A serious game to motivate children to do homework Marius Lundbø Master of Science in Informatics Submission date: June 2018 Supervisor: Alf Inge Wang, IDI Co-supervisor: Ole Andreas Alsos, IDI Norwegian University of Science and Technology Department of Computer Science Abstract In this master thesis the concept Mænage School was created based upon theories about serious games, gamification, and game-based learning as well as the experiences and opinions of 17 pupils and 8 teachers. Some applications targeted towards Norwegian elementary school pupils were also investigated. The intent of this concept was to explore if game design can boost pupils’ motivation towards homework, and if such a concept can help the teacher adapt to each individual pupil’s skill level more efficiently. Three iterations of user testing resulted in two high-fidelity prototypes being made, one Unity application for the pupils’ aspect, and one web application for the teachers’. This thesis concludes that serious games can positively affect pupils’ motivation towards homework. A digital concept such as Mænage School can provide a range of utilities compared to what the traditional homework sheet does. However, thorough research must be conducted on this challenging userbase when making such applications, since the technological and cognitive abilities of children differ greatly between school year two through seven. In addition, no teachers are alike and differ in technological skills and preferred teaching approaches. Sammendrag I denne masteroppgaven ble konseptet Mænage School laget med grunnlag i teorier om serious games, gamification og spillbasert læring, i tillegg til erfaringer og meninger fra 17 elever og 8 lærere. Noen applikasjoner målrettet til elever i norsk skole ble også utforsket. Hensikten med dette konseptet var å utforske om spilldesign kan øke elevers motivasjon til å gjøre lekser og om et slikt konsept kan hjelpe læreren med å tilpasse seg hver enkelt elevs ferdighetsnivå mer effektivt. Tre iterasjoner med testing endte med to high-fidelity-prototyper, en laget i Unity til elevene og en i web-teknologier til lærerne. Denne oppgaven konkluderer med at serious games kan påvirke elevers motivasjon til å gjøre lekser. Et digitalt konsept, slik som Mænage School, kan tilby mange hjelpemidler sammenlignet med hva den tradisjonelle ukeplanen gjør. Med det sagt, må grundig forskning gjennomføres på denne brukerbasen når man skal lage en slik applikasjon, ettersom de teknologiske og kognitive evnene til elever er veldig forskjellig mellom andre og syvende trinn. I tillegg er lærere forskjellige fra hverandre både med tanke på teknologiske ferdigheter og undervisningsmetoder. i Preface This thesis project concludes my Master of Science degree at the Department of Computer Science at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim. This project has been supervised by Alf Inge Wang and Ole Andreas Alsos. The foundation for this thesis has been Serious Games AS’ Mænage, a serious game that focuses on making chores fun together with the family. I would like to extend my thanks to Alf Inge and Ole Andreas for their guidance and feedback during the process. My dear friend and professional Unity developer Anders Kvalvaag also deserves thanks. His ability to give me a crash course in Unity saved weeks of my project. All of the teachers, pupils, and parents who were willing to contribute to the thesis also deserves a big thanks for their commitment to see this thesis completed. Thanks to Anders, Andreas H., Andreas K., and Andreas V. for participating in the ideation process in the early stages of the project. And thanks to Andreas F. for editing the video demo of the concept. Finally, to my amazing wife and English teacher Camilla; thank you for being helpful and supporting through the whole process, and especially for every proofreading. Marius Ingebrigtsen Lundbø Ålesund, June 2018 ii Table of Contents Abstract i Preface ii Table of Contents iii List of Tables vii List of Figures viii I. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1 II. Background ................................................................................................................ 5 1. Serious Games ................................................................................................................... 6 1.1. The G/P/S Model ..................................................................................................................... 6 1.2. Using Serious Games .............................................................................................................. 7 1.3. Summary ................................................................................................................................. 8 2. Gamification ...................................................................................................................... 9 2.1. Summary ................................................................................................................................. 9 3. Game-based Learning .................................................................................................... 10 3.1. What Makes Things Fun to Learn? ....................................................................................... 10 3.2. Flow and GameFlow ............................................................................................................. 11 3.3. Experiential Gaming Model .................................................................................................. 11 3.4. Summary ............................................................................................................................... 13 4. Related Work .................................................................................................................. 14 4.1. Mænage ................................................................................................................................. 14 4.2. Mænage Extended ................................................................................................................. 15 4.3. Enki ....................................................................................................................................... 16 4.4. Campus Increment ................................................................................................................. 17 4.5. Kikora .................................................................................................................................... 18 III. Iteration 0 – The Preliminary Study........................................................................ 19 5. Relevant Research Methods ........................................................................................... 20 5.1. Research Strategies ................................................................................................................ 20 5.2. Data Generation Methods ...................................................................................................... 21 5.2.1. Interviews ........................................................................................................................ 21 5.2.2. Workshops ....................................................................................................................... 22 5.2.3. Observations .................................................................................................................... 22 5.2.4. Questionnaires ................................................................................................................. 22 5.2.5. Documents ....................................................................................................................... 22 5.3. Data Analysis ........................................................................................................................ 23 5.3.1. Quantitative Data Analysis .............................................................................................. 23 5.3.2. Qualitative Data Analysis ................................................................................................ 23 5.4. Summary ............................................................................................................................... 24 6. Research Design .............................................................................................................. 25 6.1. Research Strategy: Design and Creation ............................................................................... 25 iii 6.2. Primary Data Generation Method: Interviews ....................................................................... 27 6.3. Secondary Data Generation Methods .................................................................................... 28 6.3.1. Observations .................................................................................................................... 28 6.3.2. Questionnaires ................................................................................................................. 28 6.3.3. Documents ....................................................................................................................... 29 6.4. Testing ................................................................................................................................... 29 6.4.1. User Testing ....................................................................................................................