research-article

Design Rationales of a Mobile Game-Based Intervention for German Dyslexic Children

Authors:

Benedikt Beuttler,

Manuel NinausAuthors Info & Claims

CHI PLAY '18 Extended Abstracts: Proceedings of the 2018 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play Companion Extended Abstracts

Pages 205 - 219

https://doi.org/10.1145/3270316.3272053

Published: 23 October 2018 Publication History

Abstract

Educational games have been shown to provide support for children with learning disabilities to overcome their challenges. Gaming and feedback elements can benefit the learning process while keeping children engaged and help them to regain motivation for learning. We present the design of a mobile serious game for German dyslexic primary school children that incorporates gaming elements such as narrative, pedagogical agents, tutorials, feedback, and reward mechanisms. We derive our game design decisions and specify the rationales behind with special focus on the needs and demands of the target group. We evaluate the gaming elements based on the results of 63 children who played the game at home during a period of 9-10 weeks. Results indicate overall positive perception of the game elements. Children were immersed in the fantasy-themed world, liked the pedagogical agents, and indicated that the interactive tutorials gave an easy start into the game, and emphasized the special importance of praise.

Supplementary Material

suppl.mov (playsl23.mp4)

Supplemental video

Download
14.34 MB

References

[1]

Philip Abrami, Eugene Borohkovski, and Larysa Lysenko. 2015. The Effects of ABRACADABRA on Reading Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis of Applied Field Research. Journal of Interactive Learning Research 26, 4 (2015), 337--367.

[2]

Chadia Abras, Diane Maloney-Krichmar, and Jenny Preece. 2004. User-centered design. Bainbridge, W. Encyclopedia of Human-Computer Interaction. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications 37, 4 (2004), 445--456.

[3]

Sylvester Arnab, Theodore Lim, Maira B. Carvalho, Francesco Bellotti, Sara de Freitas, Sandy Louchart, Neil Suttie, Riccardo Berta, and Alessandro De Gloria. 2015. Mapping learning and game mechanics for serious games analysis . British Journal of Educational Technology 46, 2 (mar 2015), 391--411.

[4]

Kay Berkling. 2017. Phontasia: A phonics game for German and its effect on orthographic skills--first corpus explorations. In WOCCI 2017: 6th International Workshop on Child Computer Interaction. ISCA, ISCA, 7--16.

[5]

Max V. Birk, Cheralyn Atkins, Jason T. Bowey, and Regan L. Mandryk. 2016. Fostering Intrinsic Motivation through Avatar Identification in Digital Games. In Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - CHI '16. ACM Press, New York, New York, USA, 2982--2995.

Digital Library

[6]

Elizabeth A. Boyle, Thomas Hainey, Thomas M. Connolly, Grant Gray, Jeffrey Earp, Michela Ott, Theodore Lim, Manuel Ninaus, Claudia Ribeiro, and João Pereira. 2016. An update to the systematic literature review of empirical evidence of the impacts and outcomes of computer games and serious games . Computers & Education 94, Supplement C (2016), 178--192.

Digital Library

[7]

Luciana Cidrim and Francisco Madeiro. 2017. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) applied to dyslexia: literature review . Revista CEFAC 19, 1 (feb 2017), 99--108.

[8]

Gemma Corbalan, Liesbeth Kester, and Jeroen J.G. van Merrië nboer. 2009. Dynamic task selection: Effects of feedback and learner control on efficiency and motivation . Learning and Instruction 19, 6 (dec 2009), 455--465.

[9]

Diana I. Cordova and Mark R. Lepper. 1996. Intrinsic motivation and the process of learning: Beneficial effects of contextualization, personalization, and choice. Journal of Educational Psychology 88, 4 (1996), 715--730.

[10]

Sebastian Deterding, Dan Dixon, Rilla Khaled, and Lennart Nacke. 2011. From Game Design Elements to Gamefulness: Defining "Gamification". In Proceedings of the 15th International Academic MindTrek Conference: Envisioning Future Media Environments (MindTrek '11). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 9--15.

Digital Library

[11]

Athanasios Drigas and Elektra Batziaka. 2016. Dyslexia and ICTs, Assessment and Early Intervention in Kindergarten. International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (iJET) 11, 02 (feb 2016), 53.

[12]

Allison Druin. 1999. Cooperative Inquiry: Developing New Technologies for Children with Children. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '99). ACM Press, New York, New York, USA, 592--599.

Digital Library

[13]

Allison Druin. 2002. The role of children in the design of new technology. Behaviour & Information Technology 21, 1 (jan 2002), 1--25.

[14]

Kevin Durkin, James Boyle, Simon Hunter, and Gina Conti-Ramsden. 2013. Video Games for Children and Adolescents With Special Educational Needs. Zeitschrift fü r Psychologie 221, 2 (jan 2013), 79--89.

[15]

Severine Erhel and Eric Jamet. 2013. Digital game-based learning: Impact of instructions and feedback on motivation and learning effectiveness. Computers & Education 67, September (sep 2013), 156--167.

[16]

Tracy Fullerton. 2008. Game Design Workshop: A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games (2nd ed.). Morgan Kaufmann, Heidelberg. https://books.google.de/books?id=OjIYWtqWxtAC

[17]

Gabe Zichermann and Christopher Cunningham. 2011. Gamification by Design-Implementing Game Mechanics in Web and Mobile Apps. Vol. 27. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 208 pages. http://ebooks.cambridge.org/ref/id/CBO9781107415324A009

Digital Library

[18]

Benjamin Goldberg and Janis Cannon-Bowers. 2015. Feedback source modality effects on training outcomes in a serious game: Pedagogical agents make a difference. Computers in Human Behavior 52, 1--2 (nov 2015), 1--11.

Digital Library

[19]

Abbie Gonzalez. 2014. OpenDyslexic (2014). https://www.opendyslexic.org/

[20]

Usha Goswami, Natasha Mead, Tim Fosker, Martina Huss, Lisa Barnes, and Victoria Leong. 2013. Impaired perception of syllable stress in children with dyslexia: A longitudinal study. Journal of Memory and Language 69, 1 (2013), 1--17.

[21]

Thomas Hainey, Thomas M. Connolly, Elizabeth A. Boyle, Amanda Wilson, and Aisya Razak. 2016. A systematic literature review of games-based learning empirical evidence in primary education. Computers & Education 102 (2016), 202--223.

Digital Library

[22]

Heiko Holz, Katharina Brandelik, Benedikt Beuttler, Jochen Brandelik, and Manuel Ninaus. In press 2018. How to train your syllable stress awareness -- A digital game-based approach for German dyslexic children. International Journal of Serious Games (In press 2018).

[23]

Heiko Holz, Katharina Brandelik, Jochen Brandelik, Benedikt Beuttler, Alexandra Kirsch, Jü rgen Heller, and Detmar Meurers. 2017. Prosodiya -- A Mobile Game for German Dyslexic Children. In Games and Learning Alliance: 6th International Conference, GALA 2017, Lisbon, Portugal, December 5-7, 2017, Proceedings, Jo a o Dias, Pedro A. Santos, and Remco C. Veltkamp (Eds.). 73--82.

[24]

Heiko Holz, Manuel Ninaus, Detmar Meurers, and Alexandra Kirsch. 2018. Validitiy and Player Experience of a Mobile Game for German Dyslexic Children. In Extended Abstracts Publication of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (CHI PLAY '18 Extended Abstracts). ACM.

Digital Library

[25]

Elena Ise and Gerd Schulte-Kö rne. 2010. Spelling deficits in dyslexia: Evaluation of an orthographic spelling training. Annals of Dyslexia 60, 1 (2010), 18--39.

[26]

Gracia Jimé nez-Ferná ndez, Nicolá s Gutié rrez-Palma, and Sylvia Defior. 2015. Impaired stress awareness in Spanish children with developmental dyslexia. Research in Developmental Disabilities 37 (feb 2015), 152--161.

[27]

Maria N. Kazakou and Spiros Soulis. 2015. Feedback and the speed of answer of pupils with dyslexia in digital activities. Procedia - Procedia Computer Science 67 (2015), 204--212.

[28]

Fengfeng Ke and Tatiana Abras. 2013. Games for engaged learning of middle school children with special learning needs. British Journal of Educational Technology 44, 2 (2013), 225--242.

[29]

Christian Klicpera and Barbara Gasteiger Klicpera. 2000. Sind Rechtschreibschwierigkeiten Ausdruck einer phonologischen Stö rung? Zeitschrift fü r Entwicklungspsychologie und Pä dagogische Psychologie 32, 3 (jul 2000), 134--142.

[30]

Jonna Koivisto and Juho Hamari. 2014. Demographic differences in perceived benefits from gamification. Computers in Human Behavior 35 (jun 2014), 179--188.

[31]

Karin Landerl. 2003. Categorization of vowel length in German poor spellers: An orthographically relevant phonological distinction. Applied Psycholinguistics 24, 4 (2003), 523--538.

[32]

Victoria Leong, Jarmo Hämäläinen, Fruzsina Solté sz, and Usha Goswami. 2011. Rise time perception and detection of syllable stress in adults with developmental dyslexia. Journal of Memory and Language 64, 1 (2011), 59--73.

[33]

Sohye Lim and Byron Reeves. 2010. Computer agents versus avatars: Responses to interactive game characters controlled by a computer or other player. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies 68, 1--2 (jan 2010), 57--68.

Digital Library

[34]

Manuel Ninaus, Kristian Kiili, Jake McMullen, and Korbinian Moeller. 2016. A Game-Based Approach to Examining Students' Conceptual Knowledge of Fractions. In Games and Learning Alliance: 5th International Conference, GALA 2016, Utrecht, The Netherlands, December 5-7, 2016, Proceedings, Rosa Bottino, Johan Jeuring, and Remco C. Veltkamp (Eds.). Springer International Publishing, 37--49.

[35]

Manuel Ninaus, Matthias Witte, Silvia E Kober, Elisabeth V C Friedrich, Erwin Hartsuiker, Christa Neuper, Guilherme Wood, Jü rgen Kurzmann, Erwin Hartsuiker, Christa Neuper, and Guilherme Wood. 2014. Neurofeedback and Serious Games. In Psychology, Pedagogy, and Assessment in Serious Games, Thomas M Connolly, Thomas Hainey, Elizabeth Boyle, Gavin Baxter, and Pablo Moreno-Ger (Eds.). IGI Global, Hershey, PA, USA, 82--110.

[36]

Donald A Norman and Stephen W Draper. 1986. User Centered System Design; New Perspectives on Human-Computer Interaction. Journal educational computing research 3, 1 (1986), 129--134.

[37]

Hyacinth Nwana. 1990. Intelligent tutoring systems: an overview. Artificial Intelligence Review 4 (1990), 251--277.

[38]

Louise E. Parker, Mark R. Lepper, Kim Bartholomew, Diana Cordova, and John Mayer. 1992. Effects of fantasy contexts on children's learning and motivation: Making learning more fun. Journal of personality and social psychology 62, 4 (1992), 625--633.

[39]

Jan L. Plass, Steffi Heidig, Elizabeth O. Hayward, Bruce D. Homer, and Enjoon Um. 2014. Emotional design in multimedia learning: Effects of shape and color on affect and learning. Learning and Instruction 29 (2014), 128--140.

[40]

Jan L. Plass, Bruce D. Homer, and Charles K. Kinzer. 2015. Foundations of Game-Based Learning. Educational Psychologist 50, 4 (oct 2015), 258--283.

[41]

Clark N. Quinn. 2005. Engaging learning: Designing e-learning simulation games. John Wiley & Sons.

Digital Library

[42]

Janet C. Read. 2008. Validating the Fun Toolkit: an instrument for measuring children's opinions of technology. Cognition, Technology & Work 10, 2 (apr 2008), 119--128.

Digital Library

[43]

Carola Reuter-Liehr. 1993. Behandlung der Lese-Rechtschreibschwäche nach der Grundschulzeit: Anwendung und Ü berprü fung eines Konzeptes. Zeitschrift fü r Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie 21, 3 (1993), 135--147.

[44]

Katharina Sauter, Jü rgen Heller, and Karin Landerl. 2012. Sprachrhythmus und Schriftspracherwerb. Lernen und Lernstö rungen 1, 4 (2012), 225--239.

[45]

Kelly L. Schmitt, Lisa B. Hurwitz, Laura Sheridan Duel, Deborah L Nichols Linebarger, and Deborah L. Nichols Linebarger. 2018. Learning through play: The impact of web-based games on early literacy development. Computers in Human Behavior 81 (2018), 378--389.

[46]

Valerie J. Shute. 2008. Focus on Formative Feedback. Review of Educational Research 78, 1 (mar 2008), 153--189.

[47]

Sven Staffeldt. 2010. Einfü hrung in die Phonetik, Phonologie und Graphematik des Deutschen. Ein Leitfaden fü r den akademischen Unterricht. Stauffenburg, Tü bingen.

[48]

Pieter Wouters, Christof van Nimwegen, Herre van Oostendorp, and Erik D van der Spek. 2013. A meta-analysis of the cognitive and motivational effects of serious games. Journal of Educational Psychology 105, 2 (2013), 249--265.

Cited By

Holz HBeuttler BLöfflad DNinaus M(2024)Developing a Group-Based Literacy Screening for German Pre-Readers: A Digital, Game-Based ApproachProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36764968:MHCI(1-28)Online publication date: 24-Sep-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3676496
Liu YKhine M(2023)Teachers and Education Recovery: Redesigning Learning and Changing MindsetInterdisciplinary Perspectives on Special and Inclusive Education in a Volatile, Uncertain, Complex & Ambiguous (Vuca) World10.1108/S1479-363620230000020008(123-135)Online publication date: 29-Jun-2023
https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-363620230000020008
Ouherrou NMailles Viard Metz SEl Kafi JGiraldo M(2023)Participatory design of an Arabic serious game for children with dyslexia: a qualitative exploratory studyUniversal Access in the Information Society10.1007/s10209-023-01015-923:4(1873-1895)Online publication date: 19-Jul-2023
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-023-01015-9
Show More Cited By

Index Terms

Design Rationales of a Mobile Game-Based Intervention for German Dyslexic Children

Recommendations

Validity and Player Experience of a Mobile Game for German Dyslexic Children
CHI PLAY '18 Extended Abstracts: Proceedings of the 2018 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play Companion Extended Abstracts

Approximately 4-10% of the German population suffers from developmental dyslexia, influencing affected children's educational, personal, and social development negatively. Digital interventions have shown great promise to support dyslexic children ...
Digital games-based learning for children with dyslexia

Taking a process-orientated, social constructivist lens, we examine the case of a digital game called Words Matter. The game was designed for children with dyslexia and was informed by principles from casual games and evidence-based practice from ...
ARLexic game: an augmented reality-based serious game for training of dyslexic and dysgraphic children
Abstract
Over the years, researchers have discovered increased problems among children related to reading and writing. Dyslexia and Dysgraphia are the most common problems they try to solve with various paper-based activities and gaming interventions. But ...

Comments

Information & Contributors

Information

Published In

cover image ACM Conferences

CHI PLAY '18 Extended Abstracts: Proceedings of the 2018 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play Companion Extended Abstracts

October 2018

725 pages

ISBN:9781450359689

DOI:10.1145/3270316

General Chairs:
Florian 'Floyd' Mueller
Exertion Games Lab, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
,
Daniel Johnson
Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia
,
Ben Schouten
Eindhoven University of Technology and Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, the Netherlands
,
Program Chairs:
Phoebe O. Toups Dugas
Play & Interactive Experiences for Learning Lab, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA
,
Peta Wyeth
Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia

Copyright © 2018 ACM.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than the author(s) must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected].

Sponsors

SIGCHI: ACM Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction

Publisher

Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 23 October 2018

Permissions

Request permissions for this article.

Request Permissions

Check for updates

Author Tags

Qualifiers

Research-article

Conference

CHI PLAY '18

Sponsor:

SIGCHI

CHI PLAY '18: The annual symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play

October 28 - 31, 2018

VIC, Melbourne, Australia

Acceptance Rates

CHI PLAY '18 Extended Abstracts Paper Acceptance Rate 43 of 123 submissions, 35%;

Overall Acceptance Rate 421 of 1,386 submissions, 30%

Contributors

Other Metrics

View Article Metrics

Bibliometrics & Citations

Bibliometrics

Article Metrics

10
Total Citations
View Citations
437
Total Downloads

Downloads (Last 12 months)44
Downloads (Last 6 weeks)1

Reflects downloads up to 24 Jan 2025

Other Metrics

View Author Metrics

Citations

Cited By

Holz HBeuttler BLöfflad DNinaus M(2024)Developing a Group-Based Literacy Screening for German Pre-Readers: A Digital, Game-Based ApproachProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36764968:MHCI(1-28)Online publication date: 24-Sep-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3676496
Liu YKhine M(2023)Teachers and Education Recovery: Redesigning Learning and Changing MindsetInterdisciplinary Perspectives on Special and Inclusive Education in a Volatile, Uncertain, Complex & Ambiguous (Vuca) World10.1108/S1479-363620230000020008(123-135)Online publication date: 29-Jun-2023
https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-363620230000020008
Ouherrou NMailles Viard Metz SEl Kafi JGiraldo M(2023)Participatory design of an Arabic serious game for children with dyslexia: a qualitative exploratory studyUniversal Access in the Information Society10.1007/s10209-023-01015-923:4(1873-1895)Online publication date: 19-Jul-2023
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-023-01015-9
Żammit J(2022)Is mobile game-based learning effective for international adults learning Maltese?Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education10.1186/s40862-022-00157-27:1Online publication date: 14-Nov-2022
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40862-022-00157-2
Larco ACarrillo JChicaiza NYanez CLuján-Mora S(2021)Moving beyond Limitations: Designing the Helpdys App for Children with Dyslexia in Rural AreasSustainability10.3390/su1313708113:13(7081)Online publication date: 24-Jun-2021
https://doi.org/10.3390/su13137081
OLUWATOYIN CEMMANUEL OTEMITAYO O(2021)A DIGITAL GAME-BASED MATRIX LEARNING SYSTEMi-manager's Journal of Educational Technology10.26634/jet.17.4.1759717:4(29)Online publication date: 2021
https://doi.org/10.26634/jet.17.4.17597
Holz HMeurers D(2021)Interaction Styles in Context: Comparing Drag-and-Drop, Point-and-Touch, and Touch in a Mobile Spelling GameInternational Journal of Human–Computer Interaction10.1080/10447318.2020.1848160(1-16)Online publication date: 4-Feb-2021
https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2020.1848160
Hasani LSensuse DKautsarina Suryono R(2020)User-Centered Design of e-Learning User Interfaces: A Survey of the Practices2020 3rd International Conference on Computer and Informatics Engineering (IC2IE)10.1109/IC2IE50715.2020.9274623(1-7)Online publication date: 15-Sep-2020
https://doi.org/10.1109/IC2IE50715.2020.9274623
Olakanmi OAkcayir GIshola ODemmans Epp C(2020)Using technology in special education: current practices and trendsEducational Technology Research and Development10.1007/s11423-020-09795-0Online publication date: 18-Jun-2020
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-020-09795-0
Holz HNinaus MMeurers DKirsch AMueller FJohnson DSchouten BToups ZWyeth P(2018)Validity and Player Experience of a Mobile Game for German Dyslexic ChildrenProceedings of the 2018 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play Companion Extended Abstracts10.1145/3270316.3271523(469-478)Online publication date: 23-Oct-2018
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3270316.3271523

View Options

Login options

Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.

Full Access

Get this Publication

View options

PDF

View or Download as a PDF file.

eReader

View online with eReader.

Figures

Tables

Media

View Table of Conten