Researching informal gameplay can be challenging, since as soon as a formal study design is imposed, it becomes neither casual nor self-motivated. As a case study of a non-invasive design, we analyze publicly posted gameplay videos to assess the effectiveness of a physics educational video game on special relativity. These videos offer unique…

FLEET is a free ship-design simulator that reaches students in their native environment--video games. It is also a physics simulator that applies content first learned through hands-on scientific investigations. Using FLEET, students design and use ships for various naval missions by mastering scientific concepts such as force, energy, and work,…

Digital, educational games have many promises (e.g., increasing students' content knowledge as well as competencies like problem-solving, spatial skills, and persistence). However, there are challenges to overcome before using these games more broadly in educational settings. One challenge involves identifying effective, theoretically based…

This paper situates a critical review of studies that we have conducted within the broader research literature to analyze the affordances of integrating modeling within disciplinarily-integrated games from computational thinking and science as practice perspectives. Across the studies, the analyses pursue two themes: (a) the role of agent-based…

We have iteratively designed and researched five digital games focusing on Newtonian dynamics for middle school classrooms during the past seven years. The designs have evolved dramatically in terms of the roles and relationships of the formal representations, phenomenological representations, and control schemes. Phenomenological representations…

Computer simulations combined with games have been successfully used to teach conceptual physics. However, there is no clear methodology for guiding the design of these types of games. To remedy this, we propose a structured methodology for the design of conceptual physics games that explicitly integrates the principles of the intrinsic…

A virtual learning environment can engage university students in the learning process in ways that the traditional lectures and lab formats cannot. We present our virtual learning environment "StudentResearcher," which incorporates simulations, multiple-choice quizzes, video lectures, and gamification into a learning path for quantum…

Learning physics often requires overcoming common misconceptions based on naïve interpretations of observations in the everyday world. One proposed way to help learners build appropriate physics intuitions is to expose them to computer simulations in which motion is based on Newtonian principles. In addition, playing video games that require…

Games in science education is emerging as a popular topic of scholarly inquiry. The National Research Council recently published a report detailing a research agenda for games and science education entitled "Learning Science Through Computer Games and Simulations" (2011). The report recommends moving beyond typical proof-of-concept…

These proceedings contain the papers and posters of the 15th International Conference on Mobile Learning 2019, which was organised by the International Association for Development of the Information Society and co-organised by the University of Applied Sciences, in Utrecht, The Netherlands, April 11-13, 2019. The Mobile Learning 2019 Conference…

These proceedings contain the papers of the 18th International Conference on Cognition and Exploratory Learning in the Digital Age (CELDA 2021), held virtually, due to an exceptional situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, from October 13-15, 2021, and organized by the International Association for Development of the Information Society…

We present an immersive virtual reality (VR) application for physics education. It utilizes a recent physics engine developed for the PC gaming market to simulate physical experiments correctly and accurately. Students are enabled to actively build their own experiments and study them. A variety of tools are provided to analyze forces, mass, paths…

In K-12 classrooms, as well as on the college and university level, the incorporation of digital games has played a vital role in the educational system. While introducing teachers to new fields, these digital games have been designed and implemented for the classroom and have shown positive results at a variety of educational levels. Cases on…

The 9th International Conference on Educational Data Mining (EDM 2016) is held under the auspices of the International Educational Data Mining Society at the Sheraton Raleigh Hotel, in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, in the USA. The conference, held June 29-July 2, 2016, follows the eight previous editions (Madrid 2015, London 2014, Memphis…