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- Calvo-Morata, Antonio, et al.
(författare)
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Games for coding to attract new students to STEM
- 2024
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Ingår i: IEEE EDUCON 2024.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- There is a need to increase the number of students, especially women, choosing programming and STEM disciplines. We need innovative approaches in schools to better engage students and awake their interest in computer science. This paper addresses the need to create tools that effectively support the learning of programming and the development of computational thinking, highlighting why video games can be an effective educational tool for it and also attract new students to STEM. The Game4Coding Erasmus+ project proposes the design of a video game called CodeQuest, using a game genre that has not been frequently used before to address the teaching of programming, the monster tamer genre. We consider that video games have a number of benefits such as that stimulate active learning, are engaging for a wide range of students, and present information in a way that is attractive to learners. We want to explore this kind of game’s effectiveness as a learning tool as well as its effect on the perception of STEM disciplines and programming to attract new public to coding (especially girls).
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| 2. |
- Mozelius, Peter, Docent, 1959-, et al.
(författare)
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Development of an Enjoyable Educational Game on Fundamental Programming : Designing for Inclusion and Learning Analytics
- 2023
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the 17th European Conference on Games Based Learning (ECGBL 2023). - : ACI Academic Conferences International. - 9781914587894 ; , s. 435-442
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- A well-discussed problem is how to attract a new public to computer programming, and especially how to reach girls and women. At the same time research reports on that children spend considerable amounts of time playing different types of games, where educational games today are part of formal, informal and non-formal learning. However, many educational games still have a design that appeals more to boys than to girls. Another problem addressed in this paper is how to measure the learning outcomes of an education game. It is a challenge per se to design for joyful gaming, but to assess the learning outcomes is important if the game should be accepted by teachers and a part of teaching and learning activities. The aim of this study was to describe and discuss the design and development of an educational game where girls would like to play together and at the same time learn fundamental programming. The research question that guided thisstudy was: " How could a motivating and inclusive educational game on fundamental programming be designed and developed, with minimal prerequisites for students and teachers?". The overall strategy for the design and development of the was the Design Science Research (DSR) approach. This work was carried out according to the recognised DSR process with the five phases of: 1) Explicating the problem, 2) Defining the requirements, 3) Designing and developing the artefact, 4) Demonstrating the artefact, and 5) Evaluating the artefact. Phase one was based on a minor literature study, while Phase 2 was a combination of a larger and more systematic literature study combined with game testing. Phase 3 was conducted with brain storming sessions for design followed by implementation in the Unity game development tool. Finally, the game has been demonstrated for, and tested by, a group of academic game developers. Results from the formative evaluation look promising, but the important next step in this project is a more formal evaluation using game-based learning analytics with a larger and more diverse test audience.
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| 3. |
- Mozelius, Peter, Docent, 1959-, et al.
(författare)
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How to get the girls Gaming : A Literature Study on Inclusive Design
- 2022
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the 16th European Conference on Games Based Learning (ECGBL 2022). - Reading, UK : Academic Conferences and Publishing International Limited. - 9781914587511 - 9781914587528 ; , s. 396-402
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Gaming is a ubiquitous activity today where many children spend considerable amounts of time playing various games. Serious games have also become a mainstream educational tool in a wide variety of school subjects. Despite this, many games still have a design that mainly appeals to boys where girls are less frequent players. The aim of this study was to gather requirements for a design of serious games where girls should not feel excluded. The research question to answer was: "Which design concepts are important if girls should be engaged in serious gaming?". Furthermore, the results from this study could be useful for future implementations of educational games. This study strives to address the research gap in the field of inclusive game design, and to gather important requirements for games where girls and boys want to play together. This study was carried out as a scoping literature review to map literature in the field of game design to identify key concepts that can attract the younger girl audience. Scoping literature reviews offer a method of mapping key concepts in a research field to identifying the main sources and types of evidence available. A central aim of a scoping literature review is to synthesise research results to a specific target group as a foundation for future research. For this study, the future research will consist of implementing the found design factors in an educational game on computer science. Findings indicate that there are specific game design concepts that girls find appealing. Important main themes to consider are Creativity and customisation, Character diversity, Collaborative interaction, and Exploration without violence. However, there seems to be several challenges related to the concept of designing specific girl games. The conclusion from this study is rather to choose a more inclusive game design where girls and boys would like to play together. A concept for game design that could be described as having a low threshold, wide walls and a high ceiling. The recommendation for a girl inclusive design is to carefully consider factors such as narration, backstory, social interaction, game graphics, sound design, and personalisation.
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