Katelyn Procci

Optimizing Learning in Surgical Simulations: Guidelines from the Science of Learning and Human Performance

Simulation-based training is rapidly becoming an integral part of surgical training. However, the effectiveness of this type of training is as dependent on the manner in which it is implemented and delivered as it is on the simulator itself. In this article, the authors identify specific elements from the science of learning and human performance that may assist educators in optimizing the effects of simulation-based training. These elements include scenario design, feedback, conditions of practice, and others. Specific guidelines for simulation-based surgical training are provided.

Serious Games Usability Testing: How to Ensure Proper Usability, Playability, and Effectiveness

Usability testing is an important, yet often overlooked, aspect of serious game development. Issues in usability can drastically impact user experience and thus the learning outcomes associated with serious games. The goal of this paper is to provide serious game developers with an approach to efficiently and effectively apply usability testing into their development process. We propose a three-tiered approach to the assessment of game usability with the addition of assessments playability and learning to traditional usability. Learning or training is the main objective of a serious game and enjoyment is often required when trying to elicit the necessary usage to achieve this goal. Step-by-step procedures and associated measures are provided to assess usability, playability, and learning outcomes concurrently with game development, while taking into account the unique goals and limitations of time, personnel, and budget that small development companies often encounter.

An Examination of Flow and Immersion in Games

The valid assessment of engagement a player of serious games experiences is vital if future research is to focus on the role such a state has in improving learning outcomes. Researchers have attempted to do so by quantifying aspects of flow and immersion. Both constructs are distinctly defined in the literature yet feature a great amount of overlap when applied to the gaming domain to the point where they are often used to describe one-another. This work seeks to examine the ways in which these two constructs converge when assessed by two commonly-used measures, the Dispositional Flow State Scale (DFS-2) and the Immersive Tendencies Questionnaire (ITQ). Not only did we find a surprising lack of conceptual overlap between flow and immersion in this domain using these specific measures, the results suggested that the use of the DFS-2 and ITQ may not be adequate for use in the gaming domain. This pilot study reveals the necessity for a line of research further examining these two constructs and their measurement in gaming.

Patterns of gaming preferences and serious game effectiveness

According to the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), important predictors of system use include application-specific self-efficacy, ease of use, and perceived usefulness. Current work with the TAM includes extending the assessment framework to domains such as serious games as well as how other typically under-researched factors, such as gender, affect technology use. The current work reports on how there are gender differences in both game playing behaviors as well as general game genre preferences, offers implications for serious game designers regarding the development of effective learning interventions based on these differences, and finally suggests avenues for future research in this area.

The Effects of Gender, Age, and Experience on Game Engagement

Entertainment gaming research typically focuses on the underlying motivations for play and on the subjective experience. A review of the literature has identified three factors that commonly affect patterns of play: gender, age, and gaming experience. This paper examines whether these individual differences affect the subjective experience of play, as measured by game engagement. Participants played a browserbased Flash game and responded to a number of surveys. The results suggested that low-levels of game engagement predict high-levels of game engagement, providing support for a proposed model of game engagement that exists on a gradient. The ability to experience low-levels of engagement while playing games is not affected by the individual differences of interest; however high-level engagement did decrease with age. Age may also weaken the relationship between low- and high-level game engagement.

Opening Cinematics: Their Cost-Effectiveness in Serious Games

For the development of serious gaming, it is necessary to articulate the specific features that lend themselves best to the creation of effective learning games. Given the limited resources of the typical serious games developer, time and money should be spent in a way such that features with the greatest return on investment take priority. Opening cinematics, a popular feature of games, was examined through the lens of three major theoretical perspectives that promote learning, specifically situated learning, emotional arousal, and goal orientation. A series of three experiments was conducted to determine if the inclusion of opening cinematics was able to change the goal orientation of players as well as improve the effectiveness of a serious game used to train U.S. Navy recruits shipboard damage control procedures. The data suggest that opening cinematics were not worth the immense development investment. Game design suggestions and potential topics for future research are provided.

Project ASPIRE The Development of a Game for Resilience Training

The U.S. Marine Corps’ OSCAR program teaches resilience skills to warfighters. This paper describes the design and development process of Project ASPIRE, a light-weight, Flash-based game that serves as a practice environment for the skills learned in OSCAR. Rapid, iterative development/usability cycles were used to identify the ways in which the game could be improved. The results of these usability evaluations are discussed, and general recommendations for the design of training games are provided.

The effects of mental model conformity on usability in apps

Designing interfaces to conform to users’ mental models is an important usability guideline. With respect to designing apps to be used on tablets and smartphones for existing websites, whether the app conforms exactly to the website’s original layout is a design question that must be considered. Aside from general mental models of functionality, this study sought to examine the importance of conformity to system (i.e., website) mental models when designing apps. Sixteen undergraduate students were recruited. They completed a series of tasks, either first on the website to generate a mental model of the system, and then again on the app, or vice-versa. Time to complete the tasks was recorded and participants also completed questionnaires to determine how system mental models affected usability. Results suggested that the app was more usable than the website overall. Task times and usability scores were not affected by condition; however, those who used the website first gave higher subjective usability scores overall to both the app and the website. These results imply that conformity to the website is not necessary to create a usable app.

Me and My VE

Virtual environments, simulations and serious games are increasingly being employed for research, training, education, evaluation, and various business endeavors. This session will describe and demonstrate some of the diverse uses for virtual environments (VEs) in an alternate demonstration format. The session will begin with demonstrators providing a brief description of their VE, and how they’ve used it to answer a critical research question or address a unique need, including a video demonstration of the VE in action. After these introductions, all demonstrations will be set up around the room, and session attendees can move around the room for more direct interaction with both the demonstrations and the demonstrators. The objective of the session is to provoke ideas among the attendees for how VEs, simulations and serious games can help address their research, training, education, evaluation or business needs.