eBug Junior Game Design

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e-Bug Junior GameDesign Evaluation
e-Bug Launch Meeting 3rd September 2009
David Farrell, City University London david.farrel
l.1_at_city.ac.uk
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e-Bug Junior Game

• Design Choices
• What kind of game?
• How does it teach?
• How can we evaluate?
• Quantitative Results (preliminary)
• Qualitative Results
• Comments and Next Steps

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Target Audience

• 9-11 year olds
• Suitable for play at home or in school
• Short attention span
• Enjoy Flash games (Kongregate, Newgrounds)
• Necessary to provide an action oriented game
• Whilst still teaching required Learning Outcomes

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Effective GBL?

• How are games best used for learning?
• Shaffers Epistemic Frames
• SodaConstructor1, SimCity
• Squires work with Civilization2

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Game Concept

• Designed game rules (mechanics) to support
  learning outcomes
• Decided on a Platform Game (like Mario)
• Player is shrunk to a tiny size and interacts
  with microbes
• Photograph different types of cartoon microbes!
• See that some microbes are useful and some
  harmful!
• Throw soap to remove harmful microbes!

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Platform Game
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Mini Game

• Mini game used for Food and Respiratory Hygiene
  learning outcomes

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Game Show

• Context
• Competition
• Pacing
• Evaluation?

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Capturing Data

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Quantitative Results
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Introduction to Microbes

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Round 1 Results
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?

• Timing of evaluation high awareness
• end of school year
• swine flu
• Results are change from incorrect to correct.
• Question 1
• PRE 512 correct, 31 not sure, 102 wrong
• 31 102 133 incorrect
• POST 536 correct 24 change
• (24 / 133) 100 18 change in incorrect

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Harmful Microbes
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Round 2 Results
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Useful Microbes
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Round 3 Results
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Hygiene
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Round 4 Results
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Antibiotics
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Round 5 Results
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Qualitative Results

• Very positive response from players
• In initial focus groups, the game ran slow
• 50 of pupils said that they would play this
  game again or recommend this game to a friend.
• When fixed, the positive rate was over 90

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Teacher Comments

• A small number of teachers filled out
  questionnaire
• All said they would use the game in the
  classroom and indicated that they had enjoyed
  using the game with their pupils.
• Some teachers requested that audio be added to
  the game in order that those with lower reading
  ability could still engage fully.

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Teacher Comments Cont

• I liked the way it was an educational but also
  fun game the children learned things from it
• I would definitely use the game as it is both
  fun and educational
• I think that the content is good, especially if
  the game is being used to enhance or consolidate
  learning on the subject matter through taught
  sessions
• The children really took to the game once the
  technical problems had been addressed and I know
  that many of them have accessed the game from
  home as a result of the workshop.

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Next Steps

• The areas of the game which have shown little
  impact or which have had a negative impact need
  to be improved.
• The Blind Question Round (part of quiz show)
  should be removed since the game is no longer in
  evaluation and users dislike that feature.
• Some software bugs still persist (as with most
  software)
• A more rigorous analysis of the data will be
  published