1,720,970 research outputs found
Towards better gameplay in educational computer games: a PhD thesis
No full textThere is currently a notable amount of research suggesting that educators should use computer games as part of their teaching. Most of this research suggests why games should be used choosing very specific example games, or making broad sweeping statements about gaming as a whole. But very little of the research explains how these games should be used. What features should be present in the game? Do these features change depending on a given learning outcome? Do they change depending on the type of game? This thesis begins by compiling a prospective set of required features for an educational game, taken from literature on Learning Environments, as well as the requirements of different learning styles. This requirement set is cross-referenced with an overview of some typical, commercially available games, to show that such games are capable of meeting these requirements. This preliminary list is used in two investigations: the first explores how well the chosen features are offered by a series of current educational mini-games; the second shows how different requirements are offered by different commercially-available computer game genres. The results of these investigations are used to refine the list, before carrying out a user survey to identify the important features offered by different game genres, and to determine whether game quality improves as more of the features are met. The survey results show that some key requirements separate the genres significantly, while others were consistent across all genres. In addition, there is a positive correlation between each feature offered, and the overall user enjoyment of the game. The thesis concludes with a proposed framework of game genres and features, to assist in the design and selection of games for a given educational scenario, as well as some suggestions for future work
Assessing The Usefulness Of Mini-games As Educational Resources
No full textInterest in educational gaming is on the rise once again, and particular interest has started to peak in the area of lightweight educational mini-games. But are these games really as useful as people suggest, or are they simply too shallow to convey sufficient pedagogical meaning? And how do we assess how well these games measure up as educational resources? This paper first generates a “conclusive” list of educational requirements from a structured review of other researchers proposed requirements. It then presents details of the three most interesting educational mini-games taken from an investigation of around 30.Whilst some games were able to offer immersive, curiosity-provoking experiences full of relevant information, many of the games were shallow, formulaic, and lacking in information. Finally, conclusions and future work are proposed, including the packaging of mini-games into compendia to add depth, the use of mini-games in blended learning scenarios, and mechanisms to harvest the relatively simple player interactions to assist learner assessment. These findings aim to help educators make a more informed decision as to whether these games are right for their educational aims
Demystifying the educational benefits of different gaming genres
Full text linkAs research continues into the use of computer games for educational purposes, educators still appear reluctant to incorporate them into their teaching. One contributing factor to this reluctance is the lack of information regarding the benefits offered by the different games available today. These differences appear to have been largely overlooked by the academic community, resulting in a lack of information being made available to both the academic and education communities alike. Without this information, educators will find it difficult to determine whether a game will suit their teaching needs, and will continue to avoid using them. This paper studies a selection of games from several different genres, assessing each one in its ability to fulfil a set of previously identified requirements for a good educational resource. The results of the investigation showed that there were indeed strong differences between the genres, allowing for some suggestions to be made regarding their use in education, as well as leaving room for some interesting future work
Learning Through Rich Environments
No full textResearch into games in education most frequently expresses itself in the form of noting that games interest and motivate, and that we might therefore find the learning process improved if we were to use games as a vehicle for the delivery of learning content. We do not wish to take this approach, but to analyse what it is that makes games interesting and motivating and apply this in the context of designing learning scenarios. Many papers propose taxonomies of game style and criteria for good game design, tending to list good ideas and observed issues, but meeting difficulties when trying to generalise. We review some of the more important contributions in the area, and distil these into models to help us understand what's involved by defining the concept of a “Rich Environment.” We conclude with an example of how these models may be applied to the design of a learning environment
The Same, But Different: The Educational Affordances of Different Gaming Genres
Full text linkAs research continues into the use of computer games for educational purposes, the differences between different gaming genres become increasingly more important. These differences, however, appear to have been largely overlooked by the academic community, potentially resulting in incomplete results when considered against computer gaming as a whole. This paper studies a selection of games from several different genres, assessing each one in its ability to fulfill a set of previously identified requirements for a good educational resource. The results of the investigation showed that there were indeed differences between the genres, allowing for some suggestions to be made regarding their use, as well as leaving room for some interesting future work
Is Less Actually More? The Usefulness Of Educational Mini-games
Full text linkInterest in educational gaming is on the rise once again, and particular interest has started to peak in the area of lightweight educational mini-games. But are these games really as useful as people suggest, or are they simply too shallow to convey sufficient pedagogical meaning? And how do we assess how well these games measure up as educational resources? This paper first generates a “conclusive” list of educational requirements from a structured review of other researchers proposed requirements. It then presents details of the three most interesting educational mini-games taken from an investigation of around 30. Whilst some games were able to offer immersive, curiosity-provoking experiences full of relevant information, many of the games were shallow, formulaic, and lacking in information. Finally, conclusions and future work are proposed, including the packaging of mini-games into compendia to add depth, the use of mini-games in blended learning scenarios, and mechanisms to harvest the relatively simple player interactions to assist learner assessment. These findings aim to help educators make a more informed decision as to whether these games are right for their educational aims
Profiling the Educational Value of Computer Games
No full textThere are currently a number of suggestions for educators to include computer games in formal teaching and learning contexts. Educational value is based on claims that games promote the development of complex learning. Very little research, however, has explored what features should be present in a computer game to make it valuable or conducive to learning. We present a list of required features for an educational game to be of value, informed by two studies, which integrated theories of Learning Environments and Learning Styles. A user survey showed that some requirements were typical of games in a particular genre, while other features were present across all genres. The paper concludes with a proposed framework of games and features within and across genres to assist in the design and selection of games for a given educational scenario
Frazer, Alex
No full textSee entry in Bullock County, volume 1, page 5: https://digital.archives.alabama.gov/digital/collection/voter1867/id/52
Programming patterns and development guidelines for Semantic Sensor Grids (SemSorGrid4Env)
No full textThe web of Linked Data holds great potential for the creation of semantic applications that can combine self-describing structured data from many sources including sensor networks. Such applications build upon the success of an earlier generation of 'rapidly developed' applications that utilised RESTful APIs. This deliverable details experience, best practice, and design patterns for developing high-level web-based APIs in support of semantic web applications and mashups for sensor grids. Its main contributions are a proposal for combining Linked Data with RESTful application development summarised through a set of design principles; and the application of these design principles to Semantic Sensor Grids through the development of a High-Level API for Observations. These are supported by implementations of the High-Level API for Observations in software, and example semantic mashups that utilise the API
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