Petros Lameras

Essential features of serious games design in higher education: Linking learning attributes to game mechanics

This paper consolidates evidence and material from a range of specialist and disciplinary fields to provide an evidence-based review and synthesis on the design and use of serious games in higher education. Search terms identified 165 papers reporting conceptual and empirical evidence on how learning attributes and game mechanics may be planned, designed and implemented by university teachers interested in using games, which are integrated into lesson plans and orchestrated as part of a learning sequence at any scale. The findings outline the potential of classifying the links between learning attributes and game mechanics as a means to scaffold teachers’ understanding of how to perpetuate learning in optimal ways while enhancing the in-game learning experience. The findings of this paper provide a foundation for describing methods, frames and discourse around experiences of design and use of serious games, linked to methodological limitations and recommendations for further research in this area.

Advances in MASELTOV Serious Games in a Mobile Ecology of Services for Social Inclusion and Empowerment of Recent Immigrants

Immigration imposes a range of challenges with the risk of social exclusion. As part of a comprehensive suite of services for immigrants, the MASELTOV game seeks to provide both practical tools and innovative learning services via mobile devices, providing a readily usable resource for recent immigrants. We introduce advanced results, such as the game-based learning aspect in the frame of recommender services, and present the rationale behind its interaction design. Benefits and implications of mobile platforms and emergent data capture techniques for game-based learning are discussed, as are methods for putting engaging gameplay at the forefront of the experience whilst relying on rich data capture and analysis to provide effective learning solutions.

Pegaso: A Serious Game to Prevent Obesity

The problem of obesity in the world has grown considerably in recent years. Between 16% and 33% of children and adolescents are obese. Even if obesity is among one of the easiest medical conditions to recognize, it is one of the most difficult to treat. The issue of individuals’ motivation to change is the most significant obstacle in promoting positive health behaviours. Games’ ability to reach and engage large number of players for long periods of time provides an opportunity for them to be used as a pedagogical tool. This paper describes how serious games and ‘gamified’ daily life processes appear to be a suitable means for supporting persuasion towards healthful behaviour within the frame of the Pegaso project that aims to develop a multi-dimensional cross-disciplinary ICT system to prevent overweight and obesity in the younger population.

Towards the gamification of inquiry-based flipped teaching of mathematics a conceptual analysis and framework

The paper presents a conceptual interpretation of amalgamating inquiry-based learning and the flipped classroom model with gamification / game processes as means to strengthen and improve the way Mathematics learning and teaching content, strategies and approaches are enacted in primary, secondary and tertiary education. By introducing a Personal Learning Environment (PLE) where students and teachers can create, (re)use and repurpose their own learning content (e.g. inquiry-based games feedback, assessment, micro-blogs), mathematics modules can be accessed, created, remixed, learned and reviewed in-class and out-class through rapid, personalised and meaningful playful feedback. Learning activities and modules at any scale may be coupled with the GamifyMaths framework to offer engaging personalized learning experiences and promote ownership, accomplishment and creativity. Learners and teachers are finally enabled to discern the connection of mathematics with other disciplines highlighting its inter-disciplinary application.

Creative thinking experimentations for entrepreneurship with a disruptive, personalised and mobile game-based learning ecosystem

Based on an unprecedented need of stimulating creative capacities towards entrepreneurship to university students and young researchers, this paper introduces and analyses a smart learning ecosystem for encouraging teaching and learning on creative thinking as a distinct feature to be taught and learnt in universities. The paper introduces a mashed-up authoring architecture for designing lesson-plans and games with visual learning mechanics for creativity learning. The design process is facilitated by creativity pathways discerned across components. Participatory learning, networking and capacity building is a key aspect of the architecture, extending the learning experience and context from the classroom to outdoor (co-authoring of creative pathways by students, teachers and real-world entrepreneurs) and personal spaces. We anticipate that the smart learning ecosystem will be empirically evaluated and validated in future iterations for exploring the benefits of using games for enhancing creative mindsets, unlocking the imagination that lies within, practiced and transferred to multiple academic tribes and territories.

Identifying and classifying learning entities for designing location-based serious games

This paper investigates the development of a classification of features inherent in the design and development of Location Based Experiences (LBEs) with a special focus on games for teaching and learning. The paper aims to identify and associate learning features, such as feedback, activities, outcomes and assessment with location-driven mechanics, such as location-based activities, entities, conditions and actions that constitute the overarching elements of a proprietary location-based games authoring tool. We anticipate that this will pave the way for developing a model taxonomy that may be utilised to support and optimise future end-user profiles for serious game creation, games design for informal learning paths in science museums, science centres and field trips, learning methodologies development and metadata creation. The classification draws on the findings of a tailored approach applied to design and develop an authoring environment, the MAGELLAN platform, for creating location-based games and mobile location-driven scenarios directly influenced by end-user requirements and evaluation of trainees feedback. Ultimately, the classification is conceived as part of a broader framework that defines and enables the creation of location-driven games by associating them with learning elements, through visualised design for expert and non-expert users as potential game authors. In an iterative process, the MAGELLAN Authoring Tool and subsequent user training and piloting process is featured as a test-bed, where the proposed taxonomy will be applied and evaluated.

Serendipitous learning & serious games: A Pilot Study

This pilot study explores the use of serendipitous learning of mathematics in a group of Further Education students. Data was gathered from 28 students within a computer games design unit on a computer science course. The data was gathered using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The findings indicated that even at this early stage that students view of mathematics had changed in a positive direction and students had learned mathematics during this process. The data analysis showed that further research into serendipitously embedding mathematics with a games design unit is of value and worth pursuing.

iServe: A serious game for servitization

Servitization concerns the process of manufacturers shifting from a focus on producing and selling tangible goods to service-based business models. Factors that drive adoption of servitization are financial, strategic (competitive advantage) and marketing. However, uptake is slow and active efforts are being made to transfer knowledge about servitization to the manufacturing sector. This paper presents early results from the first test of a serious computer game which has the goal of educating managers about what advanced services are and how they fit in supply chains. Results suggest the role-play scenario tested is appropriate for an audience of largely non-expert gamers, and that the approach has the potential to instruct users about the role of services in the supply chain.

Board Games for Health: A Systematic Literature Review and Meta-Analysis

Nondigital board games are being used to engage players and impact outcomes in health and medicine across diverse populations and contexts. This systematic review and meta-analysis describes and summarizes their impact based on randomized and nonrandomized controlled trials. An electronic search resulted in a review of n = 21 eligible studies. Sample sizes ranged from n = 17 to n = 3110 (n = 6554 total participants). A majority of the board game interventions focused on education to increase health-related knowledge and behaviors (76%, n = 16). Outcomes evaluated included self-efficacy, attitudes/beliefs, biological health indicators, social functioning, anxiety, and executive functioning, in addition to knowledge and behaviors. Using the Cochrane Collaboration tool for assessing bias, most studies (52%, n = 11) had an unclear risk of bias (33% [n = 7] had a high risk and 14% [n = 3] had a low risk). Statistical tests of publication bias were not significant. A random-effects meta-analysis showed a large average effect of board games on health-related knowledge (d* = 0.82, 95% confidence interval; CI [0.15-1.48]), a small-to-moderate effect on behaviors (d* = 0.33, 95% CI [0.16-0.51]), and a small-to-moderate effect on biological health indicators (d* = 0.37, 95% CI [0.21-0.52]). The findings contribute to the literature on games and gamified approaches in healthcare. Future research efforts should aim for more consistent high scientific standards in their evaluation protocols and reporting methodologies to provide a stronger evidence base.

Preface on special session “co-design and co-creation of location-based mobile serious games for distilling adaptation, personalisation and support”

Computer games represent a vast economic market, a key driver of technology, and an increasingly powerful medium for a broad range of applications. The latest wave of innovation for computer games is ‘mobile’ and more precisely, ‘location-based’. These outdoor mobile experiences are radically different from traditional computer games or their mobile equivalent. Players attention is focused on the real world as much as on the digital world of the game, aiming to create a powerful juxtaposition of the two.