Submitted by Milena Rubi (milenarubi@ufscar.br) on 2017-06-12T14:37:35Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Favaretto_Danilo_2017.pdf: 1848608 bytes, checksum: a36547f84ac433882333fd4782e39f7b (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Milena Rubi (milenarubi@ufscar.br) on 2017-06-12T14:37:43Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Favaretto_Danilo_2017.pdf: 1848608 bytes, checksum: a36547f84ac433882333fd4782e39f7b (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Milena Rubi (milenarubi@ufscar.br) on 2017-06-12T14:37:49Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Favaretto_Danilo_2017.pdf: 1848608 bytes, checksum: a36547f84ac433882333fd4782e39f7b (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-06-12T14:37:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Favaretto_Danilo_2017.pdf: 1848608 bytes, checksum: a36547f84ac433882333fd4782e39f7b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-03-17 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / The main objective of this work was the elaboration and application of a board game involving physical concepts related to the daily life of the students. The research here points out the importance of using ludic activities to improve students' learning and the exploration of the ability of argumentation, which would not usually be attempt in a traditional classroom. The elaborated product was applied in two classes of the 3rd year of the Secondary School of a private school in the city of Sorocaba. The proposed activity promoted the discussion of physical concepts, associated with group work. It was observed that the interaction between the students and the dialogue were frequent in the classroom when using this methodology, which provided an increase in the interest of the students to learning Physics. Besides that, the more frequent dialogue improved the student-student and student-teacher relations. It is important to emphasize the importance of the interaction between the students in the discussions of the physical concepts and in the construction of the relations between these concepts and their daily activities. In addition to the greater interest of the students in the discipline of Physics, it was possible to observe the development of a critical posture, which has favored the learning in the classroom. / Este trabalho teve como principal objetivo a elaboração e aplicação de um jogo de tabuleiro envolvendo conceitos físicos relacionados ao cotidiano dos estudantes. A pesquisa aqui retrata a importância do emprego do lúdico para melhorar a aprendizagem dos alunos e da exploração da habilidade de argumentação, que não seria normalmente contemplada em uma aula tradicional. O produto elaborado foi aplicado em duas turmas do 3º ano do Ensino Médio de uma escola particular da cidade de Sorocaba. A atividade proposta promoveu a discussão de conceitos físicos, associada ao trabalho em grupo. Observou-se que a interação entre os alunos e o diálogo foi frequente em sala de aula na utilização desta metodologia, a qual proporcionou um aumento no interesse dos estudantes em aprender Física e melhora nas relações aluno-aluno e aluno-professor. Cabe destacar a importância da interação entre os alunos nas discussões dos conceitos físicos e na construção das relações entre esses conceitos e suas atividades diárias. Além do maior interesse dos estudantes na disciplina de Física, foi possível observar o desenvolvimento de uma postura crítica, vivenciada pelos diálogos, o que tem favorecido a aprendizagem em sala de aula.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-18T12:52:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DISSERTACAO_ALLAN KASSIO BECKMAN SOARES DA CRUZ.pdf: 3904761 bytes, checksum: fcf2b0e10224d47b174664dcde46f7b8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-06-02 / In recent years within the emerged game development tools and methodologies that try define, practical and theoretically, the practices for the creative process of game design (SALEN; ZIMMERMAN, 2012). These tools and methodologies often xclude and end up to be more difficult the job of game designer. Factors such as playful interaction,rules and culture are relevant to the development of a good game. This master s thesis uses as a study object the board games and aims to create a set of heuristics that are able to assess the rules of any board game. To achieve this goal was established a methodology that trasnform the rule of these games in an interaction model that can be evaluated by computer systems assessment methodologies as the heuristics of Nielsen (1994). Originally the Nielsen heuristics have been proposed and developed for sability evaluation in computer systems interfaces. We proposes an analysis and redesign in order to specialize these heuristics to use in the evaluation rules of board games. Heuristics pass through redesign process from literature, considerations and models generated on the rules found in each tested game, and analysis of existing rules in these games through inspection method using heuristics Nielsen (1994). The results indicate the viability of using generated heuristics for the evaluating of usability of the board games rules. / Nos últimos anos dentro da área de desenvolvimento de jogos surgiram ferramentas e metodologias que tentam por vezes de forma prática e por vezes de forma teórica definir as práticas do processo criativo do design de jogos (SALEN; ZIMMERMAN, 2012). Essas ferramentas e metodologias muitas vezes se excluem e acabam tornando mais difícil o trabalho do designer de jogos. Fatores como interação lúdica, regras e cultura são relevantes para o desenvolvimento de um bom jogo. Este trabalho utiliza como objeto de estudo os jogos de tabuleiro e tem como objetivo a criação de um conjunto de heurísticas que sejam capazes de avaliar as regras de qualquer jogo de tabuleiro. Para alcançar esse objetivo foi criada uma etodologia que transforma a regra desses jogos em um modelo de interação passível de ser avaliado por metodologias de avaliação de sistemas computacionais como as heurísticas de Nielsen (1994). Originalmente as heurísticas de Nielsen foram propostas e desenvolvidas para avaliação de usabilidade em interfaces de sistemas computacionais.No decorrer do trabalho propõe-se uma análise e redesenho de forma a especializar essas heurísticas para emprego na avaliação de regras de jogos de tabuleiros. As heurísticas passam pelo processo de redesenho a partir de levantamento bibliográfico, considerações e modelos gerados sobre as regras encontradas em cada jogo testado, além da análise das regras existentes nesses jogos através de método de inspeção utilizando as heurísticas de Nielsen (1994) e as eurísticas geradas durante o redesenho. Os resultados apontam para a viabilidade da utilização das heurísticas geradas para a avaliação de usabilidade das regras de jogos de tabuleiro.

Arimaa is a strategic board game for two players. It was designed to be simple for human players and difficult for computers. The aim of this thesis is to design and implement the program with features of the artificial intelligence, which would be able to defeat human players. The implementation was realized in the three key parts: evaluation position, generation of moves and search. The program was run on the game server and defeated many bots as well as human players.

This thesis analyzes competitive environment in the market segment of board and card games, where the analyzed company is doing business for more than six years already. First, the study defines and assesses current processes and conditions in each part of corporate activities, including in particular retails sales (both e-shopping and brick and mortar shop), publishing house and wholesale of imported products. Through the recent years, the company has undergone extensive and permanent adaption and transformation in order to retain its competitiveness. Competitors on are different regarding the wholesale and retails segment, given that these markets are separated from each other and business conditions vary significantly. Further, paper will provide actual development plans of company for upcoming years and the methods to reach the proposed goals. Finally, the development business plan and methods are to be evaluated, based on competitiveness criteria.

This thesis analyzes competitive environment in the market segment of board and card games, where the analyzed company is doing business for more than six years already. First, the study defines and assesses current processes and conditions in each part of corporate activities, including in particular retails sales (both e-shopping and brick and mortar shop), publishing house and wholesale of imported products. Through the recent years, the company has undergone extensive and permanent adaption and transformation in order to retain its competitiveness. Competitors on are different regarding the wholesale and retails segment, given that these markets are separated from each other and business conditions vary significantly. Further, paper will provide actual development plans of company for upcoming years and the methods to reach the proposed goals. Finally, the development business plan and methods are to be evaluated, based on competitiveness criteria.

Universities world wide do efforts to integrate education on climate change in the educational programs, but teaching about climate change is challenging: the climate system is complex, future prognoses include difficult terms of likeliness and the topic as such awakes emotions. Simulations and games are sometimes used to address climate change matters, and along with an increasing number of available interactive online simulations there is an on-going revolution in how online-material is used to provide students with information in higher education. Some practitioners move parts of the informative course material online in order to get more time for active learning – learning processes in which the student is participating more actively than just listening. This master thesis investigates if active learning can support students when learning about climate change in higher technical education. Data for the research was collected through three case studies of interactive seminars, in climate related courses at the Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden, and at the University of Graz, Austria. The active learning was facilitated through gaming sessions with a climate board game, with exercises in vocabulary and discussions as well as explanations of the physical science basis. One student group was provided with a series of lectures prior to the board gaming session, whereas the other two groups were participating in a single seminar with the flipped classroom approach: students followed a study instruction with online material as well as reading of scientific papers on Earth’s climate system and climate change before the interactive gaming seminar took place. Analysis of survey responds (n=102), mind-map reflections (n=14) and interviews (n=5) led to the development of three key findings: (1) students’ attitudes toward learning about climate change involves emotions, (2) the active gaming seminar increased the students’ understanding of climate change and (3) students’ confidence - in their own understanding as well as in their ability to explain climate change – increased through the participation in the active learning seminar. Moreover, a reflection drawn from the results in this study indicates that universities could play an important role in climate communication; if a university provides an introduction to climate change, the students can be “pushed over a threshold”, so that future participation in discussions on the topic may become less distant. Using games as an active learning tool in the introduction can increase student understanding and confidence in the topic of climate change - and doing so in a supportive and enjoyable manner. / Universitet världen över gör ansträngningar för att integrera undervisning av klimatförändringarna i sina utbildningsprogram, men klimatförändringarna är ett utmanande ämne: klimatsystemet är komplext, framtidsprognoser innefattar svårtolkade sannolikhetstermer och ämnet som sådant väcker många känslor. Simulationer och spel att en lärandemetod för att beröra ämnet, och samtidigt som det finns ett allt större utbud av undervisningsmaterial om klimatförändringarna på internet, sker en snabb förändring i hur online-material används för att förse studenter med information i den högre utbildningen. I vissa kurser flyttas en del av det informativa kursmaterialet till online-plattformar för att frigöra mer tid för aktivt lärande – lärande, i vilket studenten är mer aktiv än att enbart lyssna. I den här masteruppsatsen utreds huruvida aktivt lärande kan stödja studenter i lärandet om klimatförändringarna i högre teknisk utbildning. Data till studien samlades från tre studentgrupper som deltog i interaktiva klimatseminarier på Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan, KTH, och på Universitetet i Graz. För att uppnå aktivt lärande användes ett klimatbrädspel, med övningar i begrepp, vokabulär och diskussioner samt bearbetning av vetenskapliga förklaringar kring klimatförändringarna. En studentgrupp lyssnade till en föreläsningsserie före deltagandet i spelseminariet, de andra två grupperna deltog däremot enbart i ett seminarium med flipped classroom metoden: studenterna följde en instuderingsinstruktion med online-material och vetenskapliga skrifter innan de kom till spelseminariet. Analys av enkätsvar (n=102), mind-map-reflektioner (n=14) och intervjuer (n=5) ledde till tre huvudsakliga slutsatser: (1) studenternas attityder kring lärandet av klimatförändringarna påverkas av känslor, (2) studiens spelseminarier ökade studenternas förståelse av klimatförändringarna och (3) efter den aktiva lärandemetoden var studenterna mer bekväma med att förklara klimatförändringarna samt fick större förtroende till sin kunskap i ämnet. Vidare kan resultaten i den här studien tolkas som att klimatundervisning i högre utbildning kan utgöra en viktig roll för mottagandet av klimatkommunikation; om ett universitet förser studenter med en introduktion till vetenskap om klimatförändringarna kan studenterna ”tvingas över en tröskel”, så att framtida deltagande i diskussioner i ämnet kan bli mindre avlägsna. Studenterna i studien upplevde nämligen en brist på trovärdig information om klimatförändringarna i det dagliga nyhetsflödet, därför uppskattade de att ta del av vetenskaplig information och komplexa diskussioner under spelseminariet. Att använda utbildande brädspel som en aktivt-lärande-metod kan öka studenters självsäkerhet och förståelse av klimatförändringarna – på ett stödjande och glädjefyllt sätt.

In recent years, the interest in Augmented Reality (AR) applications for entertainment and productivity has grown. One company exploring this technology is LAZER WOLF STUDIOS, the developers behind Thrymd: an AR-driven board games platform powered by the Unity engine.  This paper details the development of a visual scripting framework, meant to provide end users with a means of developing their own games for the platform, without significant programming or background knowledge required. A graph-based visual language was implemented in a custom Unity editor window, in order to maintain a familiar and consistent feel for users. The graph consists of a series of branching, interconnected nodes which pass data in-between each other, and execute in succession. The graph is serialized as a Unity asset, and can easily be interacted with through regular C# scripts.  A small number of nodes were implemented, but for the system to be viable, more are needed. For that reason, extensibility was a core ideal; creating new node types must be fast and painless. As with any script layer, performance is generally worse than compiled code. Further work is needed to improve user experience. / Intresset för användandet av Augmenterad Verklighet (AR) för underhållning och produktivitetssyften har ökat på senare tid. LAZER WOLF STUDIOS är utvecklarna bakom Thrymd, en AR-driven brädspelsplattform byggd i spelmotorn Unity.  Denna rapport dokumenterar utvecklingsprocessen av ett visuellt skriptramverk byggt med avsikt att låta slutanvändare utveckla sina egna spel till plattformen utan större förkunskapskrav. Ett graf-baserat visuellt skriptspråk implementerades i en skräddarsydd editormiljö inuti Unity, för att bibehålla en bekant och konsekvent användarupplevelse. Grafen består av en serie förgrenande, sammankopplade noder som skickar data mellan varann och exekveras i sekvens. Grafen sparas som en resurs på hårddisken och är lätt att interagera med genom traditionella C#-skript i Unity.  Ett mindre antal noder implementerades, men fler krävs för att systemet ska vara brukbart. Av detta skäl designades språket med vidareutveckling i åtanke, då det måste vara enkelt att skapa nya noder. Som med de flesta skriptspråk är prestandan överlag sämre än kompilerad kod. Ytterligare arbete krävs för att förbättra användarupplevelsen.

In recent times, companies have been motivated to transition towards sustainable development. This motivation is driven by several external and internal factors such as awareness about limited resources, environmental degradation, economic profitability, changes in regulations, etc. Transitioning towards sustainability is not an easy task. There can be several challenges such as the multi-dimensional aspect of sustainable development, changes in workflow , investing in/inventing new technology , etc. T o tackle these challenges, a strategic transition is required. In order to help organizations strategically move towards sustainable development, Göran Broman and Karl- Henrik Robèrt have provided a framework through their research. It can be an overwhelming task for a company to understand and implement this framework. The thesis addresses this challenge by designing a board game around the operational procedure provided by the framework. To develop the game, Evensen et al.’s model was leveraged which utilized different inputs such as literature review, Broman and Robèrt’s framework, and thematic analysis of interviews as inputs for game development. The interviewing process included semi-structured interviews of eight employees (sustainability-related positions) from different companies to understand how their companies are perceiving sustainable development, implementing sustainable practices, and what are the needs and challenges faced. This thesis contributes to academia in two ways. First, it extends the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD) by providing an application-based learning tool. After studying the theoretical side of the framework, the developed game can enhance the understanding of the framework. Second, it modifies the game design model by substituting generative research with a framework (FSSD) as an input and further discusses the benefits of having FSSD as an input element. From a practical perspective, apart from providing a better understanding of sustainability and educating companies about FSSD, the board game session enables the employees to think about how to implement FSSD for their specific scenario. Additionally, it also provides companies a controlled environment to think about risks and foresee the consequences of their future actions. Hence, providing a safety net before the initiation of the implementation process.

[pt] O mercado de jogos de tabuleiro modernos vem crescendo de forma exponencial nos últimos cinco anos. No Brasil, empresas e consumidores desse segmento exploram diversas oportunidades que surgem com a oferta de mais de quatrocentos novos títulos ao ano, novos locais para jogar e novas formas de informação, acesso e aquisição dos jogos. Neste contexto, os significados do consumo dos jogos de tabuleiro modernos se transformam e mostram-se, muitas vezes, fortes e presentes na vida dos jogadores, com influência nas identidades dos consumidores das mais diversas maneiras. Estudos sobre jogos de tabuleiro modernos na área de consumo são muito escassos, principalmente no Brasil, e circunscritos a poucas áreas. Dessa forma, esta pesquisa tem como objetivo explorar os significados de consumo dos jogos de tabuleiro e suas possíveis implicações identitárias, por meio de entrevistas com vinte e cinco consumidores altamente envolvidos com esse objeto, e utilizando a semiótica francesa como linha teóricometodológica e analítica. Os resultados da investigação apontam a socialização mediada pelos jogos de tabuleiro modernos como um dos principais significados do consumo do objeto estudado, assim como uma das principais implicações identitárias sobre os consumidores. Destacam-se, também, as narrativas de consumidores acerca da relação sensível entre os sujeitos e o objeto-jogo e suas coleções. O estudo dos significados do consumo e das questões identitárias revelaram que a cultura nerd se faz muito presente neste universo, apesar de não se tratar de um mercado restrito a essa subcultura de consumo. / [en] The market of modern board games has been growing exponentially over the past five years. In Brazil, companies and consumers in this segment exploit several opportunities that arise with the offer of more than four hundred new titles per year, new places to play and new forms of information, access and acquisition of these games. In this context, the consumption meanings of modern board games change and are often shown to be strong and present in the lives of players, influencing the identities of consumers in the most diverse ways. Studies about modern board games in the consumption area are very scarce, mainly in Brazil, and limited to a few areas. Thus, this research aims to explore the meanings of consumption of board games and their possible identity implications, through interviews with twenty-five consumers highly involved with this object, and using french semiotics as a theoretical-methodological and analytical line. The research results point to the socialization mediated by modern board games as one of the main consumption meaning of the studied object, as well as one of the main identity implications for consumers. Also highlighted are the consumer narratives about the sensitive relationship between the players and the game-object and its collections. The study of the consumption meanings and identity issues revealed that nerdy culture is very present in this universe, although it is not a market restricted to this consumer subculture.

Denna studie undersöker om datorspels designmönster kan användas för digitala brädspel. Den befintliga forskningen om användarupplevelsen är bred för datorspel, men forskningen om den digitala brädspelupplevelsen och dess designmönster är liten i jämförelse. Såsom forskning saknas, så saknas det verktyg och hjälpmedel för att skapa digitala brädspel. För att ta itu med detta problem använder den här studien verktygen Game User Experience Satisfaction Scale (GUESS) för att mäta spelanvändarupplevelsen samt så används Björk och Holopainen (2006) designmönstermall för att forska om speldesignmönster för datorspel kan användas för det digitala strategibrädspelet Root av Dire Wolf Digital (2020). För att kunna finna om dessa speldesignmönster kan användas i digitala strategibrädspel, så har det genomförts spelsessioner samt intervjuer baserade och anpassade på faktorer inom GUESS. Därefter, följdes Björk och Holopainens (2006) speldesignmönstermall, för att analysera och organisera den insamlade datan för att finna motsvarande speldesignmönster i det valda digitala brädspelet. Genom att diskutera de funna speldesignmönstren, fann vi att GUESS var ej ett lämpligt verktyg för att mäta spelupplevelsen för digitaliserade brädspel. Trots att GUESS inte lämpar sig för digitala brädspel så kan sammanställningen av de listade designmönster användas som en referens för framtida speldesigners beslutfattande i skapandet av digitala brädspel för att bidra till en bättre spelanvändarupplevelse. Med syfte att hjälpa framtida speldesigners i skapandet av bättre design för digitala brädspel, förväntas det att den framtida forskningen kan fylla i luckor inom området samt utveckla nya verktyg, dedikerade till mätningen av digitala brädspelsupplevelsen. / This study explores if game design patterns can be used for digital board games. The existing research on user experience is broad for computer games, whereas the research on digital board games and their design patterns are small in comparison. Just as there is a lack of research, there is a lack of tools and aids to create digital board games. To address this issue, this study uses Game User Experience Satisfaction Scale (GUESS) as a tool to measure the user experience and Björk and Holopainen (2006) design pattern template to research if this game design patterns can be used for the digital strategy board game Root from Dire Wolf Digital (2020). To find if these design patterns can be used in digital strategy board games, play tests and adapted interviews based on factors from GUESS have been made. Then, Björk and Holopainen’s (2006) template for game design patterns has been followed to analyze and organize the collected data, to find the corresponding game design patterns in the digital board game. After discussing the found game design patterns, we found that GUESS was not a suitable tool to measure the gaming experience of digitized board games. Besides this, the compilation of the listed design patterns we found that they could be used as a reference for future decision-making for game designers in the creation of digital board games, to contribute to a better game user experience. With the aim to assist future game designers in the creation of better designs for digital board games, it is expected that the future research can fill the gaps in this field, as well as develop new tools dedicated to the measurement of the digital board game experience.