Mobile game-based learning in secondary education: engagement, motivation and learning in a mobile city game

Using mobile games in education combines situated and active learning with fun in a potentially excellent manner. The effects of a mobile city game called Frequency 1550, which was developed by The Waag Society to help pupils in their first year of secondary education playfully acquire historical knowledge of medieval Amsterdam, were investigated in terms of pupil engagement in the game, historical knowledge, and motivation for History in general and the topic of the Middle Ages in particular. A quasi-experimental design was used with 458 pupils from 20 classes from five schools. The pupils in 10 of the classes played the mobile history game whereas the pupils in the other 10 classes received a regular, project-based lesson series. The results showed those pupils who played the game to be engaged and to gain significantly more knowledge about medieval Amsterdam than those pupils who received regular project-based instruction. No significant differences were found between the two groups with respect to motivation for History or the Middle Ages. The impact of location-based technology and game-based learning on pupil knowledge and motivation are discussed along with suggestions for future research.     

Serious games for emergency preparedness: Evaluation of an interactive vs. a non-interactive simulation of a terror attack

Emergency preparedness is a relevant emerging application of serious games. A general issue in exploiting such approach concerns the breadth of the population that can be reached by serious games. Indeed, serious games need to be actively played and this can restrict their user population, because there are people who have no experience with video games or do not like them or do not have the proper hardware to play them. Moreover, there are organizational contexts in which a non-interactive presentation is preferred because it can be given in a more convenient and less costly way with simple traditional media, i.e., printed materials, slides or videos. This paper deals with the possibility of generating and using a non-interactive version of the experience provided by serious games. First, we propose a serious game that simulates a mass emergency caused by a terror attack in a train station. To obtain design guidance, we explore psychological models that explain how people are motivated to protect themselves from danger. Then, we generate the non-interactive version of the terror attack simulation and we contrast it with the interactive version. Results of our study show that both versions of the simulation can provide positive outcomes in learning, risk severity perception and self-efficacy, but they differ in how much they affect user’s threat appraisal and emotional response.     

The effectiveness of adaptive difficulty adjustments on students' motivation and learning in an educational computer game

Computer games that adaptively adjust difficulty are used to continuously challenge players according to their abilities. The adjustment of difficulty occurs automatically in response to a game's ongoing assessment of a player's performance. This approach to difficulty adjustment is likely to be of value in educational computer games as a means of scaffolding learning for students. However, there is limited research evaluating the effectiveness of educational computer games with adaptive difficulty adjustment when compared to non-adaptive difficulty adjustment. To expand on this research a quasi-experimental study was designed to isolate the impact of the difficulty adjustment game element on motivation and learning. A total of 234 secondary school students were allocated to one of three activities involving learning about Spanish cognates: an adaptive difficulty adjustment game, an incremental difficulty adjustment game that was non-adaptive, and a written activity. The three learning activities were designed following the same learning and motivation theories. The two games were identical apart from the difficulty adjustment mechanism. The results for motivation indicated that all students experienced high levels and there was no significant difference between the three learning activities. The pre- and post-tests results for learning indicated that significantly higher learning outcomes were achieved by students who played the adaptive game. Analysis of a game log recording the correctness of students' responses indicated that the adaptive difficulty adjustment game, in contrast to the non-adaptive incremental difficulty adjustment game, provided a scaffolding structure to enhance student learning.     

The interplay of game elements with psychometric qualities,learning, and enjoyment in game-based assessment

Educators today are increasingly interested in using game-based assessment to assess and support students' learning. In the present study, we investigated how changing a game design element, linearity in gameplay sequences, influenced the effectiveness of game-based assessment in terms of validity, reliability, fairness, learning, and enjoyment. Two versions of a computer game, Physics Playground (formerly Newton's Playground), with different degrees of linearity in gameplay sequences were compared. Investigation of the assessment qualities—validity, reliability, and fairness—suggested that changing one game element (e.g., linearity) could significantly influence how players interacted with the game, thus changing the evidentiary structure of in-game measures. Although there was no significant group difference in terms of learning between the two conditions, participants who played the nonlinear version of the game showed significant improvement on qualitative physics understanding measured by the pre- and posttests while the participants in the linear condition did not. There was also no significant group difference in terms of enjoyment. Implications of the findings for future researchers and game-based assessment designers are discussed.     

The effect of violent and non-violent computer games on cognitive performance

Two studies were conducted in order to determine the impact computer games had on the cognitive performance. Study 1 evaluated a measure of cognition, which incorporates aspects of short-term working memory, visual attention, mathematical decision making, and auditory perception. Study 2 measured the cognitive performance between those who did not play video games versus those who played either a violent or non-violent video game. Results from Study 1 indicate participants needed approximately four trials to reach asymptotic performance on the cognitive measure. Results of Study 2 showed that participants who did not play any video game did not have a change in their cognitive performance, while those who played either a violent or non-violent video game had an increase in their cognitive performance.     

The atomic intrinsic integration approach: A structured methodology for the design of games for the conceptual understanding of physics

Computer simulations combined with games have been successfully used to teach conceptual physics. However, there is no clear methodology for guiding the design of these types of games. To remedy this, we propose a structured methodology for the design of conceptual physics games that explicitly integrates the principles of the intrinsic integration approach for designing instructional games (Habgood & Ainsworth, 2011) with an atomic analysis of the structure of games (Cook, 2007; Cousins, 2005; Koster, 2005). To test this approach, we redesigned an existing game to teach electrostatics and compared the educational effectiveness of the original and redesigned versions. Our studies also compared an endogenous fantasy version of the game with a non-fantasy version.     

Serious games and learning effectiveness: The case of It’s a Deal!

Although the value of serious games in education is undeniable and the potential benefits of using video games as ideal companions to classroom instruction is unquestionable, there is still little consensus on the game features supporting learning effectiveness, the process by which games engage learners, and the types of learning outcomes that can be achieved through game play. Our aim in this discussion is precisely to advance in this direction by providing evidence of some of the factors influencing the learning effectiveness of a serious game called It’s a Deal! This serious game was created for the purpose of teaching intercultural business communication between Spaniards and Britons in business settings in which English is used as the lingua franca. This paper hypothesizes that the immersive, all-embracing and interactive learning environment provided by the video game to its users may contribute to develop and enhance their intercultural communicative competence. The study attempts to answer three main research questions: (a) after playing It’s a Deal!, did the students sampled improve their intercultural awareness, intercultural knowledge and intercultural communicative competence in business English? (b) If they improved their intercultural learning, what are the factors influencing such improvement? And (c) if they did not improve their intercultural learning, what are the factors influencing such failure? The game participants who volunteered to take part in the study were all students of English Studies at the University of Alicante in the academic year 2010-2011. One hundred and six students completed both the pre-test and the post-test questionnaires, and played It’s a Deal! A sample of fifty students was selected randomly for the empirical study. The results obtained in the tests performed were compared and contrasted intra-group, both qualitatively and quantitatively, for the purpose of finding any statistically significant difference that may confirm whether or not there was an improvement in the students’ intercultural communicative competence in business English as a result of the implementation of the It’s a Deal! serious game. Findings of this study demonstrate that the video game is an effective learning tool for the teaching of intercultural communication between Spaniards and Britons in business settings in which English is used as the lingua franca. In particular, whereas the game had a small learning effect on intercultural awareness and a medium learning effect on intercultural knowledge, it had a large learning effect on intercultural communicative competence. The study also documents correlating factors that make serious games effective, since it shows that the learning effectiveness of It’s a Deal! stems from the correct balance of the different dimensions involved in the creation of serious games, specifically instructional content, game dimensions, game cycle, debriefing, perceived educational value, transfer of learnt skills and intrinsic motivation.     

Motion sickness, console video games, and head-mounted displays

OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the nauseogenic properties of commercial console video games (i.e., games that are sold to the public) when presented through a head-mounted display. BACKGROUND: Anecdotal reports suggest that motion sickness may occur among players of contemporary commercial console video games. METHODS: Participants played standard console video games using an Xbox game system. We varied the participants' posture (standing vs. sitting) and the game (two Xbox games). Participants played for up to 50 min and were asked to discontinue if they experienced any symptoms of motion sickness. RESULTS: Sickness occurred in all conditions, but it was more common during standing. During seated play there were significant differences in head motion between sick and well participants before the onset of motion sickness. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that commercial console video game systems can induce motion sickness when presented via a head-mounted display and support the hypothesis that motion sickness is preceded by instability in the control of seated posture. APPLICATION: Potential applications of this research include changes in the design of console video games and recommendations for how such systems should be used.     

Serious Game for Children with Autism to Learn Vocabulary: An Experimental Evaluation

The use of serious games (SGs) to provide intervention for various skills to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has increased in the recent years. However, the potential of these games has not been utilized to provide learning of vocabulary to children with ASD. In designing games for children with ASD, there is a need to consider components specifically from the perspectives of ASD and the generic components that can support from the theoretical, content, and game design aspects. In the absence of any existing framework to design games for children with ASD, this article first introduces a framework named serious game design framework (SGDF), constructed to provide support throughout the design process. This framework was constructed based on the extensive review of the literature on ASD and existing SGDFs. The article then focuses on the design and development of a SG prototype based on SGDF. An experimental evaluation prototype was conducted to examine the effectiveness using the withdrawal design of single-subject research design (SSRD) in improving the receptive identification of vocabulary items among children with autism before and after using the prototype. The receptive identification of vocabulary items is measured in terms of the number of correct responses given and the number of attempts made to identify the correct response. The pre- and post-evaluations of the SG prototype show that learning of vocabulary items among children with ASD improved after using the game and they retained items at the end of weeks 1 and 2 following the withdrawal of intervention.     

The effect of simulation games on the learning of computational problem solving

Simulation games are now increasingly applied to many subject domains as they allow students to engage in discovery processes, and may facilitate a flow learning experience. However, the relationship between learning experiences and problem solving strategies in simulation games still remains unclear in the literature. This study, thus, analyzed the feedback and problem solving behaviors of 117 students in a simulation game, designed to assist them to learn computational problem solving. It was found that students when learning computational problem solving with the game were more likely to perceive a flow learning experience than in traditional lectures. The students’ intrinsic motivation was also enhanced when they learned with the simulation game. In particular, the results of the study found a close association between the students’ learning experience states and their problem solving strategies. The students who perceived a flow experience state frequently applied trial-and-error, learning-by-example, and analytical reasoning strategies to learn the computational problem solving skills. However, a certain portion of students who experienced states of boredom and anxiety did not demonstrate in-depth problem solving strategies. For instance, the students who felt anxious in the simulation game did not apply the learning-by-example strategy as frequently as those in the flow state. In addition, the students who felt bored in the simulation game only learned to solve the problem at a superficial level.     

The effects of computer-based games and collaboration in large groups vs. collaboration in pairs or traditional methods

As new technologies have emerged in the last few years, the learning process has been changing. New and powerful e-learning systems are being developed and new teaching methods can be used in classrooms. In this paper, we present a computer-based game with an educational background that is played on a large-size tabletop display. The game can be used as reinforcement for educational content related to historical ages. The game uses natural interaction. A study to compare the traditional learning method with a collaborative learning method using the game was carried out. A group of up to 12 children could learn together using the game. The experience of children in large groups was also compared with the experience of children playing in pairs. One hundred children between 8 and 11 years old participated in the study; they were divided into three groups (LGroup, Pairs, TClass). When the pre-test and the post-test results were compared, it was shown that the children learned the contents in all three groups. The results also showed that there were statistically significant differences between the traditional method and the game played in a large group in favour of children who played the game in the large group. The knowledge acquired was independent from gender and age. There were no statistically significant differences between learning in large groups or learning in pairs. In both cases, the children expressed their satisfaction for the game and found it easy to use. Therefore, playing games of this type collaboratively in large groups or in pairs can be a valuable learning method that can be combined with traditional methods.     

Bombs, fish, and coral reefs

Often, the way subject matter is included in educational games does not fully utilize or sometimes even inhibits the full learning potential of games. This paper argues that in order to optimally use the potential of games for learning, games should be endogenous. An endogenous educational game is a game where the educational content is integrated in the game play mechanics themselves, rather than bolted-on using explicit messages. This research examines the relation between explicit messages, explorative game behavior, and comprehension by developing two versions of an endogenous educational game about overfishing, one with and one without an explicit purpose. The game was tested with 13 children aged 8 to 11. The results indicate that factual knowledge and comprehension is increased with explicit messages, and in particular deep comprehension is fostered by explorative game behavior. This confirms the plea for endogenous games to teach about bombs, fish, coral reefs, and more.     

Analyzing social choice and group ranking of online games for product mix innovation

With the increasing populations of the smartphones and mobile devices these years, the majority of people have played the mobile or online games on their smartphones. As such users have rapidly increased, this research is to propose an innovative service that can automatically recommend the users the appropriate online games as their optional references. In order for market competition, the most online games’ enterprises need to develop and sell the newer online game products or versions continuously for the customers who like to play online games. Now that the types and markets of online games have had the more diverse along with the sustainable development of online game products over time. This research is to propose an integrative analysis from a large amount of data -users’ preference sequences. Firstly, the research utilizes a sequence recommendation technology that can be used to analyze their preference sequences of online game’s types based on other similar users’ sequence preference data. In other words, these recommended online game’s types that can be generated according to the relationships between the query user’s preferences and users themselves. All sequences from numerous data are accumulated to be the inferences of the query users’ preferences. Secondly, the research also utilizes data mining methodology to explore the possibilities of different product mix of game types from numerous user data. For the main methodology, this research uses a ‘partial user ranking algorithm’ to analyze group ranking of online games based on similar users. The purpose is to explore how the players can be recommended based on the other users’ priorities, as well as the product mix of game types which can be the potential business trends come to markets. Furthermore, this study contributes to a research implication for online game industry, and the results also could be the business references of game combinations and product design.     

Playful public participation in urban planning: A case study for online serious games

The aim of this paper is to study the implementation of online games to encourage public participation in urban planning. Its theoretical foundations are based on previous work in public participatory geographical information systems (PP GISs), play and games, with a special focus on serious games. Serious games aim to support learning processes in a new, more playful way. We developed the concept of playful public participation in urban planning, including playful elements such as storytelling, walking and moving, sketching, drawing, and games. A group of students designed an online serious public participatory game entitled NextCampus. The case study used in NextCampus was taken from the real-world question of a possible move of a university campus to a new location in the city of Hamburg, Germany. The development of the serious public participatory game NextCampus resulted in a physical prototype, user interface design, and a computational model of the game. The NextCampus game was tested with the help of two groups of urban planning students and presented to three external experts who provided valuable recommendations for further development. The critical comments questioned the level of complexity involved in such games. The positive comments included recognition of the potential for joy and the playfulness a game like NextCampus could evoke.     

Assessing implicit science learning in digital games

Building on the promise shown in game-based learning research, this paper explores methods for Game-Based Learning Assessments (GBLA) using a variety of educational data mining techniques (EDM). GBLA research examines patterns of behaviors evident in game data logs for the measurement of implicit learning—the development of unarticulated knowledge that is not yet expressible on a test or formal assessment. This paper reports on the study of two digital games showing how the combination of human coding with EDM has enabled researchers to measure implicit learning of Physics. In the game Impulse, researchers combined human coding of video with educational data mining to create a set of automated detectors of students' implicit understanding of Newtonian mechanics. For Quantum Spectre, an optics puzzle game, human coding of Interaction Networks was used to identify common student errors. Findings show that several of our measures of student implicit learning within these games were significantly correlated with improvements in external postassessments. Methods and detailed findings were different for each type of game. These results suggest GBLA shows promise for future work such as adaptive games and in-class, data-driven formative assessments, but design of the assessment mechanics must be carefully crafted for each game.     

The impact of coupled games on the learning experience of learners at-risk: An empirical study

Offering pervasive game-based learning scenarios to at-risk learners is considered effective and motivating. This experimental study offers a detailed example of an educational setting that couples a mobile game with a PC browser game. It evaluates how this coupling supports engagement and learning for the target group. Nineteen participants aged between 17 and 21 years played and explored the game. The findings through seven-week gaming indicate that coupled games have potential to increase learners’ interest in a topic and can support learning activities.     

You like it,you learn it: affectivity and learning in competitive social role play gaming

Despite the alleged ability of digital game-based learning (DGBL) to foster positive affect and in turn improve learning, the link between affectivity and learning has not been sufficiently investigated in this field. Regarding learning from team-based games with competitive elements, even less is known about the relationship between competitiveness (as a dispositional trait) and induced positive affect. In this media comparison study with between-subject design, participants (N?=?325; high school and college students) learned about the EU’s policy agenda by means of a debate-based method delivered through one of three educational media: a) through a social role-playing game with competitive elements played on computers, b) through a very similar game played without computers and c) through a non-game workshop. Unlike many previous DGBL studies, this study used participant randomization and strived to address the teacher effect and the length of exposure effect, while also using the same learning materials and a very similar educational method for all three treatments. Both games induced comparatively higher generalized positive affect and flow. Participants also learned more with the games. Positive affect, but not flow, mediated the influence of educational media on learning gains. Participants’ competitiveness was partly related to positive affect and experiencing flow but unrelated to learning gains. These outcomes held both when the game was played using computers, as well as without them. The study indicates that the ability of an educational intervention to instigate positive affect is an important feature that should be considered by educational designers.     

Using commercial video games in flipped classrooms to support physical concept construction

Based on the flipped‐classroom model and the potential motivational and instructional benefits of digital games, we describe a flipped game‐based learning (FGBL) strategy focused on preclass and overall learning outcomes. A secondary goal is to determine the effects, if any, of the classroom aspects of the FGBL strategy on learning efficiency. Our experiments involved 2 commercial games featuring physical motion concepts: Ballance (Newton's law of motion) and Angry Birds (mechanical energy conservation). We randomly assigned 87 8th‐grade students to game instruction (digital game before class and lecture‐based instruction in class), FGBL strategy (digital game before class and cooperative learning in the form of group discussion and practice in class), or lecture‐based instruction groups (no gameplay). Results indicate that the digital games exerted a positive effect on preclass learning outcomes and that FGBL‐strategy students achieved better overall learning outcomes than their lecture‐based peers. Our observation of similar overall outcomes between the cooperative learning and lecture‐based groups suggests a need to provide additional teaching materials or technical support when introducing video games to cooperative classroom learning activities.     

Problem-solving processes in an educational construction simulation game

The growing adoption of educational simulation games in construction pedagogy has significantly impacted student learning. One game, the Virtual Construction Simulator 4 (VCS4), has been found to support student learning of how to solve complex construction problems. However, further research is warranted to evaluate the thinking processes that students engage while playing the game. This study examines those thinking processes by analyzing verbal protocols collected as students thought aloud while playing VCS4 game modules and resulting verbal protocols were coded to capture both cognitive and metacognitive operations. Patterns of thought revealed by this coding were then compared to the patterns expected based on the intentions of game design. The results show that students do generally exhibit the expected patterns. These findings support the claim that students engaged in complex higher-order thinking processes and skills, which evolved based on the types of construction projects.