Design guidelines for Classroom Multiplayer Presential Games (CMPG)

Çağıltay

2013

Computers & Education

a b s t r a c tConsidering the role of games for educational purposes, there has an increase in interest among educators in applying strategies used in popular games to create more engaging learning environments. Learning is more fun and appealing in digital educational games and, as a result, it may become more effective. However, few research studies have been conducted to establish principles based on empirical research for designing engaging and entertaining games so as to improve learning. One of the essential characteristics of games that has been unexplored in the literature is the concept of uncertainty. This study examines the effect of uncertainty on learning outcomes. In order to better understand this effect on learning, a game-like learning tool was developed to teach a database concept in higher education programs of software engineering. The tool is designed in two versions: one including uncertainty and the other including no uncertainty. The experimental results of this study reveal that uncertainty enhances learning. Uncertainty is found to be positively associated with motivation. As motivation increases, participants tend to spend more time on answering the questions and to have higher accuracy in these questions.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of uncertainty on learning in game-like environments

Çağıltay

2013

Computers & Education

2015 7th International Conference on Games and Virtual Worlds for Serious Applications (VS-Games)

“…Of course, from an instructor's point of view, gameplay will be a different experience compared to that of the learners. Instructors take on a role that is related to that of game master, which means they have an almost God-like overview of events and can interfere when the game takes the players in a direction that is counter to the instructional goal of the exercise [6], [33]. In contrast, learners only have a limited view of the virtual environment and the events taking place, which reflects the level of information that their role has access to in reality.…”

Section: In-game Facilitator or Coachmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Active Instructor: Benefits and Barriers to Instructor-Led Serious Gaming

Taylor

2015

Abstract-While there is a wealth of studies on the subject of serious games, the same cannot be said on the issue of teaching with games, especially in game-based learning settings with adult learners. Over the years, most research in this area has been focused on the 'active substance(s)' of games for learning, focusing mainly on characteristics of games, but often failing to take the whole context of game-based learning into consideration, such as the role(s) of the teacher. However, the past two or three years has seen a shift in focus from merely the game as an isolated artefact, to also include more discussions on how games can successfully be integrated into an educational setting, as well as challenges as pitfalls of which instructors need to be aware. This paper aims to outline the contemporary research on instructor-led serious gaming and its implications for the design of serious gaming environments.

Science of Computer Programming

“…As a computer-supported group-based learning system, we also designed the game taking into account the approach proposed by Strijbos et al [55]. The design guidelines for collaborative classroom games proposed by Villalta et al [56] were also taken into account.…”

Section: Game Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flexible learning itinerary vs. linear learning itinerary

Martín-SanJosé

Juan

Gil-Gómez

et al. 2014

The latest video game and entertainment technology and other technologies are facilitating the development of new and powerful e-Learning systems. In this paper, we present a computer-based game for learning about five historical ages. The objective of the game is to reinforce the events that mark the transition from one historical age to another and the order of the historical ages. Our game incorporates natural human-computer interaction based on video game technology, Frontal Projection, and personalized learning. For personalized learning, a Flexible Learning Itinerary has been included, where the children can decide how to direct the flow of their own learning process. For comparison, a Linear Learning Itinerary has also been included, where the children follow a determined learning flow. A study to compare the two different learning itineraries was carried out. Twenty nine children from 8 to 9 years old participated in the study. The analysis of the pre-tests and the post-tests determined that children learned the contents of a game about historical ages. The results show that there were no statistically significant differences between the two learning itineraries. Therefore, our study reveals the potential of computer-based learning games as a tool in the learning process for both flexible and linear itineraries.