Thesis (Ph.D.)--Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008. / Committee Chair: Bruckman, Amy; Committee Member: Guzdial, Mark; Committee Member: Juul, Jesper; Committee Member: Kolodner, Janet; Committee Member: Mateas, Michael.

Information is necessary for any business to function. However, if one does not manage one’s information assets properly then one’s business is likely to be at risk. By implementing Information Security controls, procedures, and/or safeguards one can secure information assets against risks. The risks of an organisation can be mitigated if employees implement safety measures. However, employees are often unable to work securely due to a lack of knowledge. This dissertation evaluates the premise that a computer game could be used to educate employees about Information Security. A game was developed with the aim of educating employees in this regard. If people were motivated to play the game, without external motivation from an organisation, then people would also, indirectly, be motivated to learn about Information Security. Therefore, a secondary aim of this game was to be self-motivating. An experiment was conducted in order to test whether or not these aims were met. The experiment was conducted on a play test group and a control group. The play test group played the game before completing a questionnaire that tested the information security knowledge of participants, while the control group simply completed the questionnaire. The two groups’ answers were compared in order to obtain results. This dissertation discusses the research design of the experiment and also provides an analysis of the results. The game design will be discussed which provides guidelines for future game designers to follow. The experiment indicated that the game is motivational, but perhaps not educational enough. However, the results suggest that a computer game can still be used to teach users about Information Security. Factors that involved consequence and repetition contributed towards the educational value of the game, whilst competitiveness and rewards contributed to the motivational aspect of the game.

It seems like teaching about games should be easy. After all, students enjoy engaging with course content and have extensive experience with videogames. However, games education can be surprisingly complex. I explore the question of what it means to understand games by looking at the challenges and problems faced by students taking games-related classes. My findings include realizing that extensive prior videogame experience often interferes with students abilities to reason critically and analytically about games, and that students have difficulties articulating their experiences and observations about games. In response to these challenges, my research explores how we can use online learning environments to support learning about games by (1) helping students get more from their experiences with games, and (2) helping students use what they know to establish deeper understanding. I explore these strategies through the design and use of two online learning environments: GameLog and the Game Ontology Wiki. GameLog is an online blogging environment designed to help students reflect on their game playing experiences. The Game Ontology wiki provides a context for students to contribute and participate legitimately and authentically in the Game Ontology Project. The Game Ontology Project is a games studies research project that is creating a framework for describing, analyzing and studying games. GameLog and the Game Ontology Wiki were used in university level games-related classes. Results show that students found that participating in these online learning environments was a positive learning experience that helped them broaden and deepen their understanding of videogames. Students found that by reflecting on their experiences playing games they began to understand how game design elements helped shape that experience. Most importantly, they stepped back from their traditional role of gamers or fans and engaged in reasoning critically and analytically about the games they were studying. With GameLog, I show how blogging about experiences of gameplay can be a useful activity for supporting learning and understanding about games. For the Game Ontology Wiki, I show how it is possible to design learning environments that are approachable to learners and allow them to contribute legitimately to external communities of practice.

With the development of media technology and game evolution, games are endowed with multiple purposes and functions. Some scholars believe that the game is the supplement of the real world, which can affect the players' psychology and behaviour. Numerous studies show that games can make players accept challenges, overcome obstacles, arouse positive emotions and solve problems. Therefore, academia's research on games and related topics in learning has become increasingly popular. In response, different models have emerged to evaluate the design of active educational games.This research discusses how different game mechanisms affect players. Also, this study used a prototype game as output media to examine the impact of various game mechanisms on learning. The purpose of this study is to explore how to choose a more suitable game mechanism in the design of educational games. The research results include that some game mechanisms promote learning motivation and improve learning outcomes. At the same time, some game mechanisms have the risk of reducing learning motivation. Through these findings, the researcher of this study believes that educational games can bring positive influence and help to players' learning. However, how to choose a suitable game mechanism in the design of educational games is worthy of serious consideration for making design decisions.

This thesis responds to the specific educational and social needs of gifted children within the context of online applications. Online enrichment activities and social opportunities are only successful if they are able to attract and sustain attention of the advanced interests of gifted children. The aim of the research is to design an online application that appeals to gifted children and recognises the identified intellectual and social needs within the New Zealand context. This was achieved through research through design by establishing a design strategy that uses the findings of investigations and applies them to a prototype application. Developers of online content for gifted children may benefit from this research. As an initial investigation a survey was conducted about how gifted New Zealand primary school children are using online applications. It was assumed following the literature review that online applications would appeal to gifted children if they teach a new skill, have multiplayer functionality and address higher order thinking skills. Basic design characteristics of the most popular gaming websites amongst gifted children (from the survey) were then used to inform the design strategy and to develop the prototype online application typozilla. Key findings were retrieved through observation of gifted children using typozilla. The majority of children observed were especially enthusiastic seeing other players’ avatars within multiplayer areas and competing against each other. They enjoyed learning a new skill (which was touch-typing) and engaging in creative tasks. In interviews all gifted children confirmed that they perceived the typozilla design as appealing.

This thesis responds to the specific educational and social needs of gifted children within the context of online applications. Online enrichment activities and social opportunities are only successful if they are able to attract and sustain attention of the advanced interests of gifted children. The aim of the research is to design an online application that appeals to gifted children and recognises the identified intellectual and social needs within the New Zealand context. This was achieved through research through design by establishing a design strategy that uses the findings of investigations and applies them to a prototype application. Developers of online content for gifted children may benefit from this research. As an initial investigation a survey was conducted about how gifted New Zealand primary school children are using online applications. It was assumed following the literature review that online applications would appeal to gifted children if they teach a new skill, have multiplayer functionality and address higher order thinking skills. Basic design characteristics of the most popular gaming websites amongst gifted children (from the survey) were then used to inform the design strategy and to develop the prototype online application typozilla. Key findings were retrieved through observation of gifted children using typozilla. The majority of children observed were especially enthusiastic seeing other players’ avatars within multiplayer areas and competing against each other. They enjoyed learning a new skill (which was touch-typing) and engaging in creative tasks. In interviews all gifted children confirmed that they perceived the typozilla design as appealing.

This thesis responds to the specific educational and social needs of gifted children within the context of online applications. Online enrichment activities and social opportunities are only successful if they are able to attract and sustain attention of the advanced interests of gifted children. The aim of the research is to design an online application that appeals to gifted children and recognises the identified intellectual and social needs within the New Zealand context. This was achieved through research through design by establishing a design strategy that uses the findings of investigations and applies them to a prototype application. Developers of online content for gifted children may benefit from this research. As an initial investigation a survey was conducted about how gifted New Zealand primary school children are using online applications. It was assumed following the literature review that online applications would appeal to gifted children if they teach a new skill, have multiplayer functionality and address higher order thinking skills. Basic design characteristics of the most popular gaming websites amongst gifted children (from the survey) were then used to inform the design strategy and to develop the prototype online application typozilla. Key findings were retrieved through observation of gifted children using typozilla. The majority of children observed were especially enthusiastic seeing other players’ avatars within multiplayer areas and competing against each other. They enjoyed learning a new skill (which was touch-typing) and engaging in creative tasks. In interviews all gifted children confirmed that they perceived the typozilla design as appealing.

This thesis responds to the specific educational and social needs of gifted children within the context of online applications. Online enrichment activities and social opportunities are only successful if they are able to attract and sustain attention of the advanced interests of gifted children. The aim of the research is to design an online application that appeals to gifted children and recognises the identified intellectual and social needs within the New Zealand context. This was achieved through research through design by establishing a design strategy that uses the findings of investigations and applies them to a prototype application. Developers of online content for gifted children may benefit from this research. As an initial investigation a survey was conducted about how gifted New Zealand primary school children are using online applications. It was assumed following the literature review that online applications would appeal to gifted children if they teach a new skill, have multiplayer functionality and address higher order thinking skills. Basic design characteristics of the most popular gaming websites amongst gifted children (from the survey) were then used to inform the design strategy and to develop the prototype online application typozilla. Key findings were retrieved through observation of gifted children using typozilla. The majority of children observed were especially enthusiastic seeing other players’ avatars within multiplayer areas and competing against each other. They enjoyed learning a new skill (which was touch-typing) and engaging in creative tasks. In interviews all gifted children confirmed that they perceived the typozilla design as appealing.

This thesis responds to the specific educational and social needs of gifted children within the context of online applications. Online enrichment activities and social opportunities are only successful if they are able to attract and sustain attention of the advanced interests of gifted children. The aim of the research is to design an online application that appeals to gifted children and recognises the identified intellectual and social needs within the New Zealand context. This was achieved through research through design by establishing a design strategy that uses the findings of investigations and applies them to a prototype application. Developers of online content for gifted children may benefit from this research. As an initial investigation a survey was conducted about how gifted New Zealand primary school children are using online applications. It was assumed following the literature review that online applications would appeal to gifted children if they teach a new skill, have multiplayer functionality and address higher order thinking skills. Basic design characteristics of the most popular gaming websites amongst gifted children (from the survey) were then used to inform the design strategy and to develop the prototype online application typozilla. Key findings were retrieved through observation of gifted children using typozilla. The majority of children observed were especially enthusiastic seeing other players’ avatars within multiplayer areas and competing against each other. They enjoyed learning a new skill (which was touch-typing) and engaging in creative tasks. In interviews all gifted children confirmed that they perceived the typozilla design as appealing.

In game based learning, motivating the players to learn by providing them a desirable gameplay experience is extremely important. However, it's not an easy task considering the quality of today's commercial non-educational games. Throughout the gameplay, the player should neither get overwhelmed nor under-challenged. The best way to do so is to monitor the player's actions in the game because these actions can tell the reason behind the player's performance. They can also tell about the player's lacking competencies or knowledge. Based on this information, in-game educational interventions in the form of hints can be provided to the player. The success of such games depends on their interactivity, motivational outlook and thus player retention. UNTANGLED is an online mapping game based on crowd-sourcing, developed by Reconfigurable Computing Lab, UNT for the mapping problem of CGRAs. It is also an educational game for teaching the concepts of reconfigurable computing. This thesis performs qualitative comparative analysis on gameplays of low performing players of UNTANGLED. And the implications of this analysis are used to provide recommendations for improving the gameplay experience for these players by guiding them. The recommendations include strategies to reach a high score and a compact solution, hints in the form of preset patterns and a clustering based approach.