Ming Yueh Hwang

Playfulness-Based Design in Educational Games: A Perspective on an Evolutionary Contest Game

Playfulness steering is an emerging approach in educational game design and play. The integration of arithmetical computation, game strategy, and teamwork into one game allows players to interactively “steer” the playfulness and enhance learning. In this paper an evolutionary contest game was designed and implemented to examine the influencial factors. Using action research, focus groups and hermeneutic methods, this study suggest that the playfulness design of an evolutionary game is influenced by the degree of uncertainty and flexibility in decision-making, the level of challenge, equal conditions for fair play, opportunities to compete/cooperate, and the level of interactivity.

Elders' Usability, Dependability, and Flow Experiences on Embodied Interactive Video Games.

Daily physical activities may slow down the deterioration of cognitive aging. This study intended to develop embodiment interactive video games with friendly human-machine interface to break through the elders literacy, cognitive aging, and psychomotor hindrances toward technology. Another objective was to understand, through field experiments the perceived usability of the video games as well as their dependability and flow experiences on this platform.. Thirty elders constituted the sample for this study. Based on interviews and observations, this study found that the usability and dependability of this platform were high. Flow experiences occurred depending on the prior knowledge and interactive modules of the games.

Effects of cognitive style on digital jigsaw puzzle performance: A GridWare analysis

Cognitive style, a personal characteristic that is a combination of cognitive controls such as field independence (FI) and field dependence (FD), may influence game performance. FI and FD were measured in 210 5th-grade students using a Group Embedded Figures Test. Students assembled digital jigsaw puzzles based on maps of Taiwan and Europe. Using principles of dynamic systems, game performance was analyzed using GridWare, and four types of game strategy were identified. The results showed that cognitive style, based on FI and the number of events, was able to predict digital jigsaw puzzle scores. Digital jigsaw puzzle scoring was positively correlated with FI. FI students achieved significantly higher scores than FD students. Practical implications and limitations were discussed.

Positive affect predicting worker psychological response to cyber-bullying in the high-tech industry in Northern Taiwan

Online cyber-bullying has become a frequent occurrence in organizations. To understand individual dispositions and the organizational factors that effect online cyber-bullying, the present study investigates the relationship among positive affect, the perceived organizational innovation climate, and psychological responses to cyber-bullying. The research samples for this study are staff members from the high-tech manufacturing industry in Northern Taiwan. A total of 396 responses were validated for confirmatory factor analyses, correlation coefficient, and structural equation modeling (SEM). The research results revealed that a positive affect (PA) has a positive influence on perceived organizational innovation climate. Moreover, the perceived organizational innovation climate has a negative influence on psychological responses to cyber-bullying. Finally, the experience of cyber-bullying was positively correlated to the psychological response of being cyber-bullied, i.e., the more an individual had experienced cyber-bullying, the higher psychological response. The results further indicated an interesting finding for the mediating role of perceived organizational innovation climate between positive affect and psychological responses to cyber-bullying. Therefore, organizations can enhance the positive affect for employees and foster an effective organization innovation climate, so those workers are better adaptable to cope with cyber-bullying.

A comparative study of the learning effectiveness of a blended and embodied interactive video game for kindergarten students

We developed an embodied interactive video game (EIVG) that is both educational and entertaining with the hope of using such a system to compare blended and pure digital learning with respect to differences in learning effectiveness. In addition to conducting experiments wherein the children learned using the EIVG, we also involved teachers as part of the study to allow observation of the emotional aspects of the children. The results of the study can be summarized by the following three points: (1) the effectiveness of blended learning was superior to that of pure digital learning; (2) the effectiveness of EIVG learning was better for boys than it was for girls, although the differences between them were not significant; and (3) the EIVG was highly entertaining, which resulted in students remaining highly interested and focused throughout the study. It is worth noting that both types of learning can be effective.

Comparing the retention and flow experience in playing Solitary and Heart Attack games of San Zi Jing: A perspective of Dual Process Theory

Most educational games require high speed process; they require fast recognitions and accurate hand-eye coordination to play. Under this constraint, Dual Process theory (DPT) indicated players have different levels of cognitive process over different games which affect their mood. Csikszentmihalyi highlighted that a flow experience is the essential psychological effect on mood and cognitive process. According to DPT, how students engage in different game design will affect their learning retention effects. The flow experiences were examined in this study in relation to Solitary and Heart Attack games of San Zi Jing (a Chinese educational poem). The present study was implemented with a sample of 209 5th and 6th grade elementary school students. The students were assigned with one of the games randomly. The results indicated that in terms of flow experiences, Heart Attack group was significantly higher than that of the Solitary group; secondly, solitary game showed a better retention rate than Heart Attack game did after one month; even though the retention rate of both type games have slight loose after one month. The results of this study suggest if the game design emphasizes on learning retention, solitary game is recommended for higher grade students. Whereas, game design for hedonic values, then Heart Attack type is recommended. Future studies may focus on additional contents and establish more trials to examine the effects of flow experiences and engagement effects.

A Toy Clinic Shop: Innovation Management in a Shin-Tai Elementary School.

In Taiwan there is a declining birth rate and a dramatic increase in the elderly population. There is also the trend of using school space that would otherwise be left unused. The experimental project “Toy Clinic Shop in Elementary School” offers an innovative management model for elementary schools to address these developments. The following are included in the project goals: lifelong learning, service learning, and intergenerational interaction. The Toy Clinic Shop is not only a place offering the opportunity for intergenerational contact, but also for sharing and learning from each other. When the elderly contribute to the shop, they enjoy being with children, and they can experience the so called Ta Tung world of utopia where they enjoy being with young people. Furthermore, schools can benefit from the project because it promotes a schools many functions, collects more resources, creates social value among retired people, and develops the human resource of the elderly.

Comparing animated and static modes in educational gameplay on user interest, performance and gameplay anxiety

To compare the perception of animated to static mode of gameplay and how it affects the emotional state and performance of playing, this study designed two games, Chinese idiom string up game (CISUG) and Chinese idiom fishing game (CIFG). Seven classes with a total of 238 students were invited to participate in CIFG, and six classes with a total of 211 students were recruited for CISUG. All participants were 5th and 6th grade elementary school students. Performance achievement, interest level and gameplay anxiety were statistically examined using paired sample t-tests. The results revealed that the static mode fostered better performance. In addition, interest was found to be better maintained in the static mode than in the animated mode, but there was no difference between the two types of game modes in respect of gameplay anxiety. However, for both modes, gameplay anxiety did decrease slightly upon subsequent playing, though it did not reach a level of statistical significance. The results suggest that in educational game design, the use of static rather than animated modes should be considered when the objective is to help students achieve better performance in a competitive setting. Static mode fostered better achievement than the animated mode.Gameplay interest can be better maintained in the static mode.Educational game design should consider the use of static rather than animated mode.

Internet cognitive failure and fatigue relevant to learners' self-regulation and learning progress in English vocabulary with a calibration scheme

To determine the factors of learning effectiveness in English vocabulary learning when using a calibration scheme, this study developed a freshman English mobile device application for iPhone 4 for students with low levels of English proficiency to practise vocabulary in the beginning of their Freshman English course. Data were collected and validated from 243 subjects for confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. The findings revealed that Internet cognitive failure i.e., trait cognitive disability was positively correlated to Internet cognitive fatigue i.e., state cognitive disability. Both types of Internet cognitive disability were negatively correlated to self-regulation in English vocabulary learning SREVL. SREVL was positively correlated to the degree of learning improvement. The findings implied that the use of a calibration design for mobile English vocabulary learning could benefit students with low levels of Internet cognitive disability but high levels of SREVL.

Intrinsic motivation of Chinese learning in predicting online learning self-efficacy and flow experience relevant to students’ learning progress

ABSTRACT Students of Southeast Asian Heritage Learning Chinese (SSAHLC) in Taiwan have frequently demonstrated difficulty with traditional Chinese (a graphical character) radical recognition due to their limited exposure to the written language form since childhood. In this study, we designed a Chinese radical learning game (CRLG), which adopted a drill and practice mode, for SSAHLC to practice recognizing Chinese radicals. To facilitate Chinese writing, non-native learners need to use aspects of the radical knowledge as cues to encode characters, from which the contents of the game were built up for SSAHLC to master the Chinese written forms by playing the CRLG with gesture-based interactions. In addition, the game was used to explore the students’ intrinsic motivation relevant to online learning self-efficacy, as well as the experience of flow, to predict the degree of learning progress. Data were collected from 78 SSAHLC participating in the study, and 73 valid questionnaires were returned. After applying confirmatory factor analysis as well as structural equation modeling to the valid data, it was found that four constructs, namely intrinsic motivation, online learning self-efficacy, flow experience, and learning progress, were all positively correlated. Our results indicated that intrinsic motivation of Chinese learning predicted online learning self-efficacy, and that flow experience was relevant to the students’ learning progress. Moreover, the degree of learning progress could be predicted by the mediating factors. These findings imply that heritage language teachers may utilize the CRLG to enhance learners’ Chinese radical recognition ability, and eventually improve their Chinese character recognition ability.