Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2008. / Title from PDF title page (viewed May 27, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 31-34)

Interest in the use of digital games in education has been increasing over the past few decades. Advocates argue that digital games are powerful learning tools with the potential to support increased motivational, cognitive, behavioural, affective, physiological and social outcomes. However, empirical evidence for their effectiveness is mixed. Research has focused primarily on measuring the effect of games on learning in researcher-controlled experiments, whilst relatively less attention has been paid to the role of teachers. The thesis addresses the research gap by investigating how teachers in Swedish compulsory and upper secondary schools use digital games on their own initiative and how they develop their competencies. It also considers the challenges they face. Data from in-depth qualitative interviews and a mixed method survey are used to investigate the research questions. Both the data collection and analysis have been informed by activity theory. This is also used to problematise the adaptation of digital games as teaching and learning tools. In addition, the analysis explores teachers´ self-reported activities in relation to their disposition towards digital games. The findings show that a diversity of digital games and gamification tools have found a foothold in Swedish classrooms. The participating teachers are interested in introducing and further developing digital game-based approaches, though there are limitations in their use of gaming resources and the extent to which they can leverage these to achieve educational outcomes. The research identifies and discusses four general categories of teachers: non-game users, sceptics, curious adopters and advanced adopters. Results indicate that the more positive disposition of game-using teachers tends to be related to a higher level of pedagogical integration, a greater variety of game use, and a wider range of educational outcomes, as well as an interest in professional development. Digital game-based learning is often understood as the use of gamification tools in the form of quizzes, whereas complex games and longer gameplay are less typical. Whilst most teachers agree on the motivational benefits of digital games, not as many perceive them as effective in teaching new knowledge and cognitive skills. The introduction of digital games is hampered by the lack of access to relevant and good-quality products, financial resources, preparation time and adequate technology, as well as contextualised and flexible forms of professional development. These challenges hint at deeper issues with preexisting education structures. Future research should have a twofold focus: the development of adequate game resources that can support collaborative forms of learning and higher-level skills, and flexible and contextualised competence-development solutions for teachers which are relevant to their needs. The thesis contributes to the current literature by mapping the landscape of digital game-based learning in Swedish compulsory and upper secondary schools. It provides a nuanced understanding of the perspectives of teachers on digital game use and the opportunities and challenges presented by digital game-based learning.

There is some debate about the most effective and least controversial means of sex education in schools. In several states, state law does not require education about Sexually Transmitted Diseases and Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (STDs and HIV/AIDS.) There is also debate about the effect and pervasiveness of sexual situations in video games and its effect on the healthy sexual development of adolescents. This research therefore aims to try to solve these two problems and answer the following question: Is it possible to represent sex in a more realistic and educational way through a video game while teaching more medically accurate and necessary information? The completion of this study will be able to provide some insights on the feasibility and benefits of widespread implementation of serious video games for health education in the United States and also point to the necessity of future research into this topic.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:37:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 FredericoHS_DISSERT.pdf: 6771219 bytes, checksum: 3b814401b68cda920c1a4e848373f497 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-07-04 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / The use of games as educational tools is common, however the effectiveness of games with educational purposes is still poorly known. In this study we evaluated three different low-cost teaching strategies make and play your own board game, just play an educational science game and make a poster to be exposed in the school regarding: (1) science learning; (2) use of deep learning strategies (DLS); and (3) intrinsic motivation. We tested the hypothesis that, in these three parameters evaluated, scores would be higher in the group that made and play their own game, followed respectively by the group that just played a game and the group that made a poster. The research involved 214 fifth-grade students from six elementary schools in Natal/RN. A group of students made and played their own science board game (N = 68), a second group played a science game (N = 75), and a third group made a poster to be exposed at school (N = 71). Our hypothesis was partly empirically supported, since there was no significant difference in science learning and in the use of DLS between the group that made their own game and the group that just played the game; however, both groups had significantly higher scores in science learning and in use of DLS than the group that made the poster. There was no significant difference in the scores of intrinsic motivation among the three experimental groups. Our results indicate that activities related to non-digital games can provide a favorable context for learning in the school environment. We conclude that the use of games for educational purposes (both making a game and just playing a game) is an efficient and viable alternative to teach science in Brazilian public school / A utiliza??o de jogos como ferramenta pedag?gica ? bastante comum, entretanto a efetividade dos jogos com prop?sitos educacionais ainda ? pouco conhecida. Neste estudo, tr?s diferentes estrat?gias de ensino de baixo custo criar o pr?prio jogo de tabuleiro, utilizar um jogo j? existente e confeccionar um cartaz foram avaliadas quanto a: (1) aprendizado de ci?ncias; (2) uso de estrat?gias de aprendizado profundo (EAP); e (3) motiva??o intr?nseca. Testamos a hip?tese de que, nos tr?s par?metros avaliados, os escores seriam maiores no grupo que construiu o pr?prio jogo, seguido, respectivamente, pelo grupo que apenas jogou e pelo que construiu o cartaz. A pesquisa envolveu 214 estudantes do 5? ano do Ensino Fundamental I, de seis escolas p?blicas de Natal/RN. Um grupo de estudantes criou e jogou o pr?prio jogo did?tico (N = 68), um segundo grupo utilizou um jogo j? existente (N = 75), e um terceiro grupo confeccionou um cartaz para ser exposto na escola (N = 71). Nossa hip?tese foi parcialmente apoiada empiricamente, uma vez que n?o houve diferen?a significativa no desempenho e no uso de EAP entre o grupo que criou o pr?prio jogo e o grupo que apenas jogou; entretanto, ambos os grupos tiveram escores significativamente maiores em desempenho em ci?ncias e uso de EAP do que o grupo que confeccionou o cartaz. N?o houve diferen?a significativa nos escores de motiva??o intr?nseca entre os tr?s grupos experimentais. Nossos resultados indicam que atividades relacionadas a jogos n?o digitais podem fornecer um contexto favor?vel ? aprendizagem no ambiente escolar. Conclu?mos que o uso de jogos para fins pedag?gicos (tanto criar o pr?prio jogo como apenas jogar) ? uma alternativa eficiente e vi?vel para o ensino de ci?ncias na escola p?blica brasileira

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:48:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 MarceloBB_DISSERT.pdf: 3279178 bytes, checksum: a9382860941b949e031aeb7781e74e59 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-02-20 / Neste trabalho, apresentamos uma ferramenta cujo intuito ? auxiliar n?o-programadores, jogadores de videogame, na cria??o de extens?es na forma de Add-ons para World of Warcraft, o jogo online. Nele, o usu?rio pode criar extens?es customizando completamente sua interface, de forma a reinventar a sua experi?ncia de jogo e melhorar sua jogabilidade. A cria??o de extens?es para aplicativos e jogos surgiu da crescente necessidade de fornecer aos usu?rios mecanismos eficientes de Programa??o por Usu?rio Final, permitindo que os mesmos preenchessem suas necessidades singulares atrav?s da cria??o, customiza??o e especifica??o de extens?es em software. Em World of Warcraft mais especificamente, os Add-ons exploram um tipo de extens?o na qual os jogadores passam a programar sua pr?pria interface de usu?rio ou a fazer uso de interfaces criadas por outros usu?rios. No entanto, realizar a programa??o dessas extens?es - os Add-ons - n?o ? uma tarefa f?cil. Dentro deste contexto, desenvolvemos a ferramenta EUPAT for WoW (do ingl?s, End-User Programming Assistance Tool for World of Warcraft) que oferece assist?ncia ? cria??o de Add-ons. Al?m disso, investigamos como usu?rios jogadores com e sem conhecimento de programa??o s?o beneficiados. Os resultados desta pesquisa permitiram refletir sobre as estrat?gias de assist?ncia de programa??o por usu?rio final no contexto de jogos