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1. RoboMath: Designing a Learning Companion Robot to Support Children’s Numerical Skills

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3459990.3460709  

   Ho, Hui-Ru; Cagiltay, Bengisu; White, Nathan Thomas; Hubbard, Edward M.; Mutlu, Bilge (June 2021, IDC '21: Interaction Design and Children)

   null (Ed.)

   Children’s early numerical knowledge establishes a foundation for later development of mathematics achievement and playing linear number board games is effective in improving basic numeri- cal abilities. Besides the visuo-spatial cues provided by traditional number board games, learning companion robots can integrate multi-sensory information and offer social cues that can support children’s learning experiences. We explored how young children experience sensory feedback (audio and visual) and social expressions from a robot when playing a linear number board game, “RoboMath.” We present the interaction design of the game and our investigation of children’s (n = 19, aged 4) and parents’ experiences under three conditions: (1) visual-only, (2) audio-visual, and (3) audio- visual-social robot interaction. We report our qualitative analysis, including the themes observed from interviews with families on their perceptions of the game and the interaction with the robot, their child’s experiences, and their design recommendations. 

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2. Identifying Game Mechanics for Integrating Fabrication Activities within Existing Digital Games

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3491102.3517721  

   Turakhia, Dishita G; Mueller, Stefanie; DesPortes, Kayla (April 2022, CHI '22: Proceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems)

   Integrating fabrication activities into existing video games provides opportunities for players to construct objects from their gameplay and bring the digital content into the physical world. In our prior work, we outlined a framework and developed a toolkit for integrating fabrication activities within existing digital games. Insights from our prior study highlighted the challenge of aligning fabrication mechanics with the existing game mechanics in order to strengthen the player aesthetics. In this paper, we address this challenge and build on our prior work by adding fabrication components to the Mechanics-Dynamics-Aesthetics (MDA) framework. We use this f-MDA framework to analyze the 47 fabrication events from the prior study. We list the new player-object aesthetics that emerge from integrating the existing game mechanics with fabrication mechanics. We identify connections between these emergent player-object aesthetics and the existing game mechanics. We discuss how designers can use this mapping to identify potential game mechanics for integrating with fabrication activities. 

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3. Making Maps Available for Play: Analyzing the Design of Game Cartography Interfaces

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3336144  

   Toups Dugas, Phoebe O.; Lalone, Nicolas; Alharthi, Sultan A.; Sharma, Hitesh Nidhi; Webb, Andrew M. (July 2019, ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction)

   Maps in video games have grown into complex interactive systems alongside video games themselves. What map systems have done and currently do have not been cataloged or evaluated. We trace the history of game map interfaces from their paper-based inspiration to their current smart phone-like appearance. Read-only map interfaces enable players to consume maps, which is sufficient for wayfinding. Game cartography interfaces enable players to persistently modify maps, expanding the range of activity to support planning and coordination. We employ thematic analysis on game cartography interfaces, contributing a near-exhaustive catalog of games featuring such interfaces, a set of properties to describe and design such interfaces, a collection of play activities that relate to cartography, and a framework to identify what properties promote the activities. We expect that designers will find the contributions enable them to promote desired play experiences through game map interface design. 

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4. "Wow another fake game from YouTube ad": Unpacking Fake Games Through a Mixed-Methods Investigation

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3677115  

   Moradzadeh, Sam; Kou, Yubo (October 2024, Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction)

   Mobile games have become highly popular and profitable. While much work has been done to understand deceptive patterns of games and some unethical practices they apply, little is known about fake games, an emergent phenomenon in mobile gaming. To answer this question, we conducted two studies: a walkthrough method to characterize fake games, and a thematic analysis of user reviews to gain understanding from the user perspective. We found five types of misalignments that render a game fake and identified four primary facets of player experience with fake games. These misalignments act as realization points in the users' decision-making to define games as being fake. We discuss the fakeness of fake games, how the formation of an ecosystem helps with the circulation of fakeness, as well as challenges to governing fake games. Lastly, we propose implications for research and design on how to mitigate and identify fake games. 

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5. An initial exploration of the perspectives and experiences of diverse learners’ acceptance of online educational engineering games as learning tools in the classroom

   https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE43999.2019.9028605  

   Cook-Chennault, Kimberly; Villanueva, Idalis (October 2019, An initial exploration of the perspectives and experiences of diverse learners' acceptance of online educational engineering games as learning tools in the classroom)

   This Work-In-Progress falls within the research category of study and, focuses on the experiences and perceptions of first- and second year engineering students when using an online engineering game that was designed to enhance understanding of statics concepts. Technology and online games are increasingly being used in engineering education to help students gain competencies in technical domains in the engineering field. Less is known about the way that these online games are designed and incorporated into the classroom environment and how these factors can ignite inequitable perspectives and experiences among engineering students. Also, little if any work that combines the TAM model and intersectionality of race and gender in engineering education has been done, though several studies have been modified to account for gender or race. This study expands upon the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) by exploring perspectives of intersectional groups (defined as women of color who are engineering students). A Mixed Method Sequential Exploratory Research Design approach was used that extends the TAM model. Students were asked to play the engineering educational game, complete an open-ended questionnaire and then to participate in a focus group. Early findings suggest that while many students were open to learning to use the game and recommended inclusion of online engineering educational games as learning tools in classrooms, only a few indicated that they would use this tool to prepare for exams or technical job interviews. Some of the main themes identified in this study included unintended perpetuation of inequality through bias in favor of students who enjoyed competition-based learning and assessment of knowledge, and bias for students having prior experience in playing online games. Competition-based assessment related to presumed learning of course content enhanced student anxiety and feelings of intimidation and led to some students seeking to “game the game” versus learning the material, in efforts to achieve grade goals. Other students associated use of the game and the classroom weighted grading with intense stress that led them to prematurely stop the use of the engineering tool. Initial findings indicate that both game design and how technology is incorporated into the grading and testing of learning outcomes, influence student perceptions of the technology’s usefulness and ultimately the acceptance of the online game as a "learning tool." Results also point to the need to explore how the crediting and assessment of students’ performance and learning gains in these types of games could yield inequitable experiences in these types of courses. 

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