User‐centred design and educational data mining support during the recommendations elicitation process in social online learning environments

Social online learning environments provide new recommendation opportunities to meet users' needs. However, current educational recommender systems do not usually take advantage of these opportunities. To progress on this issue, we have proposed a knowledge engineering approach based on human–computer interaction (i.e. user‐centred design as defined by the standard ISO 9241‐210:2010) and artificial intelligence techniques (i.e. data mining) that involve educators in the process of eliciting educational oriented recommendations. To date, this approach differs from most recommenders in education in focusing on identifying relevant actions to be recommended on e‐learning services from a user‐centric perspective, thus widening the range of recommendation types. This approach has been used to identify 32 recommendations that consider several types of actions, which focus on promoting active participation of learners and on strengthening the sharing of experiences among peers through the usage of the social services provided by the learning environment. The paper describes where data mining techniques have been applied to complement the user‐centred design methods to produce social oriented recommendations in online learning environments.     

Kes Sesi: A mobile game designed to improve kindergarteners' recognition of letter sounds

Learning letters is an important area of language learning, conducive to the beginning of reading and writing. Indeed, today's generation prefers to learn through digital games rather than through formal teaching processes. Inspired by this need, the researcher designed this study (a) to test the effectiveness of an instructional digital game, “Kes Sesi,” designed to teach letter recognition skills and (b) to briefly present its instructional development process, which was based on the ADDIE model. This was a quasi‐experimental study with two treatment groups and a control group involving 87 kindergarteners. Treatment groups played the game for 12–6 weeks for learning, 6 weeks for practice. The control group continued with its regular class activities. One treatment group played the game based on predefined sound categorization, the other without any categorization. A test on children's sound recognition abilities was administered three times as a pretest, a midtest, and a posttest. The treatment groups performed significantly better than the control group. The game enhanced the kindergarteners' ability to practice uncategorized content while it enhanced their ability to learn categorized content. The results are promising in that Kes Sesi can be useful in self‐supported learning contexts with little adult input and with minimum outside interference.     

Problem solving through digital game design: A quantitative content analysis

Project Tech engages secondary students (ages 14 to 17) in the process of digital game design in a variety of in-school, after-school, and secure settings. The goal of Project Tech is to leverage students’ interests in games and design to foster their problem-solving in a supportive environment where they learn to create games about a social issue they have experienced personally. The present study compares the in-school special needs version of Project Tech (n = 11) to examine problem solving. Students enrolled in Project Tech were guided in the process of designing digital games aimed at teaching younger students (ages 12–15) about social issues facing teenagers. A quantitative content analysis was conducted on 35 iterations of a directed design game and 35 iterations of a free design game created by special needs young people and director notes. The purpose of the study was to draw from the game iterations a list of empirically grounded problem solving attributes that are associated with digital game design in a special needs classroom. The findings of the study resulted in the understanding of problem solving with special needs young people in four areas: representative characteristics, planning characteristics, executing characteristics and evaluation characteristics.     

Matching and mismatching between the pedagogical design principles of a math game and the actual practices of play

The article reports and discusses a long‐term qualitative study of forty 8–10‐year‐old students who regularly played a math game during math lessons for 9 weeks. The goal was to explore the relations between (i) some of the pedagogical principles that underlie the game and (ii) the playing practice in terms of what actually takes place when students play the math game during regular math lessons. The article discusses indications of matches and mismatches between pedagogical principles and playing practice as they appear in analyses of observations and video recordings. The result highlights the difficulty of predicting areas in which possible mismatches appear between the intentions of the pedagogues and designers of educational technology and the actual use of the technology by the students. This also applies to educational materials that have already been pilot tested and used on a smaller scale. We emphasize the need to observe actual use for extensive periods of time, i.e. to go beyond short‐time user testing.     

Attention to the model's face when learning from video modeling examples in adolescents with and without autism spectrum disorder

We investigated the effects of seeing the instructor's (i.e., the model's) face in video modeling examples on students' attention and their learning outcomes. Research with university students suggested that the model's face attracts students' attention away from what the model is doing, but this did not hamper learning. We aimed to investigate whether we would replicate this finding in adolescents (prevocational education) and to establish how adolescents with autism spectrum disorder, who have been found to look less at faces generally, would process video examples in which the model's face is visible. Results showed that typically developing adolescents who did see the model's face paid significantly less attention to the task area than typically developing adolescents who did not see the model's face. Adolescents with autism spectrum disorder paid less attention to the model's face and more to the task demonstration area than typically developing adolescents who saw the model's face. These differences in viewing behavior, however, did not affect learning outcomes. This study provides further evidence that seeing the model's face in video examples affects students' attention but not their learning outcomes.     

Learning loops – interactions between guided reflection and experience‐based learning in a serious game activity

In a study on experience‐based learning in serious games, 45 players were tested for topic comprehension by a questionnaire administered before and after playing the single‐player serious game Peacemaker (Impact Games 2007). Players were divided into two activity conditions: 20 played a 1‐h game with a 3‐min half‐time break to complete an affect self‐report form while 25 also participated in a 20‐min reflective group discussion during their half‐time break. During the discussion, they were asked by an experimenter to reflect on a set of topics related to the game. We present the analysis of the questionnaires, which illustrates that contrary to our expectations the reflection period had a negative effect on the learning of the players as judged by their performance on closed‐form questions at levels 1–5 (out of 6) on the Bloom taxonomy of learning outcomes. The questionnaire also included a few open questions which gave the players a possibility to display deep (level 6) learning. The players did not differ significantly between conditions regarding the questions measuring deep learning.     

Bridging behavior science and gaming theory: Using the Intervention Mapping Protocol to design a serious game against cyberbullying

IntroductionThe Intervention Mapping Protocol (IMP) was applied to the design of a serious game against cyberbullying among adolescents (12–14y).MethodThe IMP comprises 6 predefined steps. A systematic review assessed the cyberbullying problem and associated health risks (Step 1). Surveys and focus groups collected information on behavior and its determinants from adolescents (surveys, n = 1979 and n = 453; focus groups, n = 69), parents (surveys, n = 48 and n = 323) and educators (survey, n = 451) (Step 1, 2). Meta-analyses analyzed effective methods for cyberbullying programs and serious games (Step 3). A survey (n = 530) and focus groups (n = 69 adolescents, n = 8 adolescents) assessed preferences and program material appreciation (Step 4). Planned activities for step 5 (implementation) and step 6 (effectiveness) are reported.ResultsTargeting positive bystander behavior (defending, reporting and comforting) was chosen as a viable approach to reduce cyberbullying. Bystander behavior differed by context and was predicted most by positive outcome expectations for the victims. Adolescents valued educator and parental support. Predictors for educator behavior and parental support are described. Serious game design was based on effective change methods and features, and took stakeholder and user preferences into account.ConclusionFindings may aid professionals in evidence- and theory-based design of cyberbullying interventions and serious games.     

Predicting students' knowledge after playing a serious game based on learning analytics data: A case study

Serious games have proven to be a powerful tool in education to engage, motivate, and help students learn. However, the change in student knowledge after playing games is usually measured with traditional (paper) prequestionnaires–postquestionnaires. We propose a combination of game learning analytics and data mining techniques to predict knowledge change based on in-game student interactions. We have tested this approach in a case study for which we have conducted preexperiments–postexperiments with 227 students playing a previously validated serious game on first aid techniques. We collected student interaction data while students played, using a game learning analytics infrastructure and the standard data format Experience API for Serious Games. After data collection, we developed and tested prediction models to determine whether knowledge, given as posttest results, can be accurately predicted. Additionally, we compared models both with and without pretest information to determine the importance of previous knowledge when predicting postgame knowledge. The high accuracy of the obtained prediction models suggests that serious games can be used not only to teach but also to measure knowledge acquisition after playing. This will simplify serious games application for educational settings and especially in the classroom easing teachers' evaluation tasks.     

Mobile learning with a mobile game: design and motivational effects

Abstract Mobile technologies offer the opportunity to embed learning in a natural environment. This paper describes the design of the MobileGame prototype, exploring the opportunities to support learning through an orientation game in a university setting. The paper first introduces the scenario and then describes the general architecture of the prototype. The main part of the paper focuses on the evaluation of design issues and the effects observed in two trials. Design issues include: Supporting work on the move poses difficult interface questions, the accuracy of current outdoor, and indoor positioning systems is still problematic and the game requires near real-time response time. The evaluation of the effects shows that features such as ‘map-navigation’ and ‘hunting and hiding’ lead to excitement and fun. The participants immerse into a mixed reality that augments both physical and social space. The game success is based on the motivating design of the game itself. The paper concludes with open issues for future research, especially with the need to thoroughly evaluate the learning benefits.     

An implementation of design-based learning through creating educational computer games: A case study on mathematics learning during design and computing

This mixed-method case study examined the potential of computer-assisted, math game making activities in facilitating design-based math learning for school children. Sixty-four middle school children participated in Scratch-based, math game making activities. Data were collected via activity and conversation observation, artifact analysis, interviewing, and survey. The study findings indicated that participants developed significantly more positive dispositions toward mathematics after computer game making. The study also found that experience-driven game design processes helped to activate children's reflection on everyday mathematical experiences. Mathematical thinking and content experience were intertwined within the process of computer game authoring. On the other hand, children designers were involved in game-world and story crafting more than mathematical representation. And it was still challenging for them to perform computer game coding with abstract reasoning.     

Creating wheelchair-controlled video games: Challenges and opportunities when involving young people with mobility impairments and game design experts

Although participatory design (PD) is currently the most acceptable and respectful process we have for designing technology, recent discussions suggest that there may be two barriers to the successful application of PD to the design of digital games: First, the involvement of audiences with special needs can introduce new practical and ethical challenges to the design process. Second, the use of non-experts in game design roles has been criticised in that participants lack skills necessary to create games of appropriate quality. To explore how domain knowledge and user involvement influence game design, we present results from two projects that addressed the creation of movement-based wheelchair-controlled video games from different perspectives. The first project was carried out together with a local school that provides education for young people with special needs, where we invited students who use wheelchairs to take part in design sessions. The second project involved university students on a game development course, who do not use wheelchairs, taking on the role of expert designers. They were asked to design concepts for wheelchair-controlled games as part of a final-year course on game design. Our results show that concepts developed by both groups were generally suitable examples of wheelchair-controlled motion-based video games, but we observed differences regarding level of detail of game concepts, and ideas of disability. Additionally, our results show that the design exercise exposed vulnerabilities in both groups, outlining that the risk of practical and emotional vulnerability needs to be considered when working with the target audience as well as expert designers.     

A cube to learn: a tangible user interface for the design of a learning appliance

In this paper we introduce the design and development of the Learning Cube as a novel tangible learning appliance. Using the common shape of a cube we implemented a general learning platform that supports test based quizzes where questions and answers can be text or image based. Exploiting the physical affordances of the cube and augmenting it with embedded sensors and LCD displays placed on each face, we present different learning appliances as playful learning interfaces for children. Based on the initial observations of the experience with children, we argue that breaking conventions about how a computer has to look like, and providing children with a playful interface is a promising approach to embed and integrate technology into children’s everyday context and activities.     

Technology-enhanced and game based learning for children with special needs: a systematic mapping study

Technology-based education of children with special needs has become the focus of many research works in recent years. The wide range of different disabilities that are encompassed by the term “special needs”, together with the educational requirements of the children affected, represent an enormous multidisciplinary challenge for the research community. In this article, we present a systematic literature review of technology-enhanced and game-based learning systems and methods applied on children with special needs. The article analyzes the state-of-the-art of the research in this field by selecting a group of primary studies and answering a set of research questions. Although there are some previous systematic reviews, it is still not clear what the best tools, games or academic subjects (with technology-enhanced, game-based learning) are, out of those that have obtained good results with children with special needs. The 18 articles selected (carefully filtered out of 614 contributions) have been used to reveal the most frequent disabilities, the different technologies used in the prototypes, the number of learning subjects, and the kind of learning games used. The article also summarizes research opportunities identified in the primary studies.

     

Electronic sketching on a multi-platform context: A pilot study with developers

During the past 45 years there has been a recurrence of interest on supporting sketching at electronic devices and interactive surfaces, and despite being sketching recognition fairly well addressed on the literature, the adoption of electronic sketching as a design tool is still a challenge.The current popularization of touch screen devices allows designers to sketch using their device of preference, while the current multi-platform capabilities made possible by HTML5 allows sketching systems to run on many devices at the same time. Those two factors combined might pose new opportunities for researchers to explore how designers use sketching on flexible setups by combining heterogeneous sketching devices for design sessions.This may arise new possibilities in the field of prototyping user interfaces since, by using such multi-platform systems, designers would now be able of designing interfaces for multiple devices by producing and testing them on the device itself.This paper reports a pilot experiment conducted with 6 developers, grouped into pairs on design sessions using Gambit – a multi-platform sketching system that provides a lightweight approach for prototyping user interfaces for many devices at once. We performed a discourse analysis of the professionals based on recorded videos of interviews conducted during and after design sessions with the system and aggregated the data in order to investigate the main requirements for multi-platform sketching systems.     

Integrated BIM,game engine and VR technologies for healthcare design: A case study in cancer hospital

The results of healthcare design should meet the requirements of design teams as well as healthcare stakeholders. However, misunderstandings that occur between the design teams and healthcare stakeholders when using 2D illustrations leads to the need for re-design and rework during the design phase. To overcome this problem, this study develops a Database-supported VR/BIM-based Communication and Simulation (DVBCS) system integrated with BIM, game engine and VR technologies for healthcare design special in the Semi-immersed VR environment. The DVBCS system is applied in a case study of a design project of a cancer center in Taiwan to verify the system and demonstrate its effectiveness in practice. The results demonstrate that a DVBCS system is an effective visual communication and simulation platform for healthcare design. The advantage of the DVBCS system lies not only in improving the communication efficiency between the design teams and healthcare stakeholders, but also in facilitating visual interactions and easing the decision-making process while communicating in the 3D VR/BIM environment. The effective use of the proposed DVBCS system will assist design teams and stakeholders significantly in systematically handling healthcare design work in future healthcare design.     

A mobile game as a support tool for children with severe difficulties in reading and spelling

We used a randomized controlled trial to investigate if a mobile game, GraphoLearn (GL), could effectively support the learning of first graders (N = 70), who have severe difficulties in reading and spelling. We studied the effects of two versions of the game: GL Reading, which focused on training letter-sound correspondence and word reading; and GL Spelling, which included additional training in phonological skills and spelling. During the spring of first grade, the children trained with tablet computers which they could carry with them during the six-week intervention. The average exposure time to training was 5 hr 44 min. The results revealed no differences in the development of reading or spelling skills between GL players and the control group. However, pre-training self-efficacy moderated the effect among GL Reading players: children with high self-efficacy developed more than the control group in word reading fluency, whereas children with low self-efficacy developed less than the control group in spelling.     

Treating cockroach phobia using a serious game on a mobile phone and augmented reality exposure: A single case study

In vivo exposure has proved its efficacy in the treatment of specific phobias; however, not all patients benefit from it. Communication and information technologies such as Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) have improved exposure treatment adherence and acceptance. Serious games (SG) could also be used in order to facilitate exposure treatment. A line of research on SG is emerging which focuses on health issues. We have developed a SG for the treatment of cockroach phobia that uses a mobile phone as the application device. This work examines results of an N = 1 study about whether the use of this mobile game can facilitate treatment of this specific phobia preparing her for the AR exposure. A 25-year-old woman with cockroach phobia participated in the study. Results showed that the use of the mobile game reduced her level of fear and avoidance before a “one-session” AR exposure treatment was applied, following the guidelines by Öst. The participant found very helpful the use of the SG before the AR exposure session and she was willing to use it after the AR exposure session as a homework assignment. Although the results of this study are preliminary, SG appears to be a line of research of high interest in clinical psychology for the treatment of specific phobias.     

Aesthetic design: Dialogue and learning. A case study of landscape architecture

In this paper the concept of knowledge in seen as embodying dialogue and learning in a shared practice. Sharing a practice involved sharing representations of practice. This necessitates the sharing of experiential knowledge at various levels and in various forms. It is proposed that participatory design can therefore be seen as consisting in dialogue and learning for the development of future practices and representations. The discussion in this paper is situated within the domain of landscape architecture. A study is made of their co-operative practices, which are evolved, in order to show the need for participatory embodied activity (whether expressed verbally or physically) in sharing practical knowledge (e.g. of aesthetic judgement).     

考虑需求响应的纳网双向定价斯坦伯格博弈模型 (英文）

新能源发电和负荷需求的波动性使得纳网内能源盈馀不同,从而影响本地新能源消纳水平和运行成本。本文针对纳网内暖通空调潜在的热弹性调节能力,阐述了一种基于用户舒适度偏好和环境因素的需求响应和双向定价策略,来优化纳网与公共管理中心间的能源双向交易及时均收益。所构建的双层交易随机优化模型中由于存在不确定参数和时间耦合温度队列使得长期优化问题求解复杂。为此设计了一种基于李雅普诺夫优化方法的松弛形式对原问题进行时间解耦,重构主从博弈框架来刻画参与者能量交易决策间的相互影响关系,并进一步对博弈均衡点的存在与唯一性给出严格的证明。在此基础上提出了一种优化响应算法使得决策者间能以较少的信息交换达到博弈均衡。最后通过仿真实验验证了该能量管理算法的有效性。