Undersökningens syfte har varit att bidra till ökad förståelse för hur konceptet“Environmental Storytelling” kan verka som ett ledande narrativ i en digital gestaltning, iform av ett datorspel, där användaren förs framåt i berättelsen med fokus på EnvironmentalStorytelling, det vill säga spelets miljö. I denna artikel analyseras kortfattat vad narrativ inomdigitala spel innebär för att sedan gå vidare med att undersöka vad EnvironmentalStorytelling fyller för roll inom digitala spel. Designperspektivet rhizomatik har tillämpatssom både teori och förhållningssätt. För att kunna genomföra vår undersökning skapades endigital gestaltning för att testa hur väl vi som speldesigners kunde skapa ett narrativ somskulle förmedlas med hjälp av Environmental Storytelling. Undersökningen genomfördesmed hjälp av speltestning och en enkät som 12 deltagare fyllde i och som fick ageraspeltestare. Frågorna som ställdes i enkäten hade fokus på hur väl vi som speldesignerslyckats förmedla en förskriven berättelse till spelaren. Resultatet av enkäten kan inte styrkatidigare forskning av bland annat projekt Aporia. Projektets resultat visar ändå på olikheter itolkning och upplevelse bland deltagarna. Eftersom vår undersökning skett under begränsadeomständigheter går det inte att dra för stora slutsatser av projektets resultat, men vi vågarändå påstå att Environmental Storytelling kan verka som ett ledande narrativ i ett spel. / The purpose of the study has been to contribute to a better understanding of how the concept"Environmental Storytelling" can act as a leading narrative in a digital design, in the form ofa computer game, where the user is then advanced in the story with a focus on EnvironmentalStorytelling. In this article it’s briefly analyzed what storytelling in digital games means andthen proceeded to investigate what Environmental Storytelling plays as a role in digitalgames. The design perspective rhizomatics has been used both as theory and approach. Toconduct our research we created a digital game, to test how well we as game designers couldcreate a story that would be conveyed with the help of Environmental Storytelling. Theresearch was conducted with the help of game testing and a survey that 12 participants filledin and who also acted as game testers. The questions asked in the survey focused on how wellwe as game designers managed to convey and prescribe the story to the player. The results ofthe survey can not prove previous research of e.g. project Aporia. But the project's results stillshow differences in interpretation and experience among the participants. Since our surveytook place under limited circumstances, it is not possible to draw too great conclusions fromthe project's results, but we still dare to say that Environmental Storytelling can act as aleading narrative in a game.

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This dissertation consists of three journal articles that explored the effectiveness of a digital game, called EnerCities, in producing pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors by using a mixed-methods study approach. The first study was conducted as a quasi-experimental study among undergraduate students in the United States. Based on the Attitudinal Learning Instrument (ALI), this study found that the attitudinal learning gained from EnerCities influenced participants’ pro-environmental behavioral intentions significantly. This learning was retained until five weeks after game play according to the qualitative results of the study. The second study, conducted in India, used EnerCities to study the differences in attitudinal learning among high school students who played the game collaboratively or individually, using the ALI and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Results showed that the attitudinal learning and its effect on pro-environmental behavioral intentions between collaborative and individual players was similar. This study also showed that EnerCities had significantly impacted the environmental attitudes and behaviors of the game players when compared to students who did not play any game, although all students had studied environmental studies through traditional instructional methods since elementary school. The third study, conducted among high school students in India, compared the environmental attitudes between game players and students who did not play any game based on the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale. Both the unidimensional and multi-dimensional properties of the NEP were considered. It was found that EnerCities had impacted game players’ environmental attitudes significantly. All the three studies showed that digital games are more effective in promoting attitudinal (cognitive, affective, behavioral and social) learning compared to traditional instructional methods. This supports the implementation of digital games as a pedagogical tool in influencing environmental attitudes and behaviors.

Digital games are a common interest today and research has shown that digital games affect English vocabulary building in a positive way. This study aims to examine the attitudes of teachers in grade four to six towards the use of digital games for vocabulary building in the classroom and how they are used to do that. There is a lack of research about this subject in a Swedish context which is why this study is important. The study used a mixed method approach where online surveys and interviews were conducted with certified English teachers of grade four to six in Sweden. The attitudes of teachers were found to be generally positive towards using digital games to build vocabulary and the most common use of them is to both practice words and phrases the students already know and to teach new words and phrases. However, insufficient time to prepare digital games for use in the classroom seems to be the biggest challenge teachers face when implementing them. The potential digital games have for enhancing vocabulary building and motivating students is why this study is relevant.

Vi è un ampio e diffuso consenso che suggerisce che il tirocinio (internship), come forma di apprendimento esperienziale, può essere uno strumento efficace per lo sviluppo delle competenze tecniche e trasferibili degli studenti e quindi come strumento di rafforzamento dell'occupabilità (employabiltiy) dei laureati. Numerosi studi hanno anche scoperto che le esperienze internazionali possono sviluppare le competenze più apprezzate dai datori di lavoro. Questa ricerca affronta una lacuna all'intersezione di questi due campi di studio. La maggior parte degli studi analizza le esperienze internazionali con un focus distintivo sull'aspetto internazionale e non sui diversi tipi di esperienze, ad es. studiare all’estero rispetto a fare un tirocinio (internship) all’estero. La domanda a cui questo studio si propone di rispondere è se il tirocinio (internship) e il contesto internazionale abbinati estendono l'esperienza di apprendimento oltre a quella sviluppata attraverso un tirocinio domestico da solo. Quando la progettazione di questo studio è stata inizialmente pianificata, è stato fatto un grande sforzo per identificare uno strumento per misurare l'occupabilità (employability) nel modo più obiettivo possibile. Le misurazioni basate sull’utilizzo di giochi digitali (digital game-based assessments) sono state identificate come lo strumento più appropriato per farlo in modo obiettivo. In questo studio i comportamenti che definiscono l’occupabilita’ (employability) degli studenti risultato in oltre 30 indicatori quantitativi. Questi indicatori convergono con le competenze trasferibili che sono state identificate come quelle richieste dal mercato del lavoro e ampiamente analizzate nella letteratura sull'occupabilità (employability). I dati per questo studio sono stati raccolti nel triennio 2017-19 e sono stati coinvolti un totale di 1315 studenti italiani. L'analisi fattoriale esplorativa ha esaminato la struttura alla base degli indicatori di occupabilità (employability) generati dalle valutazioni basate sul gioco digitale (digital game-based assessments). I risultati rivelano diversi temi significativi che contribuiscono ulteriormente alla conoscenza e comprensione di ciò che influenza l'occupabilità (employability) dei laureati. Il primo risultato che emerge dalle analisi di questo studio risponde alla domanda di ricerca. Quando un tirocinio (internship) si svolge all’estero, c'è un apprendimento esperienziale aggiuntivo dato dal contesto internazionale, che contribuisce ulteriormente all'apprendimento esperienziale e trasformativo già sviluppato attraverso un tirocinio (internship) domestico. Inoltre, risulta anche che questo elemento aggiuntivo sia associato a comportamenti di occupabilità (employability) legati a fattori cognitivi e non sociali. Ciò contrasta con gli studi precedenti sull'impatto delle esperienze internazionali, che generalmente associano questo tipo di esperienze allo sviluppo di competenze di tipo sociale e interpersonale. Questo studio rileva infine che quando sembra esserci una superiorità degli studenti maschi nei comportamenti di occupabilità (employability) legati dalle capacità cognitive, questa superiorità scompare quando associata a stage internazionali. / There is a large and widespread consensus suggesting that internships, as one form of experiential learning, can be an effective instrument for the development of students’ technical and transferable skills and therefore as enhancing graduate employability. Separately, studies have found that international experiences can develop the skills most valued by employers. This research addresses a gap at the intersection of these two fields of study. Most studies analyze international experiences with a distinctive focus on the international and not on the different types of experiences, e.g. study abroad versus internships. The question this study aims to answer is whether an internship and an international context combine to extend the learning experience beyond that developed through a domestic internship alone. When the design of this study was initially planned, much effort was put into identifying a tool to measure employability in the most objective way possible. Digital game-based assessments were identified as the most appropriate tool to do this objectively. Insights into behaviors in this study result in over 30 quantitative descriptors of employability, which converge with the lists of transferable skills that have been identified as those demanded by the labor market and extensively analyzed in the employability literature. The data for this study was collected over three years 2017-19, and a total of 1315 Italian students were involved. Exploratory factor analysis examined the structure underlying the employability descriptors generated by the digital game-based assessments. The findings reveal several significant themes that further contribute to our current knowledge and understanding of what influences graduates’ employability. The first finding answers the research question. When an internship takes place in a country different from that of the student’s home, there is additional experiential learning from the international context, which contributes further to the experiential and transformative learning already developed through the internship. It also appears that this additional element is associated with employability behaviors predicted by Cognitive and not Social factors. This contrasts with earlier studies on the impact of international experiences, which generally find that social and interpersonal skills are developed. This study also finds that when there appears to be a gender bias toward male students in employability behaviors predicted by cognitive abilities, this bias disappears when associated with international internships.

The possible benefits of digital games for English language learning and teaching have received increasing attention in recent years as more research shows that digital games can affect students’ learning and motivation within formal education. A great deal of the integration of digital games in school contexts depends on the attitude of teachers and students. The aim of this study is to investigate upper-secondary teachers’ and students’ attitudes toward digital games in the English language classroom in a Swedish context. Additionally, this study will also examine teachers’ and students’ views regarding the effects of using digital games for learning English. This is a mixed-method study, where semi-structured interviews and online surveys were conducted by participants from Uppsala, Gävleborg and Dalarna. 106 students and 11 teachers responded to the online survey, and 3 teachers participated in the semi-structured interview. The results found in this study confirm the findings from the majority of previous studies. Teachers and students are generally positive toward digital games in English language learning, and they see potential effects of using games in class. However, teachers find it difficult to implement digital games due to different obstacles, such as preparation time, lack of knowledge, and finding quality games.

The diploma thesis is concerned with the subject of video game education. The goal of this thesis is to confirm or to disprove the following research hypothesis: "Using new media in formal education has positive or at least neutral impact on student's motivation for learning in comparsion to conventional educative methods" by using both qualitative and quantitative empirical methods. For practical research within the thesis I have chosen Czech educational digital game Europe 2045. The theoretical part introduces current use of new media in education, interactive learning and digital game-based learning and theories of motivations for learning as well as analysis of current digital game-based learning research.

The purpose of this study is to examine perceptions regarding digital game-based teachingand the extent to which teachers of English in Sweden have been prepared to use thisapproach. The basis for this study is the research on the effects of digital games for language learning and the perceived lack of the incorporation of these in teaching, creating a gap between student interests and teaching methods. Therefore, this study investigates the approach of teacher educators who are involved in the design of teacher training programs, as well as the perceptions of in-service teachers at secondary and upper secondary schools in Sweden. In-depth interviews and an online questionnaire were used to gather relevant data. The findings show that all teacher educators who were interviewed found digital game-based teaching to be a relevant approach, but they noted that it is not incorporated in their teacher training courses to a sufficient extent. Additionally, the great majority of in-service teachers did not perceive that they received any education on how to use digital games or game elements in their teaching, while most of them found it to be relevant and had used it to some extent. These results would indicate that digital game-based teaching should be integrated to a greater extent in teacher training programs, and steps should be taken to ensure that current research on the topic reaches the teachers out in the field.

This master's thesis describes the use of microtransactions in video games and their influence over the game design, player experience, and virtual goods presentation. The goal was to compare the titles that use different monetization methods (paid and free to play games) and different types of microtransactions (functional and cosmetic), and to identify which parts of those games could be influenced by microtransactions and how. The research focuses on five titles - The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, Anthem, Warframe a Path of Exile. The first part of the thesis summarises the historical evolution of monetization models used in video games and defines the terms microtransaction, micropayment, virtual goods, or loot box. It also contains a typology of microtransactions, describes their implementation methods, and possible consequences tied to their use. The second part focuses on the analysis of the chosen five games. The research used the following methods - analysis of my own gameplay and mutual comparison of each game. Each game was examined over the course of ten hours, in sessions about 45-60 minutes long - the gameplay was accompanied by video recordings of the gameplay, screenshots, and a journal that contained detailed information about each gaming session. The research...

The topic of the diploma thesis is the creation of a computer game of the platform genre called "Nav". The work examines the stages of game creation and the position of games in contemporary art. The purpose of this work is to create a game based on Slavic, especially Ukrainian, mythology.