Category Archives: Video Games

Are Virtual Reality Serious Video Games More Effective Than Web Video Games?

Education, Video Games, Virtual Reality

Virtual reality is widely used for many educational purposes. However, despite the increasing trend in the use of this technology, it is not yet clear whether it is more effective for learning than other technologies, such as traditional computer video games. This article presents a serious video game to learn Scrum, a methodology widely used in the software industry. The game is available in mobile virtual reality and Web (using WebGL) formats. Both versions of the game are compared in terms of knowledge acquisition and motivation enhancement through a robust empirical study involving 289 students and instruments, such as prepost tests and a questionnaire. The obtained results suggest that both formats of the game are useful for acquiring knowledge and promoting aspects, such as fun, motivation, and engagement. The results also suggest, strikingly, that there is no difference in terms of learning effectiveness between the two versions of the game.

https://doi.org/10.1109/MCG.2023.3244036

About Jesús Mayor

Jesús Mayor is since 2019 a full-time lecturer and researcher in Politécnica de Madrid University. He received MS degree in Computer Science (CEU San Pablo, 2013), MS degree in Computer Graphics (U-tad, 2014) and PhD degree in Computer Science (Rey Juan Carlos University, 2020) in Madrid. His studies are focused on computer graphics and data science

A comparison of the usefulness of game-based learning and video-based learning for teaching software engineering in online environments

Education, Video Games

Despite prior research has shown several benefits of game-based and video-based learning and has compared these methodologies versus traditional instruction, little work has been done to compare their usefulness, especially in online education settings. This paper examines and compares the usefulness of game-based learning using educational video games and video-based learning for teaching software engineering in online environments. The design of this research is quasi-experimental, involving a control and an experimental group. A total of 193 software engineering students participated in this research, 45 in the control group and 148 in the experimental group. Both groups took a lesson about software design, but the students in the control group learned through online video-based learning, whereas their counterparts in the experimental group learned through online game-based learning. A survey was used to collect students’ perceptions and pre- and post-tests were used to measure acquired knowledge. The results indicate that both learning methodologies were found to be beneficial for student learning and that online game-based learning outperformed online video-based learning in terms of students’ perceptions.

https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE58773.2023.10343449

About Jesús Mayor

Jesús Mayor is since 2019 a full-time lecturer and researcher in Politécnica de Madrid University. He received MS degree in Computer Science (CEU San Pablo, 2013), MS degree in Computer Graphics (U-tad, 2014) and PhD degree in Computer Science (Rey Juan Carlos University, 2020) in Madrid. His studies are focused on computer graphics and data science

Virtual Reality Presence in Partially Non-Euclidean Environments

Computer Graphcis, Video Games, Virtual Reality

Currently, virtual reality is limited by a physical workspace if the user walks indefinitely inside its virtual world. Therefore, it is necessary to find solutions to this limitation. A possible solution could be to reuse this workspace by overlapping different parts of the virtual space. This can be achieved through the use of imperceptible portals that connect different points in the virtual environment. Thanks to these portals it is possible to create a momentary break in the conventional Euclidean geometry displaying parts of the virtual world that are farther away than usual. Although this kind of effect has been seen in conventional games, its application to virtual environments has some technical implications. One of the most important technical characteristics to be evaluated is the presence, which could be affected by this type of visual effect. For this reason, a validation of the effect has been carried out by quantitatively analyzing the perceptual presence and conducting qualitative interviews with users. The results did not show an overall impact on presence, and users were excited to experience this type of visual effect inside the virtual world. Finally, this paper shows everything learned in this development and is discussed from a perceptual design point of view, opening the possibility of new studies associated with this visual effect applied to the virtual world.

https://doi.org/10.1162/pres_a_00419

About Jesús Mayor

Jesús Mayor is since 2019 a full-time lecturer and researcher in Politécnica de Madrid University. He received MS degree in Computer Science (CEU San Pablo, 2013), MS degree in Computer Graphics (U-tad, 2014) and PhD degree in Computer Science (Rey Juan Carlos University, 2020) in Madrid. His studies are focused on computer graphics and data science

Design of a serious games to improve resilience skills in youngsters

Education, Video Games

Nowadays, extremist ideologies are increasing their presence around the world, while having an impact on different social fields, such as politics, religion, or even sports. Youngsters are especially vulnerable to this type of ideologies, as they are still conforming to their own ideals, which in turn represents a problem on their moral and ethical development. While today there exist many programs and projects which focus on confronting this problem, most of them focused in psychological protective factors, it is still necessary to adapt these methodologies to the new characteristics of society and attract the interest of young people. In this research, we present the design and pilot testing of YoungRes, a serious game focused on promoting resilience skills. This paper describes the theoretical foundations of the intervention, its development as a serious game, and its validation in pilot testing made by educators, psychologists, and psycho-pedagogues. The pilot testing is conducted through the trial of educators of the first two video game sessions. After that, they reported feedback on their opinions about the game, together with suggestions and measures about the impact it could have for educational purposes.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.entcom.2021.100462

About Jesús Mayor

Jesús Mayor is since 2019 a full-time lecturer and researcher in Politécnica de Madrid University. He received MS degree in Computer Science (CEU San Pablo, 2013), MS degree in Computer Graphics (U-tad, 2014) and PhD degree in Computer Science (Rey Juan Carlos University, 2020) in Madrid. His studies are focused on computer graphics and data science