The primary purpose in this case study was to explore the use of three-dimensional virtual spaces via the use of the game Minecraft as a teaching tool. The case study examined the effectiveness, self-efficacy, and social interaction of students when using such a tool in the teaching and learning process. The research analyzed knowledge acquisition through various deliverables such as benchmark pre and post exams, student discourse, and tangible objects created from the lessons by the students. Students were enrolled and participated in a summer camp offered from Arts and Technology Institute in North Texas. The camp utilized Minecraft to teach architecture types. Students learned about pyramids (Egyptian and Aztec), Roman/Greek architecture, Gothic architecture, and Post-Modern Architecture. Each day students were exposed to a different them of architecture and were tasked with building a world that was in the theme of an assigned type of architecture. Fifty-nine school age students ranging in ages from eight to twelve years old participated fully in the study. The students were not grouped by age, but instead self-selected partners with which to work during the course of their creations. Results show that students who participated in the Minecraft driven course were highly engaged and reported a positive experience during the course of learning. Participants worked cohesively to achieve common goals and problem solve during the course of project completion. Participants freely participated in discourse that was on the topic of the lesson, as well as, offered suggestions for improvement and solicited ideas from other participants. Pre and posttest results yielded an improvement in knowledge acquisition regarding general knowledge of architecture types. Many students frequently used the word “Fun” to describe their learning experience as cited in their daily blog entries. The research strived to show that using Minecraft as a teaching tool can create an environment in which students are highly engaged and are afforded an opportunity to learn material in a way that students can see as an applicable reason for learning. Results of this research evidence Minecraft as a tool in learning yields an atmosphere in which students take ownership of their learning and work in concert with other members of the classroom to yield positive learning outcomes.

O modelo tradicional de ensino está pautado em uma educação bancária, prioritariamente informativa, desestimulante e descontextualizada de seu momento histórico, que é caracterizado pela informação de fácil acesso e comunicação em esfera global. Neste panorama, pesquisas apontam que os estudantes vêm apresentando baixo desempenho em ciências. Há, portanto, a necessidade de estudos que levem em consideração esta realidade educacional no intuito de propor estratégias inovadoras de ensino. Neste cenário, games digitais apresentam grande potencialidade, pois são atrativos, contribuem para o desenvolvimento cognitivo e podem propiciar o desenvolvimento de preceitos científicos. O grande problema é que, apesar de atraírem legiões de jogadores, games digitais comerciais geralmente não apresentam grandes preocupações pedagógicas, uma vez que não são desenvolvidos para esta finalidade. Ainda que se pense nos games digitais educativos, estes apresentam características antagônicas aos comerciais, pois são normalmente constituídos de um arcabouço excessivo de informações, sem muita preocupação com aspectos imersivos. Assim, na tentativa de correlacionar ensino de ciências com os aspectos epistemológicos presentes nos games digitais educativos e com os aspectos imersivos presentes nos games digitais comerciais, o objetivo deste trabalho consiste no desenvolvimento de uma tipologia e na criação de uma matriz de análise para jogos com potencial para uso educacional. Na etapa teórica do projeto, desenvolvemos a fundamentação da matriz, baseada em três elementos constituintes. São eles: Referencial educativo, baseado na Teoria Antropológica do Didático; Imersão, baseada na Teoria do Flow; e Mecânica Lúdica. Posteriormente, verificamos a aplicabilidade da tipologia e da matriz na análise de jogos e das interações entre jogadores e situações de jogo. É importante destacar que a pesquisa foi desenvolvida com alunos do ensino médio de uma escola pública da rede estadual de ensino de São Paulo. Dentre os resultados obtidos, destaca-se correlação entre aspectos imersivos e praxeológicos das plataformas de jogos. / The traditional Teaching model is based on a banking education, primarily informative, discouraging and decontextualized of its historical moment, which is characterized by information of easy access and communication in global sphere. In this panorama, research shows that students have been performing poorly in science. Therefore, there is a need for studies that take into account this educational reality in order to propose innovative teaching strategies. In this scenario, digital games present great potentiality, as they are attractive, contribute to cognitive development and can foster the development of scientific precepts. The big problem is that, despite attracting legions of players, commercial digital games generally do not present major pedagogical concerns as they are not developed for this purpose. Although digital educational games are thought of, they present characteristics antagonistic to the commercial ones, since they are usually constituted of an excessive information framework, without much concern with immersive aspects. Thus, in an attempt to correlate science with the epistemological aspects present in digital educational games and with the immersive aspects present in commercial digital games, The objective of this work is the development of a typology and the creation of an analysis matrix for games with potential for educational use. In the theoretical stage of the project, we developed the foundation of the matrix, based on three constituent elements: Educational Reference, based on the Didactic Anthropological Theory (TAD); Immersion, based on Flow Theory; And playful Mechanics. Subsequently, we verified the applicability of typology and matrix in game analysis and interactions between players and game situations. It is important to highlight that the research was developed with high school students of a Public School of the State of São Paulo. Among the results obtained, there is a correlation between immersive and praxeological aspects of gaming platforms.

The research reported here is a qualitative case study aimed to identify the position of digital game-based learning (DGBL) in the public and private preschools of Stockholm. The research is placed within the broader framework of digital game-based learning and the practical implementation of digital games in education, while the emphasis of the study is given to the role of the teachers in the practical implementation of digital games into the classroom. The research examines the attitude of the teachers towards digital games and investigates the role of these attitudes in the implementation of DGBL. The empirical findings of the study are analyzed and discussed through the prism of the existing literature on the field.The study shows that the perception of teachers on digital games and on the use of technology in early childhood education is the main factor that influences the implementation of digital games in preschools. The attitudes of the teachers can be distinguished in two categories: the positive teachers and the sceptical teachers. Furthermore, there are several other barriers that prevent the spreading of DGBL in the education institutions. Regardless of the teachers’ stance and the existing barriers, teachers are aware of the existence of digital games applicable to the early childhood education and many of them do make use of them. In this study, the ways of implementation of the digital games are also presented. However, teachers do not discuss digital games with the parents, while the discussion among colleagues is limited. The lack of information and appropriate training reveal a gap between the research community and the educational practice of DGBL.

This research has undertaken two key mandates. One was to develop modifications to the African Catchment Game (ACG), a role playing simulation game, in order to simulate rainfall and water management processes representative of the southern African context. The other was to understand what, if any, learning associated with water management issues had taken place as a result of playing the ACG. The modification process took the form of an action research process. The initial modifications were trialed with South African students as part of their undergraduate Geography course offered at Rhodes University, South Africa. Subsequent modifications were implemented over a five month period with three diverse participant groups, namely Finnish, American and South African participants. An interpretive research orientation was employed in order to analyse both the qualitative and quantitative data that was generated. Pre- and Post-Game Questionnaires were used in order to identify the learning and understanding which the participants constructed as a result of playing the ACG. The Chi-Square Test was also applied to each of the pre- and post- questions to establish statistical significance. Subsequent analysis of these questions identified and traced patters and trends associated with learning and understanding across the three game runs. This research study draws on social constructivism and experiential learning as the dominant education theory that underpins it. Results revealed that for all three game runs learning took place. Participants identified dominant themes and environmental dimensions both before and after playing the ACG. The analysis of these responses indicated a deeper awareness of water as a contributing factor for sustainable economic development while the game runs enabled the researcher to adjust the water availability within each game run until rainfall and water management processes representative of a southern African context were successfully simulated in the last game run.

Submitted by Julio Santos (julioparsifal@hotmail.com) on 2016-09-02T23:14:13Z No. of bitstreams: 1 tese final.pdf: 8472411 bytes, checksum: 72cab36c2b81939419657a642cd00d98 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Maria Auxiliadora da Silva Lopes (silopes@ufba.br) on 2016-09-08T17:33:59Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 tese final.pdf: 8472411 bytes, checksum: 72cab36c2b81939419657a642cd00d98 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-08T17:33:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 tese final.pdf: 8472411 bytes, checksum: 72cab36c2b81939419657a642cd00d98 (MD5) / “O Fascínio e a Espetacularização como Pedagogias Corporais no World Of Warcraft.”, 247p. Tese (Doutorado), Faculdade de Educação, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador-Bahia, 2016. O corpo sempre exerceu fascínio e os homens fizeram dele um dispositivo simbólico e cultural. Com o surgimento das tecnologias digitais se cria uma ampliação do seu processo de fascínio e espetacularização tendo nas relações sociais dos jogos online de MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role -Playing Game) um campo promissor para essa observação por se tratar de um espaço de ‘mundos persistentes’ em que se localizam relações sociais complexas. Nas redes o corpo está também para os aprendizados sociais. O argumento central da tese é que os processos de fascínio e espetacularização de si encontradas nas representações corporais do jogo online World of Warcraft, podem ser vistos como construtores de pedagogias corporais. O objetivo foi analisar nas criações corporais e nas relações dos personagens de jogadores do World of Warcraft processos de fascínio e espetacularização do corpo como parte das construções de pedagogias corporais. A metodologia utilizada foi a qualitativa de cunho descritivo e analítico, com dados construídos por meio de uma pesquisa participante e de entrevistas semi-estruturadas com roteiro. A pesquisa permitiu concluir, dentre outros aspectos, que os processos de fascínio e espetacularização de si, por meio de uma festiva exibição dos corpos dos personagens no jogo, embalados pela cultura da visibilidade, são estratégias para dão aos sujeitos acessos a diferentes experiências corporais mutantes. Esses corpos fascinantes e espetacularizados no jogo e em rede não se limitam apenas à aquisição de capital social, mas, também, são legítimos dispositivos pedagógicos e produtores de conhecimentos. / ABSTRACT The body has always held fascination and men made him a symbolic and cultural device. With the emergence of digital technologies to create an extension of its allure process and spectacle with the social relations of online games MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Game -playing) a promising field for this observation because it is an area of 'worlds persistent 'where they are located complex social relations. In the networks the body is also to social learning. The central argument of the thesis is that the fascination processes and spectacle of themselves found in bodily representations of the online game World of Warcraft, can be seen as pedagogies body builders. The aim was to analyze the physical creations and relationships of the characters players of World of Warcraft fascination processes and spectacle of the body as part of the body pedagogies buildings. The methodology was qualitative descriptive and analytical, with data built through a participatory research and semi-structured interviews with script. The study concluded, among other things, that the fascination processes and spectacle of himself, through a festive display of the bodies of the characters in the game, packed the culture of visibility, are strategies to give individuals access to different bodily experiences mutants. These fascinating and espetacularizados in the game and network bodies are not limited to the acquisition of capital, but also are legitimate pedagogical devices and producers of knowledge. Keywords: World of Warcraft, Online Games and Education, Body Representations, Fascination and Spectacularization, pedagogies Body.

O modelo tradicional de ensino está pautado em uma educação bancária, prioritariamente informativa, desestimulante e descontextualizada de seu momento histórico, que é caracterizado pela informação de fácil acesso e comunicação em esfera global. Neste panorama, pesquisas apontam que os estudantes vêm apresentando baixo desempenho em ciências. Há, portanto, a necessidade de estudos que levem em consideração esta realidade educacional no intuito de propor estratégias inovadoras de ensino. Neste cenário, games digitais apresentam grande potencialidade, pois são atrativos, contribuem para o desenvolvimento cognitivo e podem propiciar o desenvolvimento de preceitos científicos. O grande problema é que, apesar de atraírem legiões de jogadores, games digitais comerciais geralmente não apresentam grandes preocupações pedagógicas, uma vez que não são desenvolvidos para esta finalidade. Ainda que se pense nos games digitais educativos, estes apresentam características antagônicas aos comerciais, pois são normalmente constituídos de um arcabouço excessivo de informações, sem muita preocupação com aspectos imersivos. Assim, na tentativa de correlacionar ensino de ciências com os aspectos epistemológicos presentes nos games digitais educativos e com os aspectos imersivos presentes nos games digitais comerciais, o objetivo deste trabalho consiste no desenvolvimento de uma tipologia e na criação de uma matriz de análise para jogos com potencial para uso educacional. Na etapa teórica do projeto, desenvolvemos a fundamentação da matriz, baseada em três elementos constituintes. São eles: Referencial educativo, baseado na Teoria Antropológica do Didático; Imersão, baseada na Teoria do Flow; e Mecânica Lúdica. Posteriormente, verificamos a aplicabilidade da tipologia e da matriz na análise de jogos e das interações entre jogadores e situações de jogo. É importante destacar que a pesquisa foi desenvolvida com alunos do ensino médio de uma escola pública da rede estadual de ensino de São Paulo. Dentre os resultados obtidos, destaca-se correlação entre aspectos imersivos e praxeológicos das plataformas de jogos. / The traditional Teaching model is based on a banking education, primarily informative, discouraging and decontextualized of its historical moment, which is characterized by information of easy access and communication in global sphere. In this panorama, research shows that students have been performing poorly in science. Therefore, there is a need for studies that take into account this educational reality in order to propose innovative teaching strategies. In this scenario, digital games present great potentiality, as they are attractive, contribute to cognitive development and can foster the development of scientific precepts. The big problem is that, despite attracting legions of players, commercial digital games generally do not present major pedagogical concerns as they are not developed for this purpose. Although digital educational games are thought of, they present characteristics antagonistic to the commercial ones, since they are usually constituted of an excessive information framework, without much concern with immersive aspects. Thus, in an attempt to correlate science with the epistemological aspects present in digital educational games and with the immersive aspects present in commercial digital games, The objective of this work is the development of a typology and the creation of an analysis matrix for games with potential for educational use. In the theoretical stage of the project, we developed the foundation of the matrix, based on three constituent elements: Educational Reference, based on the Didactic Anthropological Theory (TAD); Immersion, based on Flow Theory; And playful Mechanics. Subsequently, we verified the applicability of typology and matrix in game analysis and interactions between players and game situations. It is important to highlight that the research was developed with high school students of a Public School of the State of São Paulo. Among the results obtained, there is a correlation between immersive and praxeological aspects of gaming platforms.

The Global Village Playground (GVP) was a capstone learning experience designed to address institutional assessment needs while providing an integrated, contextualized, and authentic learning experience for students. In the GVP, students work on simulated and real-world problems as a design team tasked with developing an alternate reality game that makes an impact on the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the design of the GVP as a capstone experience. The research design follows a qualitative case study approach to gather and analyze data collected from the instructors and students participating in the pilot implementation of the GVP. Results of the study show predominantly favorable reactions to various aspects of the course and its design. Students reported to have learned the most through interactions with peers and through applying and integrating knowledge in developing the alternate reality game that was the central problem scenario for the course. What students demonstrated to have learned included knowledge construction, social responsibility, open-mindedness, big picture thinking, and an understanding of their relationship to the larger society and world in which they live. Challenges that resulted from the design included the amount of necessary to build consensus and then develop an overarching game concept, the tension between guided and directed instruction, and the need to foster greater interdependence among students while encouraging them to become more self-directed.

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

In this PhD thesis, the utilisation of interactive simulation in a higher education e-learning classroom environment was explored and its effectiveness was experimentally evaluated by engaging university students in a classroom setting. Two case studies were carried out for the experimental evaluation of the proposed novel interactive simulation e-learning tool. In the first case study, the use of interactive agent-based simulation was demonstrated in teaching complex adaptive system concepts in the area of ecology to university students and its effectiveness was measured in a classroom environment. In a lab intervention using a novel interactive agent-based simulation (built in NetLogo). For the purpose of teaching complex adaptive systems such as the concept of spatially-explicit predator prey interaction to undergraduate and postgraduate students in the University of Stirling. The effectiveness of using the interactive simulation was investigated by using the NetLogo software and compared with non-interactive simulation built using R programming language. The experimental evaluation was carried out using a total of 38 students. Results of this case study demonstrates that the students found interactive agent-based simulation to be more engaging, effective and user friendly as compare to the non-interactive simulation. In the second case study, a novel interactive simulation game was developed (in NetLogo) and its effectiveness in teaching and learning of complex concepts in the field of marine ecology was demonstrated. This case study makes a twofold contribution. Firstly, the presentation of a novel interactive simulation game, developed specifically for use in undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the area of marine ecology. This novel interactive simulation game is designed to help learners to explore a mathematical model of fishery population growth and understand the principles for sustainable fisheries. Secondly, the comparison of two different methods of using the interactive simulation game within the classroom was investigated: learning from active exploration of the interactive simulation game compared with learning from an expert demonstration of the interactive simulation game. The case study demonstrated the effectiveness of learning from passive viewing of an expert demonstration of the interactive simulation game over learning from active exploration of the interactive simulation game without expert guidance, for teaching complex concepts sustainable fishery management. A mixed methods study design was used, using both quantitative and qualitative methods to compare the learning effectiveness of the two approaches, and the students’ preferences. The investigation was carried out by running interventions with a mixture of undergraduate and postgraduate students from the University of Stirling in a classroom environment. A total of 74 participants were recruited from undergraduate and postgraduate level for both case studies. This thesis demonstrated through two case studies effectiveness of the proposed novel interactive simulation in university e-learning classroom environment.