Serious games research shows that games can increase engagement and improve learning outcomes over traditional instruction, but the impact of specific elements of serious games has yet to be fully explored across many contexts. Additionally, many existing intervention studies omit the details of the game design and development theory that informed…

This study investigated how emotion could enhance the effectiveness of a digital training game in improving the cognitive skill of shifting. Participants were randomly assigned to either an emotionally-positive visual design of the game, featuring warm colors, round shapes, and high-intensity character expressions, or an emotionally-neutral…

This dissertation observed and analyzed the experiences of five higher education students participating in a modified tabletop role-playing game (TRPG) intentionally modified for teaching adaptive leadership concepts. The study observed participants' capacity to learn the adaptive leadership concepts taught throughout the game and the ways in…

This study aimed to discover the lived experiences of Serious Game designers. More specifically, how they incorporate higher-order thinking skills, as defined by Revised Bloom's Taxonomy (2001), and assessing these skills. The main research questions are: "Which Serious Game design principles allow for the incorporation of higher-order…

Misinformation is one society's most pressing issues, spreading division and chaos across the globe. Videogames have become one of the more promising mediums for misinformation interventions, teaching players common falsehood indicators and helping them develop their discernment abilities. This thesis details the design, playtesting, and…

The Gamification Game ON! Starter Kit provides educators with resources and instruction to create a gamified classroom. This kit aims to simplify the process for educators while maintaining their creative freedom, and outlines a summary of the research, design, and development of an educator kit to incorporate gamification in their classroom.…

The Gamification Game ON! Starter Kit provides educators with resources and instruction to create a gamified classroom. This kit aims to simplify the process for educators while maintaining their creative freedom, and outlines a summary of the research, design, and development of an educator kit to incorporate gamification in their classroom.…

This qualitative case study investigates teachers' perceptions of the Good Behavior Game (GBG) intervention within the context of a special education school. The primary research question guiding this study is: What are school staff's perceptions of the Good Behavior Game in a special education school? The study employs a qualitative approach,…

Successful reference relies on being appropriately informative for listeners. What factors influence informativeness? For example, what factors influence the decision to refer to a ball with the less informative phrase "it," as opposed to the more informative phrase "the red ball"? The present dissertation proposes and…

Play has been discussed by mathematicians and mathematics educators as essential to mathematical progress and has been widely acknowledged to have a role in learning. Yet, play is rarely acknowledged, leveraged, or studied for mathematics learners beyond early childhood. Moreover, there are theoretical and empirical challenges with designing for…

Educational video games often engage students intuitively with visuals with quick, responsive actions to immerse students in authentic disciplinary practice. In contrast, typical formal learning environments engage students in conscious reflection with visual representations to understand underlying disciplinary concepts. Research has examined how…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the challenges students face in academic writing as well as explore the possible causes of their writing challenges which could be based on their socio-cultural background. The primary research design is a hermeneutical phenomenological study which describes and interprets lived experience. There are…

This study employed a pretest-posttest control group experimental design to investigate the impact of self-explanation prompts on content learning in the game-based context. Additionally, it explored the effectiveness of different delivery timings for the prompts--either during or after gameplay--in enhancing students' cognitive engagement in…

Registered nurses (RNs) working in today's healthcare environment must consistently learn new knowledge and skills, keep abreast of practice changes, and implement strategies to improve patient outcomes. However, healthcare organizations face significant challenges as they attempt to facilitate efficient training. Nursing professional development…

Adapting to and participating in technology-enhanced classrooms is challenging for both students and teachers. An emerging need in K-12 STEM classrooms is to investigate how students and teachers use learning technology to engage and practice scientific inquiry. Recent researchers have focused on designing orchestration technology to assist…