scholarly journals Usability Testing for Serious Games: Making Informed Design Decisions with User Data

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pablo Moreno-Ger ◽  
Javier Torrente ◽  
Yichuan Grace Hsieh ◽  
William T. Lester
Keyword(s):  
Serious Games ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Usability Testing ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Educational Game ◽  
Management Tools ◽  
Medication Knowledge ◽  
User Data ◽  
Successful Design

Usability testing is a key step in the successful design of new technologies and tools, ensuring that heterogeneous populations will be able to interact easily with innovative applications. While usability testing methods of productivity tools (e.g., text editors, spreadsheets, or management tools) are varied, widely available, and valuable, analyzing the usability of games, especially educational “serious” games, presents unique usability challenges. Because games are fundamentally different than general productivity tools, “traditional” usability instruments valid for productivity applications may fall short when used for serious games. In this work we present a methodology especially designed to facilitate usability testing for serious games, taking into account the specific needs of such applications and resulting in a systematically produced list of suggested improvements from large amounts of recorded gameplay data. This methodology was applied to a case study for a medical educational game, MasterMed, intended to improve patients’ medication knowledge. We present the results from this methodology applied to MasterMed and a summary of the central lessons learned that are likely useful for researchers who aim to tune and improve their own serious games before releasing them for the general public.

Engaging professionals with serious games: the Lean Healthcare Lab at Siena University Hospital

2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 7-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federico Barnabè ◽  
Maria Cleofe Giorgino ◽  
Jacopo Guercini ◽  
Caterina Bianciardi ◽  
Vincenzo Mezzatesta
Keyword(s):  
Serious Games ◽  
Leadership Skills ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
Management Tools ◽  
Lean Thinking ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Lean Principles ◽  
Lean Healthcare ◽  
Firsthand Experience

Purpose This paper aims to stimulate interest in the potentials of serious games within organizations. Through the examination of a case study, emphasis is given to serious games designed for health care (HC) organizations that are adopting lean thinking principles and tools. Design/methodology/approach The paper discusses how serious games can be designed and implemented in practice by describing a case study based on a HC organization. The program, now in its second year, has been used extensively to train HC professionals. Findings The article is based on the authors’ firsthand experience with serious games and the outcome of several projects carried out in the HC setting under analysis. Serious games were found to be powerful training and management development tools as well as engaging environments for professionals. Specifically, The Lean Healthcare Lab supported professionals in their use and implementation of several Lean principles and techniques. Research limitations/implications The article suggests the opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of serious games also to improve team performance and develop leadership skills. Practical implications Serious games have an enormous potential in sustaining processes of both individual and organizational learning, as well as facilitating improved teamwork. Moreover, serious games are very effective educational tools when compared to more conventional programs. Originality/value The approach described in this study can be used to design and implement serious games in any type of organization, in particular, those employing highly skilled professionals. Additionally, this article highlights how serious games can provide learners with a simulated close-to-reality environment where they are challenged to develop policies and use a variety of Lean and management tools.

scholarly journals Evaluating the Usability of Authoring Environments for Serious Games

2017 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 553-578 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aad Slootmaker ◽  
Hans Hummel ◽  
Rob Koper
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Serious Games ◽  
Professional Competence ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Authoring Environment ◽  
Game Developers ◽  
User Friendly ◽  
Practical Implications

Background. The EMERGO method and online platform enable the development and delivery of scenario-based serious games that foster students to acquire professional competence. One of the main goals of the platform is to provide a user-friendly authoring environment for creating virtual environments where students can perform authentic tasks. Aim. We present the findings of an in-depth qualitative case study of the platform’s authoring environment and compare our findings on usability with those found for comparable environments in literature. Method. We carried out semi-structured interviews, with two experienced game developers who have authored a game for higher education, and a literature review of comparable environments. Findings. The analysis shows that the usability of the authoring environment is problematic, especially regarding understandability and learnability, which is in line with findings of comparable environments. Other findings are that authoring is well integrated with the EMERGO method and that functionality and reliability of the authoring environment are valued. Practical implications. The lessons learned are presented in the form of general guidelines to improve the understandability and learnability of authoring environments for serious games.

scholarly journals Learning Analytics Through Serious Games: Data Mining Algorithms for Performance Measurement and Improvement Purposes

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (01) ◽  
pp. 46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdelali Slimani ◽  
Fatiha Elouaai ◽  
Lotfi Elaachak ◽  
Othman Bakkali Yedri ◽  
Mohammed Bouhorma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Data Mining ◽  
Learning Analytics ◽  
Serious Games ◽  
Educational Data Mining ◽  
Educational Game ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Data Mining Algorithms ◽  
Hiv Antibodies ◽  
User Data ◽  
Player Experience

learning analytics is an emerging discipline focused on the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of learner interaction data through the E-learning contents. Serious game provides a potential source for relevant educational user data; it can propose an interactive environment for training and offer an effective learning process. This paper presents methods and approaches of educational data mining such as EM and K-Means to discuss the learning analytics through serious games, and then we provide an analysis of the player experience data collected from the educational game “ELISA” used to teach students of biology the immunological technique for determination of ANTI-HIV antibodies. Finally, we propose critically evaluation of our results including the limitations of our study and making suggestions for future research that links learning analytics and serious gaming.

scholarly journals Lessons learned from implementing project management games

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Rumeser ◽  
Margaret Emsley
Keyword(s):  
Project Management ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Serious Games ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Educational Game ◽  
Communication Mode ◽  
Design And Implementation ◽  
Implementation Guideline ◽  
Management Games

The purpose of this paper is to identify the principles governing successful project management serious (educational) game design and implementation by identifying lessons learned from implementing such games. This paper applied a triangulation method that qualitatively blends the perspectives of project management practitioners, game designers, and learners. The findings of this paper suggest principles of game realism, context, display, gameplay clarity, target audience, feedback, setting, debriefing, communication mode, and personalization. The main potential beneficiaries of this research include project management educators, trainers, students, training participants, and game designers. The study provides a comprehensive project management game design and implementation guideline that could help improve the quality of project management serious games. This paper is the first exploratory study to blend the perspectives of learners (students), serious game experts, and experienced project management practitioners in order to identify the key principles of delivering successful project management educational or serious games.    

scholarly journals A Methodology for Semantic Enrichment of Cultural Heritage Images Using Artificial Intelligence Technologies

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. 121
Author(s):  
Yalemisew Abgaz ◽  
Renato Rocha Souza ◽  
Japesh Methuku ◽  
Gerda Koch ◽  
Amelie Dorn
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Semantic Web Technologies ◽  
Research Areas ◽  
Abstract Content

Cultural heritage images are among the primary media for communicating and preserving the cultural values of a society. The images represent concrete and abstract content and symbolise the social, economic, political, and cultural values of the society. However, an enormous amount of such values embedded in the images is left unexploited partly due to the absence of methodological and technical solutions to capture, represent, and exploit the latent information. With the emergence of new technologies and availability of cultural heritage images in digital formats, the methodology followed to semantically enrich and utilise such resources become a vital factor in supporting users need. This paper presents a methodology proposed to unearth the cultural information communicated via cultural digital images by applying Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies (such as Computer Vision (CV) and semantic web technologies). To this end, the paper presents a methodology that enables efficient analysis and enrichment of a large collection of cultural images covering all the major phases and tasks. The proposed method is applied and tested using a case study on cultural image collections from the Europeana platform. The paper further presents the analysis of the case study, the challenges, the lessons learned, and promising future research areas on the topic.

scholarly journals Multi-Stakeholder Development of a Serious Game to Explore the Water-Energy-Food-Land-Climate Nexus: The SIM4NEXUS Approach

Water ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janez Sušnik ◽  
Chengzi Chew ◽  
Xavier Domingo ◽  
Simone Mereu ◽  
Antonio Trabucco ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Serious Games ◽  
Research Policy ◽  
Model Development ◽  
Stakeholder Involvement ◽  
Quantitative Model ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Serious Game ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
Multi Stakeholder

Water, energy, food, land and climate form a tightly-connected nexus in which actions on one sector impact other sectors, creating feedbacks and unanticipated consequences. This is especially because at present, much scientific research and many policies are constrained to single discipline/sector silos that are often not interacting (e.g., water-related research/policy). However, experimenting with the interaction and determining how a change in one sector could impact another may require unreasonable time frames, be very difficult in practice and may be potentially dangerous, triggering any one of a number of unanticipated side-effects. Current modelling often neglects knowledge from practice. Therefore, a safe environment is required to test the potential cross-sectoral implications of policy decisions in one sector on other sectors. Serious games offer such an environment by creating realistic ‘simulations’, where long-term impacts of policies may be tested and rated. This paper describes how the ongoing (2016–2020) Horizon2020 project SIM4NEXUS will develop serious games investigating potential plausible cross-nexus implications and synergies due to policy interventions for 12 multi-scale case studies ranging from regional to global. What sets these games apart is that stakeholders and partners are involved in all aspects of the modelling definition and process, from case study conceptualisation, quantitative model development including the implementation and validation of each serious game. Learning from playing a serious game is justified by adopting a proof-of-concept for a specific regional case study in Sardinia (Italy). The value of multi-stakeholder involvement is demonstrated, and critical lessons learned for serious game development in general are presented.

Generic Themes for Developing Research Skills through E-Learning

2010 ◽  
pp. 344-358
Author(s):  
Abbas Bazargan ◽  
Amin Mousavi
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Major Part ◽  
Community Of Inquiry ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Graduate Programs ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Research Competencies ◽  
E Learning ◽  
Teaching Learning

Research competencies are considered as a major part of post-graduate programs. With the introduction of new technologies in higher education, there has been particular emphasis to move to an e-learning variant of the teaching-learning process in developing research competencies. Based on the recent experiences, it seems the blended approach is more promising. In this regard, an experimental approach in designing and developing an e-course was adopted at a private e-learning university in Iran. The ecourse was organized through a design-based approach. This chapter is a case study which presents an analysis of the factors that affected designing and developing the e-course. It points to the experiences gained through building the community of inquiry and discusses lessons learned.

Faculty Development: A Stage Model Matched to Blended Learning Maturation

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael L. Fetters ◽  
Tova Garcia Duby
Keyword(s):  
Faculty Development ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Technology Enhanced Learning ◽  
Stage Model ◽  
Years Of Experience ◽  
Development Programs ◽  
Curriculum Innovation ◽  
Enhanced Learning

Faculty development programs are critical to the implementation and support of curriculum innovation. In this case study, the authors present lessons learned from ten years of experience in faculty development programs created to support innovation in technology enhanced learning. Stages of curriculum innovation are matched to stages of faculty development, and important lessons for success as well as current challenges are delineated and discussed.

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