Educational Computer Games Research Articles

Role-playing computer games in disaster medicine education.

Role-playing computer games in disaster medicine education.

Health promotion interventions for children and adolescents using e-health: a systematic review

Abstract Background The utilization of e-health in healthcare interventions has become increasingly prevalent due to its cost-effectiveness. Nevertheless, there is a paucity of evidence regarding the use of e-health in children, as the majority of e-health interventions are focused on adults. This study aimed to identify the components and effects of e-health intervention for the promotion of children’s health and to suggest strategies for their implementation. Methods A systematic review was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines. A literature review of relevant studies published between January 2013 and November 2023 was conducted. A search of databases including PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, MEDLINE, and Cochrane Review Library was conducted using a combination of medical subject headings (MeSH) and keywords. A qualitative appraisal of the studies was conducted using the revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials (RoB 2). Results Sixteen studies were selected. Most studies showed good methodological quality. The majority of studies (n = 15) focused on improving children’s physical health, while only one study focused on mental health. There were a variety of components to the intervention, including internet education, web-based home-exercise, serious games, mobile apps, email counseling, and active video games, and only one type of intervention was provided, or a combination with additional methods such as phone calls and counseling. A review of the literature indicates that e-health interventions have been effective in increasing children’s physical activity, reducing weight, relieving stress, and reducing depression. Conclusions This study identified the effectiveness of e-health interventions for improving children’s physical and mental health. The use of e-health to promote children’s health should be actively developed and implemented in a variety of clinical and community settings. Key messages • E-health interventions have been demonstrated to be an effective means of improving the physical and mental health of children and adolescents. • It is recommended that health promotion interventions utilizing e-health be developed and tested in a variety of communities and settings for children and adolescents.

Teaching actively open-minded thinking online: encouraging effects of a serious computer game and an online module

ABSTRACT Actively open-minded thinking (AOT) represents a standard for good judgment and decision making and people differ in their proneness to this way of thinking. Studies show that people inclined to AOT are less erroneous and biased on decision-making tasks, hold less unwarranted beliefs and are more accurate in a range of judgments. However, there are very few studies that tested the possibility of teaching AOT. In this study, we report results of an experiment in which we tested the effectiveness of our two newly developed online interventions for teaching AOT, a serious educational computer game and an online module. Results showed weak but encouraging effects of these interventions. Compared to the control group, the interventions managed to somewhat reduce confidence, overconfidence and myside bias, and in the short run increase participants’ tendency to be actively open-minded in various everyday situations.

Mr. Tumbles’ Maya and the Multiplicity of Personas: Leveraging Illusion and Reality in Educational Game Design for SEN Language Learners

Educational research for Special Educational Needs (SEN) students has increasingly recognised the necessity for tailored approaches that accommodate diverse learning needs. Despite advancements, there remains a significant gap in the development of digital interventions, particularly video games, that cater to the language acquisition and communicative needs of SEN learners. This study explores how psychological paradigms from the popular children's television show ‘Mr. Tumble’ (made specifically for children with special educational needs) can inform the creation of language learning video games. By analysing the use of ‘Makaton’ a multimodal communication tool that combines signs, symbols, and speech the study highlights the potential of integrating similar techniques into game design to enhance accessibility and engagement for SEN learners. The philosophical understanding of Maya, which emphasises the illusory nature of multiplicity, serves as a theoretical framework to understand how a single character can embody multiple roles within a game, providing a consistent yet diverse learning experience. This approach not only aids in language comprehension but also fosters emotional and social development through relatable Non-Player Characters (NPCs) designed to interact meaningfully with learners. The study posits that incorporating these elements can create immersive, emotionally resonant educational experiences and the development of parasocial relationship between the learner and the digital intervention, that better meet the needs of SEN students, ultimately leading to more inclusive and effective language learning environments. Children simultaneously navigate multiple roles and perspectives, each reflecting a different aspect of reality in make-believe play. The critical importance of integrating this cognitive theoretical framework similar to that into the design of NPCs in educational video games is highlighted in this research. The paper argues that the paradigms of ‘multiplicity of mirrors’, when effectively incorporated into NPC design, can reflect different aspects of language, culture, and social interaction, offering learners a more immersive and multifaceted learning experience.

Impacto de los videojuegos narrativos en la percepción del patrimonio cultural: un análisis cualitativo de Assassin's Creed en estudiantes universitarios

Research on the interaction of students with educational video games that integrate elements of cultural heritage remains limited. Generally, studies focus on the mediation of educators in this interaction or on the direct analysis of the games. This has created a gap in our understanding of the meanings that students develop on their own while playing these video games. This study, based on qualitative interviews, examines the video game franchise Assassin's Creed, which recreates various historical periods and cultures through detailed narratives and settings. Participants indicated that the game offered them an immersive perspective on cultural heritage, different from the traditional educational experience in classrooms. They expressed a personal connection with non-playable characters (NPCs) and gained a more detailed and realistic understanding of the diverse perspectives in these natural, cultural, and social environments. Furthermore, they were willing to let their perceptions of cultural heritage be shaped by the game and reflected on the ethical and social implications of heritage representation in digital media. However, they showed a tendency to overlook opportunities for a more critical and in-depth analysis of these digital experiences. This highlights the need to explore strategies to foster a critical approach in the study of gaming experiences and underscores the importance of strengthening the human connection with heritage in heritage education.

БІЛІМ БЕРУ ЖҮЙЕСІНДЕ ГЕЙМИФИКАЦИЯ ҚҰРАЛДАРЫН ҚОЛДАНУДЫҢ МҮМКІНДІКТЕРІН ТАЛДАУ

In the modern information educational environment, there is a growing interest in the use of computer games to improve the quality of education, which determines the relevance of the proposed study for the analysis of software with the possibility of gamification of the educational process in the context of the requirements of the state, society and education. The research methodology is the study of information sources of psychological, pedagogical, methodological and technical orientation, the analysis of computer educational games of foreign and domestic authors. The article considers the need for gamification of the educational process, the principles of gamification, its impact on student motivation and participation, as well as the main aspects of the optimal implementation of game elements in training. Modern software resources and platforms offering gamification in the educational process of personal development are analyzed. All software tools with the possibility of gamification of training were divided into groups: gaming platforms, educational quests, learning management services and game development sites. Particular attention is paid to methods for evaluating the effectiveness of gamified programs and platforms, which will allow creating the best didactic tasks and recommendations for teachers. Gamification can increase student motivation and their participation in various educational tasks. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation have a special impact on students' cognitive abilities regarding learning outcomes and improve overall academic performance. Motivation, which is an important means of achieving learning goals, motivates students according to their interests. Since students perceive information differently, they can choose their activities according to their learning preferences. According to the research topic, the positive situation of gamified learning is analyzed and the relevance of digital gamification in education is determined.

Acceptance and use of Video Games for Education by Secondary School Teachers

Video games (VGs) are frequently described as a transformational force within education and the use of video game technology for learning is becoming more common across all education sectors. Despite this, most literature regarding VGs in education focuses on measuring specific learning or engagement outcomes, and there is less of an emphasis on the attitudes of teachers on the uses of VGs in the classroom. A comprehensive understanding of teacher attitudes towards VGs within education is essential for their successful implementation within the classroom. This paper will present the development and progress of a PhD project that aims to explore the factors that influence secondary Australian teachers’ attitudes towards, and intentions to use, VGs within their own teaching. An online survey was used to collect data on teacher beliefs about technology and VGs and the factors that influence VG acceptance. A subsample of participants were also interviewed about their experiences and opinions in relation to VGs. This paper focuses on the proposed thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews. Respondents were divided into groups based on their opinions of, and level of experience with, VGs in teaching. The qualitative results provide a detailed and nuanced investigation of teacher attitudes and beliefs in relation to their competencies, obstacles, and facilitators of VGs use for teaching. The findings of this research will assist in building a deep understanding of VG use in secondary classrooms assisting game developers, administrators, teachers, and policy makers in decisions relating to effective and meaningful video game use within education.

The Ideological Dilemma in Using Games in Global Citizenship and Development Education

The objective of this paper is to contribute to discourse informing the use of computer games in Global Citizenship and Development Education. In doing so, it addresses the incompatibility and conflict between the values imbedded in games and those informing development education practice. It is aimed at both formal and informal educators who see the potential in using games in their practice and want to reconcile this dilemma. It is also aimed at policy makers and influencers who want to shape the structures governing such digital spaces in the public interest. The research involved an interdisciplinary literature review across the fields of Education, Game Design, colonialism and social activism. The analysis takes a postcolonial perspective and is informed by the theory and practice of critical pedagogy in youth work and development education. The study was conducted as part of Doctoral research and project work with NGOs over a seven-year period to 2024. In this context it is important to note that this is a rapidly changing and evolving sector. The development of computer games and immersive technologies over the past 20 years has been transformational, in their interactive capabilities and global proliferation, particularly with the emergence of “The Metaverse”. Such expansion has been critiqued as a process of Colonialism, where young people’s time, creativity, identities and attention is being commodified, monetised, packaged and sold to the highest bidder. The structure of the games industry, their content and the ecosystem surrounding gaming are all ideologically driven. Such ideology aligns with one of three systems: the neoliberal hegemony emanating from transnational corporations and market economies; the state control being exerted by China and others; or a blind commitment to opensource being advocated by many industry innovators, developers and users. When using games in an educational context, and particularly when addressing Social Justice and Global Citizenship, the values and cultures underpinning all three of these ideologies are problematic. It is the contention in this paper that such spaces can also be developed as informal educational spaces informed by values aligned with critical global citizenship and development education. Now is the time for development educational practitioners, conscientious games designers and policymakers to collaborate, to act, to legislate, to experiment and carve out a safe, progressive, dynamic, decolonised digital space for engagement with issues of global citizenship and development education

From Consoles to Classrooms: Preliminary Insights About Pre-Service Teachers and Video Games

Integrating video games into the classroom is a promising way to enhance learning experiences, as the market of serious games is expanding. European schools are investing in digital equipment, and the use of educational video games is technologically viable. Nonetheless, actual experiences of video games in class are still rare. A key gap to be explored is understanding how pre-service secondary teachers perceive and are prepared to use digital games in their future classrooms. Do they think it would enhance their teaching and their students’ learning? Do they feel prepared for it? To answer these questions, and possibly address future challenges, we conducted a comprehensive study with students at Zurich University of Teacher Education (PHZH). The research process began with the development and testing of a detailed questionnaire that focused on participants' personal gaming behaviour, preferences, and perceptions of the educational potential of video games. Key areas such as serious games, game design, gamification, game-based learning, and game culture were explored to assess the relevance and understanding of these concepts in an educational context. This paper explains the development and structure of the questionnaire as a measurement instrument as well as the underlying literature and methodological considerations. The first implementation and the preliminary survey with 48 PHZH students are presented, and the practicability and reliability of the questionnaire are evaluated. The result of the survey suggests pre-service teachers are generally positive about integrating video games and game design into the classroom, yet enthusiasm is not enough without additional support.

P158 EDUCATION AS A PARAMETER FOR MANAGEMENT IN HYPERTENSION

Objective: Despite advancements, hypertension and its associated factors remain the leading cause of global death with concerning increases. This study aimed to estimate whether the impact of mass education in adults and subsequently in adolescents and children in Tunja, Boyacá, Colombia S.A influenced their knowledge of these factors. Methods: Cross-sectional and prospective community study in individuals > 18 years, with open invitation to various points of care collecting information with Framingham surveys, blood pressure measurement, anthropometric variables, educational level, history, associated factors, and cardiovascular diseases knowledge of causes (CDKC). Conducting four sessions: (1) December 2018, without prior educational intervention (PEI), (2) March 2019, PEI adults, (3) July 2019, PEI in adolescents and children‘s schools, (4) March 2024 long-term evaluation. PEI for adults included in-person lectures, media, and printed materials, for schools (13) lectures, printed materials, and educational video games. Results: 3,025 people were surveyed, with a mean age of 49.9 years (SD ± 14.3); men 46%. Of the total, 52% were sedentary, 47% overweight, and 8% obese, smoking 11%, alcohol consumption 31%, diabetes 7.3%, cholesterol 56.4%, hypertension 32.1%, and CDKC 37%. Comparatively among the records, hypertension: (1) 37.4%, (2) 32.1%, (3) 32.6%, (4) 26.6%. CDKC: (1) 22.1%, (2) 38.6%, (3) 43.4%, and (4) 47%, its correlation with other variables and other risk factors are part of another report. Conclusions: We highlight the positive impact of educational intervention more in schools, evidenced by the increase in knowledge from 22.1% to 43.4% (p<0.001), and the decrease in hypertension from 37.4% to 32.6% (p<0.001). This knowledge increased to 47% in the long-term evaluation, reflected in the lower prevalence of hypertension 26.6%. These two parameters were not as significant with education only in adults, where we usually direct our campaigns, forgetting adolescents and children as the family guiding axis to change the course not only of cardiovascular diseases but also of chronic pathologies.

Evaluation of the impact of an online video game as an educational intervention on sexual health and the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of sexually transmitted infection: A randomized controlled trial protocol

BackgroundThe incidence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is increasing, especially among young people. Tools are needed to increase knowledge about sex education and STI prevention and treatment. Gamification can be a good training tool for both young people and health professionals. The primary objective of this study is to assess the impact of a training intervention on STI prevention, detection, and treatment in primary care professionals.Methods/designMulticentre cluster randomized controlled trial.Groups of primary care professionals will receive an intervention (online video game on sex education and STIs [SEXIT]) and will be compared with control groups that will not receive the intervention. Group assignments will be randomized by clusters.The study will consist of a pre-post evaluation of the intervention: a knowledge test will be administered before and after the intervention and 3 months after the intervention. This test will also be carried out on the same time sequence in the control groups. The impact of the training intervention will be assessed over a 6-month period, focusing on various variables associated with the clinical management of STIs. This evaluation entails the clinical records of diagnostic tests and antibiotic prescriptions related to the clinical approach to STIs.The required sample size is 262 (131 per group).DiscussionCompared with those in the control group, improvements in knowledge and clinical behavioural outcomes after the intervention are expected for participants in the intervention groups. We plan to develop an educational video game to increase the knowledge about sexuality, STIs and violence.Protocol registered at ISRCTN with reference number ISRCTN17783607.

The Potential of Electronic Games as Pedagogical Tools in Physical Education in Elementary School

This article explores the potential of video games as pedagogical tools in Physical Education classes in elementary school. The increasing popularity of video games among children and adolescents, coupled with technological advancements, raises questions about how these tools can be integrated into the school curriculum to promote learning and the overall development of students. The research, of a theoretical nature, involved a review of relevant literature on the topic. The results point to the potential of video games to promote motivation, engagement, and the development of motor, cognitive, and socio-emotional skills. However, challenges such as screen time and the need for pedagogical adaptation are also discussed. The article concludes with recommendations for the effective use of video games in Physical Education, emphasizing the importance of teacher mediation and the careful selection of games appropriate to pedagogical objectives.

Teacher Education: Design Thinking Approach in Makerspaces to Produce Quality Educational Video Games with a Visual Identity and Improve Design Thinking Skills

Video games participate effectively in the educational process due to their attractive visual features, but there are many challenges that teachers face when using them. Among these challenges is designing games to suit the goals of the educational process and respecting societal identity. Although there are many studies on educational video games, limited approaches that enhance teachers’ education have been explored. The current study focuses on stimulating pre-service teachers’ design thinking skills and improving the quality of their video games that have a visual identity by incorporating a design thinking approach into a makerspace. This study followed a quasi-experimental approach, in which 38 pre-service teachers from the departments of Art Education, Early Childhood Education, and Educational Technology at the College of Education at King Faisal University in Saudi Arabia participated. They designed and produced educational video games that consider visual identity and completed the design thinking scale. The results showed that there was great cooperation between participants from all disciplines in the work team, which affected the generation of creative and innovative ideas and the quality of the educational video games. This is due to the use of design thinking elements such as empathy, identification, ideation, and prototyping with different tools in the makerspace. This study calls for the use of a design thinking approach in the classroom learning space for teachers’ education, discusses implications for educational practices, and recommends further research in this area.

Exploring player agency in educational video games

Player agency is the freedom and control to make decisions during gameplay. Game designers shape player agency by including alternative storylines, optional objectives, and developing a range of mechanics thereby enriching player experience with novelty and variety during gameplay. So far, there is a dearth of studies that focus on giving autonomy to players over the use of learning mechanic in educational games. This study explores the impact of providing players with the autonomy over the use of learning mechanic. Students interacted with two versions of a computer programming game prototype differing in the level of player agency in terms of freedom to employ the learning mechanics during gameplay. We employed quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate if player agency affected students’ learning outcomes, game enjoyment, and intrinsic motivation to learn. The results have implications for design of educational games, suggesting that incorporating player agency, particularly in the context of choosing learning mechanics, can enhance enjoyment and intrinsic motivation without compromising the educational effectiveness of the game.

Educational video games to improve the learning process

<span lang="EN-US">The pandemic has made us quickly migrate to virtual environments, for this reason, we must look for quality education mechanisms, thus continuing with the same level of traditional teaching. This research aims to determine the influence of an educational video game in improving the learning process, for which a study was carried out on first-cycle university students. The level of the research is explanatory, of the applied type, with a quantitative approach and quasi-experimental design. We worked with two groups already formed in which 65 students participated. The following results were obtained: an increase in the grade of motivation of 12.9%, an improvement in the acquired knowledge indicator of 46.34%, and an improvement in the obtained qualification indicator of 12.77%. Therefore, it is concluded that an educational video game influences the motivation, acquisition, and application of learning.</span>

Under the Vision of Situated Learning: Analysing the Influence of Educational Video Games on English Vocabulary Retention in Chinese Childrens Second Language Acquisition

This study will analyze the influence of educational video games on English vocabulary retention in Chinese childrens second language acquisition. This study base on the situated learning theory and the ABC reading which is both mobile and web-based is adopted as educational game in this research. This experiment takes the Chinese primary school students with an average age of 9-10 years old as experimental subjects, and set three groups of these Chinese students including the control group. By comparing the amounts of words they can remember at different times after learning, researchers can judge whether the educational video games have any influence on students' language learning. Through the experiment, We hypothesis that the video games will have a positive effect on childrens second language learning acquisition. On this basis, video games can be used as tools for language learning to provide more effective learning methods during the process of studying.

Analytics of motivational factors of educational video games: LDA topic modeling and the 6 C’s learning motivation model

AbstractThis research studies the motivational factors used in educational video games through the lens of 6 C’s learning motivation model with text mining of the players’ reviews and comments. This research seeks to offer insight for game producers and educational institutions to investigate the effectiveness of these motivators for increasing player motivations and thus improving the quality of learning. Sentiment analysis and LDA topic modeling were used to analyze reviews of five selected video games on the Steam platform. The 6 C’s Learning Motivation Model guided text mining to analyze the motivational factors used in the games and how they contribute to user learning. The effectiveness of these motivational factors was discussed in conjunction with categorized text mining. Results show that the major motivation factors of educational games are ‘construction meaning’, ‘challenge’, and ‘control’ in the 6 C’s learning motivation model. Among them, users focus on whether the game’s content meets their interests and the construction of the educational meaning of the game. The advantage of control, a high degree of motivational factor in video games, may turn out to be a factor that leads to user churning when the game is not interesting or attractive enough. Previous educational game research seldom involved a large sample size for generalizable findings. In addition, this research extends the application of the 6 C’s learning motivation model to the digital educational gaming arena, providing a novel player-centric perspective. Based on the results, we provide recommendations and design considerations for educational game developers to enhance players’ experience and motivations.

Using Assassin's Creed: Odyssey to teach Olympia as part of the Classical Civilisation A Level

Abstract This study looks at the effective use of Assassin's Creed: Odyssey to teach Greek Religion at A Level. A focus of this study is to identify good teaching practice in using this tool to improve source recall as well as pupils’ ability to use these sources to support evaluation. A recent blog post on Quinquennium highlighted the potential for this game to be used as a teaching tool (Hinde, 2019), while its educational potential has also been promoted by the developers releasing a Discovery Tour version as a ‘game mode for educational purposes’ which acts as a ‘living museum’ (Ubisoft, 2021). While the development of educational tools for this franchise is fairly recent, the use of video games in education is established, with games like Oregon Trail being used as early as the 1980s (Buday et al., 2012, 259). Moreover, the fundamental ideas behind the use of video games, such as the player engaging in some form of virtual dialogue with the creator, is one which can be traced back to Vygotsky's ideas of learning as a socio-cultural phenomenon (1978). For example, by reacting to stimuli in the game, the player is engaging in a dialogue with the historian or game developer who created the initial stimulus, after which the game responds in turn, thereby engaging with the player's actions. Furthermore, the idea of reward or punishment for certain actions within an educational game is also drawing on behaviourist theories of education, whereby a pupil is conditioned via in-game tokens for recall of knowledge. Indeed, this is one of the ways in which game developers encourage game addiction (Vu, 2017, 1).

GAN‐Based Multi‐Decomposition Photo Cartoonization

AbstractBackgroundCartoon images play a vital role in film production, scientific and educational animation, video games, and other fields, and are one of the key visual expressions of artistic creation. However, since hand‐crafted cartoon images often require a great deal of time and effort on the part of professional artists, it is necessary to be able to automatically transform real‐world images into different styles of cartoon images. Although cartoon images vary from artist to artist, cartoon images generally have the unique characteristics of being highly simplified and abstract, with clear edges, smooth color shading, and relatively simple textures. However, existing image cartoonization methods tend to create a number of problems when performing style transfer, which mainly include: (1) the resulting generated images do not have obvious cartoon‐style textures; and (2) the generated images are prone to structural confusion, color artifacts, and loss of the original image content. Therefore, it is also a great challenge in the field of image cartoonization to be able to make a good balance between style transfer and content keeping.MethodsIn this paper, we propose a GAN‐based multi‐attention mechanism for image cartoonization to address the above issues. The method combines the residual block used to extract deep network features in the generator with the attention mechanism, and further strengthens the perceptual ability of the generative model to cartoon images through the adaptive feature correction of the attention module to improve the cartoon features of the generated images. At the same time, we also introduce the attention mechanism in the convolution block of the discriminator, which is used to further reduce the image visual quality problem caused by the style transfer process. By introducing the attention mechanism into the generator and discriminator models of the generative adversarial network, our method enables the generated images to have obvious cartoon‐style features while effectively improving the image's visual quality.ResultsA large number of quantitative, qualitative, and ablation experiments are conducted to demonstrate the advantages of our method in the field of image cartoonization and the role of each module in the method.

Effectiveness of educational video games in English vocabulary acquisition: One case in China classroom context

Effectiveness of educational video games in English vocabulary acquisition: One case in China classroom context