Customization in educational computer games and its effect on learning: Experimental study with primary school children

The instructional effects of customization features in child learning games have rarely been examined. This value-added study addresses the existing gap with regards to user-initiated cosmetic customization of environment elements (i.e., non-avatar customization). Participants (N = 143; M_age = 9.41) studied a biological topic for about 20 min: either using the experimental version of a learning game with customization features, or from a control version without them. Null results were found as concerns between-group differences: both for motivation-related variables and learning outcome measures. These findings indicate that user-initiated cosmetic customization features can be omitted by game designers, especially in settings where children are assigned specific instructional materials from which to study.     

Implicit learning as a design strategy for learning games: Alert Hockey

Concussion education and prevention for youth hockey players has been an issue of recent concern amongst sport medicine practitioners and hockey’s administrative bodies. This article details the assessment of a sports-action hockey video game that aims to reduce the aggressive and negligent behaviours that can lead to concussions. The game, termed Alert Hockey, was designed to modify game playing behaviour by embedding an implicit teaching mechanism within the gameplay. In Alert Hockey, participants were expected to learn by simply playing to win, in contrast to playing to learn. We studied learning in an experimental simulated environment where the possibility to win the game was exaggerated as a consequence of desirable safety behaviours (positive learning group) and effectively reduced as a consequence of undesirable (negative learning group) behaviour. The positive learning group significantly improved their mean score on a composite behavioural indicator compared with no significant change amongst control group participants. The results demonstrate that implicit learning embedded in a sports-action game can lead to changes in game-play behaviour.     

Assessing the educational values of digital games

Abstract   In recent years, digital games have assumed an important place in the lives of children and adolescents. Effective content design is crucial to the success of digital game-based learning. Therefore, the tool for assessing the effectiveness of game design is accordingly very important for parents and teachers, so that they may encourage or discourage students to play. The purpose of this study is to develop an assessment tool to examine the educational values of digital games. In the first phase of this research, the research team developed the indices for assessing the educational values of digital games. An expert panel consisting of game scholars and professional game designers was established to construct the indices for evaluating digital games in three focus group discussions. Seventy-four game evaluation indices were sorted into seven categories: mentality change, emotional fulfilment, knowledge enhancement, thinking skill development, interpersonal skill development, spatial ability development and bodily coordination. In the second phase of the research, the game designers were asked to assess certain games by using the 74 indices. Meanwhile, the game scholars were also asked to evaluate the same pool of games by the same indices. The assessments by both the scholars and designers were then compared and the similarities were found. This research provided a preliminary framework for future game designers, parents and teachers in assessing educational values of digital games.     

Evidence-based guidelines for wise use of electronic games by children

Electronic games (e-games) are widely used by children, often for substantial durations, yet to date there are no evidence-based guidelines regarding their use. The aim of this paper is to present guidelines for the wise use of e-games by children based on a narrative review of the research. This paper proposes a model of factors that influence child–e-games interaction. It summarises the evidence on positive and negative effects of use of e-games on physical activity and sedentary behaviour, cardio-metabolic health, musculoskeletal health, motor coordination, vision, cognitive development and psychosocial health. Available guidelines and the role of guidelines are discussed. Finally, this information is compiled into a clear set of evidence-based guidelines, about wise use of e-games by children, targeting children, parents, professionals and the e-game industry. These guidelines provide an accessible synthesis of available knowledge and pragmatic guidelines based on e-game specific evidence and related research.     

Digital creativity and transdisciplinarity at postgraduate level: the design and implementation of a transdisciplinary masters programme and its implications for creative practice

This article investigates how transdisciplinary approaches to curriculum design on a taught masters programme in creative technologies enhance digital creativity in students. Drawing on the experience of developing and running the Masters in Creative Technologies (MA/MSc) at the Institute of Creative Technologies at De Montfort University, Leicester, we explore a number of areas relating to transdisciplinary teaching and learning in higher education, including: how digital technologies enable students to work in a transdisciplinary manner; how working creatively with technology enables transdisciplinary modes of working; and the ways in which transdisciplinarity, enabled by digital technologies, has affected the creative practice of learners. The article discusses how the programme has developed a climate for creativity, and outlines how the knowledge and skills gained during a creative technologies-related transdisciplinary programme meet the needs of a changing workplace.     

Piracy on the simulated seas: the computer games industry's non-legal approaches to fighting illegal downloads of games

The computer games industry suffers from high rates of piracy, with many people downloading illegal copies of games. People in the industry are aware of the problem, and the gravity of it has been acknowledged and commented on by many publishers and developers. Yet unlike the Recording Industry Association of America, Motion Picture Association of America, independent movie studios, and other rights holders, computer game developers and publishers have shied away from attempting to sue pirates or otherwise enforce their rights through the legal system. Instead, the industry has looked to a variety of self-help remedies, a fact that has largely not been commented on by legal scholars. This paper examines the successes and pitfalls of these varied non-legal approaches, broadly classifying them into four categories: digital rights management, online-only offerings, making legal easier, and community engagement.     

Multiplayer online games as educational tools: Facing new challenges in learning

This paper outlines a proposal for the development of educational multiplayer online games based on the activity theory, as an alternative to the current trend in multiplayer gaming and a means of promoting collaboration among students. In order to examine whether online games are engaging for learners, we consider multiple factors regarding game play – such as frequency of game use, gender differences, identification with the characters, and game preferences – as well as some psychosocial factors that may influence learning – such as academic performance, self-esteem, and computer self-efficacy. This paper suggests that online multiplayer educational games should be approached as a complex learning system, based on the principles of activity theory, where the Subjects would interact with other Subjects, Objects and Tools of the game, under specified Rules and create Communities through division of labor, leading to the expected learning outcome. Thus, we suggest taking into account some important issues concerning the Subjects that the activity theory refers to, such as gender differences in playing games, academic performance, self-esteem and computer self-efficacy.     

Machinima as a learning tool

This article proposes that machinima is a practice-based approach to learning digital creative practice. It features excerpts from key informant interviews with six prominent machinima artists: it is the first time they have been brought together to consider the role of machinima as a learning tool from their different perspectives. The article begins with a review of machinima as an example of digital creative practice, akin to mashup and remix genres. The nature of machinima is presented through interviews, providing an overview of its authenticity, roles of networks and communities of practice, transdisciplinary creative practice, transliteracy, transferability and accessibility as a learning tool in developing competency in digital creativity. It is suggested that machinima is ‘digital clay’ that has the potential to add value to practice-based learning in a connected world. The article concludes with a summary of the unique contributions that machinima gives the creative learning process.     

Exploring different technological platforms for supporting co-located collaborative games in the classroom

Computer Supported Collaborative Learning is a pedagogical approach that can be used for deploying educational games in the classroom. However, there is no clear understanding as to which technological platforms are better suited for deploying co-located collaborative games, nor the general affordances that are required. In this work we explore two different technological platforms for developing collaborative games in the classroom: one based on augmented reality technology and the other based on multiple-mice technology. In both cases, the same game was introduced to teach electrostatics and the results were compared experimentally using a real class.     

Safe reinforcement learning for dynamical games

This article presents a novel actor‐critic‐barrier structure for the multiplayer safety‐critical systems. Non‐zero‐sum (NZS) games with full‐state constraints are first transformed into unconstrained NZS games using a barrier function. The barrier function is capable of dealing with both symmetric and asymmetric constraints on the state. It is shown that the Nash equilibrium of the unconstrained NZS guarantees to stabilize the original multiplayer system. The barrier function is combined with an actor‐critic structure to learn the Nash equilibrium solution in an online fashion. It is shown that integrating the barrier function with the actor‐critic structure guarantees that the constraints will not be violated during learning. Boundedness and stability of the closed‐loop signals are analyzed. The efficacy of the presented approach is finally demonstrated by using a simulation example.     

A plug and play pathway approach for operations management games development

Many researchers have advocated the use of games (and simulations) to enhance students’ learning. Research has shown that in order to promote a deeper understanding of material, students ought to be engaged with what they are doing. However, there are limited interactive games for classroom teaching, especially within the operations management subject area. In light of this, this paper proposes the development of a plug and play interactive game pathway to enhance students learning.     

Micro‐adaptivity: protecting immersion in didactically adaptive digital educational games

The idea of utilizing the rich potential of today's computer games for educational purposes excites educators, scientists and technicians. Despite the significant hype over digital game‐based learning, the genre is currently at an early stage. One of the most significant challenges for research and development in this area is establishing intelligent mechanisms to support and guide the learner, and to realize a subtle balance between learning and gaming, and between challenge and ability on an individual basis. In contrast to traditional approaches of adaptive and intelligent tutoring, the key advantage of games is their immersive and motivational potential. Because of this, the psycho‐pedagogical and didactic measures must not compromise gaming experience, immersion and flow. In the present paper, we introduce the concept of micro‐adaptivity, an approach that enables an educational game to intelligently monitor and interpret the learner's behaviour in the game's virtual world in a non‐invasive manner. On this basis, micro‐adaptivity enables interventions, support, guidance or feedback in a meaningful, personalized way that is embedded in the game's flow. The presented approach was developed in the context of the European Enhanced Learning Experience and Knowledge TRAnsfer project. This project also realized a prototype game, demonstrating the capabilities, strengths and weaknesses of micro‐adaptivity.     

A comparison of two analytical evaluation methods for educational computer games for young children

In this paper we describe a comparison of two analytical methods for educational computer games for young children. The methods compared in the study are the Structured Expert Evaluation Method (SEEM) and the Combined Heuristic Evaluation (HE) (based on a combination of Nielsen’s HE and the fun-related concepts from Malone and Lepper) with both usability and fun heuristics for children’s computer games. To verify SEEM’s relative quality, a study was set up in which adult evaluators predicted problems in computer games. Outcomes based on thoroughness (whether the analytical method finds all problems), validity (whether the analytical method uncovers problems that are likely to be true) and appropriateness (whether the method is applied correctly) are compared. The results show that both the thoroughness and validity of SEEM are higher than the thoroughness and validity of the Combined HE. The appropriateness scores indicate that SEEM gives evaluators more guidance when predicting problems than the Combined HE does.

Learning automata based multi‐agent system algorithms for finding optimal policies in Markov games

Markov games, as the generalization of Markov decision processes to the multi‐agent case, have long been used for modeling multi‐agent systems (MAS). The Markov game view of MAS is considered as a sequence of games having to be played by multiple players while each game belongs to a different state of the environment. In this paper, several learning automata based multi‐agent system algorithms for finding optimal policies in Markov games are proposed. In all of the proposed algorithms, each agent residing in every state of the environment is equipped with a learning automaton. Every joint‐action of the set of learning automata in each state corresponds to moving to one of the adjacent states. Each agent moves from one state to another and tries to reach the goal state. The actions taken by learning automata along the path traversed by the agent are then rewarded or penalized based on the comparison of the average reward received by agent per move along the path with a dynamic threshold. In the second group of the proposed algorithms, the concept of entropy has been imported into learning automata based multi‐agent systems to improve the performance of the algorithms. To evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithms, computer experiments have been conducted. The results of experiments have shown that the proposed algorithms perform better than the existing algorithms in terms of speed and accuracy of reaching the optimal policy. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley and Sons Asia Pte Ltd and Chinese Automatic Control Society     

New algorithms for approximate Nash equilibria in bimatrix games

We consider the problem of computing additively approximate Nash equilibria in non-cooperative two-player games. We provide a new polynomial time algorithm that achieves an approximation guarantee of 0.36392. We first provide a simpler algorithm, that achieves a 0.38197-approximation, which is exactly the same factor as the algorithm of Daskalakis, Mehta and Papadimitriou. This algorithm is then tuned, improving the approximation error to 0.36392. Our method is relatively fast and simple, as it requires solving only one linear program and it is based on using the solution of an auxiliary zero-sum game as a starting point. Finally we also exhibit a simple reduction that allows us to compute approximate equilibria for multi-player games by using algorithms for two-player games.     

Understanding the relationships between interest in online math games and academic performance

Although the Internet is widely used by students in both formal and informal environments, little is known about how and where youth spend their time online. Using Internet search and Web analytics data, this study discovered a large‐scale phenomenon associated with the poor performance of elementary school students in the USA that has been overlooked by educational researchers. This study found that approximately 10 million Internet users in the USA, many of whom are presumably youth, spend about 89 million hours in a year on a popular math game site that targets children. The number of game site users is equivalent to half of the K‐5 Internet population in the USA. However, there is little evidence that the math games on the website meet the criteria for effective instruction as described in the literature. This study found a significant negative correlation between search volumes for the game site in the 50 states in the USA and 4th grade students' performance in mathematics and reading. Moreover, Internet users in the states with greater numbers of low‐income families and fewer college graduates were more likely to search for the game site. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Robust mean field games for coupled Markov jump linear systems

We consider robust stochastic large population games for coupled Markov jump linear systems (MJLSs). The N agents’ individual MJLSs are governed by different infinitesimal generators, and are affected not only by the control input but also by an individual disturbance (or adversarial) input. The mean field term, representing the average behaviour of N agents, is included in the individual worst-case cost function to capture coupling effects among agents. To circumvent the computational complexity and analyse the worst-case effect of the disturbance, we use robust mean field game theory to design low-complexity robust decentralised controllers and to characterise the associated worst-case disturbance. We show that with the individual robust decentralised controller and the corresponding worst-case disturbance, which constitute a saddle-point solution to a generic stochastic differential game for MJLSs, the actual mean field behaviour can be approximated by a deterministic function which is a fixed-point solution to the constructed mean field system. We further show that the closed-loop system is uniformly stable independent of N, and an approximate optimality can be obtained in the sense of ε-Nash equilibrium, where ε can be taken to be arbitrarily close to zero as N becomes sufficiently large. A numerical example is included to illustrate the results.     

Evaluation of fostering students' creativity in preparing aided recalls for revision courses using electronic revision and recapitulation tools 2.0

In this study, the electronic revision and recapitulation tools 2.0 (EREP2.0) were used to foster creative moments while creating aided recalls (ARs) (pictures electronic notes etc.). Creative and critical thinking is associated with vital skills which enable students to deal with often complex knowledge domains through an informal way of learning. Enabling learners to develop their own representations of information can be a first step to deal with complexity and to foster creativity. In an exploratory study, n = 25 students used EREP2.0 to develop learning questions and ARs for an ongoing course on biological psychology. EREP 2.0 was evaluated with respect to user friendliness, the fostering of creativity and the expected support for cognitive skills according to Bloom's taxonomy. The influence of students' experienced creativity on experienced learning support was tested via Kruskal–Wallis test. Fifteen students reported moderate to high, 4 students low and 5 students no support in creativity. Students who experienced their work as creative felt better supported in comprehension, χ ²(3) = 9.04; p = 0.029, and synthesis, χ ²(3) = 9.46; p = 0.024. No statistically significant effects were found for other categories of Bloom's taxonomy. EREP 2.0 did support the experience of creativity and thus synthesis and comprehension skills.