This dissertation presents the essence of the experience of instructional designers and instructors who have used alternate reality games (ARGs) and transmedia storytelling (TS) for teaching and learning. The use of game-like narratives, such as ARGs and TS, is slowly increasing. However, we know little about the lived experiences of those who have implemented such transmedia experiences in formal or informal learning. The data consists of written transcripts from interviews with 11 co-researchers in the United States and Europe. Phenomenology was the guiding methodology. The study begins by reviewing storytelling and the use of games in learning, leading up to exploring the tradition of using ARGs and TS in learning contexts. The analysis was one of reduction leading to codes, summary stories, themes, and the essence of the experience. Co-researchers used many techniques to enlighten their learners including problem-solving, critical thinking, collaboration, encouragement, disruption, and connection-making. When successful, connection-making facilitates learner agency development by providing learners with the power to act by their own initiative. Action came through the communicated narratives and games that closely tied to real-world problems. In the context of these efforts, this study's co-researchers emerged as educational life-world learning-coaches, "sensei", who were each using strategies and techniques to move students toward meaningful real-world learning and the ability to make a difference in the world. The dissertation closes by exploring implications of this study for instructional designers and instructors interested in using alternate reality games and transmedia storytelling for teaching and learning purposes.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / El propósito de este estudio es investigar los cambios en el uso del juego lingüístico multilingüe en mis escrituras privadas durante varios periodos de residencia en el extranjero y relacionarlos con otros factores que jugaron un papel importante para mi experiencia de aprender la L2 en este contexto. Específicamente, intentaré relacionar los cambios en el empleo de alternancia de códigos evidenciados en mis diarios con factores de motivación, participación social con hablantes nativos de la cultura anfitriona y una creciente identificación personal con este nuevo entorno social y lingüístico. El juego lingüístico multilingüe puede verse como índice de esta nueva identificación con la cultura y lengua meta, que me proporcionaba a la vez un medio de disfrutar del creciente dominio de la L2 y también un espacio de diálogo personal para la construcción de una nueva identidad surgida de una participación lingüística, social y cultural en el contexto del país anfitrión.

This thesis presents a case study conducted at the Museum of Ethnography in Stockholm, focusing on the digital tools and implementations within the exhibitions of the museum. It aims to explore the perspectives and interactions on digital tools and implementations of both museum employees, and visitors, examining the potential discrepancies that may arise. The study falls within the field of Digital Humanities, with a specific emphasis on the impact of new museology and digital applications within cultural heritage institutions. To establish a comprehensive understanding of the subject, varying ethnographic methodologies are employed. Interviews have been conducted with employees at the museum to investigate their understanding and planning regarding the use of digital tools and implementations in their exhibitions. Additionally, interviews with visitors as well as on-site observations were conducted to provide insight into visitor experiences and interactions with the digital tools and implementations. Lastly, one participatory observation during a tour of an upcoming exhibition was performed to add perspective from the professionals of the museum. The findings reveal that digital tools and implementations are highly regarded as invaluable assets by the Museum of Ethnography. However, the thesis finds that the diverse professional backgrounds within the museum staff adds complexity to understanding the digital tools and implementations, which affects the staff’s ability to find harmonious solutions for problems of accessibility of the tools. Visitors tend to find direct interactions, such as games or educational movies, more accessible and easier to engage with, while immersive sounds and projections may go unnoticed. The study contributes to the existing body of knowledge in Digital Humanities by expanding the knowledge about the effective utilization of digital tools and implementations in cultural heritage museums, through this case study. It serves as a guide for other GLAM institutions, offering new diverse perspectives of both museum professionals and visitors.

Digital games have been used mostly for entertainment but recently researchers have started to use digital games in other areas such as education and training. Researchers have shown that digital games can provide a compelling, creative, and collaborative environment for learning. However, the popularity of computers and the Internet brings this question to mind: Are the assessment methods falling behind and remaining traditional? Will the traditional methods of learning and knowledge assessment be sufficient for this new generation who are starving for new technology? This study investigates the effectiveness of using a digital interactive game as an assessments method - in this case a mini-game that was designed to assess the student's knowledge on basic Boolean logic. The study reports on the performance differences of the students who participated in this study and correlations between the performance of these students in a digital interactive game, written tests and their in-class performance to examine the effectiveness of using a digital game as a new knowledge assessment method.

Submitted in fulfilment of requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Technology: Operations and Quality Management, Durban University of Technology, 2014. / The need for alternative teaching practices in the face of poor retention and student throughput rates has changed the context of higher education in South Africa. This study interrogates one alternative teaching practice: the use of a board game and a multimedia game. Arguments for the potential benefits of games in higher education have generated a growing body of literature, but the general focus of these studies has been empirical with little theorisation about the associated pedagogy. Using a mixed methods sequential explanatory research design, this thesis aimed to determine the quality of pedagogy through games in providing epistemological access to the subjects Tooth Morphology and Oral Anatomy in a Dental Technology Diploma at a selected University of Technology. The thesis also developed a framework for the design of games to enable quality teaching and learning of vocational subjects. Preliminary and pilot studies were conducted. The preliminary study was conducted over a five-year period from 2003 to 2006. The total sample size for the Tooth Morphology board game was n=128 and for Oral Anatomy multimedia game was n=30. Academic experts validated the study by reviewing the contents of the game. The findings suggested that games assisted students to actively learn. The pilot study was conducted in 2007 and 2008. The total sample size for the Tooth Morphology board game was n=62 and for the Oral Anatomy multimedia game was n=22. Dental technology experts validated the contents of the game. Cronbach’s alpha index was used to assess the reliability of the study and was α=0.45 and α=0.757 for the Tooth Morphology board game and the Oral Anatomy multimedia game, respectively. The low alpha score obtained for the Tooth Morphology board game prompted improvements to be made to the survey for the main study. The main study was conducted in 2009, 2010 and 2011. The total population size for the Tooth Morphology board game was n=83 and for the Oral Anatomy multimedia game was n=82. Surveys and pre- and post-tests were analysed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, factor analysis and cross tabulations. Content validity ensured that the survey focused on concepts and constructs that emerged from the review of literature on games. Cronbach’s alpha index was used to assess the reliability of the surveys and was α=0.794 and α=0.868 for the Tooth Morphology board game and Oral Anatomy multimedia game, respectively. Qualitative analyses entailed focus groups with students who used the games. The data generated was analysed using the conceptual frameworks of Bernstein’s knowledge codes and Maton’s Legitimation Code Theory of Specialisation. Trustworthiness of the data was achieved using methodological triangulation, data triangulation and peer debriefing. Quantitative results revealed that an integrated game design with an appropriate mix of instructional content and applicable game features and mechanisms facilitates the provision of epistemological access to Tooth Morphology and Oral Anatomy. By placing a sociological lens on knowledge in the games, a major finding in the qualitative analyses was that epistemological access using games provided access to particular knowledge-knower structures of the target subjects or disciplines. An LCT (Specialisation) analysis revealed that the games in this study represented a knowledge code as specialist knowledge and skills were valued over the possession of personal attributes and dispositions. This knowledge code was in turn aligned to the knowledge code of the target programme. In synthesising the results there were three recurring issues that emerged from the data as being key, namely: (1) access to knowledge; (2) instructional design of the games; and (3) technical design of the games. The thesis concluded by proposing the KITE framework, a guideline for lecturers to consider when designing games for higher education. / DAAD, NRF In-Country Scholarship

[pt] As tecnologias da informação e comunicação (TICs) vêm avançando de forma continuada e se amalgamando à cultura de uma grande parcela da juventude mundial, inclusive a brasileira. Nessa pesquisa, citamos o processo pelo qual está passando os espaços de ensino-aprendizagem, do qual, aos poucos, estão acolhendo a demanda desse público-alvo, de jovens estudantes, que desejam estar conectados durante suas atividades escolares. Contudo, muitos games com suas habilidades e competências têm contribuído para o aprendizado e podem cumprir muitas tarefas, inclusive a de reaproximar estudantes que estejam desestimulados com o ensino do dia-a-dia. A sociedade, por sua vez, vem acompanhando esse processo e, nesse documento, apresentamos um histórico de como evoluímos com os games desde os arcades até chegarem aos celulares. Como consequência dessa evolução tecnológica, há uma profusão de títulos de games para os dispositivos móveis, muitos deles educativos, o que vem de encontro com a necessidade de crianças e jovens em idade escolar. Em seguida, apresentamos um estudo dos artifícios que fazem desses games tão atrativos a esse público. Com todo esse subsídio, a pesquisa propõe a formatação de uma taxonomia para games educativos, a fim de oferecer subsídios para que alunos, seus pais e professores tenham facilidade em identificar games que possam contribuir para o seu aprendizado. / [en] Information and communication technologies have been consistently moving forward and impacting a segment of the youth population across cultures, including Brazil. In this research paper we examine the transformations occurring in the field of education, both from a teaching and a learning perspective. These two arenas have gradually been taking on current demands from their target audience, the youth, who desire to stay connected while performing their typical school work. As a result, many educational games emphasizing particular skills contribute to learning and can end up playing a number of roles, one of wich is to reengage demotivated students in their day to day learning activities. Meanwhile, society as a whole has been paralleling this transformation. This paper presents a history of the evolution of games, from the arcades to the latest cell phone platforms, and how the myriad of mobile educational games has been meeting the academic needs of school age children. We present a closer look at the tools and devices that make them so attractive to this particular age segment of the population. Our research proposes the implamentation of taxonomy exclusively of educational games, aiming to facilitate their identification of games that contribute to learning for students and their parents and teachers.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:05:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2663.pdf: 8403936 bytes, checksum: 20ebe5a87d4faad6fe7ae99f16b1b97a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-09-24 / Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos / This research describes how common sense knowledge can help to define and to tell stories in narrative games. In order to evaluate this possibility, it has been developed a Web narrative game, called Contexteller, which allows educators to teach some skills that are part of the student s education and life, such as: ways to express themselves and to work in group. Nowadays, there are several educational challenges to teach some skills at school. For instance, educators can not easily find a tool or activity in order to help them to work collaboratively with their students. Therefore, this game allows educators, as co-authors, to create the story taking into account their goals, pedagogical approach and the student s cultural reality. Through the game, they can get some information related to the student s values, culture and knowledge, i.e., student s common sense. Then, teachers can use common vocabulary before and during the narrative, considering myths, beliefs and knowledge of the students´ group and, consequently, enabling them not only to identify but also to get interested in collaborate with the teacher and the other students to develop the story. In order to observe the use of this game in an educational environment and collect the opinion of target group a study case, described in this thesis, was performed at a school in Itapira/SP. / Neste trabalho é descrito como o conhecimento de senso comum pode apoiar na criação e condução de histórias em jogos do tipo narrativo. Para verificar a viabilidade do uso de senso comum foi desenvolvido um jogo narrativo Web, chamado Contexteller, que tem como objetivo permitir ao educador ensinar aos alunos algumas habilidades que fazem parte do processo de aprendizado e da vida, tais como: o trabalho colaborativo e a livre expressão de idéias; uma vez que, as escolas ainda encontram muitos desafios educacionais para ensinar habilidades como essas, preparando o aprendiz para ser um cidadão participante em sua comunidade. Os educadores têm dificuldades para encontrar ferramentas e/ou atividades que os apóiem a trabalhar essas habilidades com seus alunos, estabelecidos os objetivos pedagógicos e percebidas as necessidades dos aprendizes. Nesse contexto, este trabalho apresenta o Contexteller para permitir aos educadores promover a atividade de contar histórias colaborativamente e, através destas histórias, ensinar e/ou trabalhar essas habilidades com seus alunos. Este jogo permite ao educador, como co-autor, criar histórias de acordo com os seus objetivos e princípios pedagógicos, considerando a realidade cultural dos alunos, pois, durante a elaboração e condução da história, o jogo disponibiliza informações relacionadas a cultura, valores, o vocabulário, enfim com o senso comum dos alunos. Através dessas informações culturais, o educador pode utilizar um vocabulário comum a todos durante a narrativa, considerando mitos, crenças, conhecimento de um certo grupo de alunos, permitindo que eles se identifiquem e, possam ter maior interesse e engajamento para se expressar e colaborar com a história. Com o intuito de observar o uso desse jogo em um ambiente educacional e coletar a opinião do público alvo, foi realizado um estudo de caso na Escola Educacional Vivência SS Ltda., parceira do LIA nos projetos educacionais, de Itapira/SP, relatado neste trabalho.

Acompanha: Manual do usuário do produto pedagógico Projeto Genus / O presente trabalho tem por objetivo a produção de um objeto educacional no formato de jogo didático, intitulado Projeto Genus, que constitui material de apoio e recurso facilitador para a compreensão da Genética mendeliana clássica. Este jogo é o produto referente a mestrado profissional desenvolvido no âmbito do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Formação Científica, Educacional e Tecnológica – PPGFCET – da Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (UTFPR). Parte-se da constatação que a compreensão dos fenômenos hereditários é constantemente referenciada como ponto de grandes dificuldades no ensino de biologia, particularmente o ensino de genética. O Projeto Genus foi concebido enquanto proposta metodológica e elemento motivacional para instigar uma prática de ensino visando à construção do conhecimento científico em contexto que proporciona uma interação de maior qualidade entre alunos e professores, estimulando relações cooperativas. Considerando o aspecto educacional, foram utilizados como princípios pedagógicos norteadores a aprendizagem significativa e as metodologias ativas aplicadas na fixação dos conhecimentos teóricos a respeito da genética mendeliana clássica trabalhada no ensino médio. A dinâmica do jogo inclui elementos que remetem à ficção científica e é inspirada em conceitos de “gamificação”. São apresentadas evidências, a partir da utilização do Projeto Genus em sala de aula, de que o jogo constitui material didático com potencial de ser utilizado em aulas genética, fomentando a interação entre professor e alunos no sentido de promover o protagonismo destes no processo educativo. / This work aims at the production of an educational object based on a game platform, entitled Genus Project. Our objective is to support and facilitate the understanding of classical mendelian genetics. This project is under a Professional Masters’ program in Scientific, Educational and Technological Formation – PPGFCET – at the Federal University of Technology, Paraná (UTFPR). Game platforms constitute important educational objects and motivational strategies to stimulate students’ learning. Games can also be considered as alternative proposals for the teaching of diverse aspects of scientific knowledge; in addition, they provide high quality interaction between students and teachers, encouraging cooperative relations between them. From the educational aspect, we focused on meaningful learning and active learning methodologies as pedagogical principles for the teaching of classical mendelian genetics at high school level. Hereditary phenomena are often pointed out as a especially difficult subject in the learning of genetics. Therefore, the Genus Project was developed in order to present alternatives to overcome those difficulties by establishing a science fiction scenario for the game – which is inspired by concepts of "gamification" – including traditional exercises and problems in genetics. In this way, the game stimulates students’ interaction, and promotes educational strategies to empower students and make them protagonists of their own learning process.

CAPES / Este trabalho teve como principal objetivo apresentar uma Proposta Metodológica fundamentada na teoria de Ponte (2005, 2006, 2014) sobre Diversificação de Tarefas, afim de que esta coloque os alunos em Atividade e possibilite o aprendizado significativo dos conceitos formais de Números Inteiros, do contexto histórico e das quatro operações. Para completar nossa Proposta, buscamos referências nas pesquisas que versam sobre Registros de Representações Semióticas, de Duval (1993, 2003) e nas teorias sobre Jogos em Matemática. Deste modo, nossa Proposta foi planejada e construída com base no movimento de ação reflexão-ação, sendo aplicada em uma turma regular do 7º ano (6ª série) do Ensino Fundamental 2, na qual o pesquisador é o professor de Matemática. Esta pesquisa-ação é majoritariamente qualitativa, visando avaliar se as mudanças realizadas na metodologia provocarão melhorias na prática do professor. Posteriormente, com base nos dados coletados por meio das Tarefas aplicadas, tecemos considerações estruturadas em Categorias de Análise, em acordo com a teoria de Bardin (1977), sobre Análise de Conteúdos. Os resultados apontam para uma real necessidade da diversificação de Tarefas no planejamento metodológico de qualquer professor que busque a apropriação do conhecimento por seus alunos. / This piece of work has as its main goal to present a Methodological Proposal based on the theory of Ponte (2005, 2006, and 2014) about Diversification of Tasks, in order that this put the students in Activity and make the process of learning possible and meaningful of the formal concepts of Integer, on the historical concept and the four operations. In order to accomplish our Proposal, we sought references on the researches that deal with Records of Semiotic Representations, of Duval (1993, 2003) and on the theories about Games in Math. This way, our Proposal was planned and built based on the movement of action-reflection-action, being applied in a regular classroom of the 7th year (6th grade) of the Middle School, in which the researcher is the Math teacher. This research-action is mostly qualitative, seeking to evaluate if the changes accomplished on the methodology will cause positive impact on the teacher’s role. Later on, based on the collected data through the applied Tasks, according to the theory of Bardin (1977), about Content Analysis. The results point to a real need of the diversification of Tasks on the methodological planning of any teacher that seeks the appropriation of knowledge for their students.

Acompanha: Caderno pedagógico: Jogos pedagógicos como estratégia de aprendizagem promovida pela interação entre a família e a escola / Esta dissertação apresenta uma pesquisa que envolve a escola, os educandos e famílias. As atividades enquadram-se na modalidade de jogos pedagógicos utilizados no primeiro momento em ambiente escolar e, posteriormente, em ambiente familiar. A investigação está organizada com reflexões acerca dos seguintes assuntos: jogos pedagógicos, envolvimento familiar no contexto escolar; ensino de Ciências Naturais nos anos Iniciais. O objetivo da pesquisa é propor uma estratégia de ensino com a interação família por meio de uso de jogos pedagógicos com conteúdos de Ciências. As atividades foram desenvolvidas em uma instituição pública com duas turmas do 3º ano do Ensino Fundamental I, envolvendo o educando e pelo menos um familiar. O trabalho inicia com uma oficina de jogos para os familiares em que se fez uma reflexão sobre os benefícios dessa prática. Foram utilizados jogos pedagógicos em sala de aula para que os educandos se habituassem a formar equipes, seguir regras e organizar-se para esse tipo de trabalho no ambiente escolar e familiar. A partir de avaliação diagnóstica foi observado o nível de leitura e escrita dos educandos, a qual orientou a construção das atividades sobre o conteúdo “Estados físicos da água e seus ciclos na natureza” da disciplina de Ciências Naturais. Essa prática serviu de base para a organização de um caderno pedagógico sobre o uso de “jogos pedagógicos como estratégia de aprendizagem promovida pela interação entre a família e a escola”. Os resultados do estudo apontam que os conteúdos do ensino de Ciências Naturais, o jogo pedagógico e o envolvimento familiar podem ser grandes aliados para uma aprendizagem significativa. / This dissertation presents a research that involves the school, the students and the families. The activities are part of the pedagogical games modality, used in the first moment in a scholar environment and later, in the family environment. The investigation is organized with reflections about the following subjects: pedagogical games, familiar involvement in the scholar context, the teaching of Natural Science in the first years of Elementary School. The objective of this research is propose a strategy of teaching with the family interaction using pedagogical games With Science content. The activities were developed in a public institution with two classes from the third year of Elementary School, involving the student and at least one family member. The work begins with a class about games for the family, where it is made a reflection about the benefits of this practice. Pedagogical games were used in the classroom so that the students got used to make teams, follow rules and get organized for this kind of work in the scholar and familiar environment. From the diagnosed evaluation was observed the level of reading and writing of the students, which orientated the construction of the activities about the content “Physical States of the Water and its cycles in the Nature” from the subject Natural Science. This practice served as a foundation for the organization of a pedagogical notebook about the use of “Pedagogical Games as strategies of learning promoted by the interaction between the family and the school.” The results of the study point that the contents of the subject Natural Science, pedagogical games and the familiar involvement may be of great benefit in the process of learning and teaching.