Helena Macedo Reis

A systematic mapping on gamification applied to education

Gamification is a term that refers to the use of game elements in non-game contexts with the goal of engaging people in a variety of tasks. There is a growing interest in gamification as well as its applications and implications in the field of Education since it provides an alternative to engage and motivate students during the process of learning. Despite this increasing interest, to the best of our knowledge, there are no studies that cover and classify the types of research being published and the most investigated topics in the area. As a first step towards bridging this gap, we carried out a systematic mapping to synthesize an overview of the area. We went through 357 papers on gamification. Among them, 48 were related to education and only 26 met the criteria for inclusion and exclusion of articles defined in this study. These 26 papers were selected and categorized according to their contribution. As a result, we provide an overview of the area. Such an overview suggests that most studies focus on investigating how gamification can be used to motivate students, improve their skills, and maximize learning.

Towards Reducing Cognitive Load and Enhancing Usability through a Reduced Graphical User Interface for a Dynamic Geometry System: An Experimental Study

The interface is the main mechanism of communication between user and system features. In educational software, successful user interface designs minimize the cognitive load on users, thereby users can direct their efforts to maximize their understanding of the educational concepts being presented. We investigated whether a reduced interface make few cognitive demands on users in comparison to a complete interface. In this context, this research aims at analyzing a reduced and a complete interface of an interactive geometry software, and verify the educational benefits they provide. To this end, we designed the interfaces and carried out an experiment involving 69 undergraduate students. The experimental results indicate that an interface that hides advanced and extraneous features helps novice users to perform slightly better than novice users using a complete interface. After receiving proper training, however, a complete interface makes users more productive than a reduced interface.

Interactive Geometry Goes Mobile with GeoTouch

Interactive Geometry (IG) is a computational approach to teach geometry using interactive geometric objects. It is based on the learning-by-doing method where the representation and manipulation of geometric spaces can support students to construct their knowledge through experience. Several research findings indicate various benefits of using IG in classroom. Nevertheless, IG software developed to date has been based on the desktop model where the interaction between a user and the IG software occurs through the conventional inputs and outputs methods: keyboard, mouse, and a monitor. Currently, this model is being challenged by the widespread adoption and use of mobile devices. In this scenario before building an IG software that can be effectively used in mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, where the input is based on touches and movements of fingers and the output is a small screen, there is a need to rethink the interface and what interaction methods should be employed. In response to this need, our paper examines the design and development of a GI application for mobile devices. In this study, we have proposed and implemented an interface and interaction model that is suitable for developing a GI software for mobile devices.

A Dictionary of Gestures for Multitouch-Based Interactive Geometry Software

Interactive Geometry software (IGS) are tools that help students to explore geometry concepts using computers. Most of IGS interfaces developed to date are heavily based on the desktop model of user interaction where the user input comes from the selection of icons and drop-down menus with the help of a mouse and a keyboard. Nevertheless, with the widespread adoption of smartphones, tablets and other devices with multitouch screens the tradition interfaces of IGS became inadequate. Thus, this study presents the development of a dictionary of gestures for interacting with IGS. It completely removes the need of icons and drop-down menus to create and manipulate geometric objects. To evaluate these gestures we implement them in an IGS for mobile device called Geotouch. Then, we conducted a usability study with five experts to compare Geotouch with other three IGS currently available. The results indicate that Geotouch has less usability problems and enable to build geometric objects faster and with fewer errors.

Interaction interfaces in interactive geometry software: are we exploring new devices and possibilities?

Many research findings indicate that Interactive Geometry IG software is an effective tool to support geometry learning. Nevertheless, the various forms of interacting with this kind of software have not been widely investigated. As a first step towards bridging this gap, we carried out a literature review regarding the multiple types of interactions offered by GUI of IG software. We searched five digital libraries and collected 998 papers covering more than ten years 2004-2014 of research in the field. As a result we verified that: 1 most of the studies focused on desktop interfaces based on keyboard and mouse; 2 few efforts have been carried out on the design of IG software for devices with multitouch interfaces. By categorising the contributions of papers according to their goal and research approach we hope to organise the valuable contributions of the community and give directions for further research to build better GUI for IG software.

Analysis of Permanence Time in Emotional States: A Case Study Using Educational Software

This article presents the results of an experiment in which we investigated how prior algebra knowledge and personality can influence the permanence time from the confusion state to frustration/boredom state in a computer learning environment. Our experimental results indicate that people with a neurotic personality and a low level of algebra knowledge can deal with confusion for less time and can easily feel frustrated/bored when there is no intervention. Our analysis also suggest that people with an extroversion personality and a low level of algebra knowledge are able to control confusion for longer, leading to later interventions. These findings support that it is possible to detect emotions in a less invasive way and without the need of physiological sensors or complex algorithms. Furthermore, obtained median times can be incorporated into computational regulation models (e.g. adaptive interfaces) to regulate students’ emotion during the teaching-learning process.

A DGS gesture dictionary for modelling on mobile devices

ABSTRACT Interactive or Dynamic Geometry System (DGS) is a tool that help to teach and learn geometry using a computer-based interactive environment. Traditionally, the interaction with DGS is based on keyboard and mouse events where the functionalities are accessed using a menu of icons. Nevertheless, recent findings suggest that such a traditional model of interaction has a steep learning curve and is inadequate to develop DGS for devices with multi-touch screens. Thus, we propose a new interaction model for DGS based on a gesture dictionary which enables the construction and manipulation of geometric objects without the need of accessing a menu of icons. The dictionary is divided into three types: (i) kernel gestures: which are the basis for defining gestures; (ii) navigation gestures: related to the manipulation and editing of geometric objects; and (iii) basic gestures of construction: to construct geometric objects. To validate our interaction model, a DGS for mobile device, GeoTouch, has been developed using the proposed dictionary. Usability tests were performed comparing GeoTouch with three other DGS for mobile devices. The results indicate that the GeoTouch interface has fewer usability problems than the other three DGS software and it is easier to learn and interact with.

Computação Afetiva aplicada à Educação: uma revisão sistemática das pesquisas publicadas no Brasil

This paper aims to perform a survey of the scientific work carried out in the last 15 years in the area of Affective Computing in the context of Computers in Education. For this, a systematic mapping was carried out in the main scientific databases of the area in Brazil, being the SBIE, WIE and RBIE, which are events and journal of CEIE. Based on six research objectives, 53 articles were selected. After being analyzed, according to previously defined inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of 24 articles were selected. From these, the data was mined, aiming to answer the research questions of this work. As a result, the current state of art in Affective Computing was presented. In addition, it was presented the Affective Socio-Dimensions taken into consideration in the selected papers, a map containing the types of studies and the research objectives and, finally, the presentation of the main authors and research groups in the area of Affective Computing in Brazil. Resumo. Este artigo tem como objetivo realizar um levantamento dos trabalhos científicos brasileiros, realizados nos últimos 15 anos, na área da Computação Afetiva no contexto de Informática na Educação. Para isso, foi realizado um mapeamento sistemático nos principais veículos brasileiros de divulgação científica na área, sendo eles o SBIE, WIE e a RBIE, veículos mantidos pela Comissão Especial de Informática na Educação da SBC. Inicialmente, foram coletados 53 artigos, dos quais 24 foram selecionados para análise. Como resultado, foi apresentado o atual estado da arte em Computação Afetiva em relação aos estados afetivos e outros fenômenos socioafetivos levados em considerações nos trabalhos. Também foram desenvolvidos um mapa contendo os tipos de estudos e os objetivos de pesquisa e uma apresentação dos principais autores e grupos de pesquisas na área da Computação Afetiva aplicada à Educação no Brasil.

Softwares de Geometria Interativa para Deficientes Físicos e Intelectuais: Um Mapeamento Sistemático

O uso de softwares de Geometria Interativa pode facilitar o aprendizado e melhorar a qualidade de ensino para pessoas que possuem limitacoes fisicas e intelectuais. Apesar disto, as abordagens sobre o desenvolvimento destes softwares sao pouco investigadas. Para oferecer uma visao geral dos resultados ja obtidos nesta area, um mapeamento sistematico foi conduzido com o objetivo de analisar quais softwares atendem este publico e em quais dispositivos adicionais estes softwares utilizam. No total foram 451 estudos analisados em mais de 10 anos de pesquisa na area de geometria interativa. Dentre estes estudos, 24 deles estavam relacionados com softwares de geometria interativa e apenas 20 deles satisfizeram os criterios de inclusao e exclusao definidos neste trabalho. Como resultado, verificou-se que maioria dos estudos apresentam softwares voltados para deficientes visuais e auditivos, sendo sua maioria para criancas. Este resultado demonstra que existem diversas oportunidades de pesquisa no desenvolvimento de softwares para deficientes fisicos e intelectuais para aprendizagem de geometria.

Análise do impacto das Interface Gestuais em Softwares de Geometria Interativa no desempenho dos alunos

A interface e o principal mecanismo de interacao entre os usuarios e as funcionalidades do sistema. No contexto educacional, interfaces desenvolvidas de forma apropriada podem minimizar os esforcos dos estudantes a aprender sobre as caracteristicas da interface e direcionar sua atencao no aprendizado da geometria. Estudos indicam que interfaces que dispoe de varios elementos em tela podem prejudicar no processo de ensino-aprendizagem, em que o estudante pode sentir-se confuso em escolher qual funcionalidade deseja. Como proposta de solucao deste problema, pesquisadores propoe o uso de interfaces gestuais, em que ha reducao do numero de elementos em tela, fazendo com que os estudantes possam direcionar sua atencao ao aprendizado da geometria. Entretanto, nao ha estudos empiricos que evidenciam este beneficio. Desta forma, este artigo apresenta os resultados de um experimento no qual investigou-se como a gestao da memoria de trabalho e conhecimento em geometria pode influenciar no treinamento de usuarios aprendendo a utilizar um software de geometria interativa por gestos. Os resultados experimentais nao indicaram diferencas significativas entre os estudantes em relacao aos escores obtidos nos testes.