The aim of this quantitative study is to investigate the relationship between motivation and game-based learning among Swedish students attending junior high school and high school. To investigate this, the motivational theory Self-Determination Theory was used to create a questionnaire containing questions about experiences of games in and out of school. Furthermore, this essay discusses the possibilities of bringing the concept of game-based learning into an educational environment of L2 English learning. In addition, support has been found that strengthens the claim of an existing willingness to include games as part of the education in the Swedish school system.

abstract: Currently, educational games are designed with the educational content as the primary factor driving the design of the game. While this may seem to be the optimal approach, this design paradigm causes multiple issues. For one, the games themselves are often not engaging as game design principles were put aside in favor of increasing the educational value of the game. The other issue is that the code base of the game is mostly or completely unusable for any other games as the game mechanics are too strongly connected to the educational content being taught. This means that the mechanics are impossible to reuse in future projects without major revisions, and starting over is often more time and cost efficient. This thesis presents the Content Agnostic Game Engineering (CAGE) model for designing educational games. CAGE is a way to separate the educational content from the game mechanics without compromising the educational value of the game. This is done by designing mechanics that can have multiple educational contents layered on top of them which can be switched out at any time. CAGE allows games to be designed with a game design first approach which allows them to maintain higher engagement levels. In addition, since the mechanics are not tied to the educational content several different educational topics can reuse the same set of mechanics without requiring major revisions to the existing code. Results show that CAGE greatly reduces the amount of code needed to make additional versions of educational games, and speeds up the development process. The CAGE model is also shown to not induce high levels of cognitive load, allowing for more in depth topic work than was attempted in this thesis. However, engagement was low and switching the active content does interrupt the game flow considerably. Altering the difficulty of the game in real time in response to the affective state of the player was not shown to increase engagement. Potential causes of the issues with CAGE games and potential fixes are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Engineering 2017

abstract: Students' ability to regulate and control their behaviors during learning has been shown to be a critical skill for academic success. However, researchers often struggle with ways to capture the nuances of this ability, often solely relying on self-report measures. This thesis proposal employs a novel approach to investigating variations in students' ability to self-regulate by using process data from the game-based Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) iSTART-ME. This approach affords a nuanced examination of how students' regulate their interactions with game-based features at both a coarse-grained and fine-grain levels and the ultimate impact that those behaviors have on in-system performance and learning outcomes (i.e., self-explanation quality). This thesis is comprised of two submitted manuscripts that examined how a group of 40 high school students chose to engage with game-based features and how those interactions influenced their target skill performance. Findings suggest that in-system log data has the potential to provide stealth assessments of students' self-regulation while learning. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Psychology 2014

The purpose of this non-positivistic mixed-methods study is to examine parental attitudes towards the use of computer and video games in their child’s classroom and to investigate how the sociocultural contexts in which parents live affect those attitudes. The research was conducted using a mixed-methods triangulation design, including both quantitative and qualitative techniques. First, the study tried to identify which groups of parents were better positioned to accept and support digital game-based learning and which groups were less likely to have a positive attitude toward integrating digital games into the classroom. This study tried to determine if socioeconomic status, age, education level, and/or cultural background could serve as a predictor of parental attitudes toward digital game-based learning. Second, the study tried to recognize how social and cultural contexts in which parents live affect their attitudes toward digital games in the classroom. Many researchers agree that parents play an important role in students’ and eventually, educators’ attitudes toward gaming. It has been argued that if parents accept a certain non-traditional (digital) learning tool, then their children would most likely have a similar attitude toward it. Parents might be the support system that educators need in order to ensure that students are able to see the educational value of video games and are willing to think critically and draw connections between what they learn in a gaming environment and core subject areas.

The aim of the study was to explore preschool teachers and preschool pre-service teachers approaches to gamification, game based learning and digital technology in early childhood education. The theoretical framework in the study is based on Mishra and Koehler's (2006) Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) theory. The method for the study was individual interviews and focus group interview. The results show that the area is relatively unknown to the participants in the study, as their focus when using digital technology is on documentation of preschool activities as well as searching for facts about various subject areas. Personal attitudes and values are of great importance for how digital technology is used in early childhood education. The results also show a lack of knowledge in teaching with digital technology, game based learning and gamification. Further research in the area is needed to support active preschool teachers to develop their didactic approach and to find ways to work with digital technology, game based learning and gamification.

Research in the digital game-based learning domain has so far shown mixed results as to the use of narrative in educational games. The aim of this thesis is to help to answer the question of whether and to which extent it is reasonable to employ the narrative feature in educational games for young children. In addition to a literature review, the thesis presents an experimental study comparing two versions of a maths game that are the same except for for the richness of the game's story (a value-added study). The participating children (N = 67) from school year 2 and 3 (mean = 8.67 years, SD = 0.4 years) were given the opportunity to play a game for two weeks on touch devices: a game version with a simple narrative frame, or a game version with a rich story narrated through an interactive voiced comic, or a "placebo" game (control group). No significant effect of the rich narrative on the children's engagement, as reported by parents, was found (d = 0.45, p = .245). Furthermore, the two narrative condition groups did not differ in terms of in-game progress (Cliff's δ = 0.01), and the difference was neither significant for the number of solved game tasks (d = 0.08, p = .857), nor the learning gains (d = -0.25, p = .691) measured using a near-transfer maths skill test (pre-post design). Both narrative...

In a digitalized world, learners from the 21st century prefer game-like lessons instead of traditional methods that are preferred by teachers according to previous studies. Creating a fun and engaging environment in the classroom is not an easy task for the teachers. In this study, primary school teachers’ attitudes toward game-based learning are investigated together with the challenges and barriers they encounter when using digital games when teaching English as a second language in a Swedish classroom. A mixed method was used in this study. 30 teachers participated in the online survey and three pre-service teachersfrom public and private primary schools participated in the semi-structured interview in Sweden. The results of this study agree with the findings of previous studies. Teachers are generally very positive to implementing digital games into English language learning and admit the positive effect digital games contribute to the students’ engagement and motivation of learning English. However, due to the challenges teachers encounter with digital games, such as lack of time, knowledge, suitable games, and costs, teachers find it difficult to implement digital game-based learning in their English language teaching.

Digitala spel som komplement i undervisningen har blivit allt vanligare med åren. Inte minst inom matematiken finns det en ansenlig mängd digitala lärspel som syftar till att stärka elevernas kunskapsutveckling och bidra till en lustfylld lärmiljö. Syftet med detta examensarbete var att ta reda på hur elever och lärare uppfattar effekter på lärandet och elevers motivation till ämnet matematik när digitala spel används i matematikundervisningen. För att ta reda på detta intervjuades 20 elever och 2 lärare i en årskurs 2. Därtill sammanställdes enkätsvar från 16 yrkesverksamma lärare som svarat på frågor om hur de upplever lärande genom digitala spel i matematikundervisningen. Intervjuerna transkriberades och sammanfattades, enkätsvaren sammanställdes och tillsammans presenterar dem den data som uppkommit under denna undersökning. Resultaten visade att digitala spel i matematikundervisningen påverkar elevernas motivation för ämnet matematik. Resultaten visar även en ganska svag tillit till digitala spels förmåga att utveckla elevernas kunskapsinlärning inom matematik.

The aim of this empirical study is to examine if, and which digital games active teachers experience develop pupils' knowledge in mathematics and how the pupils' development can be visible to the teachers. This has been broken down to two sub-questions. To examine this a survey has been designed and sent to active teachers at six different schools in Skåne. The survey includes both qualitative and quantitative data. The results show that there are three digital games which are a bit more preferred in mathematical education, these are Bingel, Qnoddarnas värld and Skolplus. Two of these games are based on rewards for the pupils, and one is an adaptive game. In addition, the results show that active teachers most often use digital games in mathematical education to let their pupils practice skills, and not learn new knowledge. Given that digitalization is increasing in society, this subject was considered interesting and relevant. The survey, however, is too small to generalize for all teachers in Sweden.

In the current study, we synthesize recent research on digital game-based learning and itspotential effect on the speaking and interaction skills of young learners of English as a secondlanguage. Various relevant studies enlisting different methodologies are reviewed todetermine how digital games affect speaking and interaction skills and the role of motivationin the process. A common conclusion from the reviewed results is that digital games motivatelearners to develop their speaking and interaction skills. In addition, the studies reveal thatlearners who play digital games tend to have a higher level of proficiency.