many video game researchers have built scales to tackle the motivations that people have for playing video games, these scales are often limited by their focus on specific game genres or player cultures as well as their lack of behavioral validation. The present research offers a new scale for player motivations and then examines its validity across two distinct gaming genres and cultures, drawing from server-side data combined with survey data of 18,627 players of the Multiplayer Online Battle Arena League of Legends and 18,819 players of the Chinese Massively Multiplayer Online Game Chevalier’s Romance Online 3. Six types of player motivations were found: socializer, completionist, competitor, escapist, story-driven, and smarty-pants. Consistent with previous research on player motivations, this typology offers new insights into why people play video games and how player motivations can be used to infer players’ in-game behaviors.     

The corporeal turn: at the intersection of rhetoric,bodies, and video games

Through a critical literature review, this article examines the trend in game studies toward studying bodies, both of players and of characters, in communication scholarship. Specifically, first I discuss how the field of rhetoric has gradually become more familiar with studying games. Second, I map rhetorical studies’ involvement in materialism, specifically through the investigation of bodies. Third, I offer an extensive, though not exhaustive, review of how game studies has hitherto approached research regarding bodies. The article concludes by forecasting the future of game bodies and game studies with an eye toward Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) gaming, augmented reality, and virtual reality. This article argues that instead of creating a single, unifying theory of gaming bodies, games scholars should identify themes of bodies in games.     

A multilevel analysis of the effects of external rewards on elementary students' motivation,engagement and learning in an educational game

This study investigated the effects of external rewards on fifth graders' motivation, engagement and learning while playing an educational game. We were interested in exploring whether the feedback-rich environment of the game could mitigate the predicted negative effects of external rewards. Data of students' engagement and learning were collected and analyzed at multiple levels. A quasi-experimental design was used to examine the effect of external rewards in one group (n = 50) compared to a control group without such rewards (n = 56). According to the results, the external rewards did not undermine students' motivation (e.g., at proximal and distal levels), however they did not foster disciplinary engagement. On the other hand, students in the reward condition showed significantly larger gains in conceptual understanding (proximal) and non-significantly larger gains in achievement (distal). These results suggest that the predicted negative consequences of external rewards may be addressed in this new generation of learning environments. Future research and contributions of the study are provided.     

Individual differences in response to cognitive training: Using a multi-modal,attentionally demanding game-based intervention for older adults

The effectiveness of a game-based cognitive training intervention on multiple abilities was assessed in a sample of 39 older adults aged 60–77. The intervention task was chosen based on a cognitive task analysis designed to determine the attentional and multi-modal demands of the game. Improvements on a measure of attention were found for the intervention group compared to controls. Furthermore, for the intervention group only, initial ability scores predicted improvements on both tests of attention and spatial orientation. These results suggest cognitive training may be more effective for those initially lower in ability.