Thomas Hainey

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Dr. Scott Kenworthy

Miami University

Rustam Shukurov

Austrian Academy of Sciences

Florin Curta

University of Florida

Marilena Maniaci

University of Cassino and Southern Latium

Dan Ioan Mureșan

Rouen University

Alessandra Bucossi

Università Ca' Foscari Venezia

Rok Stergar

University of Ljubljana

Angel Nikolov

Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski"

Filippo Ronconi

EHESS-Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales

Gabor Demeter

Institute of History of Hungarian Academy of Sciences

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Papers by Thomas Hainey

XR maths – designing a collaborative extended realities lab for teaching mathematics

UWS Academic Portal XR maths – designing a collaborative extended realities lab for teaching mathematics Gilardi

Serious games, games-based learning, and simulation-based learning have been used to teach Mathem... more Serious games, games-based learning, and simulation-based learning have been used to teach Mathematics at various educational levels. In this paper we shall present a design process and the first steps towards an extended realities (XR) collaborative lab for teaching of mathematics at HE level, which is currently under implementation. Designing for XR applications is a complex task that requires knowledge from multiple disciplines in terms of interaction design, user experience, programming, and content creation. This complexity increases when the XR application is for educational purposes. XR education applications require additional competencies for defining learning objectives, designing activities that ensure that the objectives are achieved, and know-how regarding the integration of the application in the curriculum, whilst, at the same time, overcoming external barriers such as student access to technology and institutional support. The design process proposed in this paper ai...

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Writing Successful Undergraduate Dissertations in Games Development and Computer Science

The use of Games-Based Learning Within the Curriculum for Excellence: The Teachers' Perspective

A preliminary evaluation of an immersive 3D simulated practice environment for social and health care training

Systematic literature review of learning using Web 2.0 tools in education and training

StartUp_EU: Using Game-Based Learning and Web 2.0 Technologies to Teach Entrepreneurship to Secondary Education Students

Review: Engagement in digital entertainment games: A systematic review

Computers in Human Behavior, May 1, 2012

Specification and Design of a Generalised Assessment Engine for GBL Applications

The interest towards the introduction of Games‐Based Learning (GBL) in education is increasing. U... more The interest towards the introduction of Games‐Based Learning (GBL) in education is increasing. Using computer games to assist the learning process offers a wide range of possibilities inconceivable in a traditional classroom. Assessment of the learner during game‐play represents a key challenge for GBL. This task is time consuming and requires both technical and educational knowledge. However, careful consideration of the integration of assessment in GBL is crucial as assessment has a very important role in teaching and learning; it is essential for teachers to assess how much their students have achieved the learning goals of a lesson and learners rely on assessment to receive feedback on their work. This paper discusses the specification of a generalized assessment engine that could be integrated into any GBL application. This paper first reviews the literature on traditional assessment and approaches to assessment in GBL. Next, the paper analyses the characteristics of a range o...

Can computer games motivate next generation learners? A survey of students’ reasons for playing computer games

Specification and Design of a Generalized Assessment Engine for GBL Applications

A Preliminary Analysis of 5 Separate Multi-National Comparative Studies on the use and the Availability of Mobile Devices in the Educational Sector

A Survey of Academics’ Views of the Use of Web2.0 Technologies in Higher Education

Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, 2014

ABSTRACT Communication is no longer inhibited by boundaries. Communities of like minded people ca... more ABSTRACT Communication is no longer inhibited by boundaries. Communities of like minded people can form over countries and continents. Social media and collaborative technologies [Web2.0] have altered the social landscape, allowing students to collaborate, to be reflective and to participate in peer-to-peer learning. This paper presents the first empirical data gathered as part of a research study into the use of Web2.0 technologies in education. The results demonstrate that there are a number of barriers to the implementation of Web2.0 technologies, primarily lack of knowledge, lack of time and lack of institutional support. In addition, the results also demonstrate that many educators are still unsure ‘what’ Web2.0 really is and how it can be used effectively to support teaching. This correlates with the literature review carried out as part of this research.

The Use of Games as an Educational Web2.0 Technology

Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, 2014

Serious games are considered by some educationalists to be a potentially highly motivating form o... more Serious games are considered by some educationalists to be a potentially highly motivating form of supplementary education. In some cases, serious games are stand-alone but if delivered over the web is a subset of Web2.0 technologies. To properly deliver serious games over the web for educational purposes it is important to understand the motivations for playing computer games for leisure and for playing computer games in an educational context. This paper will present the findings of a survey carried out in a Higher Education (HE) institution involving 415 participants to ascertain what motivations and attitudes HE students have towards playing computer games in general, playing computer games when they get progressively more difficult and playing computer games for educational purposes. The results indicate that challenge is the most important motivation for playing computer games when they get progressively difficult and for playing computer games in HE. Challenge is the fourth most important motivation for playing computer games in general.

Assessment Integration in Games-Based Learning: A Preliminary Review of the Literature

The potential of online games as a collaborative learning environment

Can stereographic 3D displays improve interaction and feedback full body motion controlled application?

At the dawn of the twenty-first century, virtual reality (VR) is already revolutionising the way ... more At the dawn of the twenty-first century, virtual reality (VR) is already revolutionising the way we see, perceive and analyze the world around us. Imagine being able to travel on others planets, or see the molecules or atoms reactions, or even interacting with entities that do not exist, touch, take, move, create, deform... The VR technology allows us to achieve these and much more. What is this new technology that allows us to perform tasks that we usually can not do in the real world? Virtual reality has long been studied by researchers and research ...

Psychology and logic: design considerations for a customisable educational resource management game

The Fifth Annual International Conference in Computer Game Design and Technology, Liverpool, England, Nov 1, 2007

There are considerable parallels between what is commonly considered to make a good gaming or a g... more There are considerable parallels between what is commonly considered to make a good gaming or a good learning experience [7]. This suggests the use of computer games in the education sector. We suggest the design of a resource management computer game [4] aiming at delivering positive citizenship values. We argue that focusing on peoples attitude when investigating their behaviour is an established approach in psychology [1] and that the use of computer games in education is quickly becoming a common practice [3, 2]. ...

Learning Analytics in Serious Games: A Review of the Literature

ABSTRACT Learning analytics (LA) is a powerful technology expected to be adopted by institutions ... more ABSTRACT Learning analytics (LA) is a powerful technology expected to be adopted by institutions in the near future. The 2014 NMC horizon report situates it in the two to three years’ timeframe for primary and secondary level and one year or less for higher education. The use of LA in serious games raises two important questions, what data is gathered and how is the information analysed and transformed to knowledge. This paper presents the preliminary results of a systematic review of the literature on learning analytics in serious games. The 14 relevant studies identified will be outlined and categorised in order to offer a starting point for developers and researchers studying this important subject. The review categorises the studies found according to the type of data monitored by the game, the data processing technique and the target user of the LA tool. The review suggests that there are three perspectives to learning analytics; the student’s, the teacher’s and the researcher’s. After defining learning analytics and serious games and presenting the two main approaches to data analysis, this paper provides an overview of the use of learning analytics within serious games as well as a discussion on existing frameworks. Finally, we will present the model used in our generalised assessment engine taking into account the three perspectives of LA.

An Assessment Engine: Educators as Editors of their Serious Games’ Assessment

ABSTRACT Serious Games (SG) are increasingly used by educators to assist the teaching and learnin... more ABSTRACT Serious Games (SG) are increasingly used by educators to assist the teaching and learning process and offer many advantages over traditional education. They are highly engaging, motivating and they have the potential to adapt to each student quickly becoming an ideal supplementary tool for education. However, if the majority of teachers agree that using SGs increases the motivation, learning and retention of their students, very few of them are ready to trust their assessment to verify that the learning goals have been met. They would rather adopt a more conventional method such as a paper-based test. We believe two main reasons explain this attitude: a lack of ownership over the games used and the rigidness of the games, making them unmodifiable by the teacher. To overcome these issues, we have developed an assessment engine to be used by both SG developers and educators. The engine’s design results in a separation of a game and its assessment, and the resulting modularity allows the teachers to modify the assessment of a game even after distribution. This paper focuses on the teacher interface of the assessment engine. After reviewing the literature associated with in-game assessment and learning analytics, the paper will provide a summary of the engine and its functionalities, present the Learning Analytics (LA) dashboard. We will then describe the visual language that allows teachers to edit a game’s assessment system based on the LA reports. Thereafter, the authorisation and versioning mechanics of the engine will be detailed, showing how the system regulates the access to the games and stressing the fact that every teacher will have, after modification, a unique game customised to their students’ needs. Finally, we will provide conclusions and state the remaining work to be undertaken.