Balancing Pedagogy, Emotions and Game Design in Serious Game Development

Natucci, Gabriel C.; Borges, Marcos Augusto Francisco

doi:10.5753/sbgames_estendido.2021.19749

Cited by 3 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…The scenario of the game and the perceived short-term learning were positively evaluated with the vast majority of the participants stating that they agree or strongly agree that all the corresponding items were successfully implemented. The aforementioned results showed that SpAI War achieved a good balance between pedagogy and entertainment/fun, which is considered to be one of the most challenging aspects in designing serious/educational games [12][13][14][15]. In our opinion, this can be attributed to the way that the educational material was integrated into the scenario of the game.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…In order to achieve this, we decided to evaluate the game in terms of player experience, the scenario of the game and the perceived short-term leaning of the AI algorithms incorporated in the game. The aforementioned evaluation data would give us the chance to investigate whether the factors that are considered important for serious game design were successfully implemented, and a balance between pedagogy and fun was achieved [11][12][13][14][15]. Consequently, the following research question was investigated:…”

Section: Research Questionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The results showed that the scenario "raised the Interest" of 76% of the participants (median = 4), while "elements like the attacks and the zombies gave a player experience analogous to that of an entertainment game" for 86% of the participants (median = 4.5). The same percentage of participants stated that "the way of integrating the educational material in the game is completely attuned to the scenario" (median = 4), which is rather positive since interleaving successfully the educational material and the scenario and achieving a balance between fun and pedagogy is considered to be challenging [14,15]. Finally, the participants strongly agree that "the scenario and the graphics are appropriate for the age of the players that the game is targeted to" (median = 5).…”

Section: 5mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several researchers on the other hand conclude that serious games do not achieve their full potential neither in learning nor in entertainment [12,13], while achieving a balance between education and fun is rather challenging [14]. As a matter of fact, Natucci and Borges consider the balance between pedagogy, emotions and game elements as one of the greatest challenges in serious game design [15]. Brisson et al [16] highlight the importance of AI and personalization toward achieving such a balance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Designing and Evaluating a Serious Game for Learning Artificial Intelligence Algorithms: SpAI War as a Case Study

Barmpakas,

Xinogalos

2023

Applied Sciences

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Artificial Intelligence (AI) nowadays is the technology of the future, as its applications are constantly expanding in every aspect of human life. The spread of the internet has given a great impetus to technologies that apply AI algorithms and make their presence more and more intense in everyday life. However, despite the ubiquitous presence of AI, few people can comprehend its true meaning and the reason for its existence, especially the way it is applied. The purpose of this work is to present the design and pilot evaluation of SpAI War, which is a serious game that aims to introduce the user–student to the field of AI and its algorithms. Specifically, the paper presents the design of SpAI War in the context of the Educational Games (EG) design framework. This is followed by the results of the pilot evaluation of the game by 58 undergraduates and graduates of Informatics. The study utilized a survey based on the MEEGA+ model, and positive results were recorded in terms of player experience, game scenario, and perceived short-term learning.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Section: Research Questionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: 5mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Designing and Evaluating a Serious Game for Learning Artificial Intelligence Algorithms: SpAI War as a Case Study

Barmpakas,

Xinogalos

2023

Applied Sciences

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“…The participants consider that the educational content of the game (median = 4) is relevant to its purpose and without errors; fits the characteristics of its target group; and the main principles of safe Internet use. What is more important is that the participants agree that there is a balance between game elements and the achievement of the educational objective of the game (median = 4), which is widely accepted to be a great challenge for educational games [16,17]. The tasks within the game are considered to be appropriate to the educational background of primary school students (median = 4), while the game provides scaffolding features.…”

Section: Game Acceptance and Didactic Utility (Rq1)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Prospective ICT Teachers’ Perceptions on the Didactic Utility and Player Experience of a Serious Game for Safe Internet Use and Digital Intelligence Competencies

Georgiadou,

Xinogalos

2023

Computers

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Nowadays, young students spend a lot of time playing video games and browsing on the Internet. Using the Internet has become even more widespread for young students due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, which resulted in transferring several educational activities online. The Internet and generally the digital world that we live in offers many possibilities in our everyday lives, but it also entails dangers such as cyber threats and unethical use of personal data. It is widely accepted that everyone, especially young students, should be educated on safe Internet use and should be supported on acquiring other Digital Intelligence (DI) competencies as well. Towards this goal, we present the design and evaluation of the game “Follow the Paws” that aims to educate primary school students on safe Internet use and support them in acquiring relevant DI competencies. The game was designed taking into account relevant literature and was evaluated by 213 prospective Information and Communication Technology (ICT) teachers. The participants playtested the game and evaluated it through an online questionnaire that was based on validated instruments proposed in the literature. The participants evaluated positively to the didactic utility of the game and the anticipated player experience, while they highlighted several improvements to be taken into consideration in a future revision of the game. Based on the results, proposals for further research are presented, including DI competencies detection through the game and evaluating its actual effectiveness in the classroom.

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Elementium: design and pilot evaluation of a serious game for familiarizing players with basic chemistry

Filippas

Xinogalos

2023

Educ Inf Technol

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Serious games (SGs) about Chemistry have the potential to cope with challenges, such as students’ low performance and lack of motivation for the subject. However, the majority of existing SGs for Chemistry have the form of educational applications infused with some elements of entertaining games. The aim of the study presented was to design and evaluate a new SG with rich game mechanics for Chemistry. The game is called Elementium and revolves around basic topics of Chemistry, such as chemical elements and compound terminology, creation and everyday usage of such elements. The main goal of the game is to familiarize junior high school students with the aforementioned subjects. The design of Elementium was carried out implementing the dimensions described in the Four-Dimensional framework, as proposed by de Freitas and Jarvis in 2006. After the development process, Elementium was evaluated by people in the field of education that are currently teaching or have taught Chemistry in the past. The participants play-tested the game at leisure in their homes and evaluated it based on the key criteria for SGs design proposed by Sanchez in 2011, as well as other quality indicators established in the literature. Elementium was positively evaluated by Chemistry teachers in terms of its acceptance, usability, didactic utility, and game environment. The positive results concluded from this evaluation show that Elementium is fulfilling its main purpose and can be used as a supplementary tool in the teaching process. However, its true didactical effectiveness has to be confirmed through a study with high school students.

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Balancing Pedagogy, Emotions and Game Design in Serious Game Development

Cited by 3 publications

References 30 publications

Designing and Evaluating a Serious Game for Learning Artificial Intelligence Algorithms: SpAI War as a Case Study

Designing and Evaluating a Serious Game for Learning Artificial Intelligence Algorithms: SpAI War as a Case Study

Prospective ICT Teachers’ Perceptions on the Didactic Utility and Player Experience of a Serious Game for Safe Internet Use and Digital Intelligence Competencies

Elementium: design and pilot evaluation of a serious game for familiarizing players with basic chemistry

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