Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes both ASU Theses and Dissertations, submitted by graduate students, and the Barrett, Honors College theses submitted by undergraduate students.
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- All Subjects: Educational technology
Description
Observational tutoring has been found to be an effective method for teaching a variety of subjects by reusing dialogue from previous successful tutoring sessions. While it has been shown content can be learned through observational tutoring it has yet to been examined if a secondary behavior such as goal-setting can be influenced. The present study investigated if observing virtual humans engaging in a tutoring session on rotational kinematics with embedded positive goal oriented dialogue would increase knowledge of the material and perpetuate a shift an observer's goal-orientation from performance avoidance goal orientation (PAVGO) to learning goal orientation (LGO). Learning gains were observed in pre to post test knowledge retention tests. Significant changes from pretest to posttest occurred across conditions for LGO. Additionally, significant changes from PAVGO pretest to posttest were observed in the control condition however PAVGO did not significantly change in the experimental condition.
ContributorsTwyford, Jessica (Author) / Craig, Scotty D. (Thesis advisor) / Niemczyk, Mary (Committee member) / Kuzel, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Currently, educational games are designed with the educational content as the primary factor driving the design of the game. While this may seem to be the optimal approach, this design paradigm causes multiple issues. For one, the games themselves are often not engaging as game design principles were put aside in favor of increasing the educational value of the game. The other issue is that the code base of the game is mostly or completely unusable for any other games as the game mechanics are too strongly connected to the educational content being taught. This means that the mechanics are impossible to reuse in future projects without major revisions, and starting over is often more time and cost efficient.
This thesis presents the Content Agnostic Game Engineering (CAGE) model for designing educational games. CAGE is a way to separate the educational content from the game mechanics without compromising the educational value of the game. This is done by designing mechanics that can have multiple educational contents layered on top of them which can be switched out at any time. CAGE allows games to be designed with a game design first approach which allows them to maintain higher engagement levels. In addition, since the mechanics are not tied to the educational content several different educational topics can reuse the same set of mechanics without requiring major revisions to the existing code.
Results show that CAGE greatly reduces the amount of code needed to make additional versions of educational games, and speeds up the development process. The CAGE model is also shown to not induce high levels of cognitive load, allowing for more in depth topic work than was attempted in this thesis. However, engagement was low and switching the active content does interrupt the game flow considerably. Altering the difficulty of the game in real time in response to the affective state of the player was not shown to increase engagement. Potential causes of the issues with CAGE games and potential fixes are discussed.
This thesis presents the Content Agnostic Game Engineering (CAGE) model for designing educational games. CAGE is a way to separate the educational content from the game mechanics without compromising the educational value of the game. This is done by designing mechanics that can have multiple educational contents layered on top of them which can be switched out at any time. CAGE allows games to be designed with a game design first approach which allows them to maintain higher engagement levels. In addition, since the mechanics are not tied to the educational content several different educational topics can reuse the same set of mechanics without requiring major revisions to the existing code.
Results show that CAGE greatly reduces the amount of code needed to make additional versions of educational games, and speeds up the development process. The CAGE model is also shown to not induce high levels of cognitive load, allowing for more in depth topic work than was attempted in this thesis. However, engagement was low and switching the active content does interrupt the game flow considerably. Altering the difficulty of the game in real time in response to the affective state of the player was not shown to increase engagement. Potential causes of the issues with CAGE games and potential fixes are discussed.
ContributorsBaron, Tyler John (Author) / Amresh, Ashish (Thesis advisor) / Nelson, Brian C (Committee member) / Niemczyk, Mary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
Educational technologies can be great tools for learning. The implementation of learning aids and scaffolds within these technologies often make them effective; however, due to various problems, students may take more passive approaches to learning when using these educational tools. This tends to lead to interactions that impair learning. This study approaches this issue by reexamining the learner’s role when interacting with educational technologies. Specifically, the current study attempts to support learning and perceptions by inviting students to approach a learning task like an interface designer or instructional designer. These roles derive from a previous study on higher agency roles. The results of the current study indicate that participants learned across all conditions, suggesting the assignment of roles may not impair learning. However, learning outcomes did not differ between conditions. Additionally, the interface designer and instructional designer roles were more critical of the sounds and organizations of each video than the learner role. Limitations of the study and future directions are discussed.
ContributorsArnold, Samuel Troy (Author) / Roscoe, Rod (Thesis advisor) / Craig, Scotty (Committee member) / Niemczyk, Mary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020