Learning Games Research Articles

THE ROLE OF GAME TECHNIQUES IN TEACHING SPEECH CULTURE IN THE PHILOLOGICAL FIELD

This article explores the role of game techniques in the process of teaching speech culture in the philological field. It highlights the relevance of using game approaches in educational practice in order to effectively develop students' communication skills. The author analyzes the basic principles and methods of game learning, revealing their applicability and effectiveness in the context of the formation of speech culture. The pedagogical aspects of the introduction of game techniques into the educational process of philological specialties, including the selection and adaptation of game tasks, evaluation and monitoring of results, are also considered. The results of the study emphasize the importance of game techniques as a means of stimulating active communication, increasing students' motivation to study speech culture and developing their skills of language adaptation and etiquette. Possible obstacles and ways to overcome them when introducing game approaches into the educational process are also analyzed. In general, the article represents an important contribution to the pedagogical practice of teaching speech culture in the philological field, justifying the need and prospects for using game techniques to achieve educational goals.

Research on Educational Games in Learning in Indonesia: A Systematic Review of the Literatures

Research on educational games in learning contexts and advances in science and technology are becoming increasingly important. This research aims to analyze the use of educational games in the learning context in Indonesia, focusing on computer science and social science. The method used in this research is a Systematic Literature Review (SLR), with inclusion criteria of publication period between 2018 and 2023, English language articles, article accessibility, and relevance to computer science and social sciences. The results of this research analysis include several important findings, namely: 1) the number of educational game document publications has fluctuated, 2) affiliation trends vary, 3) author trends also vary, and 4) the results of the systematic analysis show that educational games can improve student academic achievement, problem-solving abilities, creative thinking, and independent learning abilities. In addition, the role of teachers and parents is recognized as an important factor in supporting and maximizing the benefits of digital educational technology. The findings from this research emphasize the importance of designing learning that integrates educational game-based approaches to improve the quality of learning and achieve better learning outcomes for students. The implications of this research provide a basis for developing innovative and sustainable learning strategies in the fields of computer science and social sciences in Indonesia

Overview Study on Using Gamification in Education for Personality Development

Gamification in the educational process has attracted the attention of educators and policymakers over the past three decades because it can increase student motivation and engagement in various academic tasks. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations have a special effect on the cognitive abilities of students in 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 have different perceptions of information, they can choose their activities based on their learning preferences. This article provides an overview study on using gamification in education for personality development. According to the research topic, ten gamified learning cases are analysed and the relevance of digital gamification in education is identified. This study focuses on gamification's influence on personal development through learning, gamification in learning and business, the role of gamification in education and the role of the English language in business by implementing gamification. As a result, the authors highlight the role of English in business and the use of gamification in language teaching as a foreign language. In addition, the authors identify research gaps and suggest potential future research directions in this area.

The application of reinforcement learning algorithms in intelligent games

The ongoing advancement of computer hardware has spurred the need for high-quality gaming experiences. The pressing need for intelligent games, the proven efficacy of reinforcement learning in various fields, the advancement of deep reinforcement learning technology, and the desire for customized gaming experiences collectively propel the ongoing exploration and implementation of reinforcement learning in intelligent games.This study use algorithms sourced from the literature review to examine multiple facets of reinforcement learning, including the modeling of game settings, reward design, the utilization of deep learning approaches, and adversarial learning. The utilization of reinforcement learning in intelligent games holds immense importance. Initially, it enhances the gaming encounter and renders intelligent games more demanding and tailored. Furthermore, the game gains complexity and intrigue by the implementation of intelligent adversaries capable of assimilating and adjusting to the player's tactics. This not only fosters the advancement of AI technology through research and development, but also broadens the utilization of reinforcement learning in other domains, like autonomous driving and smart manufacturing. Furthermore, tailored encounters, cutting-edge game design, and utilization in schooling are likewise significant contributions, rendering reinforcement learning a pivotal element in propelling technological advancement and augmenting user experience.

Online Game-Based Parental Groups: The Experiences of First-Time Expectant Parents.

Although evidence exists on the use of gamification and serious games in many fields, game-based methods are a relatively new phenomenon in the family services sector. This study focused on the implementation of game-based online parental groups organized for first-time expectant parents and participants' experiences of playing together. In total, 26 Finnish first-time expectant parents participated in the study. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Three main themes describing the expectant parents' experiences were related to the game as a stimulator of discussion, the experience of gaming, and special features of online group discussion. It is concluded that playing online learning games with others can lower the threshold to participate and offer new possibilities for interactive parental education.

Memory Asymmetry Creates Heteroclinic Orbits to Nash Equilibrium in Learning in Zero-Sum Games

Learning in games considers how multiple agents maximize their own rewards through repeated games. Memory, an ability that an agent changes his/her action depending on the history of actions in previous games, is often introduced into learning to explore more clever strategies and discuss the decision-making of real agents like humans. However, such games with memory are hard to analyze because they exhibit complex phenomena like chaotic dynamics or divergence from Nash equilibrium. In particular, how asymmetry in memory capacities between agents affects learning in games is still unclear. In response, this study formulates a gradient ascent algorithm in games with asymmetry memory capacities. To obtain theoretical insights into learning dynamics, we first consider a simple case of zero-sum games. We observe complex behavior, where learning dynamics draw a heteroclinic connection from unstable fixed points to stable ones. Despite this complexity, we analyze learning dynamics and prove local convergence to these stable fixed points, i.e., the Nash equilibria. We identify the mechanism driving this convergence: an agent with a longer memory learns to exploit the other, which in turn endows the other's utility function with strict concavity. We further numerically observe such convergence in various initial strategies, action numbers, and memory lengths. This study reveals a novel phenomenon due to memory asymmetry, providing fundamental strides in learning in games and new insights into computing equilibria.

Meta-Inverse Reinforcement Learning for Mean Field Games via Probabilistic Context Variables

Designing suitable reward functions for numerous interacting intelligent agents is challenging in real-world applications. Inverse reinforcement learning (IRL) in mean field games (MFGs) offers a practical framework to infer reward functions from expert demonstrations. While promising, the assumption of agent homogeneity limits the capability of existing methods to handle demonstrations with heterogeneous and unknown objectives, which are common in practice. To this end, we propose a deep latent variable MFG model and an associated IRL method. Critically, our method can infer rewards from different yet structurally similar tasks without prior knowledge about underlying contexts or modifying the MFG model itself. Our experiments, conducted on simulated scenarios and a real-world spatial taxi-ride pricing problem, demonstrate the superiority of our approach over state-of-the-art IRL methods in MFGs.

Learning in Online Principal-Agent Interactions: The Power of Menus

We study a ubiquitous learning challenge in online principal-agent problems during which the principal learns the agent's private information from the agent's revealed preferences in historical interactions. This paradigm includes important special cases such as pricing and contract design, which have been widely studied in recent literature. However, existing work considers the case where the principal can only choose a single strategy at every round to interact with the agent and then observe the agent's revealed preference through their actions. In this paper, we extend this line of study to allow the principal to offer a menu of strategies to the agent and learn additionally from observing the agent's selection from the menu. We provide a thorough investigation of several online principal-agent problem settings and characterize their sample complexities, accompanied by the corresponding algorithms we have developed. We instantiate this paradigm to several important design problems — including Stackelberg (security) games, contract design, and information design. Finally, we also explore the connection between our findings and existing results about online learning in Stackelberg games, and we offer a solution that can overcome a key hard instance of previous work.

Efficient Learning in Polyhedral Games via Best-Response Oracles

We study online learning and equilibrium computation in games with polyhedral decision sets, a property shared by normal-form games (NFGs) and extensive-form games (EFGs), when the learning agent is restricted to utilizing a best-response oracle. We show how to achieve constant regret in zero-sum games and O(T^0.25) regret in general-sum games while using only O(log t) best-response queries at a given iteration t, thus improving over the best prior result, which required O(T) queries per iteration. Moreover, our framework yields the first last-iterate convergence guarantees for self-play with best-response oracles in zero-sum games. This convergence occurs at a linear rate, though with a condition-number dependence. We go on to show a O(T^(-0.5)) best-iterate convergence rate without such a dependence. Our results build on linear-rate convergence results for variants of the Frank-Wolfe (FW) algorithm for strongly convex and smooth minimization problems over polyhedral domains. These FW results depend on a condition number of the polytope, known as facial distance. In order to enable application to settings such as EFGs, we show two broad new results: 1) the facial distance for polytopes in standard form is at least γ/k where γ is the minimum value of a nonzero coordinate of a vertex of the polytope and k≤n is the number of tight inequality constraints in the optimal face, and 2) the facial distance for polytopes of the form Ax=b, Cx≤d, x≥0 where x∈R^n, C≥0 is a nonzero integral matrix, and d≥0, is at least 1/(c√n), where c is the infinity norm of C. This yields the first such results for several problems such as sequence-form polytopes, flow polytopes, and matching polytopes.

Stability of Multi-Agent Learning in Competitive Networks: Delaying the Onset of Chaos

The behaviour of multi agent learning in competitive network games is often studied within the context of zero sum games, in which convergence guarantees may be obtained. However, outside of this class the behaviour of learning is known to display complex behaviours and convergence cannot be always guaranteed. Nonetheless, in order to develop a complete picture of the behaviour of multi agent learning in competitive settings, the zero sum assumption must be lifted. Motivated by this we study the Q Learning dynamics, a popular model of exploration and exploitation in multi agent learning, in competitive network games. We determine how the degree of competition, exploration rate and network connectivity impact the convergence of Q Learning. To study generic competitive games, we parameterise network games in terms of correlations between agent payoffs and study the average behaviour of the Q Learning dynamics across all games drawn from a choice of this parameter. This statistical approach establishes choices of parameters for which Q Learning dynamics converge to a stable fixed point. Differently to previous works, we find that the stability of Q Learning is explicitly dependent only on the network connectivity rather than the total number of agents. Our experiments validate these findings and show that, under certain network structures, the total number of agents can be increased without increasing the likelihood of unstable or chaotic behaviours.

Enhancing Academic Achievement and Engagement Through Digital Game-Based Learning: An Empirical Study on Middle School Students

Abundant research has tried to understand how games can be designed and used effectively to improve the learning process and to examine the correlations between digital learning games and student motivation, engagement, and knowledge retention. The current study examined the correlation between learning through digital game-based learning (DGBL) and students’ achievements, their sense of involvement, and motivation for learning. Using a quantitative approach, data was drawn from questionnaires and exams in two subjects: literature and language. Participants were 320 male and female students aged 12–14 attending a single middle school participated in the study. The students were randomly divided into three groups, each group was given a unique teaching and learning method. Group 1 studied and practiced using the traditional method (a teacher who teaches in the classroom and worksheets for practice), Group 2 studied with the traditional method but practiced with a digital game and Group 3 learned and practiced using a digital game. The findings showed that the students’ attained significantly higher achievements in the group that was taught traditionally but practiced with a digital game. It was also found that when digital learning games are integrated into teaching and learning, the students’ motivation and involvement in the class increased.

GRAMMAROUS Revolutionizing English Vocabulary Acquisition for Children through Gamified Learning

Interactive Learning through Gamified Activities: The Grammarous App This paper presents Grammarous, a novel Android application that revolutionizes children's English vocabulary acquisition through interactive and gamified activities. By leveraging cutting-edge technologies and principles of gamification, Grammarous incorporates a diverse range of engaging features tailored to cater to various learning styles, making vocabulary acquisition an enjoyable and highly effective process for young learners. The app employs innovative techniques such as Shake-to-Spell, where children can rearrange scrambled letters into words by shaking their devices, fostering both visual and kinesthetic learning. Other features include Fill-in-the-blanks to reinforce memory and spelling, Spelling Bees for friendly competition, Rearrange Words to stimulate critical thinking, Matching Games for solidifying vocabulary relationships, and Shake Alphabets for letter recognition and mastery. Grammarous leverages Firebase Authentication for secure user management and real-time data retrieval to facilitate personalized learning experiences. By seamlessly integrating education and technology, the app creates an immersive and adaptive learning environment that actively engages children and promotes cognitive development. With its innovative approach to gamifying language learning, Grammarous has the potential to revolutionize the field of educational technology, providing a fun and effective platform for children to acquire essential English vocabulary skills crucial for academic and personal growth. Keywords: android app, vocabulary, gamification, spelling bee, innovative, educational games, language expansion, interactive learning, cognitive development, personalized education

The impact of nonlinear pedagogy on communication and skill acquisition

Study Purpose. The current investigation assessed the impact of hybrid nonlinear pedagogical models on skill acquisition and communication in physical education. Methods. The intervention group was instructed in physical education applying hybrid pedagogical models for a duration of 12 weeks. Conversely, the control groups adhered to the physical education curricula of their respective schools. Scales for skill acquisition and communication, which had been previously developed for use with students, were implemented both prior to and subsequent to the program. Comparing the two groups required the application of paired sample t-tests, two-way and one-way analyses of variance, and a Pearson correlation analysis. Results. In comparison to the control group, the intervention group demonstrated a substantial increase in communication and skill acquisition, according to the research findings. Enhancement of communication proficiency is observed in individuals who receive instruction through invasion game learning utilizing nonlinear pedagogy. The aforementioned conclusions are supported by the outcomes of paired sample t-tests, two-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and one-way ANOVA: F < 0.05 (F = 0.000 < 0.05) and ρ < 0.05 (ρ = 0.000 < 0, 05) respectively. Additionally, the Skill Acquisition ability exhibited an improvement subsequent to receiving the intervention based on nonlinear pedagogy and invasion game learning. The significance of this is supported by the outcomes of the paired sample t-tests, two-way ANOVA, and one-way ANOVA: F < 0.05 (F = 0.000 < 0.05) and ρ < 0.05 (ρ = 0.000 < 0.05), respectively. Conclusions. The integration of hybrid nonlinear pedagogical models into physical education instruction through invasion games may facilitate students' communication development and skill acquisition. The results of this study provide motivation for physical education instructors to implement instructional techniques. Additionally, research is conducted into the effects of nonlinear pedagogy

Mindfulness in a digital math learning game: Insights from two randomized controlled trials

AbstractBackgroundMindfulness practices enhance executive function skills and academic achievement, spurring interest in integrating mindfulness interventions into education. Embedding mindfulness practice into a digital math game may provide a low‐cost, scalable way to induce mindfulness and boost game‐based learning, yet this approach remains unexplored.ObjectivesWe investigated the learning benefits of integrating mindfulness exercises in a digital math learning game and examined how students' trait mindfulness might moderate the outcomes.MethodsTwo classroom studies were conducted with 404 5th and 6th grade students from six public schools in the U.S. (nStudy 1 = 227, nStudy 2 = 177). The two randomized controlled experiments assigned students to one of the three conditions: passive control (playing the digital learning game Decimal Point), story‐enriched active control, or mindfulness‐enriched condition. Trait mindfulness, learning gains, and in‐game problem‐solving (including problem‐solving duration, error count and correctness after reminder) were assessed. Study 2 included a manipulation check to better understand the effects of the mindfulness intervention.ResultsFindings showed no significant differences in learning gains, problem‐solving duration or error count among the conditions. Students' trait mindfulness did not moderate these outcomes. Mindfulness reminders in the mindfulness‐enriched game led to more correct answers after errors than jokes in the story‐enriched game. Study 2 revealed that we failed to induce higher state mindfulness through the mindfulness inductions.ConclusionsMindfulness prompts could be especially beneficial for students experiencing frustration during gameplay, warranting more exploration for digital game‐based instruction. We highlight barriers and future directions for fostering mindfulness through computer‐based instruction in classrooms.

ETNOMATEMATIKA PADA PERMAINAN GOBAK SODOR SEBAGAI MEDIA PEMBELAJARAN MATEMATIKA SEKOLAH DASAR

This research aims to examine ethnomathematics in the traditional game gobak sodor on mathematical concepts at elementary school level such as plane figures, number operations, relationships between lines, congruence and presentation and data processing. This research uses an ethnographic approach to obtain an in-depth analytical picture of a culture based on the results of observations, interviews, documentation and field notes. This research uses triangulation data analysis which consists of data reduction, data presentation and drawing conclusions. The results of the research shows that there are elements of elementary school mathematics in the Gobak Sodor game in the form of number operations, flat shapes, congruence and relationships between lines. Traditional games in mathematics learning can provide benefits, namely visualizing mathematics learning in real form so that students can more easily understand mathematical concepts.

Gamification and Computational Thinking in Education: A systematic literature review

The rapid development of gamification and computational thinking seems to open up new educational horizons by providing new opportunities for students to acquire the basic digital skills needed for their cognitive development. Gamification, on the side, flourishes because it brings about high degree of participants’ engagement in an activity. Accordingly, on the other side, the growing scientific interest in computational thinking centers on the fact that it provides a fruitful field of dialogue in the research community for the development of critical and analytical thinking of students. Hence, this paper aims to synthesize knowledge about gamification and computational thinking for improving education for the benefit of students. Specifically, this paper describes: (a) the theoretical background of gamification in learning and education, (b) relevant studies in literature and their findings, and (c) specific gamified applications of STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics] which have been developed to this subject area. Four databases were searched, and 37 papers were finally selected for this review. The findings from the presented learning theories set the foundation on how students obtain knowledge, and the relevant studies in the field of gamification and computational thinking showed some first positive outcomes stemming some first research attempts which need further examination. Furthermore, it seems that with the right use of game mechanics and elements, well-designed applications of STEM gain students’ interest to learn through gameplay and motivate them to cultivate computational thinking and problem-solving skills

Convergence and Stability of Coupled Belief-Strategy Learning Dynamics in Continuous Games

We propose a learning dynamics to model how strategic agents repeatedly play a continuous game while relying on an information platform to learn an unknown payoff-relevant parameter. In each time step, the platform updates a belief estimate of the parameter based on players’ strategies and realized payoffs using Bayes’ rule. Then, players adopt a generic learning rule to adjust their strategies based on the updated belief. We present results on the convergence of beliefs and strategies and the properties of convergent fixed points of the dynamics. We obtain sufficient and necessary conditions for the existence of globally stable fixed points. We also provide sufficient conditions for the local stability of fixed points. These results provide an approach to analyzing the long-term outcomes that arise from the interplay between Bayesian belief learning and strategy learning in games and enable us to characterize conditions under which learning leads to a complete information equilibrium. Funding: Financial support from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research [Project Building Attack Resilience into Complex Networks], the Simons Institute [research fellowship], and a Michael Hammer Fellowship is gratefully acknowledged.

THE INTERSECTION OF TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION: DEVELOPMENT OF DIGITAL GAMING FOR ENHANCED ADDITIONAL MATHEMATICS

In recent years, Education 4.0 has brought about a revolution in the field of education. By innovative teaching methods, such as gamification and game-based learning, the learning experience has been taken to a whole new level. Among these methods, gamification has emerged as an up-and-coming technique for enhancing students' engagement and motivation in various subject areas. Gamification involves incorporating game-like elements, such as point systems, rewards, and challenges, into the learning process. By leveraging the principles of game design, educators can create engaging and immersive learning experiences that help students develop a deeper understanding of the subject matter and ultimately succeed in their studies. However, implementing the gamification method effectively and efficiently for specific subjects requires careful consideration and exploration, especially in the subject of Additional Mathematics. This subject has long been acknowledged as one of the most challenging subjects in Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Menengah (KSSM). Students must devote significant time and effort to mastering the subject matter. Therefore, this research focuses on developing an educational game that leverages the Scratch platform to enhance students' learning experience. Specifically, the game will focus on Functions, a crucial topic in Additional Mathematics. The research design involves two main stages. The first stage involves creating comprehensive notes and designing multilevel questions based on credible sources. In the second stage, an immersive learning game will be developed using the Scratch platform using the features in Scratch. The findings of this research indicate that the combination of gamification, detailed note-taking, and a variety of games is an effective tool in connecting the gap between conventional teaching methods and contemporary learning preferences. This innovative approach can transform the traditional education system by making learning more engaging and effective for students of all ages.

Enhancing Education in Elementary Schools through Gamified Learning: Exploring the Impact of Kahoot! on the Learning Process

The integration of technology in educational settings has gained popularity, aiming to enhance student engagement and motivation. Kahoot! digital tool activities have emerged as a favored choice for creating dynamic and captivating learning environments. This study investigates the impact of incorporating Kahoot! on students’ learning outcomes and motivation to learn science. The research utilized a quantitative methodology, collecting data through pre- and post-questionnaires administered to both experimental (N = 53) and control groups (N = 56). This study identified that integrating Kahoot! activities led to a significant improvement in students’ grasp of scientific concepts and principles. Moreover, a noteworthy increase in self-efficacy, interest, and enjoyment levels was observed among students in the experimental groups. This indicates that Kahoot! activities not only enhance students’ understanding of scientific concepts but also amplify their motivation to engage with the subject matter. This study also explored potential demographic variables that could influence these outcomes. Notably, the findings suggest that grade level plays a role in students’ motivation to learn science. In conclusion, this study underscores the potential of Kahoot! activities to positively influence students’ science learning experiences, emphasizing the importance of cultivating dynamic and captivating learning environments.

Development and Evaluation of an Image Processing-Based Kinesthetic Learning System

This study aims to develop an interactive language learning game and explore its efficacy for English language learners. A computer-generated playground was projected onto a large classroom floor (4 × 3 m) with a wide-angle projection device. A Kinect depth camera determined the spatial positions of the playground and the positions of the students’ heads, feet, and bodies. Then, we evaluated the system’s effect on English education through pre- and post-tests. While there was no significant difference between the groups in terms of achievement in the pre-tests, the experimental group exhibited significantly greater improvement in the post-tests (F: 14.815, p < 0.001, η2p: 0.086). Also, both groups demonstrated significant learning gains in post-tests compared to pre-tests (F: 98.214, p < 0.001, η2p: 0.383), and the group x time interaction of the experimental group increased more in percentage (32.32% vs. 17.54%) compared to the control group (F: 9.166, p < 0.003, η2p: 0.055). Qualitative data from student views indicated enhanced learning pace, vocabulary acquisition, enjoyment of the learning process, and increased focus. These findings suggest that a kinesthetic learning environment can significantly benefit English language learning in children.