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GameWise
Event!
The student group decided to go on another
path. Spin a goal tile one time.
MAGAZINE
- Project based education
- Delivering a group project unit
- iCamp46 – no ordinary game
- Becoming gamewise
- 4 Keys to a Memorable University Experience
| 2 | 2 GameWise
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GameWise
The column below shows a little playing with the font and positioning of the objects in relation to each other.I have chosen to proceed with the logo at the top - it’s shown in the right column: logo with logotype; logo with logotype and with subtitle. In addition, proposals for how the logo can switch between the main menu items.At the following pages you can see how it could look at the website.
GameWise Magazine
is a part of the Leonardo project
Gamewise
List of contributors:
Viden Djurs, Denmark
The University of Bournemouth,
United Kingdom
FuN (Flexible Education Norway),
Norway
Aarhus Social and Health Care College,
Denmark
La Salle-Universitat Ramon Llull,
Spain
HKU University of the Arts Utrecht,
The Netherlands
List of associated partners
Computerspilzonen, Denmark
Art Futura, Spain
3D Labs, Spain
Dutch Game Garden, Netherlands
TIGA, UK
Published 2014, Oslo, Norway.
This magazine is licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution-Non-
Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK:
England & Wales License.
The GameWise project has been
funded with support from the European
Commission. The articles in this
magazine refl ect only the views of the
authors, and the Commission cannot
be held responsible for any use which
may be made of the information
contained herein.
http://game-wise.eu/
ISBN-978-82-91766-32-4
Illustrations by HKU University of the
Arts Utrecht, The Netherlands
Istock and Ebba Køber, FuN
Photo by Istock, Creative Commons
and The Contributing Partners
AD Ebba Køber, FuN
Game WiseMagazine
- Becoming Gamwise- 4 Keys to a Memorable university Experience- iCamp46 - no ordinary game- About project education
About Hexigo: the GameWise Game
Hexigo is a collaborative game developed by a third year student team,
consisting of game designers, interaction designers and game artists from
HKU Games and Interaction. The GameWise project organisation acted as
the real world client for the student team.
The goal of Hexigo is to defi ne the deliverables of a student project
and execute and fi nish the project before the deadline catches up. The
game is meant to be played by teachers from an educational institution
and potential clients together, but it can also be played by teachers and
students.
The aim of the game is to give the players insight into the dynamics of a
student project, the roles and infl uence of teachers, students and clients.
The game is meant to function as a conversation piece to discuss the
possibilities, pitfalls and opportunities of executing a student project with a
real world client.
You can fi nd more information about the game on the Gamewise website
(http://game-wise.eu/gw-game/). If you are interested in playing the game
yourself, please contact one of the Gamewise partners.
3 | 3 | GameWise
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Wise up your game!By Mikkel Lodahl, Viden Djurs Denmark
Welcome to the O� cial GameWise
Europe Magazine!
In here you will fi nd inspiring stories from all over Western
Europe to inspire and assist you in bringing the world of
education and the world of labour closer to each other.
What is GameWise?
The GameWise Europe Project is a project funded by the
Lifelong Learning Programme in the EU. The project involves
bringing teachers from Bournemouth University in the UK and
Viden Djurs in Denmark together with teachers at La Salle de
Ruiz in Spain and HKU in Holland to transfer knowledge across
borders.
What knowledge, though? The knowledge needed to
construct courses and educational environments that facilitate
a closer corporation between businesses and students to the
benefi t of both sectors.
The businesses of today and tomorrow require employees
who can show initiative and entrepreneurial spirit at all levels.
To facilitate this, education needs to focus on instilling a sense
of agency in students, rather than a sense of mechanical
obedience. Doing what you are asked to do is no longer
enough – you must formulate problems and solutions of your
own accord.
What will you fi nd here?
In this magazine, you will fi nd articles detailing the principles
used at La Salle de Ruiz and HKU as well as articles detailing how
these principles have been applied in the UK and Denmark.
The article from La Salle de Ruiz details the emerging fi eld of
gamifi cation, and how and why the use of priciples from game
design can promote engagement and agency in students. The
article from HKU details lessons learned from years of working
closely with the world of business in an education entirely
based on project work, where students come up with real
solutions to real problems.
The article from Viden Djurs details the weeklong student
activity iCamp46 – the biggest gamifi cation event in education
ever, inspired by the practices at La Salle de Ruiz. The article
from Bournemouth University shows how an existing course
can be adapted to more closely involve the external briefs from
clients for team-based assignments.
Finally, an article detailing the complete re-organisation of
all courses at Erhvervsakademi Dania in Grenaa – an higher
education institution working closely with Viden Djurs – to
follow the GameWise Europe Model, shows the potential for
dissemination of the GameWise Europe Model on a larger scale.
Why is it useful?
This magazine is an invitation for you to begin re-thinking the
relationship between business and education. All of the articles
are expanded upon and supplemented with tools, sample
courses and more at the GameWise Europe website: http://
game-wise.eu. Even more, we strongly encourage you to
contact us with any questions and thoughts that can help us all
move forward towards better cohesion between business and
education.
| 4 GameWise
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GameWise
The column below shows a little playing with the font and positioning of the objects in relation to each other.I have chosen to proceed with the logo at the top - it’s shown in the right column: logo with logotype; logo with logotype and with subtitle. In addition, proposals for how the logo can switch between the main menu items.At the following pages you can see how it could look at the website.
The projects are focussed on a diversity of relevant
socials domains, for example healthcare, cultural
heritage, mobility, entertainment and education.
Examples of commissioned projects are the Nederlands
Openlucht Museum (Dutch Open Air Museum, a
historical museum), energy company Nuon, De
Efteling (entertainment park), Guerrilla Games, The
University Medical Centre Amsterdam, and broadcasting
companies such as VPRO.
These projects have been very successful both for
the students and sta� as well as for the clients. One
major reason for this succes, is the relevance and the
authenticity of the projects. The success is based on
two major factors: collaboration with the ‘right’ type
of clients who have the right kind of projects, and the
preparation and education of our students. At HKU we
have been conducting these kind of real-life projects
with external organisations for over 15 years. During that
time we have built up a network of partners (as we like
to call the ‘clients’) and have gathered a vast amount of
practical knowledge about the dynamics of executing
student projects.
The right type of clients….
Building a good relationship with (possible) clients
is a challenging, yet rewarding experience. Not all
organisations are the same, so for each potential client
you, as an educational institution, need to fi nd the right
opening and common ground to organise student
projects. Commencing a fi rst project with a new client
requires a serious investment from both the client as
well as from the school. Organisations with whom you
ideally establish a long lasting partnership are preferred.
What type of clients should you not ‘collaborate’ with in
student projects? Companies or other organisations who
contact your school as a means to commission a design
or production opportunity. They reckon that student
projects are a cheap way of acquiring a game, fi lm,
interface or….(fi ll in your own area of expertise). These
kinds of clients are usually willing to pay, but it is rare that
they are willing to pay current market prices. Working
with this type of clients is a bad idea. Mainly because you
will spoil the market for your alumni and thus underme
your education, but also because the projects are usually
not suited for the educational needs of your students.
These kind of organisations tend to behave like clients:
they formulate an assignment (such as “develop a
serious game for teaching math to third graders”)
and then expect your students to deliver a polished
full version Mario-like game that has been tested and
Project based education
Each year in January at an event called Showcase about 40 projects from the Creative Design
Studios are presented. These projects are the result of the collaboration between fourth year
BA and MA student end teachers and researchers from HKU Games and Interaction, Media,
and Music and Technology. Together with public, cultural and commercial organisations,
HKU develops new ideas and applications for innovative entertainment and creative
solutions for issues and questions in society.
by Corné van Delft,
HKU Games and Interaction
corne.vandelft@kmt.hku.nl
HKU UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS, THE NEDERLANDS
5 | GameWise
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validated. In the meantime you will only hear from them
if they are disappointed about the fi nal product, as their
expectations did not match the result they hoped for.
This is of course an exaggerated scenario, but based on
fi rst hand experiences.
What type of clients should you collaborate with in
student projects? Clients who have questions in your
relevant domains, who are looking for new solutions to
emerging challenges and problems. Organisations who
are willing to invest in a collaboration with your school
and students. In short you are looking for partners to
develop projects with. This often means that you have
to ‘educate’ them, to make them understand what it is
like to work with students, what they can and what they
cannot expect. This also means they need to be willing
to commit themselves to the partnership in terms of
time investment and knowledge (and preferably also
money) to make working with students successful.
…with the right kind of projects…
After establishing a promising contact with a new
partner, defi ning the right type of project is essential.
The most interesting projects are those were all parties
benefi t. The clients will be motivated by working with a
(design) school that can help them address challenging
questions and problems which clients do not have the
time or knowledge to tackle alone. The school and
students benefi t from the partnership as students work
with real clients wich provides them the opportunity to
design and develop a product for potential use in the
real world.
The scope of the project needs to fi t into the
curriculum. Although this may sound obvious, defi ning
the right scope can be di� cult. Depending on the
experience of the student team and the availability of
representatives from the clients, a project may need
more time than foreseen. Defi ning a spectrum of
minimum and optimum requirements might help in this
respect.
The requirements of the project also have to fi t the
students’ skills and knowledge. This does not mean that
all needed skills have to be acquired before the project
starts! On the contrary, a good project is a project that
students actually can learn from. The project has to have
enough challenges for the students to stimulate them
to learn new things. This also means that regular input
and feedback from the client and teachers are needed.
Such a way of working allows students to experiment,
research and try out di� erent things. Depending on the
team of students and the way the team was formed,
HKU UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS, THE NEDERLANDS
Glimpses from Showcase 2014
| 6 GameWise
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GameWise
The column below shows a little playing with the font and positioning of the objects in relation to each other.I have chosen to proceed with the logo at the top - it’s shown in the right column: logo with logotype; logo with logotype and with subtitle. In addition, proposals for how the logo can switch between the main menu items.At the following pages you can see how it could look at the website.
getting to know each other, planning, and group
dynamics may also take time.
Working with students also means that a project may
fail. A client needs to take this into account. Outcomes
can be innovative and an ideal way of illustrating the
future possibilities in the sector. However they can
also fail in terms of outcomes and still be a good
learning experience for the students. Depending on
the learning goals it might even mean they will still
receive a passing mark for the project. For a client a
project that fails is not desirable, however it can be
a possible outcome. One could minimize this risk by
having multiple student teams working on the same
assignment.
An ideal project remains somewhat open and
formulated more as a question than as a production
assignment. There a two good reasons for this.
First this will give the students the opportunity to
come up with their own ideas. Of course the client
determines the boundaries and requirements of the
project. Preferably together with teachers one or
more research questions are defi ned . These might be
more or less academic or theoretical, but can also be
more practical, technical or commercial in nature. For
the client, defi ning a more open question will usually
result in a pleasant surprise: creative students often
come up with solutions and designs that you would
not think of beforehand.
… in the right kind of educational environment …
For students to be successful in large interdisciplinary
projects in their fourth year, they have to be prepared
and trained throughout their curriculum. Working in
teams for a real client is not an easy task. Not only do
students have to apply their design and development
knowledge and skills, but they also have to collaborate
in an e� ective way. Students also have to e� ectively
plan and execute a project and work together with
students from other disciplines who might use
di� erent methods and jargon.
The HKU Games and Interaction curriculum is
set up as a project-based curriculum from the fi rst
until the last year. It allows students to learn diverse
professional skills such as: working in groups, coping
with group dynamics, planning and executing a
project, and to presenting their results to clients.
Working in projects helps to motivate the students,
especially if the projects are realistic and cater to the
interests of the students. Project-based work makes
their education more meaningful and prepares them
for a business environment.
Individual/ small teamsSimple assignmentsShort period (1 – 4 weeks)Small outside influence
First year Second year Third year Fourth year
Larger teams (up to +/- 12 students)Complex assignmentsLong period (full semester)Large outside influence/client involvment
HKU UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS, THE NEDERLANDS
Glimpses from Showcase 2014
7 | GameWise
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.. that supports students in developing skills and
knowledge…
Learning is most e� ective if students have the
opportunity to experiment, make mistakes, refl ect, learn
from their experiences and celebrate their successes.
We carefully defi ne the projects from the fi rst to the
last year, so they become increasingly challenging. First
year students are introduced to project-based work with
small-scale projects: both in duration as well as number
of students working on a project. Students start with an
individual project that lasts one week: the design and
development of their own portfolio site. Following
this they start an art project with small groups (usually
three students) that lasts three weeks. This incremental
project-based learning continues throughout their
education building up to client-based projects in
the fi nal two years that can range from one to who
semesters.
The way teams are formed also changes. Students
begin working with mono-disciplinary teams in the fi rst
year. Starting in the second year, we involve students
from other schools (HKU Art and Economics, and later
HKU Music and Technology). The projects in the fourth
year consist of interdisciplinary teams where students
from di� erent schools work together as they would in a
design and research studio.
By practicing working in teams and projects students
build up experience and confi dence. They develop
their own methods of working and learn from mistakes.
Especially developing collaboration skills and dealing
with group dynamics is an important aspect of project-
based learning. We try to provide as much variation
as possible in the way the teams are formed. In the
beginning teams are formed randomly. Later teams are
formed based on the individual skills and specialisations
of the students as well as their own preference.
During the projects the students are supported by
teachers. Each group has an individual teacher who acts
as a coach and mentor. He or she is mainly focussed
on group process: planning, defi ning deliverables and
group dynamics. We developed several methods and
tools1 to support the teachers in this process.
The projects are supported by classes, lectures and
workshops that help them develop necessary skills
and knowledge. These classes are organised around
four learning strands: 1) design & research, 2) art, 3) 1 You can fi nd some of these tools on the GameWise website http://game-wise.eu/tools/)
development and 4) management & entrepreneurship.
Teachers create assignments that are tailor-made to
project-based working, so that skills learned during the
lessons can be applied to the projects. Assignments
are separately graded by each teacher. For example,
the graphic design teachers creates an assignment
to design the layout of a menu system and grades
that. The research teacher assigns the students to
do interviews with the target audience and develop
personas. The development teacher teaches classes in
processing and unity and grades the code of the fi nal
result, etc.
… and celebrate the results.
Each project starts with a kick-o� . Here the project
assignment and the challenges are introduced. At the
end of the project we organise a Post Mortem. During
Post Mortem, students present their results and refl ect
on the process and the outcomes. Several teachers
from di� erent disciplines grade the projects. If possible
people from the industry and/or people from the target
audience are invited. This helps to motivate the students
as the projects become more meaningful because
they are not only doing the work for their grades or
teachers. The audience can provide useful feedback the
students learn from. The Post Mortems are also a way
to celebrate their successes.
HKU Games and Interaction, one of the eight schools of
HKU University of the Arts Utrecht, o� ers a four year BA
programme in Interaction Design, Game Design and Game
Art. In collaboration with The Open University UK, HKU also
o� ers a MA programme called Creative Design for Digital
Cultures.
HKU was the fi rst institution in the world o� ering a full
time BA degree in Interaction Design since 1989. Later,
degrees in Game Design (2001) and Game Art (2008) were
added to the curriculum. Alumni from HKU play a major role
in the development of the Dutch creative (game) industry.
About one third of the alumni start their own company.
HKU University of the Arts Utrecht http://www.hku.nl/
Photographs by Lea Groeliker http://www.leagroeliker.com/
More about showcase
http://www.hku.nl/web/English/HKUUniversityOfTheArt-
sUtrecht/NewsAndEvents/ShowcaseHKU.htm
HKU UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS, THE NEDERLANDS
| 8 GameWise
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GameWise
The column below shows a little playing with the font and positioning of the objects in relation to each other.I have chosen to proceed with the logo at the top - it’s shown in the right column: logo with logotype; logo with logotype and with subtitle. In addition, proposals for how the logo can switch between the main menu items.At the following pages you can see how it could look at the website.
Delivering a Group Project unit
Bournemouth University, based in the South West coast
of the UK, recently ran a pilot unit which was informed by
the EU Leonardo Transfer of Innovation GameWise project
fi ndings. This was on a 2nd year unit which is part of both
the BSc Games Technology and BSc Music and Audio
Technology undergraduate degree curriculums, both in turn
part of the Creative Technology framework of degrees in
the Faculty of Science and Technology, formerly School of
Design, Engineering and Computing. These two degrees,
whilst, as is obvious from their names, are very di� erent in
nature, share a number of common units across the three
years that they run for.
The aim of this particular magazine article is to provide
details of a case study for this process which can,
subsequently, inform other educators attempting
to undertake a similar exercise, focusing on the
methodology undertaken, the lessons learned, the issues
faced and, fi nally, thoughts on taking this forward in the
future.
1. So, What is Group Project?
The aforementioned unit, titled Group Project, existed
before this trial. This is in fact the second year it was
running, its fi rst was originally during academic year 2012-
2013 though it was completely redesigned from the ground
up in terms of content to accommodate the GameWise
approach. The fi rst term of the unit, from early October
2013 to mid-December 2013, focused on a team-based
assignment. There were 11 groups for this and ~50 students
in total, typically in groups of 4 or 5, which were, similarly
to what was observed during the January 2013 GameWise
HKU Netherlands workshop, derived from di� erent-for-
each-group live client briefs, thus adopting the project-
based learning approach HKU is also using very successfully
for a number of years now (and one that we felt we/our
students could benefi t considerably from).
There were two clients attached to this providing specifi c
and multiple project briefs; the Bovington Tank Regiment
and the Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust/Odstock Medical
Limited. Both of the clients found this a very interesting
premise and were extremely enthusiastic throughout the
process. As a result of this, there were two clear themes
to the briefs, a) cultural heritage and b) medical. The 11
project briefs were all completely di� erent to each other.
See list below; 3 were from the former client - Projects 1
to 3 - and 8 from the latter - Projects 4 to 11-. The three
cultural heritage briefs were reconstruction-oriented
being World War 1 (WWI) tank actions of famous historical
engagements. WWI it should be noted, was the fi rst war
where tanks were used. As for the medical ones, they were
all focused on stroke rehabilitation with the use of computer
and video gaming. This is a subject of signifi cant interest
to researchers today for a variety of reasons, including the
cost e� ciency games can o� er to what is a very arduous
and expensive process for most, if not all, European national
health services.
2. Detailing the Assignment Briefs
It is of interest to discuss the briefs in a little bit more detail
since this can showcase the variety, diversity but also depth
of the work undertaken, as well as the interaction with the
clients and the students across the few months that Group
Project ran with this approach. During the second lecture
the students were presented with the following briefs.
They were subsequently asked to put themselves in teams,
by Dr Christos Gatzidis
cgatzidis@bournemouth.ac.uk, Bournemouth University, UK
with the use of Project-Based Learning and External
Client Involvement in UK Higher Education
BOURNEMOUTH UNIVERSITY, UNITED KINGDOM
9 | GameWise
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identify a role within the team for themselves, i.e. one of
artist, designer, programmer or audio expert, and then
provide a list of preferences, maximum 3, as to which one
of these projects they wanted, collectively in their newly
formed group, to undertake. They were also fi nally asked to
pick a representative person who would liaise both with the
teaching team and also the client.
The projects presented in that second session were the
following;
Project 1. Reconstructing the battle/tank actions of Flers
Courcelette in September 1916, in the form
of an interactive, multi-camera (switchable)
walkthrough
Project 2. Reconstructing the battle/tank actions of
Cambrai in November 1917, in the form of
an interactive, multi-camera (switchable)
walkthrough
Project 3. Reconstructing the battle/tank actions of
Cambrai in November 1917, in the form of
an interactive, multi-camera (switchable)
walkthrough. Since this was a larger
engagement than Project 1, Project 3 had
a distinctly di� erent part of this particular
engagement to cover as opposed to Project 2
Project 4. Fine Motor Control Game - Finger Piano, a game
or app which can facilitate a large number of
repetitive movements in the fi ngers, with the
goal of improving dexterity and co-ordination,
ideally on a tablet device
Project 5. Fine Motor Control App - a platform game
integrating writing practice, the game would be
set in a traditional platform-type game format
whereby a player is directed through a 2D world
using small iterative movements performed
utilising a stylus
Project 6. Pinching App Game, a game that can provide
patients with grasping/pinching practice,
ideally this would be tablet-based, whereby
the participants would pinch targets on screen
(easy: larger targets - > hard: smaller targets)
Project 7. Gross Motor Control Game - Motion controlled
Crossword/Sudoku, a game which is Sudoku or
Crossword-like in nature using Kinect, or similar,
control technology
Project 8. Gross Motor Control - Daily Exercises for Stroke,
a simplifi ed ‘exergame’ using motion capture
technology, such as Kinect, that includes a
number of exercises such as arm raises and
stretches in appropriately designed ‘sets’ and
repetitions set to music, complete with a
scoring system
Project 9. Stroke Beat, a game where the player
synchronises key presses which could be
guitar/drums or any input controller with easier
rhythm targets
Project 10. Bowling Cues, a bowling simulation game that
matches four movements to an auditory and
visual cue, namely; a) lowering the arm with the
ball b) lifting the ball back c) swinging the ball
forward and, fi nally, d) releasing
Project 11. Walking obstacles, a game which would intend
to provide practice for the patient in dealing
with unexpected interruptions while walking or
stepping on the spot. This is an experience that
is likely to induce a freeze
BOURNEMOUTH UNIVERSITY, UNITED KINGDOM
Figure 1. one of the WWI
tank action reconstruction
student projects
| 10 GameWise
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GameWise
The column below shows a little playing with the font and positioning of the objects in relation to each other.I have chosen to proceed with the logo at the top - it’s shown in the right column: logo with logotype; logo with logotype and with subtitle. In addition, proposals for how the logo can switch between the main menu items.At the following pages you can see how it could look at the website.
The students were also at that stage introduced to the
clients and the contact names of individuals in these
two organisations were given to them, with also express
instructions for the students to be as professional as
possible in their dealings with them. Bovington Tank
Regiment visited, onsite, the students quite early on to
clarify the three cultural heritage reconstruction briefs.
Research material for the students was also provided.
This was particularly useful because of the historical
nature of these projects. Additionally, mid-term, a visit to
the Bovington Tank Museum was organised by us where
students working on these three briefs were invited to
attend for research purposes (such as inspecting a real
WWI tank etc.). Similarly, mid-term, a visit from Odstock
Medical Limited was also organised at Bournemouth
University where clarifi cations were again provided about
the nature, intention and vision behind all the medical
project briefs.
3. What Were the Outcomes of the Approach?
The fi rst part of this unit, worth 50% of the fi nal mark for
it, concluded on the 10th of January 2014 where all the
team-based assignments were handed in for marking.
This was all via online submission. These consisted of
a game design document (as a report), a website (the
students were asked to present themselves as a company
and create a brand and logo for the purposes of this), a
resultant prototype and, fi nally, a step-by-step diary of
development (as another report). Other techniques such
as individual and group assessment (i.e. self and peer)
were also used and formed part of the hand-in. In fact this
was made compulsory so that students were incentivised
to carry it out and include it with everything else. The
fi nalised games/prototypes created by the students, was
envisaged at that stage would be showcased on the
GameWise project site.
Figure 2. one of the external projects interpreted as a food preparation
game by the students
The three best games/applications, at least in terms of
marks received, are shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4. These
were all medical briefs. It is felt that the students in
their majority enjoyed the unit and, more importantly,
the approach it was carried out with, i.e. assignment-
centric and distinctly problem-based focused, as well
as the fact that they worked in teams and to an external
client’s demands. It should be mentioned that the unit
was on purpose almost completely platform-agnostic,
i.e. students were asked to pick the game engine or end
device they wanted to work with/for, a very di� erent
and less restrictive approach to most of the other units
in their degrees. This was praised and worked really well
with some exciting results; many of the groups used
the game engine Unity for example at the core of their
development. This is surprising as we do not teach Unity
on the course at all. Another very pleasing result relates
to the interpretation of the actual briefs. This, again, was
left to the students to a signifi cant extent. While the briefs
had a specifi c direction and goal, they were carefully
put together with external client collaboration and
agreement in order to o� er a good measure of freedom
of implementation and fl exibility. A great example of this
is the best in marks achieved assignment which is Project
11 (see Figure 4, the game is called Steady Service) where
the students fused Kinect with virtual reality technology,
namely the very new at the time Oculus Rift device/
headset, now more recently purchased by Facebook and
making headlines about its future direction. This was in
order to produce a game based in a restaurant where
the player, as a waiter, was asked to move plates from
one side of the room to the other whilst dodging people
walking towards him/her. This was not imagined at all
when we put the brief together and to see it executed
in a prototype, based on the inspiration and imagination
of the students was immensely rewarding, both for the
BOURNEMOUTH UNIVERSITY, UNITED KINGDOM
Figure 3. the Bowling Cues student game
11 | GameWise
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members of sta� involved and, of course, the students
who relished the freedom and creative stimulation
a� orded by this approach.
4. Refl ecting on the Issues and Concluding
What didn’t go well? The team-based approach to
working towards a problem presented some, to an
extent, predictable issues such as members within
a team not working so well with each other and
also students dropping out from the course and
subsequently leaving a team with one member short.
On one occasion this was shortly before the deadline
of submission. These issues were dealt on an individual
basis by the teaching team with careful consideration
on both the existing team dynamics but also the nature
of the project the team in question was eventually
allocated. Another issue which was encountered was
the mixing of Games Technology and Music and Audio
Technology students. It was stipulated to the students
from the second week that, because of both student
numbers across the two courses and the nature of
all the projects, there would be one Music and Audio
Technology student per each one of the 11 teams.
While this worked well on some of the teams, the
collaboration of students from di� erent disciplines was
not quite as smooth as it was originally thought it would
be, with many of the students not having met before
and resultant communication issues. Another issue
highlighted by some of the students, including some
who did really well in the unit, is the fact that a few
months to work on these often complex and demanding
prototypes was not as much as they would have
liked. It was stated that this unit was so enjoyable yet
challenging that they would have preferred the whole
year to work towards a brief rather than just one term.
To conclude, applying the approach of GameWise, as
highlighted by the existing practices of other partners,
was a great experience for both most students and all
involved sta� on the Creative Technology framework
and the Group Project unit itself. It showed clearly
the benefi ts of a project-based learning approach for
games development, team-based projects and the
signifi cant potential this has by mimicking the real world
far more than a more regimented and sterile approach,
as typically used elsewhere in the courses, admittedly
for very good educational reasons. Whilst it may entail
more work from members of sta� in organisation
and more open-mindedness from students who are
initially perplexed by the newness of the approach itself
compared to the rest of their assessed coursework, the
rewards are not to be underestimated. For example,
recently a session was organised on-site where the
projects in Figures 2,3 and 4 were showcased to three
visitors from Odstock Medical Limited, leading to some
very positive comments and talks of possible student
placements. It would fi nally be of interest to see the
Group Project GameWise approach moulded to other
units on the Games Technology course in the future.
This pertains to other years too, not just the second one.
Figure 5 showcases a fi nal student app/game prototype,
the Stroke Beat game, from the unit.
Figure 5. the Stroke Beat game
Acknowledgements
The author of this article would like to thank all the
students involved with Group Project and in particular
those providing images of their work to be used in the
Figures displayed here. Owen O’ Neil is also thanked for
his invaluable contribution and support as is Professor Ian
Swain, Vicky Parry and Lt Col Gareth Davies.
BOURNEMOUTH UNIVERSITY, UNITED KINGDOM
Figure 4. the Steady Service game
| 12 GameWise
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GameWise
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In Grenaa, there is a burgeoning ecosystem of video
game-related education. Where Viden Djurs o� ers
several educations at the upper secondary school-
level, Erhvervsakademi Dania runs a higher education
institution called Dania Games that o� ers Applied
Science educations also targeting the video game
sector. Since Viden Djurs and Dania Games work closely
together, the opportunity to try out the Game Wise
Europe Model (GWEM) at the HE level in Denmark was
too good to pass up.
Dania Games is a small institution with only nine
workers, who all function as both educators and
in administrative functions. At the beginning of the
implementation of the GWEM, around 150 students
attended the educations o� ered at the school.
The implementation period for the GWEM at Dania
Games began in June 2013 and the new pedagogical
strategy went into e� ect in September 2013.
What any organisation should ask themselves when
undertaking such a profound change is: Why? and How?
and never forget to plan for a way to answer the crucial
question of How did it go?
Why?
Dania Games is a VET school at the HE level that
features two distinct educations: one fi ve-semester
education in programming (AP Graduate in Computer
Science) and one four-semester education in
communications design (AP Graduate in Multimedia
Design and Communication). Both are focused on
making computer games and the processes involved
both in producing and marketing them.
Typically, each semester was structured around
theoretically founded subjects related to making
computer games. They ran concurrently, with one
subject Monday, another Tuesday and soon. They
concluded in a period of producing a game and an
academic report detailing this process. This was often
done in concert with a client from the outside world,
and all students have an internship, typically in their
fourth semester.
As such, much of the structure already in place as well
as a lot of the discourse at Dania Games was centred
on partnerships with the world of business. However,
the pedagogical strategy has continuously taken its
departure point from a classic, declarative point. This
severely reduced the motivation of the students both in
participating in the teaching acitivities as well as in the
end-of-term projects.
Thus, the specifi c main purpose of implementing the
GWEM at Dania Games was to design a pedagogy that can
further support the orientation towards working with business
By Mikkel Lodahl, milo@eadania.dk
Assistant Professor at Erhvervsakademi Dania
Becoming GameWiseThinking of making your entire institution GameWise?
Don’t worry, we’ve already tried it!
DANIA GAMES, DENMARK
13 | GameWise
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to ensure consistency in the value generated by and for
students.
How?
In implementing any change in education, two groups
must be motivated to take part in the change: educators
and students.
Motivating educators
In education, you should be mindful that the individual
educators are the most important part of the entire
organisation; they are the ones delivering the core
service. Since the implementation of GWEM will most
likely be a profound change for everyone involved, it is
thus important that the educators are all on board. If the
GWEM is seen as a structure forced upon the educators,
it will become an untimely interference in the work of
the educators. This will create loss in job satisfaction
and may ultimately make it impossible to implement the
GWEM.
Therefore, it is desirable to facilitate conversations
stressing openness and the need for acceptance from all
members of the faculty when implementing the GWEM.
Not only should the educators all participate in the
conversation about the principles of the GWEM but also
– and crucially – be the active factor in planning both
the specifi c structure of the GWEM at their institution,
and in their day-to-day teaching. This achieves a sense
of ownership over the GWEM among the educators,
which is essential to the success of the model.
This was achievable at Dania Games in discussions
with the entire organisation. At larger organisations, the
same e� ect can presumably be achieved by dividing the
involved individuals into groups that send representatives
to a central committee. This will, however, slow down
the process to at least half the speed of the process at
Dania Games.
The model is welcomed by the teachers. Says
Kenneth Røjkjær Andersen, who teaches programming:
“The intense courses in GameWise help me engage
more thoroughly with the curriculum. It is much easier
to re-use the same material for di� erent classes.” He
adds: “The students have an easier time remembering
the curriculum from day-to-day than they had when a
week passed. The inclusion of projects where they use
what they have learned immediately also helps them a
lot. The practicality of this approach will help them in the
world of business.”
An AP graduate in programming from Dania Games
himself, Andersen, who has worked on a handful of
video game productions, has no doubts as to how he
would like to have been taught: “If I had to choose, I
One of the talks given by industry experts at Dania Games Expo 2014
DANIA GAMES, DENMARK
| 14 GameWise
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GameWise
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would defi nitely want this new way of education rather
than the way I was taught.”
Motivating students
One of the challenges identifi ed by the faculty at Dania
Games in implementing the GWEM was that basing all
courses on PBL would be a very di� erent way of working
for most students, compared to the pedagogy of the
Danish primary and secondary educations. While PBL
in some variation has been a part of the pedagogical
method in most levels of the Danish education system for
many years, it has rarely taken centre stage.
Similarly to the inclusive way the implementation had
been planned and executed on a faculty level, the cards
should be on the table with the students. However, since
the whole concept would feel alien, the students went
through an intense, one-week project before the GWEM
was explained.
After the project, an educator gave a lecture explaining
the reasoning behind and all plans for the GWEM to the
students. This lecture was given after the students had
formally evaluated the fi rst project, so they could vent
any frustrations. The openness led to further formal and
informal comments all through-out the semester from
the students, indicating a sense of agency and ownership.
How did it go?
While the complete evaluation results are available on
the website, at the time of this writing the most relevant
results are in the fi nal evaluation of the entire fi rst
semester of the AP in programming under the Dania
Games GWEM.
The evaluation was conducted as a series of
statements where the students were asked to reply
whether they disagreed strongly, disagreed, agreed,
or agreed wholeheartedly with the statements. 50
respondents replied, which represents an 83% response
rate.
The answers indicated a 90% overall approval rating for
the education, and a full 98% of students are looking
forward to the second semester. 70 % of the students
fi nd that they are better equipped for working in the
world of business already after the fi rst semester, which
is a good indication that the GWEM is working. All in all,
the GWEM has been declared a success at Dania Games
and a continually modifi ed and updated version of the
model will be the basis of the educations there going
forward.
Where do we go from here?
At the time of this writing, we just wrapped up end-of-
Students demonstrating their games at Dania Games Expo 2014
DANIA GAMES, DENMARK
15 | GameWise
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term projects for the students on the second semester
of the AP in programming. Here, a wide variety of
external clients have participated, from the charitable
organization Lions Club and video game company Kong
Orange to the Danish University Extension in Aarhus.
Overall, these partnerships promise to generate value for
both students and clients alike.
Says Marie Kruse Larsen of the Danish University
Extension in Aarhus: “The University Extension has
gained a valuable partner and has benefi ted from fresh
eyes looking at how the University Extension can be
marketed.” She goes on: “We have gained new insights
in the possibilities of video games as a medium. We
would recommend other institutions and businesses to
participate in a similar project.”
The students have also gained a lot from following the
GWEM, not the least of which is a substantially better
grade compared to their predecessors. The Danish
grading system is a seven point range from -3 to 12, and
the average grades for the recent exam jumped from
5,6 to 7,7 after GameWise was employed. This roughly
corresponds to an increase from 2,35 to 3,15 on the
ECTS grading scale. Even more encouraging, the drop-
out rate has dropped dramatically from 43,75 % under
the classical model to 7,7% under the GWEM.
The projects – as well as the more than 200 games
produced by students in the fi rst two semesters under
the GWEM were presented at the Dania Games Expo
2014, where politicians, representatives from the world
of business and the students’ families all came see the
amazing results of becoming GameWise. This fi nal
presentation is crucial in building upon the model
and will be repeated annually from now on. As well as
being a presentation opportunity for the students, it
is supplemented by free talks from industry experts to
reward the students for a job well done.
Dania Games is a companion higher education to
the game related educations at Viden Djurs. It is run
by the Dania Academy of Higher Education. They
implemented a variant of the GameWise Model
mostly based on the experiences from HKU. Detailed
lesson-plans as well as some materials are available
om the GameWise website. More information on
Dania Games can be gained at www.spildatamatiker.
dk or www.eadania.dk .
DANIA GAMES, DENMARK
Erhvervsakademi Dania, Denmark
| 16 GameWise
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GameWise
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iCamp46 – no ordinary
gameHow do you implement a gamifi cation model
for education at the largest game-oriented
education in Denmark? By doing the largest
gamifi cation event ever, obviously!
By Mikkel Lodahl
Project Worker Viden Djurs, Denmark
milo@videndjurs.dk
In the week running from the 11th to the 15th of
November, Viden Djurs’ two upper secondary schools
– the higher commercial and the higher technical
examinations – got together and played a game. Even if
this had been an ordinary game, it would have been a bit
of a special occurrence, since it involved 472 students.
But this was no ordinary game.
The game – iCamp46 – was designed to facilitate an
innovative process, where the students from the two
secondary schools worked together across multiple
subjects to deliver a solution to a problem posed by the
municipality of Grenaa. The problem: how do we make
our town a more attractive place for the many young
students living and studying here?
iCamp46 was then designed to simulate a microcosm
of innovative businesses competing against each other
to come up with the best solution to the problem. Over
the fi ve days of the game, the 472 students made 80
di� erent fi ctional companies and followed a series of
milestones to develop ideas and present them to the
municipality. Based on a company’s performance at
each milestone, they earned a portion of the centrally
controlled fi ctional currency “VIDe penge”, which acted
as points for a ranking system as well as being currency
to buy services from the competing companies and
teachers acting as expert consultants.
At the end of the game, the company that collected
the largest amount of “VIDe penge” won a prize and
VIDEN DJURS, DENMARK
17 | GameWise
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representatives from the municipality selected six
projects to work on further in their project. The fi nal
projects stretched from outdoor parkour ranges to
an elaborate lighting show demonstrated in a virtual
simulation of the City of Grenaa.
And that’s basically it. But you probably have
some more questions. A lot of answers are in the
documentation of the rules on the website, but here are
a couple of frequently asked ones.
Milestones? What milestones?
Milestones are goals that are reached along the way
towards the fi nal goal, and in iCamp46 these milestones
generally took the form of presentations of the di� erent
solutions to panels of experts as well as the other
groups. Criteria for an assessment of the product at
each milestone were told to both the presenters and
the assessors in advance. This created a sense of
transparency and agency as the students could navigate
the treacherous sea of assessment more easily, knowing
and actively using the criteria for assessment.
Based on whether the student presentations lived up
to the criteria, an amount of “VIDe penge” was earned.
Originally this amount was simply set by the assessors
as a group inside a specifi c range for each milestone,
but due to attempts to “game the system” an algorithm
organized schematically was set up and can be seen on
the website.
VIDEN DJURS, DENMARK
The students of Viden Djurs are briefed on the rules of the iCamp46 game
| 18 GameWise
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GameWise
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How do 472 students make 80 companies?
With great di� culty, you would suspect. But actually, the
process went rather well. Before the start of the game, each
student had taken a personality test to indicate that student’s
style of working. Each student was then given a badge to
display the results of the personality test. Companies formed
with a diverse set of personality types – as well as companies
with participants from both the technical and commercial
schools – received a bonus to their start capital.
The process of forming the companies took place in a
great hall, where the students could mingle and talk and
then report their selected companies to tacher standing
ready to send them to the classrooms that would be their
home incubation-environments for the week. Their “cubas”.
How was it received by students? By teachers?
There was a clear unity in the evaluations by both
teachers and students: the rules needed to be
communicated more clearly. While there were ways to
get the economy going and exchanging “VIDe penge”
for services, these were not immediately obvious to the
students and this aspect of the game was not working
that well. Similarly, while the rules for assessment were
communicated to the assessors, they needed to be
clearer. The students also felt that the milestones were
too alike and did not allow for di� erent skill sets.
The teachers echoed the sentiments of the students
and added that more opportunities for the usage
of “VIDe penge” could easily be added to stimulate
response. They also felt a little lost as to the workings of
the rules from time to time, which could be solved with
more timely communication of them to the teachers.
However, both students and teachers overall counted
the game as a success, especially as a motivator for
learning about innovative business in practice, although
there is defi nite room for improvement in the design.
VIDEN DJURS, DENMARK
GameMaster Anders Vang Pedersen, Emiliano Labrador of La Salle-Universitat Ramon Llull and Daniëlle Krabshuis of PlayPaca listen to student feedback on iCamp 46
19 | GameWise
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What is the relationship with the GameWise Europe-
model?
iCamp46 was designed explicitly with reference to
the materials presented at the workshop at La Salle,
developed at the design workshop in Spain and was
observed while running by representatives from both
La Salle and HKU. These observers contributed valuable
feedback for the next version of the game.
Crucially, the involvement of an external client in a
gamifi ed learning environment was an idea that could
only come about through the Ga meWise Europe
project. The design of the game as a fi ctional economy
with fi ctional businesses as groups was also result of
discussions primarily at the workshop in La Salle.
Su� ce it to say that without the GameWise Europe
project, the iCamp46 game would never have existed.
Will you do it again?
Yes! iCamp46 has been integrated into the planning
of the next academic year and will incorporate the
feedback from both participants and observers.
Viden Djurs is a conglomerate of a variety of educations at the upper secondary school and VET level, including both technical and business educations. Among the educations are the only two video game focused educations at the upper secondary school level in Denmark, GameIT College and GameIT Biz. All told, around 2500 students attend Viden Djurs educations all over the region of Djursland and in the city of Aarhus, making Viden Djurs the primary educational institution in the area, as well as a national player in retail education. Around 200 people are employed at Viden Djurs. For more information on iCamp 46 please feel free to contact Anders Vang Pedersen, the lead designer of the game, at avpe@videndjurs.dk
VIDEN DJURS, DENMARK
This physical board was regularly updated with the point total, so the students could track their progress in iCamp 46.
| 20 GameWise
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GameWise
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Four Keys to a Memorable University
ExperienceBy Mr. Emiliano Labrador eruiz@salle.url.edu
and Dr. Oscar García Pañella oscargp@enti.cat
Abstract
The work described below is part of a project based on
the application of gamifi cation techniques in a fi rst-year
subject of the Degree in Multimedia Engineering at La
Salle-Universitat Ramon Llull. The work discusses the
advantages of the application of immersive gamifi cation
techniques in the acquisition of role-based learning.
For that purpose, we have worked together the UX and
the gamifi cation departments. In order to understand
this concept, the fi rst part of the article explains what
gamifi cation is and its usefulness.
KEYWORDS
Gamifi cation, immersion, game characters, teaching, fun
experience, knowledge.
“Onboarding” tutorial: Start
0 XPs (Experience points). We will start with the
“graphics.” Slideshare is a social network which enables
users to share presentations. An example of pure altruism
where knowledge is uploaded, shared, appreciated
and where it consequently gains popularity and status.
Quid pro quo. If you have downloaded the application
to your portal, you may occasionally receive emails
from this service which brighten your day. An email
from Slideshare to inform and congratulate you on the
fact that one of your presentations has been seen by
100 people with a voucher attached o� ering special
discounts if you subscribe to the service as a Premium
user. In a nutshell, a powerful intrinsic motivator which
appeals to your personal values and which furthermore
comes out of the blue, like a kiss! (the fact that X number
of people have taken the time to open and watch
your presentation as they apparently fi nd it interesting),
followed by a small and less original extrinsic motivating
factor (the discount voucher) which o� ers you the
possibility to continue using their services for at a lower
price. You may fall in love with the fi rst factor. You will
probably forget the second. Welcome to serious games
and gamifi cation.
50 XPs. Since the fi rst eye-opening infographics
created by Knewton (“The Gamifi cation of Education
Infographic”) or the BigDoor (“Gamifi cation Goes
Mainstream”) experts predicted that the world would be
gamifi ed by the year 2015. And it looks like they hit the
LA SALLE-UNIVERSITAT RAMON LLULL, SPAIN
21 | GameWise
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nail on the head. But, what is “Gamifi cation” and “Serious
Games” all about? Is it some kind of “underground”
network that does not actually have much to do with the
day-to-day lives of the users (Players) and the companies
(Game masters)…or is it just the opposite and a fi ne
example of rigor and e� ciency? We would plump for
the second option. Not in vain have scientists such as
Kühn, Gleich et al, published an article in the prestigious
scientifi c journal “Nature,” which explains how a
commercial video-game such as Nintendo’s Super Mario
Bros can induce structural brain plasticity.
First Level: Introduction and defi nitions
125 XPs. Let’s start with “Serious Games”. Is this a suitable
term? Or not really? The point is that the games are
serious but not boring. This is the key. Serious games
are applications based on the design theory of games
which have not been created with the same objective
as games designed for pure entertainment. Fortunately,
there are other general terms such as “Applied games”
and “Evergames” (games associated with the army, or
to recoveries in Physiotherapy and from Sports injuries),
“Newsgames” (associated with Journalism, the news and
the media), “Games for Health (related to Medicine and
Health), “Edugames” (related to Education and Training),
“Advergames” (related to Advertising), “ARGs” (Alternative
reality games applicable to workshops for example)
among others. Why are there so many names for what is
essentially one thing? It must be important.
200 XPs. And, gamifi cation? Well, here we are before two
sister species. In the case of Gamifi cation, we apply the
laws of “Game Design” and we apply “Motivation” to the
design of user experiences which involve “Engagement”
or motivation. The objective is to persuade the fi nal
users (we are all players) to use our product and then to
consequently create a kind of brand loyalty with these
users. This is viable if the process is carried out properly
and user experience is positive. Our objective is not
to simply programme the users as if they were robots
playing a fruit machine. It is quite the opposite. We
want to give them an interesting experience, packed
with interesting options to choose from, which enables
them to cover many of their personal needs and enjoy
the “unwritten script” which they themselves create. As
human beings, we love the pleasures in life, even though
LA SALLE-UNIVERSITAT RAMON LLULL, SPAIN
Scheme of the FED methodology
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we quite often forget about them.
400 XPs. You might remember those wonderful books
named “Choose your own adventure.” These books
provide us with an excellent example of how to foster
the habit of reading because, unlike standard books
or novels, they gave the reader the chance to choose
the storyline and eventual ending of the book. When
readers reached a certain point in the book, especially
in the case of a fantasy novel, we were given options
to choose from, and according to the decisions that
we took, the outcome of main character, “our player,”
and the story continued on one page or another. It was
the perfect example of a “non-linear plot”, which is just
what gamifi cation o� ers us. We cannot predict what is
going to happen in every game and the fact that we are
bombarded with interesting decisions to take, motivates
us. And it encouraged us to keep reading. In other
words, it was a video game on paper! Many of those who
said, “I don’t really like reading” entered a world and never
came out.
Second level: What some experts say
700 XPs. According to Jesse Schell of the Entertainment
Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon University, games
are “...an activity related to problem-solving which follows
a methodology that is clearly based on a fun approach”.
In fact, as Marshall McLuhan said: “Anyone who thinks
that there is a di� erence between learning and having
fun has no idea of either the fi rst or second.”
1000 XPs. Melinda Jackson claims that the use of this
type of tool enables us to learn faster (knowledge
content is directly transferred to our brains) since we are
capable of extracting signifi cance from a set of complex
data and then of further manipulating and touching this
data. According to game designer Ian Schreiber, the
rules of creating enjoyable learning – aka “fun stu� ”–
are the creation of the chance to explore (in our virtual
world), the guarantee that the games is played in a social
context, the existence of an inventory (collection of
objects which serve a specifi c purpose), the opportunity
to physically feel something, jigsaw puzzle-solving
(active learning, brain stimulation) as well as the chance
to compete (we like to stand out) and to upgrade our
patrimony (albeit virtually). While Kurt Squire claims that
di� erent game experiences with di� erent “playabilities”
enable the players (users/students) to learn how to
manage complexity. Little wonder did Clark Aldrich
create the fi rst leadership simulator (Virtual Leader) in
the world as an essentially educational tool. The rules of
playability are not necessarily linear and depend on the
decisions of each user and on when these decisions are
taken. Games are played in real-time, thus facilitating
the creation of groups and the customization of content.
This ensures that the users, or should I say the players?,
take on the knowledge content as they play. “Learning
by doing” in its essence.
Third Level: Methodology development and Case study
1500 XPs. Design and Usability is a core subject for all
students studying ICT engineering degrees at La Salle-
URL (Barcelona). It is a subject which is less demanding
than others when it comes to technical knowledge,
but more demanding when it comes to creativity.
The content of the subject is applicable to all areas
of knowledge and it is of great use in the professional
development of the student. However, students do not
share this vision and feel that it should be easy to pass
without any great e� ort. In this academic year (2013/14),
we have included a layer of gamifi cation as part of the
course content and the results have been outstanding –
an increase of over 10% in the number of students with
a mark of “excellent” and a drop of 40% in the number
of students who fail in some of the course practicals.
The methodology which is being developed with the
area of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) is called Fun
Experience Design (FED). This facilitates the monitoring
of the improvement and the practical application of
course content is based on game mechanics in the
classroom. Furthermore, this methodology provides
information on user satisfaction levels, obtained from the
feedback extracted from the surveys and questionnaires
which the students have to submit.
1700 XPs. The FED has 4 stages (or rather 4 sub-levels)
which form an interactive process (just like the learning
process of any game):
Exploration phase: To know the objective and specifi c
information from users is needed in order to plan the
best strategy to be implemented.
Data Analysis: Both user perception and emotions are
analyzed in order to design the most appropriate strategy.
Creation of the gamifi ed system: Design the best strategy
to achieve the objectives.
The re-designing of the FED stage: After the
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implementation of the strategy, it turns to make an
exploration phase, where information is extracted to
improve the system.
+500 XPs. If you read the details on pictures on the top.
The study concluded that a numerical mark is not
enough and so the di� erent knowledges to be gained
throughout the subject had to be specifi ed, and therefore
the roles that can be acquired in the industry. The
integration of gamifi cation is justifi ed by raising students’
awareness of what they will learn with each practice and
the level at which they are achieiving it. It was sought
an increase of intrinsic motivation, thus students would
study more if they understand the need to acquire these
areas of knowledge.
The system created categorizes each practice and
exercise, and specifi es the area of knowledge acquired
and its level from the mark obtained. A system of clans,
accessed from the badges obtained in each assignment,
specifi ed the acquisition of knowledge. The mechanisms
to increase intrinsic motivation were: time pressure,
challenges, clans, badges...
Besides intrinsic motivation, the most important one, it
was added a mechanism to increase extrinsic motivation
as well. Points were gained according to the mark of
each assessment. After a certain amount of points,
students did not have to take the fi nal test, as it is
understood that they acquired the knowledge necessary
to pass the course already.
2000 XPs. After applying gamifi cation to the subject,
the average mark increased signifi cantly. Taking as an
example the Design assignment, the percentage of
excellent marks (9 or greater out of 10) in the previous
two years was low or very low; while this year, with the
gamifi cation system applied, it has risen over 12% of
students.
Also, the number of students failing (less than 5 out of
10) was more than half of the class, with a peak of over
64% last year. This year, just 20% of the students have
failed.
Final level: GAME OVER
(No! THE SHOW MUST GO ON)
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Students’ dashboard at the end of the course
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