Simone S. Borges

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.

Projeto e Desenvolvimento de um Aplicativo de Geometria Interativa para Dispositivos Móveis

The keynotes goal is to reflect on emergent opportunities for human Discovery (in science), Creativity (in art & industry), and Learning (in education) as processes often occurring serendipitously in individuals and in communities empowered by dynamic Web connections in the global village. These reflections seem to fit best with the mandate of the CBIE Conference: sustainable education.Este trabalho apresenta uma evolucao do assistente inteligente SAE para inferir e fornecer orientacao pedagogica coerente com varias metodologias educacionais, superando uma dificuldade tradicional para este tipo de software, alem de fornecer mais apoio ao ensino-aprendizagem personalizado.O artigo fundamenta-se nos resultados do processo de desenvolvimento de um ambiente web de aprendizagem, ja modelado em dissertacao de mestrado (CABRAL,2006). O sistema tem por objetivo facilitar o acompanhamento das atividades que envolvem a definicao e a elaboracao de pre-projetos de Trabalhos de Conclusao de Curso (TCC). Para atingir tal objetivo o sistema e baseado em uma camada de agentes inteligentes que atuam como colaboradores para execucao de todas as atividades necessarias ao desenvolvimento do TCC. Para que esses agentes atuem de forma satisfatoria no ambiente e necessario o estabelecimento de um processo de comunicacao que possibilite aos agentes agirem em um nivel conceitual mais proximo do ser humano. Dessa forma, este artigo expoe os resultados obtidos ao longo do desenvolvimento dos agentes computacioniais e seus mecanismos de comunicacao.Este artigo descreve o projeto de desenvolvimento de jogo educativo baseado em metodologias participativas, pelas quais estudantes da rede publica de ensino medio idealizam, projetam e desenvolvem prototipos de um jogo sobre Sistema Imunologico e virus da Dengue. O objetivo da pesquisa e verificar os impactos do processo sobre a aprendizagem dos estudantes.O objetivo deste artigo e apresentar resultados de estudo de um caso exploratorio, realizado junto aos alunos de uma Instituicao de Ensino Superior. Como resultados, foram levantados indicadores de avaliacao do Sistema de EaD e identificados problemas, segundo a percepcao dos alunos. A partir dos resultados destaca-se que a Universidade desconhece a metodologia ITIL® e que seria fundamental que fosse implantada uma estrategia do servico (fase inicial da ITIL®), conduzindo a melhoria continua do servico e da infra-estrutura da Universidade.O facil acesso as informacoes devido a difusao da internet possibilita o enriquecimento intelectual, mas por vezes acaba por ser um meio de usufruir do conhecimento de outrem sem mencionar seus creditos/direitos autorais, o que por fim acaba na configuracao do plagio. O plagio no meio academico e uma tarefa dificil de ser controlada, devido o grande numero de trabalhos que sao feitos por uma vasta quantidade de alunos e tambem pelo excesso de tarefas dos professores e pelo pouco tempo que conseguem dedicar para o controle da qualidade e autenticidade dos trabalhos. Com isso, e importante contar com softwares que auxiliem no processo de verificacao de indicios de plagio, desta maneira o presente trabalho vislumbra desenvolver uma nova ferramenta de analise de indicios de plagio bem como aprimorar o metodo DIP – Detector de Indicios de Plagio para auxiliar o docente na verificacao da autenticidade dos trabalhos.A Neuropedagogia promove o confronto sucessivo e simultâneo entre concepcoes tacitas, crencas e valores normativos com esquemas inovadores, criando um espaco entropico e poetico no âmbito da experiencia humana. A natureza da ciencia neuropedagogica exige um modelo fractal de construcao de mundo, sustentado pelo prazer da perplexidade. Busca-se a geratriz e as leis de formacao para atingir a unanimidade sobre o conceito de educacao de pessoas com alta dotacao humana, impossivel de se concretizar, sem o recurso das ideologias filosoficas, cientificas e tecnologias aliadas as eticas.In this talk I will elaborate on the development, implementation and evaluation of the use of online tools for learning, with special attention to games and gamification, sharing and collaboration.

On Capitalizing on Augmented Reality to Impart Solid Geometry Concepts: An Experimental Study

Spatial reasoning is key to success in several fields, including learning solid geometry concepts. Due to their lack of spatial skills, some students struggle with solid geometry concepts. Part of this difficulty stems from the fact that textbooks illustrate inherently three dimensional content using two dimensional images, which causes some students to score lower than others on these tests that require spatial reasoning. We believe that students with poor spatial skills can benefit from our augmented reality environment. This study investigated the benefits of using augmented reality to teach solid geometry concepts and boost spatial reasoning. During our investigation, 24 students were randomly assigned to two groups. The 12 students in the experimental group engaged in an introductory geometry lesson using augmented reality, while the students in the control group received instruction in a traditional fashion. Before being exposed to the contents of both introductory lessons, a pre-test was carried out. Following the completion of the introductory geometry lesson, a post-test was conducted. Afterwards, a statistical test was performed on the scores of both groups. Our results seem to indicate that using augmented reality can be a slightly more effective approach to teach solid geometry concepts. More specifically, after being exposed to solid geometry concepts through augmented reality, all but three of the participants improved their previous test scores while eight of the 12 participants obtained perfect scores. Thus, we conjecture that augmented reality can be used to better impart solid geometry knowledge to students while at the same time engaging students and increasing their rapport throughout the learning process.

Group Formation in CSCL: A Review of the State of the Art

Group formation in CSCL refers to the process of adequate selection and grouping of students to create scenarios and situations that help the learning to occur more smoothly. Objective: this paper presents a systematic mapping of the literature about group formation for CSCL intended to characterize the state of the art in the field as well as identifying gaps and opportunities for further re-search. Method: We designed a protocol to collect and analyze the literature on group formation in CSCL and carried it out using a rigorous systematic re-view/mapping method established in the literature. Initially, we collected 3571 papers about CSCL that had the potential to provide important information about research on group formation. After initial screening, 423 were recognized as papers related to group formation. After a careful analysis, 106 papers met the necessary requirements/criteria defined in our protocol. Results: each of the 106 papers was categorized according to their contributions using information extracted from this systematic mapping, and a framework to classify research in the field is proposed. Conclusions: this work provides an extensive analysis of the literature on group formation for CSCL offering an overview of the state of the art as well as opportunities for future research. We also create an infographic to summarize our findings, available at http://infografico.caed-lab.com/mapping/gfc/.

On the costs of applying logic-based criteria to mobile applications: An empirical analysis of predicates in real-world Objective-C and Swift applications

The proliferation of mobile devices has given rise to an increasing demand for software that is well-suited to this particular environment. However, ensuring the quality of mobile applications is challenging. Much of the overall complexity of mobile applications stems from logic expressions, i.e., predicates, which appear in control-flow statements (e.g., if, if--else, while, and do--while) and define much of the behavior of software. Thus, testing predicates is key to ensuring the quality of mobile applications. We argue that an apt way to test predicates is by leveraging well-established logic-based criteria. Many logic-based criteria have been devised, e.g., the active clause coverage (ACC) and modified condition/decision coverage (MCDC). Given that ACC/MCDC are considered expensive, we set out to examine the cost of applying these criteria to mobile applications. We probed into a basic, but relevant, proxy for cost: the complexity of predicates, i.e., number of clauses in predicates. We examined 35 open-source mobile applications implemented in Objective-C and Swift ranging from 129 to 58,140 lines of code with a total of 19,345 predicates. We looked at the frequency and percentage of predicates. We also analyzed the relationship between overall measures of size and the frequency of predicates. We found that, although about 99% of the predicates in mobile application have at most three clauses, there is a significant positive linear correlation between overall measures of size and the number of predicates with four or more clauses. We conclude that mobile applications do not have many multi-clause predicates and hence sophisticated logic-based criteria are needed on only a small portion of the predicates.

A Link Between Worlds: Towards a Conceptual Framework for Bridging Player and Learner Roles in Gamified Collaborative Learning Contexts

Gamification has been widely used in education with mixed results. Some empirical findings indicate that gamification can increase motivation and engagement in students; other findings highlight that gamification can be a distraction to students; and therefore it may end up hindering learning. To deal with this problem, it is necessary to design gamification to fit properly in individual and collaborative learning contexts. Unfortunately, there is a lack of studies on frameworks mapping game elements and learning theories to support the adequate design and application of gamification in education. Moreover, most proposed solutions do not take into account the need for personalized gamification. To bridge this gap, we set out to create models and a vocabulary to represent learner-player roles interactions in gamified collaborative learning contexts. We developed a conceptual framework using these models and the vocabulary. To demonstrate the framework’s viability to design theory-based gamified collaborative learning scenarios, we describe a case study using the theory Peer Tutoring. Our conceptual framework is an effort to support the development of social software tailored towards improving the learners’ interactions, providing rich and systematic new ways to learn and to explore the knowledge.

Uma Revisão Sistemática das Tecnologias da Web Semântica em Ambientes Educacionais

Este artigo apresenta um modelo para aplicacao de tecnicas de mineracao em dados coletados a partir de avaliacoes da aprendizagem. A partir da proposta, torna-se possivel identificar quais conteudos e em que niveis cognitivos eles foram assimilados pelos aprendizes, permitindo, assim, que estrategicas pedagogicas sejam adequadamente planejadas para grupos de estudantes que apresentem as dificuldades identificadas. Para validar o estudo, sao apresentados tambem os resultados do experimento realizado numa disciplina de Programacao do curso de Licenciatura em Computacao da Universidade de Pernambuco.