Game-based learning--using games to achieve learning objectives--represents a promising and increasingly popular means of progressing engineering education's decades-long goal of bringing more evidence-based, active learning pedagogy into the classroom. However, if game-based learning is to proliferate as a pedagogy, research on game-based teaching is critical to provide practical recommendations for implementation, making the pedagogy more accessible to instructors. However, reviews of game-based literature reveal that little work exists in the game-based teaching space, and what work exists models high-level teaching practices and archetypal roles, which often fail to pinpoint specific practices game-based instructors can use to be successful. Moreover, reviews of game-based learning literature more generally suggest that research on how to improve student motivation in game-based learning settings--an important variable for learning and a longstanding argument for the value of games in education--are lacking in both quantity and theoretical soundness. To redress these gaps, I conducted a primarily qualitative, multiple-case study of seven non-digital game-based learning activities in engineering with the goal of furthering game-based teaching research and providing practical recommendations to instructors when using games in their classrooms. Using the MUSIC Model of Motivation as a motivation framework and the Observation Protocol for Adaptive Learning as a framework for categorizing teaching practices, I interviewed instructors about how they expected their teaching practices to affect student motivation, and I interviewed these instructors' students about how they actually perceived their instructors' actions as affecting their motivation. By comparing instructor and student responses, I derived recommendations for game-based learning practice that are likely to have a high impact on student motivation, and condensed these recommendations into a four-phase framework of game-based teaching to bolster student motivation. I supplemented my interview data with observation data to construct detailed summaries of each case I studied. The recommendations I offer in my framework can serve as useful resources for instructors seeking to foray into game-based teaching practices or improve their existing game activities, especially in engineering. Moreover, my study provides a model for investigating game-based teaching practices and motivation in game-based learning using established theoretical frameworks in natural classroom settings. / Ph. D. / Game-based learning—the use of games to achieve learning objectives—is a promising and increasingly popular way to introduce active learning into engineering classrooms, which is something engineering education as a field has been trying to achieve for decades. However, if game-based learning is to reach a wider audience of engineering instructors, research on the teaching practices instructors use in game-based learning classrooms is important, so that researchers can provide practical recommendations to instructors and make game-based learning less intimidating. However, little work has been done to study these teaching practices, and the work that exists tends to look at high-level trends across teaching practices, rather than offering specific pieces of advice. Moreover, research on how to improve student motivation in game-based learning settings is lacking, which is a problem because student motivation is important for learning and is one of the biggest theoretical benefits of using games in education. To fill in some of these gaps, I conducted instructor and student interviews around seven non-digital game-based learning activities in engineering, with the goal of furthering game-based teaching research and providing practical recommendations to instructors considering or currently using games in their classrooms. Using an established framework of student motivation and an existing means of grouping teaching practices, I interviewed instructors about how they expected their teaching practices to affect student motivation, and I interviewed these instructors’ students about how they actually perceived their instructors’ actions as affecting their motivation. By comparing instructor and student responses, I came up with several recommendations for gamebased learning practice that are likely to have a high impact on student motivation, and I produced a framework to serve as a visual aid to help instructors implement teaching practices that can bolster student motivation at any phase of a game-based learning activity. I also supplemented my interview data with observation data to provide readers with detailed summaries of each case I studied. The recommendations I offer in my framework can serve as useful resources for instructors looking to implement game-based learning activities or improve their existing game-based learning activities, especially in engineering. Moreover, my study serves as a model for future researchers who want to qualitatively study game-based teaching practices or motivation in game-based learning using established frameworks.

The adoption of new technologies in K-12 classrooms usually generates claims about their effectiveness, but in many cases, these claims are not carefully studied. Furthermore, conclusions drawn from effectiveness studies generally focus on technologies as the sole responsible factor for such effectiveness, without considering other factors and conditions. Through an integrative review, this study evaluated and critiqued the current status of K-12 digital game-based learning (DGBL) to determine the implications and limitations of these effectiveness claims, as well as problems when conducting this type of research. In addition, this study explored factors and conditions, beyond the digital game, that could have had an impact on effectiveness. Findings from this study can provide teachers and researchers a guide to effectively implement and research DGBL in K-12 classrooms, as well as conceptual classifications of factors and conditions that could play an important role when adopting digital games in instruction. / Doctor of Philosophy / It is common that when new technologies are used in instruction, claims in favor of such technologies are made. However, in many instances, there is not enough or sound evidence to support these effectiveness claims. For this reason, this study has been conducted with the goal of evaluating and critiquing what has been empirically studied so far in K-12 digital game-based learning (DGBL) to determine the extent of these effectiveness claims. In addition, this study has identified research problems and flaws that have been found in empirical studies and how they can be avoided. Furthermore, this study paid close attention to factors and conditions, besides the actual digital game, to determine if they played a role on effectiveness. Finally, a research agenda has been included in this study to fills existing gaps in K-12 DGBL and to guide researchers and teachers when conducting research and adopting digital games in the classroom.

As a teaching approach, digital game-based learning (DGBL) has grown in popularity and can positively influence students' motivational perceptions in difficult subjects, such as mathematics. DGBL has the capability to provide immediate feedback to students that can impact their results and experiences during gameplay; specifically, research studies have supported the conclusion that immediate feedback featured in DGBL can positively influence elementary students' self-efficacy and motivation related to DGBL gameplay. However, few studies have investigated the specific types of immediate feedback featured in DGBL within elementary mathematics. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate how different types of immediate feedback (i.e., destination, corrective, and explanatory) featured during DGBL use in mathematics influence elementary students' self-efficacy and motivation for gameplay. This study involved fifth grade students interacting with a digital game and being interviewed individually to elaborate on their perceptions regarding how feedback featured in DGBL influenced their self-efficacy and motivation. Findings from this study suggest the importance of DGBL immediate feedback as results indicated a positive change in both self-efficacy and motivation among students. / Doctor of Philosophy / Digital game-based learning (DGBL) is a teaching method used to enhance learning that is facilitated by the use of a digital game. DGBL provides students with opportunities to interact with virtual worlds that incorporate educational content with the goal of engaging learners in all subjects. A challenge for educators is to select digital games that motivate students to engage in difficult subjects, such as mathematics. The articles here seek to better understand how DGBL can potentially influence elementary students' motivation, engagement, and assist elementary educators' future instructional decisions implementing DGBL in an elementary mathematics setting. The study investigated how different types of immediate feedback (i.e., destination, corrective, and explanatory) featured during DGBL use in mathematics influence elementary students' self-efficacy and motivation for gameplay. Research featured in both articles indicated the importance in understanding how different motivational factors can affect students' motivation during DGBL use, and how an increased motivation can lead to increased engagement, which can lead to increased learning.

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No. of bitstreams: 1 PDF - Renan Gomes Trindade da Silva.pdf: 3137930 bytes, checksum: c0a466013c06092789728f6c5b3eec53 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-04-12 / Due to the numerous obstacles in the teaching of biological evolution and the inefficiency of traditional methods of learning for a generation that lives in a society where the flow of information is frantic and steady, because of digital technologies, there are large and intense challenges for teachers who They need to learn to use existing resources and enter new methodological practices to motivate students in their classes. Among these practices, we can highlight the game-based learning and gamification as efficient alternatives to solve this problem because the games are digital resources that can stimulate learning because of the obvious preference of students for existing interactivity and the dynamic these artifacts in relation to unilateral learning methods practiced in some schools. From this perspective, this research aimed to evaluate the use of SPORE, a commercial game, as a facilitator in introducing the concepts of evolution to students in the eighth grade of elementary school. The research was conducted in three schools from rural and urban zone of the cities of Campina Grande, Alcantil and district of Lagoa do Juca. To achieve the objectives of this research, it was divided into five stages: literary research, game analysis, application of the methodology in the classroom, intervention with teachers through a short course, production of a digital manual and data analysis. The analysis of the data made it clear that this game, despite its flaws, can serve as a tool to stimulate the learning of students and to promote interest in science, assisting in the introduction and discussion of biological evolution with elementary school students. However, signaled that although it has the potential to stimulate learning, teachers need, first, master the content, have ability to use digital resources and evaluate the resource previously before introducing it into the classroom. The research also showed that there are many factors that affect education in our country and not only with the implementation of digital resources such as games, that problems will be solved. Considering the analysis here woven, we hope that this research can contribute in some way to the SPORE and other games are used in the educational context. / Devido aos inúmeros obstáculos no ensino da evolução biológica e à ineficiência dos métodos tradicionais de aprendizagem para uma geração que vive em uma sociedade onde o fluxo de informação é frenético e constante, por causa das tecnologias digitais, surgem grandes e intensos desafios para os docentes que precisam aprender a utilizar os recursos atuais e inserir novas práticas metodológicas para motivar os alunos em suas aulas. Entre essas práticas, podemos destacar a game-based learning e a gamification como alternativas eficientes para resolver esse problema, pois os games são recursos digitais que podem estimular a aprendizagem devido à evidente preferencia dos alunos pela interatividade e pela dinâmica existentes nesses artefatos em relação a métodos unilaterais de aprendizagem praticados em algumas escolas. Nessa perspectiva, esta investigação objetivou avaliar a utilização do SPORE, um game comercial, como facilitador na introdução dos conceitos de evolução com alunos do oitavo ano do ensino fundamental. A pesquisa foi desenvolvida em três escolas da zona rural e da urbana das cidades de Campina Grande, Alcantil e Distrito de Lagoa de Jucá. Para atingir os objetivos desta investigação, ela foi dividida em cinco etapas: a pesquisa literária, análise do game, aplicação da metodologia em sala de aula, intervenção com os professores através de um minicurso, produção do manual digital e análise dos dados. A análise dos dados deixou claro que esse game, apesar de suas falhas, pode servir de ferramenta para estimular a aprendizagem dos discentes e promover o interesse pela ciência, auxiliando na introdução e na discussão da evolução biológica com alunos do ensino fundamental. Contudo, sinalizamos que, embora tenha potencial para estimular a aprendizagem, os professores precisam, primeiramente, dominar o conteúdo, ter destreza para utilizar os recursos digitais e avaliar o recurso previamente antes de introduzi-lo em sala de aula. A pesquisa mostrou, ainda, que existem muitos fatores que afetam a educação em nosso país e não é apenas com a implementação de recursos digitais, como os games, que os problemas serão resolvidos. Considerando as análises aqui tecidas, esperamos que esta investigação possa colaborar, de alguma forma, para que o SPORE e outros games sejam utilizados no contexto educacional.

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.

In einer Zeit der Digitalisierung nimmt die Relevanz des Programmierens in Entwicklungsumgebungen wie Unity immer mehr zu. Zeitgleich werden Game Based Learning Anwendungen immer häufiger zum Erlernen neuer Inhalte eingesetzt. Solche Anwendungen sind für viele Programmiersprachen zu finden, allerdings gibt es kein einziges, frei zugängliches Produkt, das als Unity-Programmierspiel bezeichnet werden kann, welches anhand einer zusammenhängenden Story und eines klar definierten, roten Fadens Unity-spezifische Lerninhalte vermittelt. Das Ziel dieser Bachelorarbeit ist es, ein Simulationsspiel für das Erlernen der Unity-spezifischen Programmierparadigmen zu entwickeln. Dazu wird die folgende Forschungsfrage gestellt: „Wie kann eine Digital Game Based Learning Anwendung zum Erlernen der Programmierung in der Unity-Engine gestaltet werden, sodass sie benutzerfreundlich, motivierend und erweiterbar ist?“ Um diese zu beantworten, wurden zehn User Experience Tests zur Evaluierung des jeweiligen Entwicklungsstadiums durchgeführt, wobei die Probanden bei ihrem Umgang mit der Anwendung beobachtet und nach ihrer User Experience befragt wurden. Auf Grundlage der gewonnenen Erkenntnisse wurde die Anwendung iterativ verbessert und weiterentwickelt. Das dabei entstandene Ergebnis zeichnet sich in seiner Benutzerfreundlichkeit vor allem durch die Nutzung bereits zielgruppenbasiert bekannter Funktionalitäten, Reiz-Reduzierung, der Vorbeugung von Missverständnissen, ausführliche Feedbacks auf Fehler, genauen Erklärungen der Features und barrierefreie Lösungen aus. Die Motivationsgestaltung der entwickelten Anwendung basiert zum einen auf einer emotionalen Bindung zwischen dem Spieler und der Story/Spielfigur, sowie dem Ehrgeiz, sich ständig zu verbessern und zu überbieten. Entscheidend für die Erweiterbarkeit war es, die Anwendung, welche von Unity-spezifischer Programmierung handelt, auch in der Unity-Engine zu entwickeln. Automatisierungen und die Vereinheitlichung von Spielzielen, sowie die Eindämmung von Fehlerquellen hatten bei der Entwicklung der Anwendung eine hohe Relevanz. Dies zeigt einen möglichen Weg, wie eine solche, in diesem Kontext bisher einzigartige Digital Game Based Learning Anwendung gestaltet sein kann und ist Grundlage für weitere Forschungen, die insbesondere den möglichen Lernerfolg untersuchen sollten.:0. Einleitung 0.0 Motivation 0.1 Zielsetzung, Methodik und Aufbau 1. Grundlagen 1.0 Begriffserklärungen 1.0.0 Spiel (engl. ‚Game‘) 1.0.1 (Digital) Lernen 1.0.2 (Digital) Game Based Learning 1.0.3 Gamification 1.0.4 Serious Game 1.0.5 (Game) Flow 1.0.6 (Game) User Experience 1.1 Unity und C# 1.1.0 Unity 1.1.1 C# 1.2 Neurologische Grundlagen nach Celia Hodent 1.2.0 Wahrnehmung 1.2.1 Erinnerung 1.2.2 Aufmerksamkeit 1.2.3 Motivation 1.2.4 Emotion 2. Programmieren lernen am Beispiel von Unity 2.0 Motivation 2.1 Methoden 2.1.0 Suchmaschinen und Foren 2.1.1 Videos 2.1.2 Bücher 2.1.3 Unterricht 2.1.4 Digitale Spiele 3. Analyse vorhandener GBL-Konzepte 3.0 Pony Island 3.1 SQL Island 3.2 SoloLearn 3.3 Swift Playgrounds 3.4 CodinGame 3.5 Zusammenfassung 4. Zwischenfazit 5. Eigenes Spielkonzept ‚ENC#YPTED‘ 5.0 Zielgruppe 5.1 Lernziele 5.2 Story 5.3 Design 5.4 Features 5.5 Technische Umsetzung 5.6 Genutzte Ressourcen und Programme 6. Umsetzung des eigenen Spiels 6.0 Prototyp V1 – Grundfunktionalitäten 6.1 Prototyp V2 - Erweiterungen 6.2 Prototyp V3 - UX-Tests 6.2.0 UX-Test #1 vom 13.11.2019 (Entwicklung bis UX-Test #2) 6.2.1 UX-Test #2 vom 27.11.2019 (Entwicklung bis UX-Test #3) 6.2.2 UX-Test #3 vom 06.12.2019 (Entwicklung bis UX-Test #4) 6.2.3 UX-Test #4 vom 11.12.2019 (Entwicklung bis UX-Test #5) 6.2.4 UX-Test #5 vom 12.12.2019 (Entwicklung bis UX-Test #6) 6.2.5 UX-Test #6 vom 25.12.2019 (Entwicklung bis UX-Test #7) 6.2.6 UX-Test #7 vom 31.12.2019 (Entwicklung bis UX-Test #8) 6.2.7 UX-Test #8 vom 06.01.2020 6.2.8 UX-Test #9 vom 09.01.2020 (Entwicklung bis UX-Test #10) 6.2.9 UX-Test #10 vom 06.02.2020 (Entwicklung bis 10.02.2020) 7. Fazit 7.0 Entwicklungsausblick 7.1 Reflexion 8. Anhang 8.0 UX-Tests 8.1 Unity Foren Beiträge 8.2 Source Code Auszug 8.3 Selbstständigkeitserklärung I. Literaturverzeichnis II. Abbildungsverzeichnis III. Tabellenverzeichnis

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.

I detta kandidatarbete kommer vi att utforska och diskutera Virtual Reality (VR) som ett verktyg för lärande. Undersökningen prövar sig mot kontinuerliga speltester såväl som enkäter vars frågor om spelar- och läroupplevelse tar inspiration från Player Experience Inventory (PXI). Således kan vi mäta och skapa förståelse för de positiva- respektive negativa aspekterna kring spelutvecklingen. Den frågeställning som vi utgått ifrån är följande: “Hur kan man lära ut odling i en VR miljö?”. I samband med inflationen och att många vänder sig till odling för att göra det billigare i mån om matutgifter, har vi valt att gestalta ett VR odlings spel för nybörjare med fokus på att lära ut samt få erfarenhet till ämnet. Tillsammans med strategier från termerna Serious Games, Game-based learning och Gamification vill vi undersöka att balansera dessa för att utforma ett lärorikt såväl som roligt medium att utnyttja. Utifrån den här undersökningen vill vi uppmärksamma om VR och dess potential som läromedel, då genom att återskapa olika fält går det att utbilda samt generera erfarenhet hos användarna. / In this bachelor project, we are going to explore and discuss Virtual Reality (VR) as a tool for learning. The study is tested against continuous play tests as well as questionnaires with questions about player- and learning experience take inspiration from the Player Experience Inventory (PXI). Hence, we can measure and create an understanding of the positive and negative aspects of game development. The question we examined was the following: "How can you teach cultivation in a VR environment?".  In connection to the inflation and the fact that many people are turning to cultivation to slow down their food expenses, we have chosen to create a VR cultivation game for beginners with a focus on teaching and gaining experience regarding the subject. Along with strategies from the terms Serious Games, Game-based learning and Gamification, we want to explore the balancing of these concepts to design an educational as well as fun medium to be utilized. Based on this survey, we want to draw attention to VR and its potential as a tool for learning, as by recreating different fields it is possible to educate and generate experience to the users. / Virtuell lantbruksodling med fokus på interaktivitet och immersivitet

The research reported in this thesis focuses on developing a framework for game design to protect computer users against phishing attacks. A comprehensive literature review was conducted to understand the research domain, support the proposed research work and identify the research gap to fulfil the contribution to knowledge. Two studies and one theoretical design were carried out to achieve the aim of this research reported in this thesis. A quantitative approach was used in the first study while engaging both quantitative and qualitative approaches in the second study. The first study reported in this thesis was focused to investigate the key elements that should be addressed in the game design framework to avoid phishing attacks. The proposed game design framework was aimed to enhance the user avoidance behaviour through motivation to thwart phishing attack. The results of this study revealed that perceived threat, safeguard effectiveness, safeguard cost, self-efficacy, perceived severity and perceived susceptibility elements should be incorporated into the game design framework for computer users to avoid phishing attacks through their motivation. The theoretical design approach was focused on designing a mobile game to educate computer users against phishing attacks. The elements of the framework were addressed in the mobile game design context. The main objective of the proposed mobile game design was to teach users how to identify phishing website addresses (URLs), which is one of many ways of identifying a phishing attack. The mobile game prototype was developed using MIT App inventor emulator. In the second study, the formulated game design framework was evaluated through the deployed mobile game prototype on a HTC One X touch screen smart phone. Then a discussion is reported in this thesis investigating the effectiveness of the developed mobile game prototype compared to traditional online learning to thwart phishing threats. Finally, the research reported in this thesis found that the mobile game is somewhat effective in enhancing the user’s phishing awareness. It also revealed that the participants who played the mobile game were better able to identify fraudulent websites compared to the participants who read the website without any training. Therefore, the research reported in this thesis determined that perceived threat, safeguard effectiveness, safeguard cost, self-efficacy, perceived threat and perceived susceptibility elements have a significant impact on avoidance behaviour through motivation to thwart phishing attacks as addressed in the game design framework.

The aim of the present study is to examine two pupils’ interaction when playing the language learning game Sweet City together on tablet. The game is used for teaching Swedish as a second language and it is designed as an adventure game. Special interest is focused on how the pupils use the opportunities for translating labels into other languages, a function built into the game. Translanguaging, that is, how the pupils’ assembled linguistic resources benefit them in the game, is another focus of the study. The method used was observation, with filming of the pupils´ playing. The material was then analysed with the aid of the Exchange Structure Model. The result showed that playing video games leads to a context-linked conversation with many short exchanges. The pupils are engaged in the game and the cooperation that is required to make progress in it. The pupils take advantage of the potential to translate the game dialogue, but the concrete consequences of that are not clearly detectable.