In scaffolding, full support (guidance) is given to the learner to support weakness and withdrawn bit by bit as learner knowledge fortifies (fading) (Martens & Maciuszek, 2013) . According to Puntambekar & Hubscher (2005), the attributes of scaffolding include diagnosis, calibration and fading. Research work on scaffolding in serious games – games with other purposes other than entertainment, has mainly focused on diagnosis and calibration often referred to in this field as player modelling and adaptivity respectively. There is barely any empirical study investigating fading this in these games. Instead of fading which is the gradual removal of scaffolding, an all-or-nothing approach is often used. The all-or-nothing could lead to cognitive overload in children. For children to have a pleasurable gameplay, it is important the cognitive load is managed effectively. The fundamental question asked in this thesis is “To what extent can scaffolding-fading improve children’s gameplay experience and knowledge gain?” This is broken down to four research questions – 1. Does the gradual removal of guidance improve children’s gameplay experience? 2. What dimensions of gameplay experience are impacted and to what extent are they impacted by the gradual removal of guidance? 3. Would guidance fading during gameplay improve knowledge gain? 4. What effect would inappropriate guidance-fading have on gameplay? A game in which the scaffolding can be manipulated is designed for this study. A comparative study methodology with a controlled experiment, comparing gameplay in both the gradual removal and the all-or-nothing mode, is employed with the aim of measuring gameplay experience and knowledge gain in these modes. Analytics was also employed to capture performance-related gameplay metrics. These methods were combined for a more substantial explanation of findings. The key contributions made include – 1. Appropriately implementing guidance-fading for the first time in a game AND highlighting the relevance of this scaffolding mode to serious gameplay.

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Yes / Dementia is a serious, progressive, and often debilitating illness with no known cure, having a severe adverse effect on memory, behaviour, reasoning, and communication. A comprehensive review of current refereed research material in the use of games in this area is scarce and suffers from being orientated towards commercially available games or derivatives such as “Dr. Kawashima’s brain training.” There is much lesser concern for bespoke research grade alternatives. This review will attempt to assess the current state of the art in research orientated games for dementia, importantly identifying systems capable of prediction before the onset of the disease. It can be ascertained from the literature reviewed that there are clearly a large number of interactive computer game based mechanisms used for dementia. However, these are each highly intrusive in terms of affecting normal living and the patient is aware of being tested; furthermore their long-term or real benefits are unknown as is their effect over conventional tests. It is important to predict cognitive impairment at a stage early enough to maximise benefit from treatment and therapeutic intervention. Considering the availability, use, and increasing power of modern mobile smartphones, it is logically plausible to explore this platform for dementia healthcare.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master Arts in Digital Animation, March 2017 / XL2018

Bakgrund: Inom den svenska skolan har det det senaste decenniet varit vanligt förekommande med olika former av 1-till-1 projekt; det vill säga en elev, en dator. Dessa projekt har införts med varierande resultat. Vid vissa av projekten har datorerna inkluderats väl i undervisningen för skapandet av digitala lärmiljöer, men vid andra projekt har datorn enbart blivit en ersättning till papper och penna och en form av google-maskin. Ett av de möjliga sätten att inkludera datorerna mer i undervisningen är genom att använda dem till datorspel i undervisningssyfte.Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur elevers argumentation kring den politiska ideologin liberalismen i samhällskunskapsundervisningen, påverkas av interaktionen med datorspelet Democracy 3. Metod: För att undersöka detta har ett fältexperiment genomförts med en experimentgrupp och en kontrollgrupp. Experimentgruppen delades in i mindre grupper och fick spela, argumentera och diskutera liberalismen utifrån datorspelet Democracy 3 i en undervisningssituation. Fältexperimentet är indelat i två åtskilda mätningar med en spelomgång (behandling) emellan för att kunna mäta effekten av gruppinteraktionerna på elevernas argumentation. Dessutom skrev eleverna loggböcker i sina grupper över spelomgången. Även klassrumsobservationer utfördes av lektionstillfällena. Mätningarna baseras på en skriftlig individuell uppgift som eleverna utför vid första mätningen, följt av spelomgången, för att efter detta ha möjligheten att reflektera och redigera texten från den första mätningen. Denna redigerade inlämning blir det andra mättillfället. Fältexperimentet inkluderade även en kontrollgrupp som utförde de båda mätningarna, men saknade spelomgången emellan. Den elevproducerade empirin analyserades genom kvantitativ och kvalitativ textanalys.Resultat: Undersökningen visar att eleverna från experimentgruppen förändrade sina beskrivningar och argumentation i relation till den liberalistiska tankefiguren vid det andra mättillfället. Dessa förändringar fanns i mindre grad i elevernas individuella inlämningar, jämfört med deras argumentation i grupperna utifrån loggböckerna från spelomgången. I kontrollgruppen skedde enbart mindre förändringar i form av korrekturläsning, samt funderingar över om den liberalistiska utopin i verkligheten är genomförbar.

Raising the awareness of information security has been the focus of DOD and other government agencies in recent years. There is a need for an effective means of educating and training personnel in the topic of Information Assurance. CyberCIEGE offers an approach to training by engaging the personnel in an interactive simulation-based network security game. Each game scenario in CyberCIEGE is designed to impart some network security principles and Information Assurance concepts to the players. This research developed a scenario definition file for the CyberCIEGE game engine to illustrate and train players on matters related to information protection using compartmentalized Mutlilevel Secure (MLS) systems. The specific area of research is on the protection of sensitive information and operational commands for command and control systems. Through playing this military-based scenario, players can learn about the importance of physical security, the different strategies to protect sensitive information, and the use of MLS systems to provide controlled access to sensitive information. Testing of this game scenario was conducted through the creation of detailed solutions and incorrect gameplay examples.

Peer-to-peer networks are types of computer networks where each computer (a peer) may have several direct communication channels with other computers. This is similar to how people know and interact with each other, including the problems of how communications among each other take place. Depending on the resources being shared among peers, various protocols have been developed to propagate these resources. These protocols include routing the resources based on similarities between the resources and peers as well as forcing the topology of peers to control different types of resources. Peer-to-peer networks help simulate societies, but communication routing is dependent on the medium being passed among the peers. Games have been a part of human culture for a long time and have not only provided entertainment to people, both individuals and groups, but also a means to better understand the real world by practising on a model world instead. Such models have become more prevalent through the advent of computer games, were virtual worlds can imitate the real world even further with each technological advancement. As these progressions advance, so to does the expectation of multiple persons interacting with each other in a virtual world as they do in the real world. This leads us to the question: “How can computer games be augmented to take advantage of peer-to-peer models?” In this thesis, we explore the possibilities and requirements of running computer games over peer-to-peer networks. We accomplish this by proposing models and mechanisms to be used by all peers to allow a game to be played over a peer-to-peer network. We evaluate our solution to illustrate how well it performs in various scenarios, including the type of peer-to-peer network used, the quality of knowledge models used for our mechanisms and the behaviours of the players themselves.

The abundance of technologies around our children, provides us with resources that can be used in second and foreign language classrooms. Often, children do not have the opportunity to practice Spanish in an authentic way, due to limited Spanish instruction that some institutions or public schools offer at the elementary level. Therefore, the limited time that is allowed to teach should be used wisely by means of computer games in the target language in conjunction with language tasks may offer the opportunity to learn and practice the second language (L2). The purpose of the present report is to: present existing literature on tasks and computer games in foreign/second language learning; suggest how they can be incorporated in a task-based approach in terms of teaching Spanish as an L2 to young learners; show examples of computer games in company with various language tasks that can be used for L2 learning; and provide an example of a lesson plan based on the suggested approach. Also, some of the benefits of this Spanish task-based approach will be discussed. Finally, important teaching implications are offered based on the existing literature on tasks and the task-based approach using computer games that is proposed in the this report. / text

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2003. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xi, 120 p.; also includes graphics Includes bibliographical references (p. 101-106). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center