Tanja Heumos, Michael D. Kickmeier-Rust
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Digital games have been successfully applied for the treatment mental health problems such as stress disorders, traumatic disorders, or hyperactivity syndromes. Specifically the treatment of anxiety traits and anxiety disorders such as phobias have been in the focus of game‑based treatments in the past. A societal challenge that is increasing in recent times is media‑induced fears in young children. While tailored game‑based treatments existing for schoolchildren, tailored and theoretically sound solutions for children below the age of eight are sparse and so is the available body of empirical research in this direction. In this paper, we present a game‑based training app (MARTY) for teaching young children to cope with their fears. The training is based on standard techniques for anxiety reduction such as breathing techniques and cognitive strategies. We investigated quantitative effects, measured by physiological values such as heart rate and skin resistance (EDA), and qualitative aspects of the MARTY app based on 17 four to six year olds. Overall, we found significant effects of the training on EDA values, as indicators for the arousal and anxiety level of children. No significant differences were found for heart rates. A key finding is that the training effects are positively correlated with the general anxiety level of children, as reported by their parents. The MARTY app may be a promising tool to guide and support parents and young children in reducing fears and anxieties.
Keywords: anxiety disorders, trait anxiety, game-based treatment, cognitive behavioral therapy, physiological measures
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Co‑Designing and Learning in Virtual Reality: Development of Tool for Alcohol Resistance Training
pp219‑234
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This paper presents the design process of a Danish educational virtual reality (VR) application for alcohol prevention. Denmark is one on the countries in Europe with the highest alcohol consumption among adolescents. Alcohol abuse is a risk factor for a variety of diseases and contributes as a significant factor to motor vehicle accidents. The application offers first‑hand experiences with alcohol in a safe environment. This is done by simulating a party situation using 125 different 360‑degree movie sequences and displaying it in a virtual reality headset. The users create their own experience through a choose your own adventure game experience. The experience is designed to acquire skills for recognizing and handling peer pressure, which has been found to be one of the main reasons for drinking initiation. These skills are acquired though experimental learning. The application is a product of a co‑design process involving 10 students (aged 18‑28) studying film making and game design at Askov Folk High School (a special kind of Danish boarding school without exams for young adults), Denmark, their teachers, alcohol experts from social services and researchers with expertise within health promotion, social marketing, VR, interaction design and game development. Additionally, 35 students from Askov Boarding School (aged 15‑17) participated as actors and extras. This article contributes to research within development of 360‑degree video applications for experimental learning with a practical example. The iterative design process of the application, containing exploration of key concepts, concept design, prototype design, pre‑usability testing, innovation design and usability test is described, as well as our reflections on virtual experimental learning in the application.
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Games are a great source of entertainment and are used by people of all ages; they motivate and engage people and affect their behavior. Therefore, games have been widely studied in many non‑game contexts. Education is one of those areas where gamified, and game‑based learning strategies have been implemented and explored. To engage and motivate students to quiz each other, and as a side effect, build a question bank, as well as to study the gaming and learning behavior of students, we used a peer‑quizzing game called "Tower of Questions" (ToQ). The game uses some themes and mechanics found in tower defense (TD) games. The students received points for posing and answering the questions in the game in the form of gems. Students played the game with pseudonyms for one academic term and were told not to disclose their identities to anyone. We conducted a 3‑month long study for two consecutive years in the same first‑year undergraduate computer science course. In this paper, we present the findings from our studies using ToQ, specifically findings related to the students’ self‑monitoring and quizzing activities based on the game logs and two self‑reported surveys from data collected in the second year of the study.
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Knowledge in Computer Science (CS) is essential, and companies have increased their demands for CS professionals. Despite this, many jobs remain vacant. Furthermore, computational thinking (CT) skills are required in all contexts of problem solving. A further serious problem arises from the gender disparity in technology related fields. Even if tech companies want to hire women in technology, the number of women who enter these fields is remarkably low. In high schools with no technical focus, most teenagers acquire only low‑level skills in CS. The consequences are misleading preconceptions about the fundamental ideas of CS and stereotype‑based expectations. Consequently, many teenagers exclude computing from their career path. In this paper, two promising concepts to overcome these challenges are presented. In 2018, a voluntary gamified lecture “Design your own app”, held at the University of Graz for students of all degree programs, was introduced. The course attracted over 200 students and received positive evaluations. This led to the second concept. In January 2019, a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) with the title “Get FIT in Computer Science” was designed and launched in August 2019 on the platform iMooX.at with the goal to provide a basic introduction to different concepts of CS, including programming and the application of game design strategies. The MOOC was accompanied by an offline lecture, following the principles of flipped classroom and inverse blended learning. For evaluation purposes, we collected data at three stages: 1) during the MOOC, 2) during the offline lecture, and 3) two months after the lecture. The results showed that the MOOC framework was a promising approach to support and motivate at least a certain group of first‑semester students, especially those who had no prior knowledge in CS.
Keywords: computer science education, digital literacy, technology enhanced learning, MOOC, flipped classroom, Pocket Code
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Erik Ottar Jensen, Thorkild Hanghøj
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This paper presents empirical findings from a qualitative study on Minecraft as a mathematical tool and learning environment. Even though Minecraft has been used for several years in classrooms around the world, there is a lack of detailed empirical studies of how students learn subject‑related content by working with the game. This study is based on a design experiment with an inquiry‑based teaching unit for fifth graders, which focused on using the coordinate system embedded in Minecraft, as a means to navigate and explore the game in order to solve mathematical problems. Based on student interviews, we explore how the students experienced and switched to new perspectives on mathematical knowledge through their participation in the teaching unit. Using thematic analysis, we explore data from six group interviews. The theoretical framework is based on domain theory, dialogical theory and notions of students’ mathematical agency. The key analytical findings regard the students’ experience of the coordinate system as part of both the academic domain of mathematics and their everyday domain of playing Minecraft, how they actively use the coordinate system to improve play in Minecraft and how they experience new ways of participating in mathematics. The article concludes by offering design principles for the future use of computer games in mathematics education.
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