Menno Deen has a background in arts and humanities. His design practice and theoretically knowledge of games echoes in his work at (1) Ranj Serious Games, (2) his teachings at Fontys School of ICT and Eindhoven University of Technology, and (3) his PhD thesis on Games, Autonomy, Motivation and Engagement.
Menno founded the game development studio Lapp with Mark van Kuijk (former Head of Studio at Zylom). Lapp develops games for toddlers that focus upon parent-child interaction. Additionally Menno is responsible for innovative projects such as www.swimgames.nl (games in the swimming center), the Games [4Health] Jam (www.gamesjam.nl), Games [4Diversity] Jam and the Games [4Therapy] Project
Specialties: Game theory, motivation, education Phone: +31641318959 Address: Rachelsmolen 1 R1 5612 MA Eindhoven the Netherlands
Samenvatting
Het rapport beschrijft de theoretische verantwoording, methode en resultaten van het... more Samenvatting Het rapport beschrijft de theoretische verantwoording, methode en resultaten van het onderzoek naar de leerresultaten van Check Out! Bèta (Ranj & ROC 2008) Deze Serious Game wordt als additioneel onderwijsinstrument aangeboden op verschillende MBO’s en VMBO’s.
De competentie ‘durven communiceren’ Gekeken wordt of de doelstelling: Engels durven communiceren, behaald wordt. De veranderingen in taalvaardigheden, motivatie en self-efficacy worden uiteengezet, resulterend in adviezen voor de game zelf en vervolg onderzoek naar CheckOut!.
De competentie ‘Durven Communiceren’ wordt opgebouwd uit drie elementen die onderling van elkaar afhankelijk zijn. In het onderzoek onderscheid ik
Om in het Engels te durven communiceren moet een leerling het eerst willen (attitude), vervolgens moet een leerling Engels kunnen spreken, luisteren en verstaan (vaardigheid). Uiteindelijk zal het ‘lef van communiceren’ grotendeels afhankelijk zijn van de wetenschap dat een leerling Engels kán spreken (self-efficacy).
In het onderzoek zijn leerlingen van vijf ROCs een pré en posttest afgenomen. De experimentgroep speelde de bèta versie van CheckOut! en de controlegroep volgde het reguliere onderwijs. Het verschil tussen pre en posstest geeft in samenspraak met de observaties van speelsessies aan of er een verandering heeft plaatsgevonden in (1) motivatie, (2) woordenschat en (3) gedrag.
Uit de metingen en observaties blijkt:
1. CheckOut! heeft een positief effect op de motivatie van leerlingen om Engels te leren. De experimentgroep gaf in mindere mate aan, dat ze zich geforceerd voelden om Engels te leren, terwijl ditzelfde gevoel bij de controlegroep toe nam. 2. De experimentgroep ontwikkelde zich minder snel in hun woordenschat, al bleek uit observaties dat er wel een groei waarneembaar was in ‘context kennis’: hoe/wanneer gebruik je bepaalde zinsconstructies? Aangezien de vragenlijsten hier geen aandacht aan hebben besteed kan hier geen kwantitatieve data uitspraak over geven. Wel bleek er een trend aanwijsbaar te zijn waarin de controlegroep zich iets sneller ontwikkelde in het vertalen van woorden (ENG-NED) dan de experimentgroep.
3. Aangezien de self-efficacy afhankelijk is van de motivatie en woordenschat van leerlingen, is het niet opmerkelijk dat er geen verschil in self-efficacy meetbaar of observeerbaar was. Er werd immers geen noemenswaardig verschil in woordenschat gemeten.
Mogelijke oorzaken voor de neutrale metingen
1. Korte duur van de speelsessie en onderzoek. 2. Schaarse feedback op gameprogressie in CheckOut! Bèta. 3. Onvoldoende feedback op leerprogressie in CheckOut! Bèta. 4. Onvoldoende nadruk op het educatieve karakter van de game. 5. Onvoldoende nadruk in het onderzoek op de contextkennis en te grote nadruk op letterlijke vertalingen van woorden om verbetering in woordenschat aan te duiden. 6. Onvoldoende nadruk in het onderzoek op self-efficacy en motivatie voor het spelen van de game.
Adviezen ter verbetering van competentie ontwikkeling
1. Longitudinaal onderzoek uitvoeren. 2. Meer feedback op gameprogressie. 3. Meer feedback op leerprogressie. 4. Benadruk educatieve karakter van de game. 5. Test ook contextkennis. 6. Test ook self-efficacy en motivatie voor het spelen van de game.
Conclusie:
CheckOut! Bèta heeft grote potentie om in de definitieve versie een positief effect te hebben op de contentkennis (woorden vertalen van Engels naar Nederlands) en self-efficacy (zelfredzaamheid), mits er meer feedback op speel- en leerprogressie wordt gegeven en de game wordt uitgebreid met meerdere levels om een grote tijdspanne te kunnen beslaan.
Ondanks bovenstaande is CheckOut! Bèta een zeer goed motiverend leermiddel dat zich richt op het gebruik van Engels (context kennis). Het onderzoek gaf aan dat een spelsessie een positief effect had op de motivatie om Engels te leren in een meer traditionelere setting. Spelers voelden zich, in tegenstelling tot de niet-spelers groep, in mindere mate geforceerd om Engels te leren door externe beloningen en straffen. De game heeft derhalve een positieve invloed op de motivatie om ‘out-of-game’ Engels te studeren.
Proceedings of the extended abstracts of the 32nd annual ACM conference on Human factors in computing systems - CHI EA '14, 2014
ABSTRACT Recent years have witnessed a rise in Game Jams - organized events to create playable pr... more ABSTRACT Recent years have witnessed a rise in Game Jams - organized events to create playable prototypes in a very short time frame. Game Jams offer a unique and quick way to prototype games. Beyond that, we believe Game Jams can also be seen as a design research method, situated in the research-through-design tradition, to create knowledge in a fast-paced, collaborative environment. The goal of this Game Jam is thus twofold: first, participants will use the Game Jam approach to investigate a research question; second, participants can, through actual practice, identify advantages and disadvantages of Game Jams as a research method. Hereby the Game Jam workshop provides a unique opportunity for HCI practitioners and researchers to gain experience in applying game-oriented methods for research.
The study used a research-through-design approach and
organized game jams as a method to examine ... more The study used a research-through-design approach and organized game jams as a method to examine game design processes, with the aim to investigate how the diverse identities of designers affect and inspire their game designs. During the Game [4Diversity] Jams we hypothesised that homogeneity in groups may lead to a single-minded message in their games, and diversity in groups may result in games that allow more freedom for players to create their own personal interpretation(s) of the game’s content and mechanics. The results of this study suggest that a narrow theme and diverse team composition may assist designers in creating novel games. As such, designers can find diverse gameplay and content from additional specificity in the game jam’s organisation.
Conference DIGRA 2011, 15-17 September 2011, Hilversum, The Netherlands., 2011
Young people spend a large part of their day sedentary, both at school and at home. The aim of th... more Young people spend a large part of their day sedentary, both at school and at home. The aim of the PlayFit project is to persuade teenagers to lead a more active lifestyle by using digital as well as non-digital games and play. In this position paper, we describe in detail the three key principles of our vision concerning the design of game-based interventions for stimulating physical activity: playful persuasion, ambient action and play profiles. In
our vision teenagers take part in playful activities and games throughout the day. In these activities, casual action is inherent to the fun experience, thus reducing teenagers’ sedentary behavior. Relevant information about their activities and preferences is stored in a personal play profile, which affects the games they play and through which they can communicate to their peers. We illustrate this vision by means of several innovative game concepts.
This thesis reviews and utilizes concepts from cognitive psychology, developmental psychology and... more This thesis reviews and utilizes concepts from cognitive psychology, developmental psychology and game design to bring forth a number of design principles for educational games that may improve students’ motivation to learn. The main contribution of this thesis is a novel approach to serious game design, namely envisioning play and learning as a restructuring practice. This change of perspective, from a formal game design approach (focused on rules and regulations) towards a more activity centered approach (focused on process and style), may help designers to leverage the motivational potential of games, in order to make education more engaging to students. The main research question of this thesis is: How to design autonomy-supportive learning games and how can these games improve students’ motivation to learn? After the introduction, section 2 describes developments in education. Whereas, ‘traditional’ education focused on the transfer of content and the training of rather specific skills, social constructivist thought in Dutch education brought forward a focus on meta-cognitive skills, such as problem-solving, empathic understanding and entrepreneurship. As a result, Dutch educational system attempts to make students increasingly responsible for their own learning process. One way of doing this is by creating autonomy-supportive learning environments. In these, students have the opportunity to explore, experiment and struggle with the learning content. This manner of learning appears rather playful. Therefore this section concludes that autonomy- supportive learning may proof a valuable approach for serious game designers. Section 3 stresses the correspondence between autonomy-supportive learning and gameplay. It shows how games have become increasingly autonomy-supportive. For example, players can find multiple solutions to a problem, they can play in accordance to their favored playing styles, and players are increasingly able to self-express themselves through social negotiations with others. Additionally, section 3 introduces the term: restructuring. Restructuring suggests the rearrangement and manipulation of existing structures to create something new. It is suggests that play can be characterized as a restructuring practice, and that this may help designers to integrate the learning into the gameplay. Section 4 suggests that both education and the game industry present their audiences with autonomy-supportive environments. In addition, it suggests that learning and playing can be characterized as a restructuring practice. For example, learners rearrange, manipulate and change existing knowledge actors and structures to construct new knowledge. In comparison, players rearrange, manipulate and change exiting objects, rules, goals and experiences to create something new too. Play and learning are both considered restructuring practice though social negotiations in a socio-cultural network of human and inhuman actors. Serious game designers can search for the restructureable elements in the learning content and transform them into playful activities. In short, designers could determine what can be changed without changing the learning content and translate this to game mechanics and dynamics. Searching for restructureable elements is considered the main design guideline to integrate the learning into the gameplay.
Section 5 suggests ten designs steps to integrate the learning into the gameplay. Consecutively, Section 6 illustrates the ten steps of embedding the learning content in the gameplay with the development of Combinatorics (a game about permutations), followed by Section 7, which combines all insights from development psychology and game design in the Applied Game Design Model. This model describes the ten steps of ‘getting the learning into the game’. The Applied Game Design Model describes the initial concept design of an educational game. Section 8 contributes to this design with various ways to leverage the motivational potential of games. The section starts with explaining the reasons to use Self-Determination Theory as theoretical framework for motivation and consequently suggests various design decisions to satisfy needs for competence, autonomy and relatedness. These design tools are illustrated with the further development of Combinatorics in section 9. Section 10 examined the motivational impact of Combinatorics. It describes a comparative study between the experienced regulatory style that was reported by players of an autonomy-supportive version and a restrictive (Drill & Practice) version of Combinatorics. Findings suggest that autonomy-supportive games can positively influence motivation towards learning. However, the restrictive version may positively influence motivation to learn as well. It becomes clear that different design decisions lead to different changes in motivation. Future research could study these differences in more detail and over a longer period of time, trying to get a better understanding of restructuring practices and their impact on motivation. Section 11 discusses the main contributions and positioning of this thesis, followed by the final conclusions in section 12, which revisits the concepts of cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, the Applied Game Design Model and the validation study to suggest a number of design principles for educational games that my improve students’ motivation to learn.
It is commonly acknowledged that intrinsically motivated learning makes for better students. Yet,... more It is commonly acknowledged that intrinsically motivated learning makes for better students. Yet, facilitating students to become intrinsically motivated to learn is difficult, if not, impossible to accomplish. As every student has different and personal intrinsic needs, the design of regulations that satisfy intrinsic needs may seem an unfruitful approach to serious game design. Inspired by research to the beta-version of the second language game CheckOut!, we propose a different approach to serious game design, based on identified regulations.
Identified regulations are negotiations with personal valued rules. The regulations can be positioned between external regulations (based on punishments and rewards) and intrinsic regulations (based on a personal willingness to act). To develop identified regulations, game designers should create a correspondence between the game regulations and the student’s perceptions about the educational instruction.
To accomplish this fit, game designers could not conceal the learning within a game, but explicitly communicate the constructed knowledge to the player. Progressive feedback, the availability of various learning styles in the game, and the embedding of the game in a social environment, might satisfy students’ needs for competence, autonomy and relatedness to significant others. When these needs are satisfied within the context of the educational instructions, students might become motivated to learn during play, and even when the game is over.
The input of players becomes increasingly valuable to game designers. In the past, players mainly... more The input of players becomes increasingly valuable to game designers. In the past, players mainly negotiated with game designers in sale-numbers, coin-drops and through critical acclaimed game magazines. Today’s game designers tend to communicate more directly with gamers through internet forums, beta-testing and data mining of gameplay. The increased negotiations between game players and game designers may account for the increased focus on user-generated games, making games more playful.
The English version of Contact! Children Online, is available through email. Please contact me us... more The English version of Contact! Children Online, is available through email. Please contact me using menno.deen at fontys.nl and I'll send you the book.
Nagenoeg alle kinderen tussen acht en twaalf jaar spelen casual games: korte online spelletjes op spelletjesportals als Spele.nl, Funnygames.nl en Speeleiland.nl. Het lijkt alsof kinderen in hun eentje spelen. Toch is een bezoek aan een casual game portal en het spelen van een casual game een zeer sociale bezigheid.
Casual games portals haken in op de tendens van sociale interactie die we zien in ‘grotere’ games en online sociale netwerken. Denk aan de mogelijkheid om tegen andere bezoekers te spelen of een account te registreren waarop de topscores van een gamer worden bijgehouden. Aangezien het spelen van casual games én de participatie in online sociale netwerken voor kinderen niet alleen leuk, maar ook leerzaam is, moeten de mogelijke gevaren tijdig herkend en getackeld worden. Denk daarbij aan risico’s zoals seksueel getinte contacten, pesterijen, onbeschoft taalgebruik en (virtuele) diefstal maar ook aan blootstelling aan gewelddadige content van games.
Dit hoofdstuk geeft inzicht in de sociale waarde van casual gaming voor kinderen in de leeftijd 8 tot 12. We bespreken achtereenvolgens het aanbod, de achtergrond, het gebruik, de mogelijke risico’s van casual gaming en de vaardigheden die kinderen opdoen wanneer zij een (casual) game spelen.
Learning styles and playing styles are strikingly similar to one another. In this MA-Thesis, Deen... more Learning styles and playing styles are strikingly similar to one another. In this MA-Thesis, Deen brings them together in four styles of approaching a problem and performing a task. Deen hypothesizes that a game which facilitates all four playing styles may enhance player engagement.
ncreasingly more Dutch people suffer from the consequences of obesities. According to researchers... more ncreasingly more Dutch people suffer from the consequences of obesities. According to researchers, the growing amount of obese children and adolescents is caused by an imbalance of physical activity and nutrition. Most influential appears the absence of physical activity. In today’s sedentary workspaces moving is something to neglect easily. Especially video games are blamed for adolescence’s inactivity.
Although people are aware of their unhealthy behavior, they lack the motivation to engage in sports. Surprisingly, a-motivations to sport originates for the greater part from fear. People with obesities report a fear for physical injury during sports. Swimming is a rather injury-safe environment, and therefore a healthy way to stay thin (or loose weight), and build stamina. Frequent visits to the swimming center would therefore improve people’s health, and as a consequence, prevent obesity-related illnesses.
However, it appears that traditional swimming paradises with water-slides, whirlpools and rapid-rides, lost their appeal. National Swimming Center de Tongelreep witnesses a steady decline in recreational swimmers. This decline in visitors has a direct impact on swimming sports like water polo, diving and swimming. Consequently, people become less interested in swimming sports, and sport organization have trouble to meet their financial goals. This is because the ticket sell for recreational swimmers largely finances today’s swimming sports. A decline in visitors means a decline in sport-finances.
In order to create a renewed and sustainable interest in swimming, the research project: Spetter Pieter Pater, studies the design and impact of videogames in swimming pools. The research group utilizes the motivational power of video games to engage recreational swimmers in physical activities. In september 2012, the research group will create and study fun and engaging games in the swimming pool.
In this talk I discussed the pitfalls and opportunities of user research for Serious Game develop... more In this talk I discussed the pitfalls and opportunities of user research for Serious Game development.
Samenvatting
Het rapport beschrijft de theoretische verantwoording, methode en resultaten van het... more Samenvatting Het rapport beschrijft de theoretische verantwoording, methode en resultaten van het onderzoek naar de leerresultaten van Check Out! Bèta (Ranj & ROC 2008) Deze Serious Game wordt als additioneel onderwijsinstrument aangeboden op verschillende MBO’s en VMBO’s.
De competentie ‘durven communiceren’ Gekeken wordt of de doelstelling: Engels durven communiceren, behaald wordt. De veranderingen in taalvaardigheden, motivatie en self-efficacy worden uiteengezet, resulterend in adviezen voor de game zelf en vervolg onderzoek naar CheckOut!.
De competentie ‘Durven Communiceren’ wordt opgebouwd uit drie elementen die onderling van elkaar afhankelijk zijn. In het onderzoek onderscheid ik
Om in het Engels te durven communiceren moet een leerling het eerst willen (attitude), vervolgens moet een leerling Engels kunnen spreken, luisteren en verstaan (vaardigheid). Uiteindelijk zal het ‘lef van communiceren’ grotendeels afhankelijk zijn van de wetenschap dat een leerling Engels kán spreken (self-efficacy).
In het onderzoek zijn leerlingen van vijf ROCs een pré en posttest afgenomen. De experimentgroep speelde de bèta versie van CheckOut! en de controlegroep volgde het reguliere onderwijs. Het verschil tussen pre en posstest geeft in samenspraak met de observaties van speelsessies aan of er een verandering heeft plaatsgevonden in (1) motivatie, (2) woordenschat en (3) gedrag.
Uit de metingen en observaties blijkt:
1. CheckOut! heeft een positief effect op de motivatie van leerlingen om Engels te leren. De experimentgroep gaf in mindere mate aan, dat ze zich geforceerd voelden om Engels te leren, terwijl ditzelfde gevoel bij de controlegroep toe nam. 2. De experimentgroep ontwikkelde zich minder snel in hun woordenschat, al bleek uit observaties dat er wel een groei waarneembaar was in ‘context kennis’: hoe/wanneer gebruik je bepaalde zinsconstructies? Aangezien de vragenlijsten hier geen aandacht aan hebben besteed kan hier geen kwantitatieve data uitspraak over geven. Wel bleek er een trend aanwijsbaar te zijn waarin de controlegroep zich iets sneller ontwikkelde in het vertalen van woorden (ENG-NED) dan de experimentgroep.
3. Aangezien de self-efficacy afhankelijk is van de motivatie en woordenschat van leerlingen, is het niet opmerkelijk dat er geen verschil in self-efficacy meetbaar of observeerbaar was. Er werd immers geen noemenswaardig verschil in woordenschat gemeten.
Mogelijke oorzaken voor de neutrale metingen
1. Korte duur van de speelsessie en onderzoek. 2. Schaarse feedback op gameprogressie in CheckOut! Bèta. 3. Onvoldoende feedback op leerprogressie in CheckOut! Bèta. 4. Onvoldoende nadruk op het educatieve karakter van de game. 5. Onvoldoende nadruk in het onderzoek op de contextkennis en te grote nadruk op letterlijke vertalingen van woorden om verbetering in woordenschat aan te duiden. 6. Onvoldoende nadruk in het onderzoek op self-efficacy en motivatie voor het spelen van de game.
Adviezen ter verbetering van competentie ontwikkeling
1. Longitudinaal onderzoek uitvoeren. 2. Meer feedback op gameprogressie. 3. Meer feedback op leerprogressie. 4. Benadruk educatieve karakter van de game. 5. Test ook contextkennis. 6. Test ook self-efficacy en motivatie voor het spelen van de game.
Conclusie:
CheckOut! Bèta heeft grote potentie om in de definitieve versie een positief effect te hebben op de contentkennis (woorden vertalen van Engels naar Nederlands) en self-efficacy (zelfredzaamheid), mits er meer feedback op speel- en leerprogressie wordt gegeven en de game wordt uitgebreid met meerdere levels om een grote tijdspanne te kunnen beslaan.
Ondanks bovenstaande is CheckOut! Bèta een zeer goed motiverend leermiddel dat zich richt op het gebruik van Engels (context kennis). Het onderzoek gaf aan dat een spelsessie een positief effect had op de motivatie om Engels te leren in een meer traditionelere setting. Spelers voelden zich, in tegenstelling tot de niet-spelers groep, in mindere mate geforceerd om Engels te leren door externe beloningen en straffen. De game heeft derhalve een positieve invloed op de motivatie om ‘out-of-game’ Engels te studeren.
Proceedings of the extended abstracts of the 32nd annual ACM conference on Human factors in computing systems - CHI EA '14, 2014
ABSTRACT Recent years have witnessed a rise in Game Jams - organized events to create playable pr... more ABSTRACT Recent years have witnessed a rise in Game Jams - organized events to create playable prototypes in a very short time frame. Game Jams offer a unique and quick way to prototype games. Beyond that, we believe Game Jams can also be seen as a design research method, situated in the research-through-design tradition, to create knowledge in a fast-paced, collaborative environment. The goal of this Game Jam is thus twofold: first, participants will use the Game Jam approach to investigate a research question; second, participants can, through actual practice, identify advantages and disadvantages of Game Jams as a research method. Hereby the Game Jam workshop provides a unique opportunity for HCI practitioners and researchers to gain experience in applying game-oriented methods for research.
The study used a research-through-design approach and
organized game jams as a method to examine ... more The study used a research-through-design approach and organized game jams as a method to examine game design processes, with the aim to investigate how the diverse identities of designers affect and inspire their game designs. During the Game [4Diversity] Jams we hypothesised that homogeneity in groups may lead to a single-minded message in their games, and diversity in groups may result in games that allow more freedom for players to create their own personal interpretation(s) of the game’s content and mechanics. The results of this study suggest that a narrow theme and diverse team composition may assist designers in creating novel games. As such, designers can find diverse gameplay and content from additional specificity in the game jam’s organisation.
Conference DIGRA 2011, 15-17 September 2011, Hilversum, The Netherlands., 2011
Young people spend a large part of their day sedentary, both at school and at home. The aim of th... more Young people spend a large part of their day sedentary, both at school and at home. The aim of the PlayFit project is to persuade teenagers to lead a more active lifestyle by using digital as well as non-digital games and play. In this position paper, we describe in detail the three key principles of our vision concerning the design of game-based interventions for stimulating physical activity: playful persuasion, ambient action and play profiles. In
our vision teenagers take part in playful activities and games throughout the day. In these activities, casual action is inherent to the fun experience, thus reducing teenagers’ sedentary behavior. Relevant information about their activities and preferences is stored in a personal play profile, which affects the games they play and through which they can communicate to their peers. We illustrate this vision by means of several innovative game concepts.
This thesis reviews and utilizes concepts from cognitive psychology, developmental psychology and... more This thesis reviews and utilizes concepts from cognitive psychology, developmental psychology and game design to bring forth a number of design principles for educational games that may improve students’ motivation to learn. The main contribution of this thesis is a novel approach to serious game design, namely envisioning play and learning as a restructuring practice. This change of perspective, from a formal game design approach (focused on rules and regulations) towards a more activity centered approach (focused on process and style), may help designers to leverage the motivational potential of games, in order to make education more engaging to students. The main research question of this thesis is: How to design autonomy-supportive learning games and how can these games improve students’ motivation to learn? After the introduction, section 2 describes developments in education. Whereas, ‘traditional’ education focused on the transfer of content and the training of rather specific skills, social constructivist thought in Dutch education brought forward a focus on meta-cognitive skills, such as problem-solving, empathic understanding and entrepreneurship. As a result, Dutch educational system attempts to make students increasingly responsible for their own learning process. One way of doing this is by creating autonomy-supportive learning environments. In these, students have the opportunity to explore, experiment and struggle with the learning content. This manner of learning appears rather playful. Therefore this section concludes that autonomy- supportive learning may proof a valuable approach for serious game designers. Section 3 stresses the correspondence between autonomy-supportive learning and gameplay. It shows how games have become increasingly autonomy-supportive. For example, players can find multiple solutions to a problem, they can play in accordance to their favored playing styles, and players are increasingly able to self-express themselves through social negotiations with others. Additionally, section 3 introduces the term: restructuring. Restructuring suggests the rearrangement and manipulation of existing structures to create something new. It is suggests that play can be characterized as a restructuring practice, and that this may help designers to integrate the learning into the gameplay. Section 4 suggests that both education and the game industry present their audiences with autonomy-supportive environments. In addition, it suggests that learning and playing can be characterized as a restructuring practice. For example, learners rearrange, manipulate and change existing knowledge actors and structures to construct new knowledge. In comparison, players rearrange, manipulate and change exiting objects, rules, goals and experiences to create something new too. Play and learning are both considered restructuring practice though social negotiations in a socio-cultural network of human and inhuman actors. Serious game designers can search for the restructureable elements in the learning content and transform them into playful activities. In short, designers could determine what can be changed without changing the learning content and translate this to game mechanics and dynamics. Searching for restructureable elements is considered the main design guideline to integrate the learning into the gameplay.
Section 5 suggests ten designs steps to integrate the learning into the gameplay. Consecutively, Section 6 illustrates the ten steps of embedding the learning content in the gameplay with the development of Combinatorics (a game about permutations), followed by Section 7, which combines all insights from development psychology and game design in the Applied Game Design Model. This model describes the ten steps of ‘getting the learning into the game’. The Applied Game Design Model describes the initial concept design of an educational game. Section 8 contributes to this design with various ways to leverage the motivational potential of games. The section starts with explaining the reasons to use Self-Determination Theory as theoretical framework for motivation and consequently suggests various design decisions to satisfy needs for competence, autonomy and relatedness. These design tools are illustrated with the further development of Combinatorics in section 9. Section 10 examined the motivational impact of Combinatorics. It describes a comparative study between the experienced regulatory style that was reported by players of an autonomy-supportive version and a restrictive (Drill & Practice) version of Combinatorics. Findings suggest that autonomy-supportive games can positively influence motivation towards learning. However, the restrictive version may positively influence motivation to learn as well. It becomes clear that different design decisions lead to different changes in motivation. Future research could study these differences in more detail and over a longer period of time, trying to get a better understanding of restructuring practices and their impact on motivation. Section 11 discusses the main contributions and positioning of this thesis, followed by the final conclusions in section 12, which revisits the concepts of cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, the Applied Game Design Model and the validation study to suggest a number of design principles for educational games that my improve students’ motivation to learn.
It is commonly acknowledged that intrinsically motivated learning makes for better students. Yet,... more It is commonly acknowledged that intrinsically motivated learning makes for better students. Yet, facilitating students to become intrinsically motivated to learn is difficult, if not, impossible to accomplish. As every student has different and personal intrinsic needs, the design of regulations that satisfy intrinsic needs may seem an unfruitful approach to serious game design. Inspired by research to the beta-version of the second language game CheckOut!, we propose a different approach to serious game design, based on identified regulations.
Identified regulations are negotiations with personal valued rules. The regulations can be positioned between external regulations (based on punishments and rewards) and intrinsic regulations (based on a personal willingness to act). To develop identified regulations, game designers should create a correspondence between the game regulations and the student’s perceptions about the educational instruction.
To accomplish this fit, game designers could not conceal the learning within a game, but explicitly communicate the constructed knowledge to the player. Progressive feedback, the availability of various learning styles in the game, and the embedding of the game in a social environment, might satisfy students’ needs for competence, autonomy and relatedness to significant others. When these needs are satisfied within the context of the educational instructions, students might become motivated to learn during play, and even when the game is over.
The input of players becomes increasingly valuable to game designers. In the past, players mainly... more The input of players becomes increasingly valuable to game designers. In the past, players mainly negotiated with game designers in sale-numbers, coin-drops and through critical acclaimed game magazines. Today’s game designers tend to communicate more directly with gamers through internet forums, beta-testing and data mining of gameplay. The increased negotiations between game players and game designers may account for the increased focus on user-generated games, making games more playful.
The English version of Contact! Children Online, is available through email. Please contact me us... more The English version of Contact! Children Online, is available through email. Please contact me using menno.deen at fontys.nl and I'll send you the book.
Nagenoeg alle kinderen tussen acht en twaalf jaar spelen casual games: korte online spelletjes op spelletjesportals als Spele.nl, Funnygames.nl en Speeleiland.nl. Het lijkt alsof kinderen in hun eentje spelen. Toch is een bezoek aan een casual game portal en het spelen van een casual game een zeer sociale bezigheid.
Casual games portals haken in op de tendens van sociale interactie die we zien in ‘grotere’ games en online sociale netwerken. Denk aan de mogelijkheid om tegen andere bezoekers te spelen of een account te registreren waarop de topscores van een gamer worden bijgehouden. Aangezien het spelen van casual games én de participatie in online sociale netwerken voor kinderen niet alleen leuk, maar ook leerzaam is, moeten de mogelijke gevaren tijdig herkend en getackeld worden. Denk daarbij aan risico’s zoals seksueel getinte contacten, pesterijen, onbeschoft taalgebruik en (virtuele) diefstal maar ook aan blootstelling aan gewelddadige content van games.
Dit hoofdstuk geeft inzicht in de sociale waarde van casual gaming voor kinderen in de leeftijd 8 tot 12. We bespreken achtereenvolgens het aanbod, de achtergrond, het gebruik, de mogelijke risico’s van casual gaming en de vaardigheden die kinderen opdoen wanneer zij een (casual) game spelen.
Learning styles and playing styles are strikingly similar to one another. In this MA-Thesis, Deen... more Learning styles and playing styles are strikingly similar to one another. In this MA-Thesis, Deen brings them together in four styles of approaching a problem and performing a task. Deen hypothesizes that a game which facilitates all four playing styles may enhance player engagement.
ncreasingly more Dutch people suffer from the consequences of obesities. According to researchers... more ncreasingly more Dutch people suffer from the consequences of obesities. According to researchers, the growing amount of obese children and adolescents is caused by an imbalance of physical activity and nutrition. Most influential appears the absence of physical activity. In today’s sedentary workspaces moving is something to neglect easily. Especially video games are blamed for adolescence’s inactivity.
Although people are aware of their unhealthy behavior, they lack the motivation to engage in sports. Surprisingly, a-motivations to sport originates for the greater part from fear. People with obesities report a fear for physical injury during sports. Swimming is a rather injury-safe environment, and therefore a healthy way to stay thin (or loose weight), and build stamina. Frequent visits to the swimming center would therefore improve people’s health, and as a consequence, prevent obesity-related illnesses.
However, it appears that traditional swimming paradises with water-slides, whirlpools and rapid-rides, lost their appeal. National Swimming Center de Tongelreep witnesses a steady decline in recreational swimmers. This decline in visitors has a direct impact on swimming sports like water polo, diving and swimming. Consequently, people become less interested in swimming sports, and sport organization have trouble to meet their financial goals. This is because the ticket sell for recreational swimmers largely finances today’s swimming sports. A decline in visitors means a decline in sport-finances.
In order to create a renewed and sustainable interest in swimming, the research project: Spetter Pieter Pater, studies the design and impact of videogames in swimming pools. The research group utilizes the motivational power of video games to engage recreational swimmers in physical activities. In september 2012, the research group will create and study fun and engaging games in the swimming pool.
In this talk I discussed the pitfalls and opportunities of user research for Serious Game develop... more In this talk I discussed the pitfalls and opportunities of user research for Serious Game development.
Uploads
Papers by Menno Deen
Het rapport beschrijft de theoretische verantwoording, methode en resultaten van het onderzoek naar de leerresultaten van Check Out! Bèta (Ranj & ROC 2008) Deze Serious Game wordt als additioneel onderwijsinstrument aangeboden op verschillende MBO’s en VMBO’s.
De competentie ‘durven communiceren’
Gekeken wordt of de doelstelling: Engels durven communiceren, behaald wordt. De veranderingen in taalvaardigheden, motivatie en self-efficacy worden uiteengezet, resulterend in adviezen voor de game zelf en vervolg onderzoek naar CheckOut!.
De competentie ‘Durven Communiceren’ wordt opgebouwd uit drie elementen die onderling van elkaar afhankelijk zijn. In het onderzoek onderscheid ik
1. Attitude (motivatie)
2. Vaardigheden (woordenschat)
3. Gedrag (self-efficacy)
Om in het Engels te durven communiceren moet een leerling het eerst willen (attitude), vervolgens moet een leerling Engels kunnen spreken, luisteren en verstaan (vaardigheid). Uiteindelijk zal het ‘lef van communiceren’ grotendeels afhankelijk zijn van de wetenschap dat een leerling Engels kán spreken (self-efficacy).
In het onderzoek zijn leerlingen van vijf ROCs een pré en posttest afgenomen. De experimentgroep speelde de bèta versie van CheckOut! en de controlegroep volgde het reguliere onderwijs. Het verschil tussen pre en posstest geeft in samenspraak met de observaties van speelsessies aan of er een verandering heeft plaatsgevonden in (1) motivatie, (2) woordenschat en (3) gedrag.
Uit de metingen en observaties blijkt:
1. CheckOut! heeft een positief effect op de motivatie van leerlingen om Engels te leren. De experimentgroep gaf in mindere mate aan, dat ze zich geforceerd voelden om Engels te leren, terwijl ditzelfde gevoel bij de controlegroep toe nam.
2. De experimentgroep ontwikkelde zich minder snel in hun woordenschat, al bleek uit observaties dat er wel een groei waarneembaar was in ‘context kennis’: hoe/wanneer gebruik je bepaalde zinsconstructies?
Aangezien de vragenlijsten hier geen aandacht aan hebben besteed kan hier geen kwantitatieve data uitspraak over geven.
Wel bleek er een trend aanwijsbaar te zijn waarin de controlegroep zich iets sneller ontwikkelde in het vertalen van woorden (ENG-NED) dan de experimentgroep.
3. Aangezien de self-efficacy afhankelijk is van de motivatie en woordenschat van leerlingen, is het niet opmerkelijk dat er geen verschil in self-efficacy meetbaar of observeerbaar was. Er werd immers geen noemenswaardig verschil in woordenschat gemeten.
Mogelijke oorzaken voor de neutrale metingen
1. Korte duur van de speelsessie en onderzoek.
2. Schaarse feedback op gameprogressie in CheckOut! Bèta.
3. Onvoldoende feedback op leerprogressie in CheckOut! Bèta.
4. Onvoldoende nadruk op het educatieve karakter van de game.
5. Onvoldoende nadruk in het onderzoek op de contextkennis en te grote nadruk op letterlijke vertalingen van woorden om verbetering in woordenschat aan te duiden.
6. Onvoldoende nadruk in het onderzoek op self-efficacy en motivatie voor het spelen van de game.
Adviezen ter verbetering van competentie ontwikkeling
1. Longitudinaal onderzoek uitvoeren.
2. Meer feedback op gameprogressie.
3. Meer feedback op leerprogressie.
4. Benadruk educatieve karakter van de game.
5. Test ook contextkennis.
6. Test ook self-efficacy en motivatie voor het spelen van de game.
Conclusie:
CheckOut! Bèta heeft grote potentie om in de definitieve versie een positief effect te hebben op de contentkennis (woorden vertalen van Engels naar Nederlands) en self-efficacy (zelfredzaamheid), mits er meer feedback op speel- en leerprogressie wordt gegeven en de game wordt uitgebreid met meerdere levels om een grote tijdspanne te kunnen beslaan.
Ondanks bovenstaande is CheckOut! Bèta een zeer goed motiverend leermiddel dat zich richt op het gebruik van Engels (context kennis). Het onderzoek gaf aan dat een spelsessie een positief effect had op de motivatie om Engels te leren in een meer traditionelere setting. Spelers voelden zich, in tegenstelling tot de niet-spelers groep, in mindere mate geforceerd om Engels te leren door externe beloningen en straffen. De game heeft derhalve een positieve invloed op de motivatie om ‘out-of-game’ Engels te studeren.
organized game jams as a method to examine game design
processes, with the aim to investigate how the diverse
identities of designers affect and inspire their game designs.
During the Game [4Diversity] Jams we hypothesised that
homogeneity in groups may lead to a single-minded
message in their games, and diversity in groups may result
in games that allow more freedom for players to create their
own personal interpretation(s) of the game’s content and
mechanics. The results of this study suggest that a narrow
theme and diverse team composition may assist designers in
creating novel games. As such, designers can find diverse
gameplay and content from additional specificity in the
game jam’s organisation.
our vision teenagers take part in playful activities and games throughout the day. In these activities, casual action is inherent to the fun experience, thus reducing teenagers’ sedentary behavior. Relevant information about their activities and preferences is stored in a personal play profile, which affects the games they play and through which they can communicate to their peers. We illustrate this vision by means of several innovative game concepts.
The main research question of this thesis is:
How to design autonomy-supportive learning games and how can these games improve students’ motivation to learn?
After the introduction, section 2 describes developments in education. Whereas, ‘traditional’ education focused on the transfer of content and the training of rather specific skills, social constructivist thought in Dutch education brought forward a focus on meta-cognitive skills, such as problem-solving, empathic understanding and entrepreneurship. As a result, Dutch educational system attempts to make students increasingly responsible for their own learning process. One way of doing this is by creating autonomy-supportive learning environments. In these, students have the opportunity to explore, experiment and struggle with the learning content. This manner of learning appears rather playful. Therefore this section concludes that autonomy- supportive learning may proof a valuable approach for serious game designers.
Section 3 stresses the correspondence between autonomy-supportive learning and gameplay. It shows how games have become increasingly autonomy-supportive. For example, players can find multiple solutions to a problem, they can play in accordance to their favored playing styles, and players are increasingly able to self-express themselves through social negotiations with others. Additionally, section 3 introduces the term: restructuring. Restructuring suggests the rearrangement and manipulation of existing structures to create something new. It is suggests that play can be characterized as a restructuring practice, and that this may help designers to integrate the learning into the gameplay.
Section 4 suggests that both education and the game industry present their audiences with autonomy-supportive environments. In addition, it suggests that learning and playing can be characterized as a restructuring practice. For example, learners rearrange, manipulate and change existing knowledge actors and structures to construct new knowledge. In comparison, players rearrange, manipulate and change exiting objects, rules, goals and experiences to create something new too.
Play and learning are both considered restructuring practice though social negotiations in a socio-cultural network of human and inhuman actors. Serious game designers can search for the restructureable elements in the learning content and transform them into playful activities. In short, designers could determine what can be changed without changing the learning content and translate this to game mechanics and dynamics. Searching for restructureable elements is considered the main design guideline to integrate the learning into the gameplay.
Section 5 suggests ten designs steps to integrate the learning into the gameplay. Consecutively, Section 6 illustrates the ten steps of embedding the learning content in the gameplay with the development of Combinatorics (a game about permutations), followed by Section 7, which combines all insights from development psychology and game design in the Applied Game Design Model. This model describes the ten steps of ‘getting the learning into the game’.
The Applied Game Design Model describes the initial concept design of an educational game. Section 8 contributes to this design with various ways to leverage the motivational potential of games. The section starts with explaining the reasons to use Self-Determination Theory as theoretical framework for motivation and consequently suggests various design decisions to satisfy needs for competence, autonomy and relatedness. These design tools are illustrated with the further development of Combinatorics in section 9.
Section 10 examined the motivational impact of Combinatorics. It describes a comparative study between the experienced regulatory style that was reported by players of an autonomy-supportive version and a restrictive (Drill & Practice) version of Combinatorics. Findings suggest that autonomy-supportive games can positively influence motivation towards learning. However, the restrictive version may positively influence motivation to learn as well. It becomes clear that different design decisions lead to different changes in motivation. Future research could study these differences in more detail and over a longer period of time, trying to get a better understanding of restructuring practices and their impact on motivation.
Section 11 discusses the main contributions and positioning of this thesis, followed by the final conclusions in section 12, which revisits the concepts of cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, the Applied Game Design Model and the validation study to suggest a number of design principles for educational games that my improve students’ motivation to learn.
Identified regulations are negotiations with personal valued rules. The regulations can be positioned between external regulations (based on punishments and rewards) and intrinsic regulations (based on a personal willingness to act). To develop identified regulations, game designers should create a correspondence between the game regulations and the student’s perceptions about the educational instruction.
To accomplish this fit, game designers could not conceal the learning within a game, but explicitly communicate the constructed knowledge to the player. Progressive feedback, the availability of various learning styles in the game, and the embedding of the game in a social environment, might satisfy students’ needs for competence, autonomy and relatedness to significant others. When these needs are satisfied within the context of the educational instructions, students might become motivated to learn during play, and even when the game is over.
Nagenoeg alle kinderen tussen acht en twaalf jaar spelen casual games: korte online spelletjes op spelletjesportals als Spele.nl, Funnygames.nl en Speeleiland.nl. Het lijkt alsof kinderen in hun eentje spelen. Toch is een bezoek aan een casual game portal en het spelen van een casual game een zeer sociale bezigheid.
Casual games portals haken in op de tendens van sociale interactie die we zien in ‘grotere’ games en online sociale netwerken. Denk aan de mogelijkheid om tegen andere bezoekers te spelen of een account te registreren waarop de topscores van een gamer worden bijgehouden. Aangezien het spelen van casual games én de participatie in online sociale netwerken voor kinderen niet alleen leuk, maar ook leerzaam is, moeten de mogelijke gevaren tijdig herkend en getackeld worden. Denk daarbij aan risico’s zoals seksueel getinte contacten, pesterijen, onbeschoft taalgebruik en (virtuele) diefstal maar ook aan blootstelling aan gewelddadige content van games.
Dit hoofdstuk geeft inzicht in de sociale waarde van casual gaming voor kinderen in de leeftijd 8 tot 12. We bespreken achtereenvolgens het aanbod, de achtergrond, het gebruik, de mogelijke risico’s van casual gaming en de vaardigheden die kinderen opdoen wanneer zij een (casual) game spelen.
Talks by Menno Deen
Although people are aware of their unhealthy behavior, they lack the motivation to engage in sports. Surprisingly, a-motivations to sport originates for the greater part from fear. People with obesities report a fear for physical injury during sports. Swimming is a rather injury-safe environment, and therefore a healthy way to stay thin (or loose weight), and build stamina. Frequent visits to the swimming center would therefore improve people’s health, and as a consequence, prevent obesity-related illnesses.
However, it appears that traditional swimming paradises with water-slides, whirlpools and rapid-rides, lost their appeal. National Swimming Center de Tongelreep witnesses a steady decline in recreational swimmers. This decline in visitors has a direct impact on swimming sports like water polo, diving and swimming. Consequently, people become less interested in swimming sports, and sport organization have trouble to meet their financial goals. This is because the ticket sell for recreational swimmers largely finances today’s swimming sports. A decline in visitors means a decline in sport-finances.
In order to create a renewed and sustainable interest in swimming, the research project: Spetter Pieter Pater, studies the design and impact of videogames in swimming pools. The research group utilizes the motivational power of video games to engage recreational swimmers in physical activities. In september 2012, the research group will create and study fun and engaging games in the swimming pool.
Het rapport beschrijft de theoretische verantwoording, methode en resultaten van het onderzoek naar de leerresultaten van Check Out! Bèta (Ranj & ROC 2008) Deze Serious Game wordt als additioneel onderwijsinstrument aangeboden op verschillende MBO’s en VMBO’s.
De competentie ‘durven communiceren’
Gekeken wordt of de doelstelling: Engels durven communiceren, behaald wordt. De veranderingen in taalvaardigheden, motivatie en self-efficacy worden uiteengezet, resulterend in adviezen voor de game zelf en vervolg onderzoek naar CheckOut!.
De competentie ‘Durven Communiceren’ wordt opgebouwd uit drie elementen die onderling van elkaar afhankelijk zijn. In het onderzoek onderscheid ik
1. Attitude (motivatie)
2. Vaardigheden (woordenschat)
3. Gedrag (self-efficacy)
Om in het Engels te durven communiceren moet een leerling het eerst willen (attitude), vervolgens moet een leerling Engels kunnen spreken, luisteren en verstaan (vaardigheid). Uiteindelijk zal het ‘lef van communiceren’ grotendeels afhankelijk zijn van de wetenschap dat een leerling Engels kán spreken (self-efficacy).
In het onderzoek zijn leerlingen van vijf ROCs een pré en posttest afgenomen. De experimentgroep speelde de bèta versie van CheckOut! en de controlegroep volgde het reguliere onderwijs. Het verschil tussen pre en posstest geeft in samenspraak met de observaties van speelsessies aan of er een verandering heeft plaatsgevonden in (1) motivatie, (2) woordenschat en (3) gedrag.
Uit de metingen en observaties blijkt:
1. CheckOut! heeft een positief effect op de motivatie van leerlingen om Engels te leren. De experimentgroep gaf in mindere mate aan, dat ze zich geforceerd voelden om Engels te leren, terwijl ditzelfde gevoel bij de controlegroep toe nam.
2. De experimentgroep ontwikkelde zich minder snel in hun woordenschat, al bleek uit observaties dat er wel een groei waarneembaar was in ‘context kennis’: hoe/wanneer gebruik je bepaalde zinsconstructies?
Aangezien de vragenlijsten hier geen aandacht aan hebben besteed kan hier geen kwantitatieve data uitspraak over geven.
Wel bleek er een trend aanwijsbaar te zijn waarin de controlegroep zich iets sneller ontwikkelde in het vertalen van woorden (ENG-NED) dan de experimentgroep.
3. Aangezien de self-efficacy afhankelijk is van de motivatie en woordenschat van leerlingen, is het niet opmerkelijk dat er geen verschil in self-efficacy meetbaar of observeerbaar was. Er werd immers geen noemenswaardig verschil in woordenschat gemeten.
Mogelijke oorzaken voor de neutrale metingen
1. Korte duur van de speelsessie en onderzoek.
2. Schaarse feedback op gameprogressie in CheckOut! Bèta.
3. Onvoldoende feedback op leerprogressie in CheckOut! Bèta.
4. Onvoldoende nadruk op het educatieve karakter van de game.
5. Onvoldoende nadruk in het onderzoek op de contextkennis en te grote nadruk op letterlijke vertalingen van woorden om verbetering in woordenschat aan te duiden.
6. Onvoldoende nadruk in het onderzoek op self-efficacy en motivatie voor het spelen van de game.
Adviezen ter verbetering van competentie ontwikkeling
1. Longitudinaal onderzoek uitvoeren.
2. Meer feedback op gameprogressie.
3. Meer feedback op leerprogressie.
4. Benadruk educatieve karakter van de game.
5. Test ook contextkennis.
6. Test ook self-efficacy en motivatie voor het spelen van de game.
Conclusie:
CheckOut! Bèta heeft grote potentie om in de definitieve versie een positief effect te hebben op de contentkennis (woorden vertalen van Engels naar Nederlands) en self-efficacy (zelfredzaamheid), mits er meer feedback op speel- en leerprogressie wordt gegeven en de game wordt uitgebreid met meerdere levels om een grote tijdspanne te kunnen beslaan.
Ondanks bovenstaande is CheckOut! Bèta een zeer goed motiverend leermiddel dat zich richt op het gebruik van Engels (context kennis). Het onderzoek gaf aan dat een spelsessie een positief effect had op de motivatie om Engels te leren in een meer traditionelere setting. Spelers voelden zich, in tegenstelling tot de niet-spelers groep, in mindere mate geforceerd om Engels te leren door externe beloningen en straffen. De game heeft derhalve een positieve invloed op de motivatie om ‘out-of-game’ Engels te studeren.
organized game jams as a method to examine game design
processes, with the aim to investigate how the diverse
identities of designers affect and inspire their game designs.
During the Game [4Diversity] Jams we hypothesised that
homogeneity in groups may lead to a single-minded
message in their games, and diversity in groups may result
in games that allow more freedom for players to create their
own personal interpretation(s) of the game’s content and
mechanics. The results of this study suggest that a narrow
theme and diverse team composition may assist designers in
creating novel games. As such, designers can find diverse
gameplay and content from additional specificity in the
game jam’s organisation.
our vision teenagers take part in playful activities and games throughout the day. In these activities, casual action is inherent to the fun experience, thus reducing teenagers’ sedentary behavior. Relevant information about their activities and preferences is stored in a personal play profile, which affects the games they play and through which they can communicate to their peers. We illustrate this vision by means of several innovative game concepts.
The main research question of this thesis is:
How to design autonomy-supportive learning games and how can these games improve students’ motivation to learn?
After the introduction, section 2 describes developments in education. Whereas, ‘traditional’ education focused on the transfer of content and the training of rather specific skills, social constructivist thought in Dutch education brought forward a focus on meta-cognitive skills, such as problem-solving, empathic understanding and entrepreneurship. As a result, Dutch educational system attempts to make students increasingly responsible for their own learning process. One way of doing this is by creating autonomy-supportive learning environments. In these, students have the opportunity to explore, experiment and struggle with the learning content. This manner of learning appears rather playful. Therefore this section concludes that autonomy- supportive learning may proof a valuable approach for serious game designers.
Section 3 stresses the correspondence between autonomy-supportive learning and gameplay. It shows how games have become increasingly autonomy-supportive. For example, players can find multiple solutions to a problem, they can play in accordance to their favored playing styles, and players are increasingly able to self-express themselves through social negotiations with others. Additionally, section 3 introduces the term: restructuring. Restructuring suggests the rearrangement and manipulation of existing structures to create something new. It is suggests that play can be characterized as a restructuring practice, and that this may help designers to integrate the learning into the gameplay.
Section 4 suggests that both education and the game industry present their audiences with autonomy-supportive environments. In addition, it suggests that learning and playing can be characterized as a restructuring practice. For example, learners rearrange, manipulate and change existing knowledge actors and structures to construct new knowledge. In comparison, players rearrange, manipulate and change exiting objects, rules, goals and experiences to create something new too.
Play and learning are both considered restructuring practice though social negotiations in a socio-cultural network of human and inhuman actors. Serious game designers can search for the restructureable elements in the learning content and transform them into playful activities. In short, designers could determine what can be changed without changing the learning content and translate this to game mechanics and dynamics. Searching for restructureable elements is considered the main design guideline to integrate the learning into the gameplay.
Section 5 suggests ten designs steps to integrate the learning into the gameplay. Consecutively, Section 6 illustrates the ten steps of embedding the learning content in the gameplay with the development of Combinatorics (a game about permutations), followed by Section 7, which combines all insights from development psychology and game design in the Applied Game Design Model. This model describes the ten steps of ‘getting the learning into the game’.
The Applied Game Design Model describes the initial concept design of an educational game. Section 8 contributes to this design with various ways to leverage the motivational potential of games. The section starts with explaining the reasons to use Self-Determination Theory as theoretical framework for motivation and consequently suggests various design decisions to satisfy needs for competence, autonomy and relatedness. These design tools are illustrated with the further development of Combinatorics in section 9.
Section 10 examined the motivational impact of Combinatorics. It describes a comparative study between the experienced regulatory style that was reported by players of an autonomy-supportive version and a restrictive (Drill & Practice) version of Combinatorics. Findings suggest that autonomy-supportive games can positively influence motivation towards learning. However, the restrictive version may positively influence motivation to learn as well. It becomes clear that different design decisions lead to different changes in motivation. Future research could study these differences in more detail and over a longer period of time, trying to get a better understanding of restructuring practices and their impact on motivation.
Section 11 discusses the main contributions and positioning of this thesis, followed by the final conclusions in section 12, which revisits the concepts of cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, the Applied Game Design Model and the validation study to suggest a number of design principles for educational games that my improve students’ motivation to learn.
Identified regulations are negotiations with personal valued rules. The regulations can be positioned between external regulations (based on punishments and rewards) and intrinsic regulations (based on a personal willingness to act). To develop identified regulations, game designers should create a correspondence between the game regulations and the student’s perceptions about the educational instruction.
To accomplish this fit, game designers could not conceal the learning within a game, but explicitly communicate the constructed knowledge to the player. Progressive feedback, the availability of various learning styles in the game, and the embedding of the game in a social environment, might satisfy students’ needs for competence, autonomy and relatedness to significant others. When these needs are satisfied within the context of the educational instructions, students might become motivated to learn during play, and even when the game is over.
Nagenoeg alle kinderen tussen acht en twaalf jaar spelen casual games: korte online spelletjes op spelletjesportals als Spele.nl, Funnygames.nl en Speeleiland.nl. Het lijkt alsof kinderen in hun eentje spelen. Toch is een bezoek aan een casual game portal en het spelen van een casual game een zeer sociale bezigheid.
Casual games portals haken in op de tendens van sociale interactie die we zien in ‘grotere’ games en online sociale netwerken. Denk aan de mogelijkheid om tegen andere bezoekers te spelen of een account te registreren waarop de topscores van een gamer worden bijgehouden. Aangezien het spelen van casual games én de participatie in online sociale netwerken voor kinderen niet alleen leuk, maar ook leerzaam is, moeten de mogelijke gevaren tijdig herkend en getackeld worden. Denk daarbij aan risico’s zoals seksueel getinte contacten, pesterijen, onbeschoft taalgebruik en (virtuele) diefstal maar ook aan blootstelling aan gewelddadige content van games.
Dit hoofdstuk geeft inzicht in de sociale waarde van casual gaming voor kinderen in de leeftijd 8 tot 12. We bespreken achtereenvolgens het aanbod, de achtergrond, het gebruik, de mogelijke risico’s van casual gaming en de vaardigheden die kinderen opdoen wanneer zij een (casual) game spelen.
Although people are aware of their unhealthy behavior, they lack the motivation to engage in sports. Surprisingly, a-motivations to sport originates for the greater part from fear. People with obesities report a fear for physical injury during sports. Swimming is a rather injury-safe environment, and therefore a healthy way to stay thin (or loose weight), and build stamina. Frequent visits to the swimming center would therefore improve people’s health, and as a consequence, prevent obesity-related illnesses.
However, it appears that traditional swimming paradises with water-slides, whirlpools and rapid-rides, lost their appeal. National Swimming Center de Tongelreep witnesses a steady decline in recreational swimmers. This decline in visitors has a direct impact on swimming sports like water polo, diving and swimming. Consequently, people become less interested in swimming sports, and sport organization have trouble to meet their financial goals. This is because the ticket sell for recreational swimmers largely finances today’s swimming sports. A decline in visitors means a decline in sport-finances.
In order to create a renewed and sustainable interest in swimming, the research project: Spetter Pieter Pater, studies the design and impact of videogames in swimming pools. The research group utilizes the motivational power of video games to engage recreational swimmers in physical activities. In september 2012, the research group will create and study fun and engaging games in the swimming pool.