This paper presents the Design for Somebody (DfS) philosophy targeted to iterative, user-oriented development of solutions for special user groups. In this article, the DfS is discussed using a game development context. The paper gives concrete examples how the DfS can be used in developing motivating serious games. The paper presents three games…

The authors explore how framing theory and the method of frame-reflective discourse analysis provide foundations for the emerging discipline of serious games (SGs) research. Starting with Wittgenstein's language game and Berger and Luckmann's social constructivist view on science, the authors demonstrate why a definitional or taxonomic approach to…

The goal of this study is to determine the effectiveness of mind games played by secondary school sixth grade students as classroom activities in math and grammar courses on their perceived problem-solving skills and achievements. In the quantitative part of the study, the nonequivalent groups pre-test--post-test control group design from…

Serious games and game-based learning have received increased attention in recent years as an adjunct to teaching and learning material. This has been well echoed in the literature with numerous articles on the use of games and game theory in education. Despite this, no policy for the incorporation of serious games in education exists to date.…

It is generally accepted that informative and timely feedback is important to a student's learning experience within higher education. In the study of commercial digital games it has also become increasingly understood that games are particularly good at providing effective feedback of this form to gameplayers. We discuss recent game based…

This paper examines whether people benefit more from playing a commercial off-the-shelf game in pairs rather than in solitary mode. The basic idea behind this didactic method is that there is a serious risk that solitary game play yields insufficient articulation and explanation for learning to take place. Participants in the experimental…

Although there is an increasing use of emerging technologies (ETs) in higher education internationally and in South Africa in particular, there is little evidence that their use is transforming teaching and learning practice. Anecdotal evidence shows that there is a dichotomy between the technologies supported and used in higher education…

This paper examines how learning outcomes from playing serious games can be enhanced by including scripted collaboration in the game play. We compared the quality of advisory reports, that students in the domain of water management had to draw up for an authentic case problem, both before and after collaborating on the problem with (virtual) peer…

This paper identifies resources to be included in a website designed to facilitate the integration of instructional games in K-12 settings. Guidelines and supporting components are based on a survey of K-12 educators who are integrating games, an analysis of existing instructional game websites, and summaries of literature on the use of…

Serious virtual worlds (SVWs) represent a great opportunity for learning and should embed a lot of high-quality contextualised information so that the player can take the most from his or her exploration of the environment. This requires defining new methodologies and tools for effective production. We have investigated this issue in implementing…

This article explores the potential learning benefits of three-dimensional (3-D) virtual learning environments (VLEs). Drawing on published research spanning two decades, it identifies a set of unique characteristics of 3-D VLEs, which includes aspects of their representational fidelity and aspects of the learner-computer interactivity they…

This paper explores and discusses arguments for the use of virtual environments and interactive avatars in supporting the achievement of student learning goals within conventional educational contexts. It describes and evaluates arguments promoted by some authors (eg, van den Brekel, 2007; Deuchar & Nodder, 2003; Dickey, 2003; Facer, 2004; de…

This study investigated the effects of gameplaying on fifth-graders' maths performance and attitudes. One hundred twenty five fifth graders were recruited and assigned to a cooperative Teams-Games-Tournament (TGT), interpersonal competitive or no gameplaying condition. A state standards-based maths exam and an inventory on attitudes towards maths…