Digital Board Game Research Articles

Digital Board Game: Is there a need for it in language learning among tertiary level students?

The concept of learning while playing to learn language is a pedagogy that can enhance students’ learning interest. In this digital era, the use of board games, for instance, has provided a solution to learning a language. A considerable literature has grown up around the theme of digital board in language learning. Therefore, this paper aims at finding the significance of developing a digital board game for the purpose of vocabulary learning. Fifty-seven (57) students from Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) were selected as samples using purposive random sampling to collect data for the current study. A questionnaire was employed to explore their needs of a digital board game to learn vocabulary. The findings revealed that digital board game has significant needs among students to learn vocabulary, and further support the idea of using digital board game in language classroom. Majority of them believed that digital board game may provide a significant impact on vocabulary learning. Overall, the current study proves to be particularly valuable to language teachers to incorporate digital board game into their instructional activity. Also, these findings suggest a role for interactive learning in motivating language learner to enrich their vocabulary size.

THE OPPORTUNITY OF INTRODUCING SERIOUS GAMES IN TEACHING ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES - A STUDY CASE ON PLAYING “SIMPLYCYCLE” SERIOUS GAME

In the last few years serious games (either digital games or board games) started to be used extensively in several developed universities due to the safe environment in which the future specialists could exercise different scenarios specific to their field of study. Teachers included them into their classes not only because serious games can provide the students with the necessary knowledge and skills for their future jobs, but also because the games could also contribute to the improvement of other skills related to communication, critical thinking, problem solving, creativity and innovation that are so much requested today on the labour market. The present study has in view the opportunity and attractiveness of introducing the serious games in the toolbox of the English teachers when introducing and practicing English for specific purposes. The study is based on the application of a questionnaire that measures the attractiveness among students to learn English for Environmental Sciences by playing a board serious game named Simplycycle. The game has been played by more than 100 students organized in teams of five students with different levels of knowledge (beginners, intermediates and advanced).The data provided by the questionnaires showed that the students presented a high degree of involvement while playing the game, a high interest in playing other serious games and that the tested serious game was used successfully even in multi-level teams.

The influence of thinking styles and self-adjustment strategies applied to a digital table game

In recent years, the use of board games in the educational field of teaching has become more frequent. Educators are gradually focusing on the benefits which board games offer to the learners, and are designing a variety of board games for teaching purpose. In order to understand whether board games can achieve deeper thinking for learners, we applied digital technology to design a tiny-strategy board game in the study. In order to investigate the correlation between the difference in thinking style and the strategy of learners, this study considers learner's strategy and statistical scale of measurement for thinking styles. The results show that there is a slight correlation between thinking styles and learner's strategy, but also that each style of scores in learner's strategy shows almost no significant differences. On the other hand, the interview part shows what the participants will be thinking and how they will be adjusting their actions when playing this digital board game.

The influence of thinking styles and self-adjustment strategies applied to a digital table game

In recent years, the use of board games in the educational field of teaching has become more frequent. Educators are gradually focusing on the benefits which board games offer to the learners, and are designing a variety of board games for teaching purpose. In order to understand whether board games can achieve deeper thinking for learners, we applied digital technology to design a tiny-strategy board game in the study. In order to investigate the correlation between the difference in thinking style and the strategy of learners, this study considers learner's strategy and statistical scale of measurement for thinking styles. The results show that there is a slight correlation between thinking styles and learner's strategy, but also that each style of scores in learner's strategy shows almost no significant differences. On the other hand, the interview part shows what the participants will be thinking and how they will be adjusting their actions when playing this digital board game.

Concept Development of the Eindhoven Diabetes Education Simulator Project.

This study was designed to define the concept of an educational diabetes game following a user-centered design approach. The concept development of the Eindhoven Diabetes Education Simulator (E-DES) project can be divided in two phases: concept generation and concept evaluation. Four concepts were designed by the multidisciplinary development team based on the outcomes of user interviews. Four other concepts resulted from the Diabetes Game Jam. Several users and experts evaluated the concepts. These user evaluations and a feasibility analysis served as input for an overall evaluation and discussion by the development team resulting in the final concept choice. The four concepts of the development team are a digital board game, a quiz platform, a lifestyle simulator, and a puzzle game. The Diabetes Game Jam resulted in another digital board game, two mobile swipe games, and a fairy tale-themed adventure game. The combined user evaluations and feasibility analysis ranked the quiz platform and the digital board game equally high. Each of these games fits one specific subgroup of users best: the quiz platform best fits an eager-to-learn, more individualistic patient, whereas the board game best fits a less-eager-to-learn, family-oriented patient. The choice for a specific concept is therefore highly dependent on the choice of our specific target audience. The user-centered design approach with multiple evaluations has enabled us to choose the most promising concept from eight different options. A digital board game is chosen for further development because the target audience for E-DES is the less-motivated, family-oriented patients.

Emotional reactions of different interface formats: Comparing digital and traditional board games

Some games provide both traditional board games and digital versions at the same time in the market. Why the rise of virtual games has not forced traditional physical board games to disappear? Do traditional physical games evoke different emotional reactions and interpersonal relationships? This article explored the subjects’ preferences toward traditional and digital versions of the same game and investigated social interaction while playing games. Based on Norman’s three emotional design levels—visceral, behavioral, and reflective levels—this study examined players’ satisfaction degree. This study also applied Positive and Negative Affect Schedule to measure subjects’ emotional reactions. Monopoly and Jenga games were selected as stimuli. A total of 77 subjects received tests of three different interface formats (physical, desktop, and tablet) and then filled out the questionnaire. The findings successfully evidenced the significant differences between digital and traditional board games. The statistical results indicated that satisfaction degrees of digital games declined in visceral, behavioral, and reflective levels. Traditional games not only evoked users’ stronger emotional reactions but also received higher preferences. Traditional games could improve interpersonal relationships as well.

运用心因性桌游观察人格特质以建立普同感与换位思考之研究

桌上游戏近几年在教育训练领域越来越盛行，通过桌游学习者更能与其他成员互动且在过程中达到心流效果与强化学习动机和学习趣味性。因此本研究依据人格特质与换位思考为基础开发一款以周哈里窗四个角度认识自我的数字心因性桌游，透过数字心因性桌游、自我认同量表以及换位思考量表帮助学习者厘清自我混淆以及强化换位思考的能力进行研究预试。预试结果显示此款数字心因性桌游有助于帮助学习者厘清自我混淆以及强化换位思考能力。 Board games are getting more and more popular in the education sector. In the near future, through board games, learners will not only produce flow, but will also gain enhanced motivation and interest. Therefore, in our research, we developed a digital psychogenic board game, based on human characteristics and empathy, so that we can know ourselves through the four points of view of a Johari Window while playing. We try to help learners to understand self-confusion and to strengthen their ability of empathy through the digital psychogenic board game, using a self-iden- tification scale and empathy scale as our research pre-test. At the end of our research, we find that the consequence of the pre-test shows our digital psychogenic board game does work on helping learners to clarify self-confusion and to strengthen their ability of empathy.

Measuring User Experience in Multiplayer Board Games

Comparison of user experience between multiplayer digital games and board games is largely unexplored in the literature, with no instrument found to suitably measure user experience across game formats. This study explores the use of the Social Presence module of the Games Experience Questionnaire to measure user experience in a multiplayer board game involving 12 participants across 3 separate sessions. Scale analysis and correlation with semistructured interviews held with the participants suggest that the instrument is reliable and valid and can thus be used for measurement and comparison of user experience across game formats. The Games Experience Questionnaire can therefore be used to scale-up board game research by diminishing reliance on interviews as well as to assist in the choice between digital and nondigital implementation of gameplay forming part of an overarching story, such as in transmedial productions.

Using digital board games for genuine communication in EFL classrooms

EFL learners in Taiwan have a low-level communication ability because many learners are still not provided opportunities to use language for genuine communication in classrooms and receive insufficient language input due to the environment. This study examines the use of digital board game language learning set in a task-collaborative platform, digital learning playground, designed for classroom learning. This study investigates whether communicative skills and intrinsic motivation could be improved by seeing relevant context and receiving adequate practice through gaming. Ninety-six high school Taiwanese students (n = 96), who were randomly assigned to an ordinary instruction group, a board game language-learning group, or a digital board game language-learning group, engaged in a 50-min English class. Analysis of covariance was used for comparing learning performance through a speaking test between the three groups. A modified intrinsic motivation inventory was conducted to assess learners’ perceptions of learning experience and an interview was held for details. The quantitative data presents a higher learning performance for the instruction set at digital learning playground. The qualitative data confirms computerized simulation adapted from board game entails context-relevant immersion, encouraging communication and efficient game instruction management for EFL language learning.

The Design Development Method of Digital Board Game -Focused on Analyzing Offline & Digital Board Game-

The Design Development Method of Digital Board Game -Focused on Analyzing Offline & Digital Board Game-

초기 개발자를 통해 본 RFID 디지털 보드게임 개발의 문제점 및 전망

컴퓨터 화면과 키보드나 마우스에만 의지하고 또 그에 익숙해져있는 사용자들에게 RFID를 이용한 인터페이스는 기존의 컴퓨터 게임을 확장하고 향상시킬 수 있다. 본 논문에서는 초기 개발자가 RFID 칩과 리더기를 이용하여 손으로 조작하며 게임을 즐길 수 있는 새로운 RFID 디지털 보드게임 콘텐츠를 소개한다. 개발된 RFID 보드게임은 총 4가지로, 3개의 게임은 화면을 보면서 RFID 칩으로 게임을 제어하는 것이고, 다른 하나는 화면을 배제할 수 있는 게임을 시도하여 보드판에 보다 몰입하여 게임을 즐길 수 있도록 구성하였다. 초기 개발자들의 결과물들을 살펴보면, RFID를 사용한 단순한 사물인지 기술에 기반한 접근에서 확장하여 사물의 배치를 인지하는 것과 같이 RFID의 기능을 최대한 활용한 게임 콘텐츠를 개발하여야 한다. 초기개발자의 개발 과정을 통해, 게임 기술개발자와 콘텐츠개발자 간의 공동협력 체계의 구성이 필요함을 알 수 있다. 또한, 유아와 아동이 능동적으로 참여하고 조작할 수 있는 상호작용성이 최적화된 인터페이스의 설계가 필요하다. RFID-based games, which use a RFID reader and RFID chips, will expand existing computer games, which use a computer screen, a keyboard or a mouse. This paper presents 4 RFID digital board game contents which are conducted by initial developers; the three of them use the screen and control the games with RFID chips and, one is a different attempted game which can exclude the screen and be immersed to the board. While initial developers use object recognition of RFID, we need to develop game contents and game interface which can recognize positions of the objects. According to the initial developer"s developing process, the cooperative system between the game technical developers and the contents developers should be necessary. Also, the interface should be developed for young children to participate and operate.

The E.R. Game

This is a digital board game designed as an entertaining educational tool. Adapted from “MONOPOLY,” the board appears on the computer screen and the players roll digital dice and their game piece moves appropriately. The space landed on will have a category assigned and produce a question from that category. Correctly answering the question gives ownership of the space and awarding of points. Players subsequently landing on the space must answer another question from the category or lose equivalent points. The game proceeds until one player has circled the board three times or any player reaches preset point total. The game is designed to import questions from a digital question bank that the end‐user can edit. The game provides referenced explanation of erroneous choices.