Papers by Nuri Kara
International Journal of Computer-Assisted Language Learning and Teaching (IJCALLT), 2022
The main aim of this study was to explore the effect of the serious mobile game Jumo the Jumper o... more The main aim of this study was to explore the effect of the serious mobile game Jumo the Jumper on the vocabulary acquisition of primary school English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students and their attitudes toward an EFL course. The main research design of the study was a quasi-experimental design with nonequivalent control groups that included pre-test and post-test control groups. Twenty students in the experimental group played the serious mobile game aimed at teaching English vocabulary about the “animals” unit for four weeks, while 20 students in the control group received traditional, curriculum-based tuition. Based on the analysis of the independent sample t-test, the use of the serious mobile game Jumo the Jumper in primary school classrooms had a significant effect on the vocabulary acquisition of the students compared to traditional instruction. On the other hand, the serious mobile game did not have a significant effect on the students’ attitudes toward the EFL course.
Journal of Computer and Education Research, 2021
The aim of this study was to indicate bibliometric results of articles on the use of serious game... more The aim of this study was to indicate bibliometric results of articles on the use of serious games to assist people with disabilities and to use content analysis to conduct a methodological review of articles over the last seven years. For the bibliometric analysis, a total of 343 articles from the Web of Science database were included. For the content analysis, a total of 52 articles published between 2014 and 2020 were selected. The bibliometric results showed that serious games, disability, and rehabilitation were the most used author keywords. USA was the most cited country followed by European countries, namely England, Netherlands and Spain. Based on the content analysis results, "education" was the most commonly used field in the articles reviewed in this study. Computer games were the most commonly researched game platform. Intellectual disability was the most common kind of disability investigated. The main contribution of this study is to reveal research trends in the use of serious games to assist people with disabilities by utilizing the diversity of applied analyses.
Contemporary Educational Technology, 2021
The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic literature review on the use of serious games i... more The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic literature review on the use of serious games in science education between 2016 and 2020 years. A total of 39 articles were included from Science Citation Index-Expanded (SCI-Expanded), Social Science Citation Index (SSCI), Arts & Humanities Citation Index (A&HCI) and Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) listed in the Web of Science database. The results showed that experiential science was the most emphasized subject area in the articles. The results also indicated that learning/academic achievement was the common examined topic in the articles. For the research designs, more than half of the articles implemented quantitative research design. Considering the data collection tools, achievement tests were the most used data collection tool. Regarding the use of sampling methods, convenience sampling was preferred in more than half of the articles. Secondary and primary school students were the most used sampling groups. The sample size of 31-100-person group was commonly chosen in the articles. Considering the data analysis methods, a majority of articles implemented descriptive analyses methods. It was also found that computer game was the most used game type. Regarding the game genres, adventure was the most preferred one in serious games.
Muğla Sıtkı Koçman Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 2020
Oyunlaştırma özellikle son yıllarda üzerinde sıkça durulan konulardan biri olmuştur. Bu araştırma... more Oyunlaştırma özellikle son yıllarda üzerinde sıkça durulan konulardan biri olmuştur. Bu araştırmanın amacı öğretmen ve öğrencilerin eğitsel mobil matematik oyunu "Hoverland" kullanılarak sınıf içinde yapılacak oyunlaştırma uygulamasına ilişkin deneyimlerini ve görüşlerini ortaya çıkarmaktır. Araştırmada, nitel araştırma yöntemini temel alan durum çalışması kullanılmıştır. Araştırmanın çalışma grubunu bir devlet okulunda 2019-2020 eğitim öğretim yılında öğrenim gören 20 öğrencinin ve 1 sınıf öğretmeninin yer aldığı bir ilköğretim 3. Sınıf grubu oluşturmaktadır. Araştırma verilerinin toplanmasında gözlem ve görüşme formları kullanılmıştır. Araştırma verilerinin analizinde ise betimsel ve içerik analizi kullanılmıştır. Araştırmanın sonuçlarına göre öğrenciler oyunlaştırma içerisinde eğlenceli bir şekilde gezinmişlerdir. Oyunlaştırma sürecine ilişkin öğrenciler oyun sonucunda kazandıkları rozetleri saklama ve arkadaşlarıyla paylaşma eğiliminde olmuşlardır. Sınıf içi oyunlaştırmada sınıf öğretmeninin karşılaştığı en büyük zorluk ise sınıf yönetimi olmuştur. Araştırmanın diğer sonuçlarına göre oyunlaştırmada kullanılan mobil oyunun tasarım ve içerik bileşenleri öğrencilerin beklentilerine uygun olmalıdır. Ayrıca, oyun içi seviyeler oluşturulmalı ve bu seviyeler basitten zora doğru sunulmalıdır.
Journal of university teaching and learning practice, 2021
COVID-19 has affected university students’ learning experiences on a great scale. The aim of this... more COVID-19 has affected university students’ learning experiences on a great scale. The aim of this study was to understand the enablers and barriers to the effectiveness of online learning in a university course during the COVID-19 pandemic, using a qualitative case study approach. Participants were 44 first-year university students enrolled in a digital game history and analysis course at a private university. Structured and semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect the data, which were then organized and transcribed into full text. Inductive data analysis was applied with content analysis. The researcher used axial coding to compose themes by considering the commonalities among codes created. Five main themes emerged, namely online content, online assignments, online assessment, instructor behavior and practices, and psychological issues. Based on the findings, taking online courses at home and joining online classes from home positively affected students’ mood during th...
INTED2021 Proceedings, 2021
Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 2020
Abstract The purpose of this study is to devise guidelines for designing, developing, and using a... more Abstract The purpose of this study is to devise guidelines for designing, developing, and using a smart toy for preschool children. Smart toys are technologically developed toys constructed with a meaningful purpose. This study uses the design and development research method. In the analysis phase, the smart toy developed in the pilot study was analyzed. In the design phase, focus group meetings were held with early childhood teachers to determine the objectives, story, and storyboard of the smart toy. In the development phase, two prototypes were developed, and formative evaluations were conducted with preschool children, early childhood teachers, and scholars. In the evaluation phase, the smart toy was evaluated by preschool children. Many design guidelines (categorized as content, visual design, or interaction) emerged during the study.
The purpose of this study was to investigate university students' thoughts and practices concerni... more The purpose of this study was to investigate university students' thoughts and practices concerning digital citizenship. An explanatory mixed methods design was used, and it involved collecting qualitative data after a quantitative phase in order to follow up on the quantitative data in more depth. In the first quantitative phase of the study, a digital citizenship survey, including demographics and 5-point Likert scale questions, was conducted with 435 students of a private university. Factor analysis, descriptive statistics, and parametric test were used to analyze the data gathered by the survey. One of the important findings in the first phase was that university students do not prefer to engage in political activities online. The second qualitative phase was conducted to better understand the reasons behind university students' thoughts and practices regarding digital citizenship. In this exploratory follow up, the data gathered in the first phase was tentatively explored with 10 students studying at the same university. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the students and content analysis was used to analyze the data. Based on the findings, students indicated that they do not prefer to engage in political activities online because of emotional disturbance, pressure from society, and a fear of affecting their future lives in a negative way.
The purpose of this study is to understand in-service preschool teachers' thoughts about technolo... more The purpose of this study is to understand in-service preschool teachers' thoughts about technology and technology use in early educational settings. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 in-service preschool teachers. These teachers were selected from public and private preschools. Convenient sampling was applied because teachers who were eager to attend the study were selected. Content analysis technique was used to analyze the data. Based on the content analysis, eleven main themes as to technology related views and practices of in-service preschool teachers emerged. Findings of the study indicated that the majority of in-service teachers had positive views about appropriate technology use in preschool education. Findings also showed that early educational settings need to be equipped with adequate technologies. Moreover, in-service preschool teachers emphasized that they expect to be supported by the preschool curriculum and several programs aiming at enhancing their technology use skills. Lastly, teachers were aware of not only the advantages of technology but also the potential disadvantages. Results of the study may help instructional designers, researchers and practitioners better integrate new technologies into preschool education.
Because computers generally make children passive listeners, new technologicaldevices need to sup... more Because computers generally make children passive listeners, new technologicaldevices need to support children’s storytelling activities. This article introducesthe StoryTech, a smart toy that includes a virtual space comprised of computer-based graphics and characters as well as a real space that involves stuffed animals,background cards and a receiver panel. When children put real objects on thereceiver panel, the computer displays related backgrounds and characters.Through this flexible context, children are expected to tell a story about what theysee on the screen. The aim of this article is to present the development period of the StoryTech and to provide design principles for smart toy technologies basedon the usability study. The article focuses on attributes of new technology and thesignificance of supporting storytelling activities to find the best combination of and moderation between real and virtual spaces
In this quantitative study, research assistants' perceptions toward science and scientific activi... more In this quantitative study, research assistants' perceptions toward science and scientific activities were investigated.
The aim of this study is to investigate the flow experiences of adolescents who play computer gam... more The aim of this study is to investigate the flow experiences of adolescents who play computer games at an Internet café environment. Observations and interviews were used in order to collect data from 21 adolescents aged 14 to 20 years. Results indicated that the Internet café social environment that include several activities such as talking to each other and helping other players while playing had a positive effect on the flow experiences of adolescents. While game genre, goal, and visual appearance increase the flow experiences and motivations of adolescents, the story feature of the games is not considered as an effective component of flow. The music of the games also does not have an effect on the flow experiences of most of the players.
Since 1950s, teaching machines have changed a lot. Today, we have different ideas about how peopl... more Since 1950s, teaching machines have changed a lot. Today, we have different ideas about how people learn, what instructor should do to help students during their learning process. We have adaptive learning technologies that can create much more student oriented learning environments. The purpose of this article is to present these changes and its effects on learning environment. First, after explaining the concepts of teaching machines and adaptive learning systems including their main features as well as integral components, similarities and differences between these technologies are discussed briefly. Then, following the discussion on weaknesses and strengths of adaptive learning systems, what instructional designers should consider in developing and using them are mentioned.
This paper introduces StoryTech, a smart storytelling toy that features a virtual space, which in... more This paper introduces StoryTech, a smart storytelling toy that features a virtual space, which includes computerbased graphics and characters, and a real space, which includes plush toys, background cards, and a communication interface. When children put real objects on the receiver panel, the computer program shows related backgrounds and characters on the screen. StoryTech encourages children to produce their own stories. Empirical research with a total of 90 children indicated that StoryTech contributed to narrative activities of children and made a positive impact on their creativity. The paper also focuses on the attributes, design, and development process of StoryTech.
This article introduces StoryTech, a smart storytelling toy that offers children a mixed reality ... more This article introduces StoryTech, a smart storytelling toy that offers children a mixed reality environment in which to tell imaginative stories. During usability testing, an empirical study was carried out with 90 child participants. The findings indicated that StoryTech creates a rich storytelling experience, especially for ages five and six.
Because computers generally make children passive listeners, new technological devices need to su... more Because computers generally make children passive listeners, new technological devices need to support children's storytelling activities. This article introduces the StoryTech, a smart toy that includes a virtual space comprised of computer-based graphics and characters as well as a real space that involves stuffed animals, background cards and a receiver panel. When children put real objects on the receiver panel, the computer displays related backgrounds and characters. Through this flexible context, children are expected to tell a story about what they see on the screen. The aim of this article is to present the development period of the StoryTech and to provide design principles for smart toy technologies based on the usability study. The article focuses on attributes of new technology and the significance of supporting storytelling activities to find the best combination of and moderation between real and virtual spaces.
EDULEARN09 Proceedings, Jan 1, 2009
Rapid developments in technology have made important changes in the field of education. Robotic d... more Rapid developments in technology have made important changes in the field of education. Robotic developments, also, are being adapted to the learning environments. Since several studies related to using robotic materials in learning environments have been conducted increasingly, robotic mediums are seen as an alternative process to enhance the some skills of students. From this view, the purpose of this case study was to identify approaches of students to robotic clubs. In this respect, 10 students joined robotic club at a private school in Turkey and a teacher of this robotic club, who is responsible for using robotic materials in this robotic club participated the study. To collect data, interview with students, aiming to analyze students’ reasons to participate the robotic club and their studies in this learning environment was used. In addition, interview with robotic club’s teacher was used in order to analyze his opinions toward robotic club and observations as to students’ perceptions toward this robotic club. Results showed that robotic clubs are preferred by boys more than girls and girls are not guided to participate robotic clubs. Detailed results will be presented at the end of the paper.
Book Chapters by Nuri Kara
Handbook of Research on Educational Communications and Technology , 2014
This chapter examines the general characteristics of and related recent research on smart toys. S... more This chapter examines the general characteristics of and related recent research on smart toys. Smart toys can be defined as new forms of toys featuring both tangible objects and electronic components that facilitate two-way child–smart toy interactions to carry out purposeful tasks. In this chapter, smart toy based learning projects are discussed and the characteristics of smart toys as cognitive tools to facilitate learning are analyzed. This chapter also covers the relationship between smart toys and children’s developmental stages—with a particular focus on motivation—in order to understand smart toys’ potential effects on children.
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Papers by Nuri Kara
Book Chapters by Nuri Kara