Game-like Environment Research Articles

A Model Driven Development Framework for Serious Games

Serious games have become more important in the field of education. The tight connection of education to computer game playing by presenting learning content in a game-like environment creates a better usage experience thus leading to higher usage and potentially better learning outcomes. To create successful serious games, it is necessary to combine programming knowledge and didactical knowledge to properly include learning objectives. Most educators are not able to develop such games on their own due to lack of programming and game design skills. In my dissertation, I am focusing on a solution based on model driven development techniques that shall allow educators to create didactically sound serious games. My idea is it to provide a domain specific modeling language for serious games and a visual modeling tool, which allows the generation of games from visual models.

Paper-based aids for learning with a computer-based game.

The purpose of this study was to test the instructional value of adding paper-based metacognitive prompting features to a gamelike environment for learning about electrical circuits, called the Circuit Game. In Experiment 1, students who were prompted during Levels 1 through 9 to direct their attention to the most relevant features of the game and were provided with a list of its underlying principles to relate to their game actions performed better on an embedded transfer test (i.e., Level 10) than those not provided with the intervention (d = 0.77). In Experiment 2, the principles were not explicitly provided; instead, students were asked to fill in the correct features of each principle on a sheet while playing Levels 1 through 9 of the game. Results indicated that this method of prompting improved transfer performance only for learners who could correctly fill in the list of the game's principles (d = 0.53). Overall, paper-based aids for directing students' attention toward the most relevant features of a game and asking them to apply provided principles to solve game-based problems result in a deeper understanding of the game's academic content.

Interacting with the Music Paint Machine: Relating the constructs of flow experience and presence

In this paper we report on the results of an experiment on the experience of flow and presence while engaging with an interactive music system, the Music Paint Machine. This music system provides a game-like environment in which a musician can create a digital painting by playing an acoustic musical instrument, by moving the body in different directions, and by selecting colours using a pressure mat. The experiment aimed at getting a better insight into the possible relationship between flow experience and presence. Based on the definition of flow as a combination of the highest level of presence (presence-as-feeling) and a positive emotional state (Riva et al., 2004a), we hypothesized that presence has a predictive value for flow. Sixty-five musicians, both amateur and professional, participated in the experiment. Flow experience was measured with the Flow State Scale (Jackson and Eklund, 2004). Presence was measured with an in-house designed presence questionnaire. Results showed a significantly strong correlation between flow and presence. Moreover, the scores for presence significantly predicted the Flow State Scale, and explained a significant proportion of variance in the Flow State Scale. Furthermore, many significant associations were found between flow and presence variables, among which the most significant were the strong correlation (Spearman’s rank) between the naturalness of using the system and the Flow State Scale and between the feeling of non-mediation and the Flow State Scale.

Murder on Grimm Isle: The impact of game narrative design in an educational game-based learning environment

The purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of narrative design in a game-based learning environment. Specifically, this investigation focuses the narrative design in an adventure-styled, game-based learning environment for fostering argumentation writing by looking at how the game narrative impacted player/learner (1) intrinsic motivation, (2) curiosity, (3) plausibility and (4) transference of game-based experiences into prewriting activities. The methodological framework for this qualitative investigation is a case study with grounded theory methodology. The setting is an educational, three-dimensional, immersive game-based learning environment titled Murder on Grimm Isle, used to foster argumentation and persuasion writing for Grades 9–14. The participants included 20 college students. The findings of the investigation reveal that intrinsic motivation, curiosity and plausibility were first supported by the game-like environment, and then sustained through the narrative and the environment. Additionally, game-based experiences were transferred into prewriting activities. Unanticipated findings revealed some student resistance. The goal of this research is to gain a better understanding of narrative design for game-based learning environments.

Game-Like Technology Innovation Education

This paper examines the methodological challenges and perspectives of designing game-like scenarios for the implementation of innovation processes in school science education. This paper presents a design-based research study of a game-like innovation scenario designed for technology education for Danish public school students aged 13-15. Students play the role of company heads that develop intelligent music technology. This game-like learning environment was designed to develop innovation competencies through the simulation of a practical learning situation. The term “game-like” is used to denote that the scenario should not be considered an educational game, such as the educational computer games used in many schools today. The focus of the design is to include practices and tools from innovative professions and use game principles and elements to create a meaningful frame around the creative and innovative practices.

Student experiences of virtual reality: A case study in learning special relativity

A teaching package has been developed centered around a relativistic virtual reality. It introduces concepts of special relativity to students in a gamelike environment where users experience the effects of traveling at near light speeds. From this perspective, space and time are significantly different from that experienced in everyday life. We explore how students worked with this environment and how they used this experience in their study of special relativity. Students found the simulation to be a positive learning experience and described the subject area as being less abstract after its use. Students were more capable of correctly answering concept questions relating to special relativity, and a small but measurable improvement was observed in the final exam.

Applying the self-explanation principle to multimedia learning in a computer-based game-like environment

What is the most effective way to incorporate self-explanation into an educational game? In Experiment 1, students who played a 10-level computer game about electrical circuits performed better on an embedded transfer test (i.e., level 10) if they were required to select the reason for each move from a list on levels 1–9 (selection self-explanation) than if they were not required to engage in self-explanation ( d = 1.20). In Experiment 2, the same pattern of results was replicated ( d = 0.71), but students who were required to type in their reason for each move on levels 1–9 (generation self-explanation) did not perform any better than those who were not required to engage in self-explanation ( d = −0.06). Overall, asking students to select a reason from a list fosters some degree of reflection while not overly disrupting the flow of the game.

Adding Instructional Features That Promote Learning in a Game-Like Environment

Students learned about electrical circuits in an arcade-type game consisting of 10 levels. For example, in one level students saw two circuits consisting of various batteries and resistors connected in series or parallel, and had to indicate which one had a higher rate of moving current. On levels 1–9, all students received a correct tone and had points added to their score for a correct answer, or an incorrect tone and a loss of points for an incorrect answer. Students performed more accurately on an embedded transfer test in level 10 if they also had to choose the correct principle for each answer from a list on levels 1–9 (self-explanation condition, d = .91), if they received explanative feedback that stated the principle on levels 1–9 (explanative feedback condition, d = .68), or both ( d = 1.03). Results indicate the role of prompts for reflection and direct guidance as effective supplements to learning by doing in an educational game.

Risk, Institutions, and the Erosion of Old-Age Income Security

American workers are experiencing a long-term decline in the quality and quantity of retirement income security despite the enactment of dozens of tax laws supporting private pensions, hundreds of tax rules, and billions in lost tax revenue for over 40 years. Why is pension security eroding, and why is retirement income policy ineffective? I argue that the system of tax laws and institutions governing private pensions both directs political change as well as responses to such change in a way that is shifting risk onto workers. This paper grounds its review in the structure of pension law as found in the tax code. I first review general trends regarding retirement and retirement plans as well as the general pattern of tax legislation affecting pensions. In particular, I note the rise of the 401(k) plan, which has become the major type of private pension program in the United States. The combination of a diffuse set of tax laws governing pensions and the fragmented nature of key stakeholders creates an game-like environment in which each group and subgroup compete for changes in tax legislation at the expense of others. The paper concludes with an attempt to bridge fiscal sociology with the sociology of risk in the context of retirement policy.

Building cognitive support for the learning of long division skills using progressive schematization: Design and empirical validation

The design and empirical validation of a computer-based learning environment for acquiring long division skills, called the long division machine (LDM), are described. The construction of the LDM is primarily based on the didactic method of progressive schematisation. It offers the student a game-like environment for solving division problems by simulating the cooperation with an expert teacher or co-student who is responsible for the lower-level, routine, arithmetic subtasks of the overall division task. In a pilot study and two experiments the effects of several aspects of the LDM user interface on solution behaviour and performance were investigated, including the effect of gradually forcing the student to adopt a more efficient solution strategy, whenever this was possible. The ability of students to transfer their acquired knowledge and skills to an unaided problem solving context was also investigated. The results show that the LDM has the potential to improve and supplement current didactic methods for teaching long division skills.

A prelab tutoring system for Strength of Materials experiment

AbstractWe aim to resolve a long‐standing problem on requiring students to study how to maneuver experiments before they actually conduct them in a laboratory. A prelab tutoring system for the Strength of Materials experiment is prototyped from desired outcomes. The tutoring system utilizes a game‐like environment to engage students in learning. Consisting of highly interactive contents made by scalable vector graphics (SVGs), the system helps students to get acquainted with laboratory instruments as well as experimental procedures. The effectiveness and efficiency of the system have been confirmed through a survey among students. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 12: 98–105, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com); DOI 10.1002/cae.20004

Statistical decision theory and evolution

Two recent articles by Geisler and Diehl use Bayesian statistical decision theory to model the co-evolution of predator and prey in a simple, game-like environment. The prey is characterized by its coloration. The predator is characterized by the chromatic sensitivity of its visual system and its willingness to attack. The authors demonstrate how the coloration of prey and the perceptual system of the predator co-evolve, converging to a Nash equilibrium for both species.

Geology explorer: virtual geologic mapping and interpretation

We are developing internet-based freeware for virtual mapping and geologic interpretation. This takes the form of a synthetic, virtual world, Planet Oit, where students are given the means and the equipment to carry out geologic investigation and interpretation as a geologist would in the field. The environment is designed to give students an authentic experience that includes elements of: (1) exploration of a spatially oriented, virtual, world; (2) practical, field oriented, expedition planning and decision-making; and (3) scientific problem solving (i.e. a “hands on” approach to mapping, geologic investigation, data acquisition, and interpretation). The game-like environment is networked, multi-player, and simulation-based. Planet Oit can be visited on the Internet at http://oit.cs.ndsu.nodak.edu/

Virtual Environments and Water Quality Management

The recent developments in multimedia and virtual reality technologies allow water resources to be studied with the realism associated with site investigations and the “what if” analysis capabilities common in simulation systems. The proposed virtual reality water quality management systems relies upon the realistic representation of a watershed in three dimensions and the consideration of graphically based water quality models. The user may fly, walk, and dive in the estuarine basin, manipulate infrastructure systems (including polluters and non-polluting facilities), and visualize the results of those actions in real time and in three dimensions. The interface of this system follows many of the video game guidelines. Indeed, Virtual Tejo, a prototype developed for the Tagus Estuary for illustrative purposes, has been successfully used by several thousand users in a game-like environment. The planned extension of the system to the Internet will provide the ground to test the hypothesis that virtual reality water quality systems can assist decision-makers and facilitate citizen participation in water resources infrastructures planning.