Background: Obesity-driven nutrition education in schools does not appear to result in healthier adolescent food choices. This study explored food systems as an alternative pedagogical approach to ...engage students in nutrition education. Methods: After playing a food systems computer game, 250 13- to 16-year-old students in 5 Western Australian secondary schools, participated in group discussions to distinguish learning and interests in food systems. Discussion records were thematically coded using constant comparative analysis. Results: Students reported crop growth, food production and food waste, healthier food choices, and food systems as knowledge outcomes of game play. They requested additional content on food production, costing, handling, processing, and accessing local produce. Experiential activities were preferred pedagogical approaches. Conclusions: Cross-curricular pedagogy which embraces human and planetary health through a food systems lens, can engage adolescents in nutrition education. Transformational computer games are effective to engage, educate and stimulate inquiry in food systems education.
Digital entertainment games about World War II have long omitted references to the Holocaust. This article presents a focus group study on how players discuss their experiences of playing two games ...that do offer a representation of the Holocaust, Wolfenstein: The New Order and CM of Duty: WWII. It explores questions of digital memory by examining how players reflect on these games as historical representations and, in particular, how they reflect on engaging with the Holocaust through gameplay To analyze players' reactions to engaging with sensitive and contentious pasts through gaming, I develop the concept "gaming fever."
This mixed-method case study examined the potential of computer-assisted, math game making activities in facilitating design-based math learning for school children. Sixty-four middle school children ...participated in Scratch-based, math game making activities. Data were collected via activity and conversation observation, artifact analysis, interviewing, and survey. The study findings indicated that participants developed significantly more positive dispositions toward mathematics after computer game making. The study also found that experience-driven game design processes helped to activate children's reflection on everyday mathematical experiences. Mathematical thinking and content experience were intertwined within the process of computer game authoring. On the other hand, children designers were involved in game-world and story crafting more than mathematical representation. And it was still challenging for them to perform computer game coding with abstract reasoning.
•Computer educational game making using Scratch by middle school students.•Developed significantly more positive dispositions toward mathematics.•Activated mathematical experience and thinking.•Mergence and dissection of learning, design, and computing.
Situation assessment and search are two key problems in computer game research. In general, as the game progresses, the difficulty of evaluating the situation of the game is significantly reduced, ...and the accuracy of the evaluation is significantly increased. Based on the famous chess game, this article proposes and implements a new scheme that combines the Monte Carlo tree search algorithm, the Alpha-Beta algorithm and the model based on the deep convolution neural network (CNN) to solve the computer game problem. This article first proposes a deep convolutional neural network model based on dots and boxes, including deep value network and deep strategy network, focusing on situation assessment and strategy recommendation, respectively. Then, using the Monte Carlo Tree Search (MCTS) algorithm as a framework, deep value network integrated MCTS algorithm and deep strategy network integrated MCTS algorithm are proposed. In both integrated models, Alpha-Beta complete search is used to truncate the Monte Carlo simulation process and improve simulation efficiency. Through competition with human players, the results show that the two integrated algorithm game systems have reached much higher intelligence level than ordinary humans in solving the problem of dots and boxes.
Television and computer game consumption are a powerful influence in the lives of most children. Previous evidence has supported the notion that media exposure could impair a variety of behavioral ...characteristics. Excessive television viewing and computer game playing have been associated with many psychiatric symptoms, especially emotional and behavioral symptoms, somatic complaints, attention problems such as hyperactivity, and family interaction problems. Nevertheless, there is insufficient knowledge about the relationship between singular excessive media consumption on sleep patterns and linked implications on children. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of singular excessive television and computer game consumption on sleep patterns and memory performance of children.
Eleven school-aged children were recruited for this polysomnographic study. Children were exposed to voluntary excessive television and computer game consumption. In the subsequent night, polysomnographic measurements were conducted to measure sleep-architecture and sleep-continuity parameters. In addition, a visual and verbal memory test was conducted before media stimulation and after the subsequent sleeping period to determine visuospatial and verbal memory performance.
Only computer game playing resulted in significant reduced amounts of slow-wave sleep as well as significant declines in verbal memory performance. Prolonged sleep-onset latency and more stage 2 sleep were also detected after previous computer game consumption. No effects on rapid eye movement sleep were observed. Television viewing reduced sleep efficiency significantly but did not affect sleep patterns.
The results suggest that television and computer game exposure affect children's sleep and deteriorate verbal cognitive performance, which supports the hypothesis of the negative influence of media consumption on children's sleep, learning, and memory.
We explored the relationship between goal specificity, flow experience and learning outcomes in educational computer games (ECGs). Our first aim was to analyze how goal specificity affects learning ...performances and reading activities in an ECG. Our second aim was to assess the effects of flow experience on learning with an ECG. Concerning our first aim, results indicated that a nonspecific goal, as opposed to one that is specifically defined in the task, enhances comprehension, but not memorization. It also affects reading strategies, leading to less scrolling back. Concerning our second aim, results highlighted a beneficial influence of flow experience on both memorization and comprehension. We did not observe any effect of goal specificity on flow experience. The results for goal specificity are discussed with respect to the dual space and cognitive load explanations. The relevance of using flow experience to assess motivation in ECGs is also addressed.
•We explored the links between goal specificity, flow and learning outcomes in ECGs.•A goal-specific effect was found for comprehension but not for memorization.•A specific goal produced more scrolling back, a suboptimal reading strategy.•Flow experience positively influenced memorization and comprehension.
The article describes the methodology of professional training of future future speech therapists for the use of computer technologies in professional activities, which involves a consistency of ...stages, where the content of educational disciplines from the cycle of professional and practical training is adjusted at the preparatory stage; activation of independent search of students; at the theoretical level - the introduction of an additional special course "Computer games in the work of a speech therapist"; the practical stage provides the transfer of acquired knowledge, practical abilities and skills to various types of pedagogical practice throughout the entire period of study in high school, as well as the productive stage.
Programming is a highly difficult skill which is a constituent of many undergraduate programmes at Higher Education (HE) level. With the advancement of games technology there is an increasing ...opportunity for educators to provide innovative assessment tools for students on their courses which are highly immersive and graphically indicative of the times. This could potentially be in a supplementary capacity or to a greater extent inextricably linked to the learning outcomes and assessment outcomes. Notably serious games and Games-Based Learning (GBL) have received high levels of attention from educationalists due to being motivational, novel learning approaches. This paper will outline two empirical studies conducted to develop a game to teach programming at HE level. The first study will gauge the acceptability of a computer game for teaching programming and formulating content integration development requirements. The second study will outline the evaluation of the developed game being placed in a module as a formative assessment tool to assist learners to revise for their formal class test. Study one showed that acceptability of the game was high with 61 participants completing an acceptability/content integration questionnaire. The game was designed to consolidate knowledge on rudimentary and advanced programming concepts, data structures and algorithms. 48 participants evaluated the game in study two with the results generally indicating that they enjoyed playing the game as a revision alternative with 14% of participants rating it as very effective and 51% of participants as effective for allowing them to prepare for their class test. The majority of participants also believed that games could be utilised in a formative and summative assessment capacity on courses for independent study.
Prevalence, frequency, and psychosocial predictors of Internet and computer game use were assessed with 803 male and 788 female adolescents across 2 time periods, 21 months apart. At Time 1, ...participants were in the 9th or 10th grade; at Time 2, they were in the 11th or 12th grade. Most girls (93.7%) and boys (94.7%) reported using the Internet at both time periods, whereas more boys (80.3%) than girls (28.8%) reported gaming at both time periods. Girls reported a small decrease over time in the frequency of hours spent per day on overall technology use, mostly due to a decrease in gaming. Both linear and curvilinear relations were examined between parental relationships, friendship quality, academic orientation, and well-being measured in early high school and the frequency of technology use in late high school. Being male significantly predicted both computer gaming and Internet use. There also were trends in favor of higher friendship quality and less positive parental relationships predicting higher frequency of Internet use. Importantly, moderate use of the Internet was associated with a more positive academic orientation than nonuse or high levels of use.
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