Simulation & Gaming current issue

Editorial: eGames and adaptive eLearning

Crookall, D. — 2008-08-08

Guest Editorial: eGames and adaptive eLearning: A practical approach

Fernandez-Manjon, B., Burgos Griff, D., Guest, R. — 2008-08-08

The usability of a commercial game physics engine to develop physics educational materials: An investigation

Price, C. B. — 2008-08-08

Commercial computer games contain "physics engine" components, responsible for providing realistic interactions among game objects. The question naturally arises of whether these engines can be used to develop educational materials for high school and university physics education. To answer this question, the author's group recently conducted a detailed scientific investigation of the physics engine of Unreal Tournament 2004 (UT2004). This article presents their motivation, methodology, and results. The author presents the findings of experiments that probed the accessibility and fidelity of UT2004's physics engine, examples of educational materials developed, and an evaluation of their use in high school classes. The associated pedagogical implications of this approach are discussed, and the author suggests guidelines for educators on how to deploy the approach. Key resources are presented on an associated Web site.

EMERGO: A methodology and toolkit for developing serious games in higher education

2008-08-08

Societal changes demand educators to apply new pedagogical approaches. Many educational stakeholders feel that serious games could play a key role in fulfilling this demand, and they lick their chops when looking at the booming industry of leisure games. However, current toolkits for developing leisure games show severe shortcomings when applied to serious games. Developing effective serious games in an efficient way requires a specific approach and tool set. This article describes the EMERGO methodology and generic toolkit for developing and delivering scenario-based serious games that are aimed at the acquisition of complex cognitive skills in higher education. Preliminary evaluation results with case developers using the EMERGO methodology and toolkit and with learners using EMERGO cases are presented.

Teaching with game-based learning management systems: Exploring a pedagogical dungeon

Carron, T., Marty, J.-C., Heraud, J.-M. — 2008-08-08

The work reported here takes place in the educational domain. The authors propose a learning environment based on a graphical representation of a course. The emergence of online multiplayer games led the authors to apply the following metaphor to the digital work environments: The method of acquiring knowledge during a learning session is similar to the exploration of a dungeon, where each student collects knowledge related to a learning activity. In the first part of this article, the authors focuses on a description of how concepts of learning activities can be represented in the dungeon view. The second part deals with the support of the observation task for the teacher during a learning session and more generally with providing users with awareness. The authors thus propose a multiagent system using data collected from traces resulting from the collaborative learning activity. Finally, this environment allowed the authors to set up experiments with students at their university.

When worlds collide: Developing game-design partnerships in universities

Lynch, M. A., Tunstall, R. J. — 2008-08-08

A growing body of evidence suggests that relevant, well-designed simulations can make a valuable contribution to students' experiences in training and education and go some way toward meeting the expectations of students who have grown up with immersive, computer-mediated games. Within universities, many barriers exist that may prevent the effective development of this work, in part because of the nature of the traditional roles of both academics and developers who undertake these activities. Through a discussion of the experiences of working within a successful cross-functional team, the authors discuss the practice of developing an innovative eLearning simulation tool for an undergraduate course and how the challenges of combining the developer and educationalist roles were overcome. By synthesizing theories in educational philosophy and game design processes, a conceptual framework for ensuring quality in creative education projects is outlined that may be applied to the development of eLearning and adaptive game projects.

Integrating an educational 3D game in Moodle

Gonzalez, C. S., Blanco, F. — 2008-08-08

Different approaches have demonstrated that learning improves when implemented in a constructivist and social way. In addition, electronic games and simulations are perceived to have high educational value because of their motivational and emotional factors. This potential value can be developed by defining appropriate scenarios in which players are presented learning objectives with playable goals using different strategies. The authors introduce a prototype intended to include such scenarios in learning flows, partially integrating the learning management system Moodle and BioWare's game Neverwinter Nights. First, the authors analyze the reasons and background that support their proposal. They then provide a description of the motivational and cognitive factors that influence human interaction with video games (especially 3D games) and learning. The implemented prototype is then introduced, taking into account scenarios, roles, environments, and how collaboration is implemented. Finally, the authors present their conclusions.

Building adaptive game-based learning resources: The integration of IMS Learning Design and

2008-08-08

IMS Learning Design (IMS-LD) is a specification to create units of learning (UoLs), which express a certain pedagogical model or strategy (e.g., adaptive learning with games). However, the authoring process of a UoL remains difficult because of the lack of high-level authoring tools for IMS-LD, even more so when the focus is on specific topics, such as educational eGames. However, external tools that are not specifically IMS-LD oriented can be used. In this case, the main challenge is the integration between these external resources developed with other technologies and the personalized learning experience of an IMS-LD UoL. In this article, the authors use the <e-Adventure> project to develop conversational games that are integrated with IMS-LD UoLs to improve personalized learning. The main contribution of this setting is the integration of both parts, the IMS-LD specification and <e-Adventure>, and the communication that enables a mutual influence of the adaptive learning experience.

BIT BY BIT: A game simulating natural language processing in computers

Kato, T., Arakawa, C. — 2008-08-08

BIT BY BIT is an encryption game that is designed to improve students' understanding of natural language processing in computers. Participants encode clear words into binary code using an encryption key and exchange them in the game. BIT BY BIT enables participants who do not understand the concept of binary numbers to perform the process of converting decimal into binary and vice versa. This understanding helps participants to comprehend one of the concepts of computer science (i.e., how computers express natural languages using signals).

Association news & notes

2008-08-08