Matthew O'Hair
The University of Texas at Austin, Curriculum & Instruction, Graduate Student
- Video Games and Learning, Social Media and Web 2.0 Applications in Education and learning, Educational Games, Online Edudation, MOOCs, Coursera, and 23 moreUdacity, Online Collaborative Learning, Knowledge building, Online Communities, Social Media and Knowledge, Software, Media, Social Software, Informal Logic, Learning, Social Networks, Learning Communities, Identity, Role, Online, Information Systems Engineering, Technology-enhanced Learning, Web 2.0, Software Architecture, Design Patterns, Cloud Computing, Social Networks Design, and E-learningedit
BACKGROUND Heart failure (HF) is the leading cause of hospitalization among older adults in the United States. There are substantial racial and geographic disparities in HF outcomes, with patients living in southern US states having a... more
BACKGROUND Heart failure (HF) is the leading cause of hospitalization among older adults in the United States. There are substantial racial and geographic disparities in HF outcomes, with patients living in southern US states having a mortality rate 69% higher than the national average. Self-management behaviors, particularly daily weight monitoring and physical activity, are extremely important in improving HF outcomes; however, patients typically have particularly low adherence to these behaviors. With the rise of digital technologies to improve health outcomes and motivate health behaviors, sensor-controlled digital games (SCDGs) have become a promising approach. SCDGs, which leverage sensor-connected technologies, offer the benefits of being portable and scalable and allowing for continuous observation and motivation of health behaviors in their real-world contexts. They are also becoming increasingly popular among older adults and offer an immersive and accessible way to measure self-management behaviors and improve adherence. No SCDGs have been designed for older adults or evaluated to test their outcomes. OBJECTIVE This randomized clinical trial aims to assess the efficacy of a SCDG in integrating the behavioral data of participants with HF from weight scale and activity tracker sensors to activate game progress, rewards, and feedback and, ultimately, to improve adherence to important self-management behaviors. METHODS A total of 200 participants with HF, aged ≥45 years, will be recruited and randomized into 2 groups: the SCDG playing group (intervention group) and sensor-only group (control group). Both groups will receive a weight scale, physical activity tracker, and accompanying app, whereas only the intervention group will play the SCDG. This design, thereby, assesses the contributions of the game. All participants will complete a baseline survey as well as posttests at 6 and 12 weeks to assess the immediate effect of the intervention. They will also complete a third posttest at 24 weeks to assess the maintenance of behavioral changes. Efficacy and benefits will be assessed by measuring improvements in HF-related proximal outcomes (self-management behaviors of daily weight monitoring and physical activity) and distal outcomes (HF hospitalization, quality of life, and functional status) between baseline and weeks 6, 12, and 24. The primary outcome measured will be days with weight monitoring, for which this design provides at least 80% power to detect differences between the 2 groups. RESULTS Recruitment began in the fall of 2022, and the first patient was enrolled in the study on November 7, 2022. Recruitment of the last participant is expected in quarter 1 of 2025. Publication of complete results and data from this study is expected in 2026. CONCLUSIONS This project will generate insight and guidance for scalable and easy-to-use digital gaming solutions to motivate persistent adherence to HF self-management behaviors and improve health outcomes among individuals with HF. CLINICALTRIAL ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05056129; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05056129 INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT DERR1-10.2196/45801
Research Interests:
Climate change is projected to affect the distribution and availability of water resources at the local and global scale. In an effort to educate K-12 students about water resources in a changing climate the Adventure learning through... more
Climate change is projected to affect the distribution and availability of water resources at the local and global scale. In an effort to educate K-12 students about water resources in a changing climate the Adventure learning through Water and MOSS project was created. This project is engaging K-12 students throughout Idaho with meaningful inquiries into water resource issues through outdoor data-collection expeditions supported via a novel online learning environment (http://adventurelearningat.com). Students collect authentic data related to an inquiry-based curriculum and data are shared within the online environment. Students, teachers, and content experts from throughout Idaho then communicate and collaborate in meaningful ways around data using the online environment and the latest in communication technologies. The McCall Outdoor Science School (MOSS) collaborates as an informal science education provider and cornerstone to the project mission by serving as the base camp for water expeditions. Water expeditions are inquiry-driven and focus on various aspects of water resources within a changing climate.
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Research Interests: Program Evaluation, Psychology, Self Care, Pleasure, Games for Health, and 15 moreMedicine, Heart Failure, Self Efficacy, Humans, Female, Mobile Applications, Feasibility Studies, Male, Patient Compliance, Patient Satisfaction, Aged, Middle Aged, System usability scale, Surveys and Questionnaires, and Symptom assessment
Research Interests: Computer Science, Multimedia, Video Games and Learning, Game Based Learning, Problem Based Learning, and 9 moreInstructional media design, Science and Mathematics Education, Science Learning, Design and development research (DDR), Design and Development, Middle School Science Education, Curriculum and Pedagogy, Design Based Research, and Middle School Science
Research Interests:
The inability of older persons with heart failure (HF) to self-manage has contributed to poor health outcomes. Our team from nursing, digital game design, and mobile computing developed an innovative sensor-controlled digital game (SCDG)... more
The inability of older persons with heart failure (HF) to self-manage has contributed to poor health outcomes. Our team from nursing, digital game design, and mobile computing developed an innovative sensor-controlled digital game (SCDG) called ‘Heart Mountain’ to offer a portable, and enjoyable tool to facilitate engagement in HF self-management. We installed the SCDG application, which featured older adult game avatars on the participants’ smartphones. The SCDG utilized data from an activity tracker and weight scale to trigger game rewards, knowledge content and messages based on participants’ real-time behaviors. In this study we assessed the usability of a SCDG prototype with 10 HF older adults in Central Texas. Observations on the usability of the SCDG app by older adults were noted on a usability heuristics checklist. Acceptance and satisfaction were collected by an open-ended survey guided by Intrinsic Motivation Inventory after a week of playing the game. Participants (60% m...
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BACKGROUND Poor self-management of heart failure (HF) contributes to devastating health consequences. Our innovative sensor-controlled digital game (SCDG) integrates data from sensors to trigger game rewards, progress, and feedback based... more
BACKGROUND Poor self-management of heart failure (HF) contributes to devastating health consequences. Our innovative sensor-controlled digital game (SCDG) integrates data from sensors to trigger game rewards, progress, and feedback based on the real-time behaviors of individuals with HF. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is to compare daily weight monitoring and physical activity behavior adherence by older adults using an SCDG intervention versus a sensors-only intervention in a feasibility randomized controlled trial. METHODS English-speaking adults with HF aged 55 years or older who owned a smartphone and could walk unassisted were recruited from Texas and Oklahoma from November 2019 to August 2020. Both groups were given activity trackers and smart weighing scales to track behaviors for 12 weeks. The feasibility outcomes of recruitment, retention, intervention engagement, and satisfaction were assessed. In addition to daily weight monitoring and physical activity adherence, the pa...
Introduction: Poor self-management of heart failure (HF) has contributed to poor health outcomes with an annual loss of $32 billion. Our innovative sensor controlled digital game (SCDG) integrates data from weight scale and physical... more
Introduction: Poor self-management of heart failure (HF) has contributed to poor health outcomes with an annual loss of $32 billion. Our innovative sensor controlled digital game (SCDG) integrates data from weight scale and physical activity sensors to trigger rewards, progress, changes in avatar’s health status and feedback based on HF individuals’ real-time behaviors (Fig1). Hypothesis: Weight monitoring and physical activity by participants receiving both the SCDG app and sensors will be higher than participants receiving only the sensors (CG). Methods: English-speaking HF adults aged >55 years, own a smartphone, and walk unassisted were recruited from cardiac settings in Texas. Both SCDG and CG participants were given ‘Withings’ activity tracker and smart weight scale sensors to track behaviors for 12 weeks. Physical activity goal was tailored to the participant’s ability. Results: In early results over six weeks on 12 participants (58% women, white, and 65+ years age), the m...
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Background Poor self-management of heart failure (HF) has contributed to poor health outcomes. Sensor-controlled digital games (SCDGs) integrates data from behavior-tracking sensors to trigger progress, rewards, content, and positive... more
Background Poor self-management of heart failure (HF) has contributed to poor health outcomes. Sensor-controlled digital games (SCDGs) integrates data from behavior-tracking sensors to trigger progress, rewards, content, and positive feedback in a digital game to motivate real-time behaviors. Objectives To assess the usability of an SCDG prototype over a week of game-playing among 10 older adults with HF in their homes. Methods During initial play, participants' SCDG experiences were observed in their homes using a checklist based on the seven-item Serious Game User Evaluator (SeGUE) instrument. After a week of game-playing, participants completed a survey guided by the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory, to provide their perceptions of the SCDG's usability. Qualitative analysis via semistructured interview-derived themes on experiences playing the SCDG, perceptions regarding engaging with the SCDG, and any usability issues encountered. Results Ten HF participants (50% women and...
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Research Interests:
Climate change is projected to affect the distribution and availability of water resources at the local and global scale. In an effort to educate K-12 students about water resources in a changing climate the Adventure learning through... more
Climate change is projected to affect the distribution and availability of water resources at the local and global scale. In an effort to educate K-12 students about water resources in a changing climate the Adventure learning through Water and MOSS project was created. This project is engaging K-12 students throughout Idaho with meaningful inquiries into water resource issues through outdoor data-collection expeditions supported via a novel online learning environment (http://adventurelearningat.com). Students collect authentic data related to an inquiry-based curriculum and data are shared within the online environment. Students, teachers, and content experts from throughout Idaho then communicate and collaborate in meaningful ways around data using the online environment and the latest in communication technologies. The McCall Outdoor Science School (MOSS) collaborates as an informal science education provider and cornerstone to the project mission by serving as the base camp for water expeditions. Water expeditions are inquiry-driven and focus on various aspects of water resources within a changing climate.
Research Interests:
This paper describes the design and development process used to create Alien Rescue, a multimedia-enhanced learning environment that supports problem-based learning (PBL) in middle school science. The goal of the project is to further our... more
This paper describes the design and development process used to create Alien Rescue, a multimedia-enhanced learning environment that supports problem-based learning (PBL) in middle school science. The goal of the project is to further our understandings of technology, pedagogy, and instructional theories as they relate to the application of PBL within middle
school classrooms through the application of design-based research. A unique characteristic of the project is that it is developed entirely by a team of graduate learning technologies students, working under the direction and supervision of the faculty. Throughout the development process, graduate student developers learn steps and strategies for designing immersive learning environments, engage in technology development, and conduct research that informs future design iterations. Key features of the development model are described in detail and developers’ reflections are shared. Recommendations for those interested in engaging similar endeavors are provided.
school classrooms through the application of design-based research. A unique characteristic of the project is that it is developed entirely by a team of graduate learning technologies students, working under the direction and supervision of the faculty. Throughout the development process, graduate student developers learn steps and strategies for designing immersive learning environments, engage in technology development, and conduct research that informs future design iterations. Key features of the development model are described in detail and developers’ reflections are shared. Recommendations for those interested in engaging similar endeavors are provided.
Research Interests:
Objective: To develop and test the prototype of a serious digital game for improving community-dwelling older adults' heart failure (HF) knowledge and self-management behaviors. The serious game innovatively incorporates evidence-based HF... more
Objective: To develop and test the prototype of a serious digital game for improving community-dwelling older adults' heart failure (HF) knowledge and self-management behaviors. The serious game innovatively incorporates evidence-based HF guidelines with contemporary game technology. Materials and Methods: The study included three phases: development of the game prototype, its usability assessment, and evaluation of the game's functionality. Usability testing included researchers' usability assessment , followed by research personnel's observations of participants playing the game, and participants' completion of a usability survey. Next, in a pretest–post-test design, validated instruments—the Atlanta Heart Failure Knowledge Test and the Self Care for Heart Failure Index—were used to measure improvement in HF self-management knowledge and behaviors related to HF self-maintenance, self-management, and self-efficacy, respectively. A postgame survey assessed participants' perceptions of the game. Results: During usability testing, with seven participants, 100%, 100%, and 86% found the game easy to play, enjoyable, and helpful for learning about HF, respectively. In the subsequent functionality testing, with 19 participants, 89% found the game interesting, enjoyable, and easy to play. Playing the game resulted in a significant improvement in HF self-management knowledge, a nonsignificant improvement in self-reported behaviors related to HF self-maintenance, and no difference in HF self-efficacy scores. Participants with lower education level and age preferred games to any other medium for receiving information. Conclusion: It is feasible to develop a serious digital game that community-dwelling older adults with HF find both satisfying and acceptable and that can improve their self-management knowledge.