Digital Educational Games Research Articles

Analysis of Game Elements in Digital Educational Game According to Gagne Nine Events of Instruction

The purpose of this study is to analyze the game elements based on Gagne Nine Events of Instruction and to develop instrument which will be use to analyze the game elements needed in the development of digital educational games. The study was conducted using qualitative design where the interview and observation involved. A total of 20 students from a school in Tanjong Malim Perak participated in this survey. The findings of the study show that eight game elements are analyzed based on Gagne Nine Events of Instruction that are mystery, action, challenge, being at risk, uncertainty of outcome, opportunity for mastery, visible signs of progress and emotional content. These elements will be aligned with Gagne Nine Events of Instruction to develop an instrument. In conclusion, this study will further enhance the digital educational games design process and further promote innovation in teaching and learning in line with the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025.

Mining big data to help make informed decisions for designing effective digital educational games

ABSTRACT More research is needed on how to best use analytics to support educational decisions and design effective learning environments. This study was to explore and mine the data captured by a digital educational game designed for middle school science to understand learners’ behavioral patterns in using the game, and to use evidence-based findings to inform the design and implementation of the game’s next iteration. The data was from 3,963 sixth-grade students from 31 teachers across nine U.S. states who used the game. The dataset consisted of 3,063,267 lines of log data. The findings showed significant positive relationships between students' performance scores and their tool usage in terms of both frequency and duration of tool use. This was further confirmed by the relationships between different levels of students’ performance and tool usage: the more frequently and longer that students used the tools, the higher their performance scores, and there were significant differences between students with high performance scores and those with low performance scores. Comparing three different cases over the individual days of game use provided further evidence that in all three comparisons, the students who used more essential tools and for longer time had higher performance scores. Implications are discussed.

Why Story Matters: A Review of Narrative in Serious Games

Literature has shown that immersive learning environments such as digital educational games and simulations often incorporate storytelling elements in their designs as narrative can be an effective way of making learning more meaningful to students. The purpose of this study is to review the literature on the role narrative can play in the experience of a learner engaging in learning games and to synthesize research on features of story that have demonstrated success in these learning environments. The findings have shown that distributed narrative, intrinsically integrated fantasies, empathetic characters and virtual agents, and adaptiveness or responsivity are four characteristics of game narratives found to be effective. Several learning game analyses were performed to illustrate how these games used narrative to foster greater immersion, engagement, motivation, and learning. Finally, a narrative design strategy for serious games is suggested which integrates the effective narrative features as shown in the example games, along with two analysis frameworks, Game Discourse Analysis and Narrative Centered Informant Design. The findings of this study should provide much-needed insights to designers and researchers who are involved in creating immersive learning environments.

Teacher candidates’ state of using digital educational games

<p>The rapidly developing information technologies of our age offer new opportunities in every aspect of our lives. The use of information technologies in educational environments is an important element in creating enriched learning environments. Educational digital games used in teaching-learning environments help students to develop motivation, problem-solving, strategy development skills and creativity. The purpose of this research was to determine the teacher candidates’ state of using digital educational games. The study group of the research consisted of 4th-grade teacher candidates who are studying in the social sciences and classroom teaching departments of Süleyman Demirel University during the 2018/2019 academic year. It has been found that men teacher candidates were more positive than women teacher candidates. Teacher candidates studying social sciences were more positive than those studying classroom teaching. Although teacher candidates were concerned about using educational digital games, they were eager to use these games.</p>

Educational digital games: models and implementation

Nowadays, social media, ICT, mobile technologies and applications are increasingly used as tools for communication, interaction, building up social skills and unique learning environments. One of the latest trends observed in education is an attempt to streamline the learning process by applying educational digital games. Despite numerous research data, that confirms the positive effects of digital games, their integration into formal educational contexts is still relatively low. The purpose of this article is to analyze, discuss and conclude what is necessary to start using games as an instructional tool in formal education. In order to achieve this aim, a complex of qualitative research methods, including semi-structured expert interviews was applied. As the result, the potential of educational digital games to give a unique and safe learning environment with a wide spectrum of build-in assistive features, be efficient in specific training contexts, help memorize studied material and incorporate different learning styles, as well as to be individually adaptable, was determined. At the same time, the need for complex approach affecting the administration, IT departments, educators, students, parents, a strong skill set and a wide spectrum of different roles and tasks a teacher carries out in a digital game-based learning class were outlined. In conclusion and as a vector for further research, the organization of Education Design Laboratory as an integral part of a contemporary educational institution was proposed.

Game-Based Learning of the Structure and Functioning of Body Cells in a Foreign Language: Effects on Motivation, Cognitive Load, and Performance

Research has evidenced that digital educational games can be effective tools to impart knowledge. Researchers have recommended to focus on motivation and gaming load and their interaction when investigating learning process and success. Gaming expertise and the English proficiency of learners seem to be further important aspects of learning success, especially when non-native speakers play an English game. However, knowledge about the motivational and cognitive impact of games and learner characteristics on learning outcomes needs to be augmented and clarified. The present study aimed to address this need. We conducted an experimental media comparison to investigate the effects of game play and expertise in gaming and English on motivation, cognitive load, and performance. The participating German university students were randomly assigned to an educational gaming group and a hypertext group. Aspects of motivation were assessed before and after studying and gaming, cognitive load was rated during and after learning, and level of performance was measured before and after studying. The gaming group reported a higher level of interest, challenge, and anxiety of failing after introducing the task. Groups did not differ significantly in their perceived probability of success. The group levels of interest were the same after a one-hour learning phase. When learning, cognitive load increased after the initial phase in the gaming group and then stayed on a constant level, whereas the opposite pattern was found in the hypertext group. No differences were found in load ratings after learning between the two groups. Both groups improved their knowledge after learning, but the gain was larger for the hypertext group. Results point to gaming and English expertise as two mediating factors for learning success with educational games. We suggest that gaming expertise and English comprehension ability reduce cognitive load and thus enable learners to focus their resources on meaningful learning.

Field-independence versus field-dependence: a serious game on trigonometry learning

Mathematics is a subject that becomes a specter for students. Motivation is needed so that learning objectives are achieved. An effort to increase motivation is by using the serious game in learning. A serious game is another term for digital game-based educational games. Besides motivation, an important characteristic that students have is cognitive style. In this paper, the authors compare the field-independence and field-dependence cognitive styles on using a serious game on trigonometry learning. This study uses a qualitative descriptive research method. The research subjects were obtained from the Group Embedded Figure Test (GEFT) and were obtained 5 students who had field-independence (FI) cognitive style and 5 students who had field-dependence (FD) cognitive style. After students with FI and FD cognitive style were given a treatment by trying a serious game, the results obtained show that FI students got a higher score than that of FD students, they were able to solve problems on each floor in a short time and got fewer errors than FD students. Besides, FI students are more motivated to use a serious game than FD students.

SGDDEdu

The use of games in education has become an increasingly present practice in contemporary society. For so-called "digital natives", learning through electronic games becomes more significant. Digital educational games are often seen as boring, non-motivational, that fail to bring in some essential elements that promote engagement, making the learning goal is not achieved either. Game Design is a game project. It describes how the game should be, defining its mechanics and interactions between player and the virtual world of the game and how they can affect the game environment. In order to document the design of a game, there is the Game Design Document (GDD), whose one of the main objectives, besides registration, is to help in communication between the different production teams of a game, allowing the game designer a broad view of that is being produced. However, because it is a large document that brings in detail all the main elements for the production of a game, it turns out to be little used, especially if the focus is the elaboration of small games, which are the majority of the digital educational games that exist. For these short games, which can often be worked out within a few hours, there are Short Game Design Document (SGDD). The SGDD, unlike GDD, will describe the elements of the game in a simplified way possible, whereas the game to be drawn from it is also a simple game. Thus, the proposal of this work is to elaborate a model of SGDD for educational games (the SGDDEdu), specifying elements of art, sound, mechanics and game programming, as well as educational elements in accordance with the new BNCC (National Curricular Common Base) of Elementary School, so that there is a standardization and better categorization of educational games aligned with the proposed pedagogical objectives and the skills and competences described in each level of education. This work will be developed from the study and analysis of some models of already existing SGDD and the BNCC of Elementary School in general, causing in SGDDEdu. The research will be applied with teachers and educators requesting that they specify an educational game in the SGDDEdu template. With this, we intend to verify if the SGDDEdu has relevance and if it facilitates in the production of digital educational games, providing the teaching and learning process through the games, as well as trying to identify how the NCCB can contribute in the development of educational games.
 Keywords: Educational games, Game Design, SGDD, BNCC

QUÍMICA EM DIÁLOGO NA EDUCAÇÃO DO CAMPO: UM ESTUDO SOBRE A PARTICIPAÇÃO DE JOVENS DO ENSINO MÉDIO NO DESENVOLVIMENTO DE JOGOS DIGITAIS

Young students from rural areas go through difficulties through their formal education, such as lack of contextualization of curricular contents for their reality. Rural education can minimize these problems based on guidelines which favor sense-making about scientific concepts, establishing relationships with daily life, and putting the potential of transformation in evidence. This work presents results from a research about the development of digital educational games with the participation of students from a school in the rural area of the state of Pernambuco, following the DEMULTS methodology. Results point to learning of Chemistry concepts integrated with themes from the rural territory and competences in design and programming.

Games for Teaching Mathematics in Nigeria: What Happens to Pupils’ Engagement and Traditional Classroom Dynamics?

Mathematics education is under threat in Nigeria. Young people report it as boring and difficult; teachers say young people are not engaged, even when they are achieving academically. Meanwhile, digital games are a part of everyday childhood. They are now being used to benefit young people academically as they have been shown to help motivate reluctant learners. This action research case study aims to determine if a digital educational game can stimulate interest and engagement with mathematics. SpeedyRocket, a digital educational game was designed and used in the classroom in three schools in rural Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria to teach pupils about estimation, as part of the mathematics curriculum. The evaluation was carried out with the pupils through a combination of a pupils’ mathematics attitude questionnaire, and classroom observation. The results demonstrate significant improvements in attitude to and engagement with mathematics across the target group, after two weeks of using SpeedyRocket. Learners became co-creators of their own knowledge, sharing ideas, forging new learning pathways, competing, and cooperating with one another. Furthermore, the findings from this study provide insights into the changes that occur in the dynamics of the traditional classroom through the introduction of digital technology, especially in settings where it has not been previously used.

Jogo educacional digital como meio de compreensão de crianças e adolescentes hospitalizados sobre os procedimentos de punção venosa

A hospitalização da criança/adolescente gera momentos de estresses, medos e anseios, especialmente pelos procedimentos ao qual é submetida, como o procedimento de punção venosa, fazendo com que ela se sinta ameaçada pela invasão dolorosa, tornando o hospital um local de privações e distanciamento de suas atividades cotidianas e escolares. O acesso e uso das Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação (TICs), por meio dos Ambientes Virtuais de Aprendizagem (AVA), permite realizar a aproximação da criança/adolescente às atividades e vida fora do hospital. O objetivo geral deste estudo foi identificar se o jogo educacional digital pode contribuir para melhor entendimento por parte da criança/adolescente hospitalizado acerca dos procedimentos de punção venosa que é submetido durante o período de hospitalização, bem como sua satisfação e a opinião dos profissionais da saúde. Participaram da pesquisa três profissionais da saúde que realizavam o procedimento de punção venosa em crianças/adolescentes e 12 crianças/adolescentes hospitalizados. A coleta de dados foi realizada por etapas, sendo a primeira análise do jogo educacional digital por profissionais da saúde e a segunda avaliação do jogo junto à criança/adolescente. A análise de dados da primeira etapa se deu de forma descritiva a partir das respostas dos participantes, e da segunda etapa foi realizada a triangulação dos dados obtidos por meio do questionário e dos diários de campo. Os resultados apontaram que o jogo educacional digital contribui para o auxílio do entendimento da criança/adolescente hospitalizada sobre o procedimento de punção venosa, tanto na opinião dos profissionais da saúde, quanto na opinião das próprias crianças/adolescentes.

Educational gaming and afterschool students' science and drug prevention knowledge and attitudes: A program evaluation report for HTF community drug prevention coalition conducted by Truman State University Student Research Team

The Heartland Task Force C2000 Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition in rural Northeast Missouri purchased laptops for a local afterschool program and enthusiastically conducted a novel intervention for substance abuse prevention education. A digital educational game focused on science and drug prevention knowledge and attitudes was delivered on the laptop computers to at-risk elementary students in the school district’s afterschool program. After hour-long sessions for one day every week for six weeks, results of pre-post knowledge and attitude surveys noted the game neither significantly changed participants’ knowledge of science and drug prevention nor attitudes toward science and drug prevention. Results of the present evaluation study were inconsistent with other studies using technology in the classroom, possibly due to program delivery in the less formal afterschool setting. Because elementary students’ attitudes toward drug use become more pro-use as they get older, consistent teaching about science and anti-drug education both during and after school is needed.

Using Kahoot to Inspire

Today, there is growing interest in digital game-based learning due to the increase in the variety of educational and commercial games available. The literature indicates that digital educational games are effective at keeping learners engaged. This study examines the use of a digital educational game called Kahoot and supports the hypothesis that it can improve engagement and learning when immersed in traditional, lecture-based classrooms. The results of the mixed-methods study, using 96 undergraduates, suggest that learners’ performance and engagement are enhanced when using Kahoot versus traditional teaching methods. In addition, practitioner and future research implications are also discussed.

Digital Educational Game Usage Scale: Adapting to Turkish, Validity and Reliability Study

The purpose of this study is to adapt Digital Educational Games Usage Scale (DEGUS) that was developed byBonanno & Kommers (2008) to Turkish with the companion of a group of university students studying in departmentof English Teaching. In order for scale items to be the same in terms of language, firstly the translations of the itemswere carried out both from English to Turkish and Turkish to English, afterwards examining the forms gathered fromthe students, significant and positive correlations were detected among the data. Exploratory and confirmatory factoranalyses revealed that the scale had four dimensions. In item total correlation calculation of the scale it was observedthat all the items were above .40, item factor loads varied between .51 and .68, Cronbach Alpha internal consistencycoefficient was .78 and test retest correlation was .88. Significant relations were in the calculations regarding thecorrelation analyses of the scale.

A Critical Review of the Effectiveness of Narrative-Driven Digital Educational Games

Digital games are currently viewed, by many within the field of education, as a way to engage and motivate students, and to assist them in acquiring content knowledge and skills. Despite the growing interest in using digital games, including serious games, this is the first critical review of the literature on the effectiveness of digital narrative-driven educational games. Of 2550 articles initially screened, 130 were synthesised in the final review. The results suggest that such games can be more much more effective than traditional instruction for promoting attitude change, engagement, motivation, and skill acquisition; slightly more effective in promoting enjoyment and knowledge acquisition; and equal in fostering behaviour change. As such, they may be viewed as effective and versatile tools for teaching and learning.

Making Sense of Digital Game-Based Learning: A Learning Theory-Based Typology Useful for Teachers

Digital game-based learning (DGBL) has gained traction on various educational levels in recent years as educators continue to seek best practices and researchers keep conducting studies to investigate the affordances and constraints of such technology-mediated instruction. This paper discusses the intersections between the historical development of educational digital games and contemporary theories of learning. Resultant from the review, a typology of educational digital games consisting of four genres -- edutainment and educational game applications, serious games, commercial off the shelf and massive multiplayer online role-playing games, and educational game design tools--is devised to help teachers interested in digital games better understand the pedagogical processes and cope with challenges involved in implementing DGBL. The paper concludes with the importance that the implementation of different genres of educational digital games in instruction entails teachers’ usage of different pedagogical strategies in accordance with the chosen game genre and opportunities to teach subject area content.

E-baby skin integrity: evidence-based technology innovation for teaching in neonatal nursing

Abstract Objective: To develop and validate the serious game e-Baby: skin integrity along with a panel of experts. Method: Methodological research approaching the following development steps: scope definition, game format and functions, script and communication with software developers, creation of prototype with evaluation and production; and validation by four experts using the tool Heuristic Evaluation for Digital Educational Game. Results: The serious game was built in a 3D technology with multimedia including animation and scientific-based content. The educational technology was validated by the experts in all heuristics, and among the all 36 analyzed items. 18 (50%) presented no errors, and regarding the remaining items with any error, none had more than 25% errors within levels 3 and 4, according to Nielsen's classification. Conclusion and implications for the practice: The validated serious game is a virtual simulation educational technology with potential to contribute with learning in nursing and with evidence-based clinical practice.

A Study of Digital Learning for Older Adults

This study proposes interactive digital learning to help elderly individuals acquire knowledge of orchids and polish interpersonal skills. The goal is to investigate the relationship of perceived ease of use, enjoyment, self-efficacy, and social interaction with attitude by adopting the modified Technology Acceptance Model. Purposive sampling is adopted in this study. Two hundred and fifty questionnaires were sent to elderly people in Tainan, for which the response rate was sixty-four percent. First, the research framework proved that perceived ease of use and enjoyment positively influence self-efficacy. Further, we verified that self-efficacy positively influences social interaction and that both self-efficacy and social interaction positively influence attitude. This study makes two contributions to the extant literature on this topic. First, custom-made, educational digital games make older people happier and help them polish their interpersonal skills. Second, the results infer that digital learning is worth development in learning centers for senior citizens.

A scoping review of research on digital game-based language learning

The continuing attention to the educational value of digital games highlights the need for more focused literature reviews in order to identify critical gaps and opportunities in domain-specific areas. The current study thus set out to provide a scoping overview of empirical evidence on the use and impacts of digital games in language education from 2007 to 2016, as a means to advance the emerging research on digital game-based language learning (DGBLL). A total of 50 selected studies were systematically analyzed, revealing the following findings: (1) Most of the selected DGBLL studies adopted mixed methods to examine the educational use of digital games; (2) Immersive games, notably massively multiplayer online role-playing games, were the most common genre in the current DGBLL literature; (3) Most of the games for language learning were custom-built by DGBLL researchers; (4) Personal computers were the most common platforms for playing games to support language learning; (5) Most of the DGBLL studies adopted games to facilitate the learning of English as a second or foreign language; (6) Most of the research on DGBLL investigated learners with mixed levels of language proficiency; (7) University students were the most frequently selected samples in the existing DGBLL literature; and (8) The majority of DGBLL studies featured positive outcomes in regard to student learning, with the most frequently reported ones being related to affective or psychological states, closely followed by language acquisition. Taken as a whole, these findings reflect the diverse nature of this field and suggest the overall feasibility of using digital games for promoting the language and literacy learning of both native and non-native speakers in various aspects. Several promising but under-researched areas were also identified in this review, along with discussions on their implications for future investigations.

Desenvolvimento e Avaliação de um Perfil UML para Modelagem de Jogos Educacionais Digitais

UML (Unified Modeling Language) is a general purpose language for software modeling, moreover, is the language most known and used for graphical representation of models. Just the elements preexisting in the UML (Unified Modeling Language) may not be sufficient to facilitate understanding of specific domain models. An example of specific problem domain is the Digital Educational Games (DEGs). In this paper, we describe the UP4EG, a UML profile for DEGs modeling, using UML class diagrams. The UP4EG gathers many stereotypes and tagged values divided into six packages that represent the main elements that a DEG should present. From an experimental study on the proposed profile with computer science students, it was realized that number of errors and the time spent for the identification of the main elements of a DEG can be improved when this profile is used in the modeling of this type of software.