Emanuela Marchetti

Programming Turing Machines as a Game for Technology Sense-Making

To gain a better understanding of the process through which technology users become technology creators, we designed a paper-based, tangible Turing Machine and introduced it to 54 teenage students. The information collected through tinkering tasks and a questionnaire is discussed both via statistics and qualitative analysis. This initial study suggests that simple paper tangibles and tinkering have a place in future, technology-enhanced learning, and that central technological concepts can be discussed on the basis of low-cost tabletop-like games. We also notice a general interest in the historical development of technologies, that seems to enhance motivation and participation.

Kill it or Grow it.: Computer Game Design for Playful Math-Learning

Creating playful games to support domain-specific learning is a complex task. This paper presents the design and development of Prime Slaughter, a computer game to play with abstract mathematical concepts, like factorization and primality. The target group is composed of primary and early secondary school students. Following the findings of a participatory design study about children interaction in museums, our game maps operational aspects of prime factorization onto a game play inspired by 2D action-adventure games, where primality and factorization are experienced in a visual and direct way. The museum study also suggests to support learning by multiple play styles and goal-directed activities. A new participatory design study is about to start, to validate and improve the latest prototype of the game.

Playfulness and Openness: Reflections on the Design of Learning Technologies

What does it mean to design a playful learning tool? What is needed for a learning tool to be perceived by potential users as playful? These questions emerged reflecting on a Participatory Design process aimed at enhancing museum-learning practice from the perspective of primary school children. Different forms of emergent interactions were evident, both during museum visits and while testing a low-fidelity prototype. Deeper reflections on the meaning of enhancing learning through play from a user’s individual perspective was assessed. In this respect, openness and multimodality were evaluated intertwined with design of playful learning tools to enrich non-formal learning and to allow support for individual needs.

Micro Culture: Interactive Storytelling and Learning in the Museum

This paper proposes a playful learning scenario, to enhance childrens museum experience, and the design of Micro Culture, a new learning platform. Micro Culture has been developed through a participatory design process, involving around 25 children. The perspective proposed in this paper is focused on enhancing existing storytelling practices, so to provide a more tangible grounding to the communication of historical processes and to elicit a lively dialogue between children and guides. In this perspective, it is proposed to turn storytelling, as a museum learning practice, into a more dialogic and playful mode of communication.

Social Exploration of 1D Games

In this paper the apparently meaningless concept of a 1 dimensional computer game is explored, via netnography. A small number of games was designed and implemented, in close contact with online communities of players and developers, providing evidence that 1 dimension is enough to produce interesting gameplay, to allow for level design and even to leave room for artistic considerations on 1D rendering. General techniques to re-design classic 2D games into 1D are also emerging from this exploration.

Please Don't Make Me Draw!

This paper describes the development of a software tool to support knowledge acquisition by means of rich pictures, for Object Oriented Analysis (OOA). Transposition of manual rich picture practise into software proved difficult, therefore we decided to follow a user-centered approach, design and implement a prototype with basic functionalities, then run a usability test with a few students and professionals. The feedback collected in the test validated the design of our prototype, and unexpectedly helped us understand how to support behavioral descriptions (i.e. events), an elusive feature before the test. At a more general level our study suggests the presence of a gap between modern object-oriented analysis practices and programmers values: some techniques presuppose design skills that are alien to our students. To improve and test further our tool, we plan to use it for whole OOA and OOD course, next semester.

Make and Play: Card Games as Tangible and Playable Knowledge Representation Boundary Objects

Having worked with transposition of domain knowledge in digital and card games, we propose a novel approach for enabling groups of primary school pupils to express their shared understanding of a topic, the group can represent their knowledge by creating a trading card game (with custom cards and rules) instead of using diagrammatical formalisms. A kit and a special design method have been devised to simplify the creation of card games, bringing the task in within the capabilities of pupils. The process of designing card games represents in itself a form of group reflection in action. The resulting card games serve as boundary objects among learners and instructors (or other participating adults, in informal contexts). The games reify the group knowledge, making it tangible and playable: each of these games can be seen as a simulation or a presentation of knowledge, for the benefit of new learners or for assessment. Studies are currently being conducted to investigate the full potential our new knowledge, and how to improve our kit further.

Domain–specific knowledge as playful interaction: the case of Prime Slaughter

Starting from reflections on designing games for learning, aimed at providing a tangible grounding to abstract knowledge, we designed Prime Slaughter, a game to support learning of factorisation and prime numbers, targeted to primary and early secondary school children. This new study draws upon the design process of Prime Slaughter, to move further in developing a general approach in developing games, aimed at effectively conveying knowledge from a specific domain. Hence, this paper will discuss the past design process, as a concrete case, and then formulate a theoretical framework, based on activity theory, aimed at facilitating the transposition of abstract knowledge into playful interactions, so to develop new learning games of this kind, also keeping into account childrens individual needs regarding play.

Playful Learning Culture in the Museum

In recent years, museum learning culture and practice have become a matter of debate in response to a crisis within the museum sector, which has caused pressure from external organizations which are demanding that museums become more effective at managing their resources, attracting more visitors, and providing evidence regarding the relevance of their practices to society (Janes, 2009). As a result, museum innovation has become a common research topic across many different disciplines.

Prime Slaughter: Playful prime numbers

Starting from the difficulty of creating playful representation of domain-specific abstract concepts, this study discusses the design of Prime Slaughter, a computer game aimed at facilitating individual sense-making of abstract mathematical concepts. Specifically the game proposes a transposition of primality and factorization into playful interactions, addressed to primary and early secondary school children. Taking into account individual needs expressed by children regarding play, during a participatory design processes aimed at enhancing learning in museums, Prime Slaughter allows for multiple forms of play and their integration. A simple working prototype has already been developed; it will be tested and re-designed through participatory workshops, involving a group of children in our target group.