Digital game-based learning (DGBL) is known to be widely used for improving learning in various fields. Among the elements of DGBL, competition has been very controversial. This meta-analysis, which ...included 25 articles written between 2008 and 2019, revealed that DGBL has produced improvements for learning outcomes with an overall effect size of .386. In addition, we explored multiple moderators to understand how competition in DGBL influenced student learning for different learners, contexts, game types, and learning outcomes. We found that competition in DGBL was effective for math, science and language, but not for social science and other subjects. It was effective for K12 students and college students. It was effective for puzzle, strategy, role-playing, and simulation, but not for action games. Finally, competition in DGBL was equally effective for cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes. Through the results of this study, we fill a critical gap in the research left by recent reviews, which do not examine the role of competition; a key gaming element. In addition, we offer a number of suggestions for future studies.
One of Eugen Fink's most important texts is "Oasis of Happiness. Thoughts on an Ontology of Play". Against the background of the interest in the phenomenon of play in philosophy and the social and ...cul-tural sciences, the Freiburg philosopher develops in this book an independent and innovative approach to play and playing, which is likely to prove a classic of 20th century philosophy. This volume on Fink's "Oasis of Happiness" contains not only this fundamental text, but also numerous interpretations from leading Fink scholars. It introduces not only Fink's reflections on play, but also methodologically his genuine phenomenological approach, and shows the broad international reception
We aimed to measure the prevalence and length of the problem of pathological video gaming or Internet use, to identify risk and protective factors, to determine whether pathological gaming is a ...primary or secondary problem, and to identify outcomes for individuals who become or stop being pathological gamers.
A 2-year, longitudinal, panel study was performed with a general elementary and secondary school population in Singapore, including 3034 children in grades 3 (N = 743), 4 (N = 711), 7 (N = 916), and 8 (N = 664). Several hypothesized risk and protective factors for developing or overcoming pathological gaming were measured, including weekly amount of game play, impulsivity, social competence, depression, social phobia, anxiety, and school performance.
The prevalence of pathological gaming was similar to that in other countries (∼9%). Greater amounts of gaming, lower social competence, and greater impulsivity seemed to act as risk factors for becoming pathological gamers, whereas depression, anxiety, social phobias, and lower school performance seemed to act as outcomes of pathological gaming.
This study adds important information to the discussion about whether video game "addiction" is similar to other addictive behaviors, demonstrating that it can last for years and is not solely a symptom of comorbid disorders.
Traditionally, energy consumers pay non-commodity charges (e.g., transmission, environmental and network costs) as a major component of their energy bills. With the distributed energy generation, ...enabling energy consumption close to producers can minimize such costs. The physically constrained energy prosumers in power networks can be logically grouped into virtual microgrids (VMGs) using telecommunication systems. Prosumer benefits can be optimised by modelling the energy trading interactions among producers and consumers in a VMG as a Stackelberg game in which producers lead and consumers follow. Considering renewable (RES) and non-renewable energy (nRES) resources, and given that RES are unpredictable thus unschedulable, we also describe cost and utility models that include load uncertainty demands of producers. The results show that under Stackelberg equilibrium (SE), the costs incurred by a consumer for procuring either the RES or nRES are significantly reduced while the derived utility by producer is maximized. We further show that when the number of prosumers in the VMG increases, the CO 2 emission cost and consequently the energy cost are minimized at the SE. Lastly, we evaluate the peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading scenario involving noncooperative energy prosumers with and without Stackelberg game. The results show that the P2P energy prosumers attain 47% higher benefits with Stackelberg game.
In this paper, we optimize and allocate the costs of a non-rival common-pool resource among several users. In such a so-called schedule situation the players have different demands given by distinct ...subsets of periods satisfying their needs. The total costs resulting from shared use of the resource are allocated by natural allocations called Equal Pooling allocations, in which the cost of each needed period is shared equally among the users of this period. The associated schedule game gives, for each coalition of players, the minimal cost of a period configuration satisfying the needs of all its members. We have three main contributions. First, we provide several sufficient conditions for the non-emptiness of the core of a schedule game. Second, we prove that under some of these conditions the Shapley value is in the core and coincides with some Equal pooling allocation. Third, we establish connections with other classes of operational research games. Furthermore, we present an application to the allocation of the common costs of the mail carrier route of La Poste, the french postal operator.
•Schedule situations are introduced.•EP allocations: divide equally the cost of periods among users.•Study the core of schedule games.•Links between Shapley value and Equal pooling allocations.•Application to postal cost allocation.
Current studies have reported that secondary students are highly engaged while playing mobile augmented reality (AR) learning games. Some researchers have posited that players' engagement may ...indicate a flow experience, but no research results have confirmed this hypothesis with vision‐based AR learning games. This study investigated factors related to students' engagement – as characterized by flow theory – during a collaborative AR, forensic science mystery game using mobile devices. School Scene Investigators: The Case of the Stolen Score Sheets is a vision‐based AR game played inside the school environment with Quick Response codes. A mixed methods approach was employed with 68 urban middle school students. Data sources included pre‐ and post‐surveys, field observations and group interviews. Results showed that neither gender nor interest in science was an important predictor of variability in flow experience. Gaming attitude uniquely predicted 23% of the variance in flow experience. Student flow experience features included a flash of intensity, a sense of discovery and the desire for higher performance. The findings demonstrated a potential for mobile AR science games to increase science interest and help students learn collaboration skills. Implications for future research concerning mobile AR science games are discussed.
Facets of the cone of exact games Studený, Milan; Kratochvíl, Václav
Mathematical methods of operations research (Heidelberg, Germany),
02/2022, Volume:
95, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
The class of
exact
transferable utility coalitional games, introduced in 1972 by Schmeidler, has been studied both in the context of game theory and in the context of imprecise probabilities. We ...characterize the cone of exact games by describing the minimal set of linear inequalities defining this cone; these facet-defining inequalities for the exact cone appear to correspond to certain set systems (= systems of coalitions). We noticed that non-empty proper coalitions having non-zero coefficients in these facet-defining inequalities form set systems with particular properties. More specifically, we introduce the concept of a
semi-balanced
system of coalitions, which generalizes the classic concept of a balanced coalitional system in cooperative game theory. The semi-balanced coalitional systems provide valid inequalities for the exact cone and minimal semi-balanced systems (in the sense of inclusion of set systems) characterize this cone. We also introduce basic classification of minimal semi-balanced systems, their pictorial representatives and a substantial concept of an
indecomposable
(minimal)
semi-balanced system
of coalitions. The main result of the paper is that indecomposable semi-balanced systems are in one-to-one correspondence with facet-defining inequalities for the exact cone. The second relevant result is the rebuttal of a former conjecture claiming that a coalitional game is exact iff it is totally balanced and its anti-dual is also totally balanced. We additionally characterize those inequalities which are facet-defining both for the cone of exact games and for the cone of totally balanced games.
The aim of this study is to assess the impact of a 3D educational computer game on students' test anxiety and exam performance when used in evaluative situations as compared to the traditional method ...of examination. The participants of the study were students in tertiary education who were examined using game‐based assessment and traditional assessment in a 2 × 2 cross‐over design. The game was flexible, providing the instructor with the opportunity to import and edit exam questions and modify several aspects via an administration panel. Following the collection and analysis of both quantitative and interview data, it was revealed that the students' test anxiety was reduced during the game‐based assessment. Furthermore, the exam performance of the students was significantly better when the game method was used. The results showed that there is a linear negative relationship between the students' test anxiety and exam performance as well as that these variables are correlated in a causal way. Overall, this study provides evidence that game‐based assessment could be potentially beneficial for students.
Lay Description
What is already known about this topic:
Games can be beneficial in education as they can increase students' motivation and engagement.
Games can also be used as assessment methods, decreasing students' mathematics anxiety and test anxiety.
In all of the previous studies, the impact of games on test anxiety is measured utilizing self‐report instruments.
What this paper adds:
A game‐based assessment method is compared with a conventional examination method utilizing a bio‐feedback device for measuring test anxiety.
Game‐based assessment has the potential to decrease students' test anxiety in and improve their exam performance in the domain of multimedia learning.
The examination method can have an indirect effect on exam performance through test anxiety.
Implications for practitioners:
Educators could exploit game‐based assessment in certain cases in higher education.
Efforts should be made to make games more friendly and flexible to support game‐based assessment.
Serious games have proven to be a powerful tool in education to engage, motivate, and help students learn. However, the change in student knowledge after playing games is usually measured with ...traditional (paper) prequestionnaires–postquestionnaires. We propose a combination of game learning analytics and data mining techniques to predict knowledge change based on in‐game student interactions. We have tested this approach in a case study for which we have conducted preexperiments–postexperiments with 227 students playing a previously validated serious game on first aid techniques. We collected student interaction data while students played, using a game learning analytics infrastructure and the standard data format Experience API for Serious Games. After data collection, we developed and tested prediction models to determine whether knowledge, given as posttest results, can be accurately predicted. Additionally, we compared models both with and without pretest information to determine the importance of previous knowledge when predicting postgame knowledge. The high accuracy of the obtained prediction models suggests that serious games can be used not only to teach but also to measure knowledge acquisition after playing. This will simplify serious games application for educational settings and especially in the classroom easing teachers' evaluation tasks.
Lay Description
What is currently known about the subject matter
Serious games are a powerful tool to engage, motivate, and help students learn.
Pre‐post experiments are commonly used to measure knowledge acquisition.
Game learning analytics can be applied to interaction data from games.
What this paper adds
We present a two‐step approach combining game learning analytics and data mining to predict players' performance in serious games based on their interactions.
The approach is tested in a case study with pre‐post experiments collecting interaction data with 227 students playing a serious game to determine if performance can be accurately predicted.
The comparison of prediction models has helped to determine if pretest information is essential.
The highly accurate prediction models obtained suggest that games can be used to teach and measure knowledge acquisition after playing.
Implications of study findings for practitioners
The approach aims to simplify the measurement of players' learning with serious games.
It may be generalized at least to similar scenarios (e.g., games for procedural learning or game‐likesimulations) where similar interaction data are feasible.
Game mechanics and educational design should define the interaction data to capture.
Using an accepted standard tracking profile is a clear recommendation.
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