David C. Moffat

Exergaming, Exercise, and Gaming: Sharing Motivations

Health professionals view exergame technologies as an alternative tool in therapeutic treatments and the promotion of physical activity. There is a growing body of work addressing the health benefits of exergaming; however, there is limited knowledge concerning user experience in this new context. If we aim to encourage participation in exergaming, we must first understand why gamers currently play exergames. Exergaming refers to the computer games that require players to perform some level of physical exertion to play. For this reason, the present study compares the motivations that encourage participation in three contexts (exercise, computer games, and exergaming) to identify key elements that support such participation. Survey instruments were administered in each context, and motivational components were addressed within self-determination theory. Findings suggest perceptions of enjoyment and feeling better after a session and participation within a social context are key factors that encourage participation in the three contexts. Participation in exergaming is also encouraged by perceptions of performing mild exercise while playing videogames. Exergamers might not experience an optimal challenge while playing, and this may lower their motivation. Participation in exercise is also encouraged by perceptions of being healthier and, in some instances, driven to avoid feelings of guilt. Gamers also play computer games encouraged by perceptions being in a better mood after session, although some gamers might also participate aiming to gain social acceptance.

Capturing the response of players to a location-based game

Location-based games offer opportunities for us to learn more about people’s interactions and feelings towards the environment they are in as well as to understand more about the mental models and locations associated with known environments, e.g. a university campus with its associations of learning. In our study, we wanted to manipulate the activities in a game to take advantage of certain locations in the hope of producing certain emotional reactions. However, it is not enough to simply produce these reactions; one must also have a way of capturing any emotions produced whether these are the ones expected or not. The objective of this paper, therefore, was to trial a new methodology for location-based games that aims at capturing the players’ emotional reactions to the activities in a game whilst in certain locations. In order to test the methodology, we designed a location-based game that can be played on any Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone that has an accelerometer. The game has been designed to interweave with a persons’ normal activity. As a result, there is little distinction between gaming time and non-gaming time.

Evaluation Of Student Engagement With Peer Feedback Based On Student-Generated MCQs

Abstract In this paper, we describe the usage patterns found on four different modules and analyse the detailed outcomes of two case studies based around the usage of the PeerWise system which encourages students to create multiple choice questions (MCQs) for their peers and allows them to evaluate and write comments on MCQs written by their peers. The case studies evaluated data collected from using PeerWise with different student cohorts taking the same modules over two consecutive academic years. Between the years interventions were introduced to attempt to increase student engagement. It was noted that although increased levels of participation were observed in cohorts on different modules the authors are aware that other factors often can have a strong influence, including the awarding of marks for participation, the year of study and students perceived value. This evaluation seems to show that the early and specific interventions applied did have an influence on the pattern of student usage by increasing the student engagement with the PeerWise system.

Adapting Cognitive Walkthrough to Support Game Based Learning Design

For any given Game Based Learning (GBL) project to be successful, the player must learn something. Designers may base their work on pedagogical research, but actual game design is still largely driven by intuition. People are famously poor at unsupported methodical thinking and relying so much on instinct is an obvious weak point in GBL design practice. Cognitive Walkthrough (CW) is a user-interface design technique that helps designers model how a type of user will understand an interface. The authors suggest that CW should be extended for use in any context where a designer must model a users thinking. They present an extension of CW that is suitable for constructivist GBL and apply it to a previously evaluated game to understand why one section of the game was more successful than another. The CW extension explains hitherto puzzling results and suggests further development of CWs for designer support may be beneficial.

Some Video Games Can Increase the Player's Creativity

It is said that playing video games might make people more creative. There is some evidence of an association, but no so far general theory about any psychological causes, or other key factors. In this study, we test the possibility that different sorts of video games may have different effects, on different types of creativity; or none at all. Three games were tested, including a sandbox and a puzzle game Minecraft and Portal 2, and creativity was measured by the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking TTCT. The games were hound to have different effects, and on only some measures. We discuss possible accounts for these results, and offer practical suggestions to better control such studies in future. The strongest and most surprising result was that one particular form of creativity, flexibility, was affected much more than others. This finding awaits a theoretical explanation; but in the meantime, the implication is that video games could be used to put students into a more creative state of mind, which may be useful for their learning.

The need for creative skills in design engineering, and how education can develop them

A survey of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) was carried out, in the high-technology and hardware design services industries in Scotland, with an emphasis on innovation. The survey was to investigate the changing needs of such industry for innovation skills in its employees, and whether those needs are being met by graduates from further education and higher education. For this purpose, two colleges of further education were also studied. An analysis of the survey found that the industry is changing its employment practices and that education providers, in their turn, are also changing, in order to better serve the needs of industry. Leading further education colleges are investing in better training facilities and forging closer links with industry. They are successfully attracting more training interest from the SMEs, too. There is also a move towards more development of soft skills in students, which makes them better prepared for modern industry. Universities are turning their attention toward creative skills in general. We give an example of student project work, that aims to exercise all the skills identified from the surveys. However, the findings are inconclusive as to whether the current changes in education practices will be enough to meet the challenges of creative work in particular. Consideration of a psychological theory of creativity leads to implications regarding the social conditions required to sustain creative workers. The resulting challenges may be too much for us to answer. The education sector itself needs to respond to this situation with creativity of its own.

Assessing creativity of game design students

The engineering disciplines are technical in nature, but that does not mean that engineers do not need to be creative. Engineering and science students could be asked to create new design ideas, but as they are still learning it might be bewildering for them to be confronted with too many choices. One solution might be to give them design constraints to help them focus their imaginations. In this study we asked students of game development to create small game designs, with or without extra constraints. They found it difficult to follow the constraints when asked to do so; and yet their creativity did not suffer when they did. The game designs were evaluated for creativity, novelty and quality, by a professor in the subject, but also by all the students themselves. The students were able to produce some creative designs, although some struggled to do so in the brief time they had. In peer assessment, they achieved good consistency amongst themselves, but diverged somewhat from the expert evaluator. The strongest performing students, however, also produced the most creative game ideas. This gives us confidence that both the creation and peer assessment exercises are worthwhile and informative, and potentially could benefit the students as they learn their discipline.

The use of MUVE technology in teaching AI algorithms

The Second-Life (SL) MUVE (Multi-User Virtual Environment) is not often used for teaching core curriculum in computing. We made a simulation set in SL to illustrate key AI algorithms, and deployed them in labs to help the students visualize them.

Structures, Frameworks and Assessments for Student Exercises for Creative Thinking in Design

Students of engineering and design would benefit from an improved understanding of their own and each others’ creativity. We can exercise students by setting challenges, and asking them to evaluate their work, for novelty and quality. This is to help them to develop and become familiar with their own creative processes; but also to appreciate the different styles of creative thinking that others can have, the properties that society generally values in creative design, and how their own work may be appreciated. In order to achieve this in higher education, it is useful to develop frameworks in which student work can be assessed for creativity in particular, and to offer ways in which work can be assigned to students so that they may produce design concepts and then peer-assess them for their mutual benefit.

Computer Creativity in Games—How Much Knowledge Is Needed?

In seeking to make computer systems that can be creative, there are several problems, including the definition of the concept of creativity, understanding how to design creative algorithms, encoding the domain knowledge needed for them, and evaluating the creative products of those algorithms. We make a case that games are in some ways a good domain in which to research and develop creative algorithms, in particular the design of computer programs that can play games in ways that human players would consider to be creative. Although the playing of games is not in itself a very important research aim, we argue that it is a good arena in which to test out attempts to make creative programs. We initially consider how the field of computer play may be said to have contributed to computational creativity so far, with games like chess that require a specialised knowledge base in order to perform well. As an example, we show the play of our program for a falling-blocks puzzle game, that uses simple search to play to a fairly good standard, and which a human player may well consider to be creative at times. In that case, we conclude that at least in some non-trivial domains, computational creativity might be achieved without the typically heavy requirement for a large or sophisticated knowledge-base or even machine learning.