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Integrating science learning with game experience and physical manipulatives not only overcomes the rigidity of traditional teaching, but also makes the learning experience pleasant for students and improves their science inquiry ability. Today, with the popularization of mobile devices and technology, both the value and feasibility of gamified science learning have increased significantly. However, several studies showed that students might get lost or feel bored during science inquiry. To let students enjoy the science inquiry process and improve their science process skills, the researchers combined mobile technology, game design elements, and science inquiry and designed the gamified science inquiry activity "we are aircraft designers". Here, students designed and manipulated a smartphone-controlled paper airplane by mobile devices connected via Bluetooth. To investigate the effects of the gamified science inquiry activity, the flow state and science process skills of 71 students of a junior high school in China were explored. The proposed gamified science inquiry activity enhanced flow and science process skills of students with high and middle level flow. No differences were found on flow and science process skills between males and females. Based on these results, the guidelines for the design of a gamified science inquiry activity are discussed.

Digital games are one of the most engaging forms of media. Players can have a first-hand experience and the possibility of feeling immersed within a digital setting where agency is exerted. This paper seeks to understand the role of digital games as new means of communication and their potential to convey messages that may defy gamers to question the moral grand narratives that shape contemporary societies. In a moment when many countries have opted to close or limit the circulation in their borders, it is important to think about the role played by the border as a historic liminal entity for the representation of societies and communities, distinguishing those who belong from those who do not. The representation of the border in digital games have tended to follow one of the main tropes explored in other media: the border as a physical space that set boundaries between different nations and different regions of the world. In order to assert the potential of digital games to offer a more comprehensive representation of the border as a liminal space, the case of Papers, Please! (2013) will be analyzed. Based on a qualitative methodology, having content analysis as primary data collection method, the paper intends to contribute to the discussion on how history may narrativized and, eventually, reinterpreted in digital games. Papers, Please! analysis will be centered on the relationship that is set between player and border, that is presented as a liminal space where the game's action takes places entirely. Moreover, the paper intends to discuss the role that has been played by digital games in the representation of serious topics and how they have evolved as communication tools beyond their role as entertainment products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paper folding-and-punching tests are used to measure spatial abilities in humans. This paper presents a qualitative model for paper folding (QPF) and a computer game (Paper Folding Game) developed to apply and show the reasoning capabilities of the QPF model. This interactive game presents paper-folding activities intended to help users train and understand how to fold a paper to get a specific shape. Then, it presents paper-folding-and-punching tests to the players. The Paper Folding Game can automatically generate paper-folding-and-punching questions with varying degrees of difficulty depending on the number of folds and holes made, thus producing additional levels for training. The reasoning mechanisms in the QPF model are used by the Paper Folding Game to infer the right answer to each paper-folding-and-punching question. This reasoning capability allows the game to provide feedback to the players when they are wrong and also to create other plausible answers automatically, so that random question-answers are shown to the players in the master-mode. The Paper Folding Game has been implemented using Unity engine and it is available to download from GooglePlay and AppleStore for everyone to train their spatial reasoning skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to test the instructional value of adding paper-based metacognitive prompting features to a gamelike environment for learning about electrical circuits, called the Circuit Game. In Experiment 1, students who were prompted during Levels 1 through 9 to direct their attention to the most relevant features of the game and were provided with a list of its underlying prin test ciples to relate to their game actions performed better on an embedded transfer(i.e., Level 10) than those not provided with the intervention (d = 0.77). In Experiment 2, the principles were not explicitly provided; instead, students were asked to fill in the correct features of each principle on a sheet while playing Levels 1 through 9 of the game. Results indicated that this method of prompting improved transfer performance only for learners who could correctly fill in the list of the game's principles (d = 0.53). Overall, paper-based aids for directing students' attention toward the most relevant features of a game and asking them to apply provided principles to solve game-based problems result in a deeper understanding of the game's academic content. (Contains 5 tables and 2 figures.)

When participants in introductory business courses encounter the term "operations strategy," it is not easy for them to appreciate what operations strategy is about, or how it fits with overall business strategy. This game breaks down highfalutin jargon into experiences that participants can readily relate to. While working in teams to make paper boats, and competing with other teams, participants realize that they have intuitively engaged in the formulation and implementation of their team's operations strategy. They begin to appreciate the interplay between the customer's requirements, their own team's strengths, the "competitive priorities" that their team must emphasize, and the tradeoffs inherent in making these decisions. (Contains 1 table and 2 notes.)

Describes a writing assignment through which students build an understanding of perspectives other than their own. Shows how students, using dice, can create the outlines of a character and, having thought about this character, can write a paper from that character's perspective. (TB)

Background: Through changing the way games are represented, classification systems have increased possibilities for teaching game forms beyond structured adult and singular official versions of popular sports. At the time of inception, the four-game form approach to classification (target, net/wall, striking/fielding, and invasion games) enabled modified, small sided conditioned games to be adapted to suit individual attributes, whilst reinforcing a core set of tactical and technical elements for transfer. With global shifts in patterns of sport participation, it is timely to review this dominant classification frame and the role it plays within physical education (PE). Purpose: This paper proposes changes to classification boundaries around games and sports in PE to establish a classification system that is inclusive of a wider range of games and sports and growing forms of participation that we contend are important for PE. The paper also argues for a broader conceptualisation of tactics, with social, environmental and affective dimensions a focal point for a revised, contemporary classification framework. Methods: The paper draws on Bernstein's notions of classification and frame to explore the pedagogical utility of the dominant games and sport classification used in PE and ways in which it could be revised. Each author independently undertook a structured mapping exercise designed to facilitate exploration and potential classification of a wide range of contemporary activities potentially relevant for physical education. Results: The paper proposes the addition of lap or circuit sports, route or journey sports, rush or action sports, stunts or tricking sports and rhythmic or aesthetic sports to broaden the learning and participation possibilities for young people and tune teachers into contemporary movement forms. The paper proposes sample questions that extend the tactical foci inherent in classification to encompass meaning, social, and ecological considerations for learning in PE.

Background: Constructing shared understanding of complex interdisciplinary problems is one of the most challenging aspects of interdisciplinary teamwork. How this process unfolds is under-researched, making it esoteric and difficult to scaffold. This paper aims to provide an articulated and nuanced account of what is involved in student teams' construction of shared understanding of complex interdisciplinary problems. Methods: The study combines the theoretical lens of epistemic games with an ecological analytical perspective. Drawing on the analysis of ethnographic cases, it explores how four graduate student teams construct shared understanding of complex problems during interdisciplinary projects. Findings: Construction of shared understanding is a multifaceted and dynamic process that extends over the entire problem-solving activity. It relies on epistemic moves that explicate and juxtapose different perspectives and connect abstract ideas with knowledge grounded in students' experiences and contexts. The pursuits students engage in, when creating shared understanding, reveal epistemic differences related to formulation of the interdisciplinary problem and what constitutes trustworthy knowledge. Contribution: The paper contributes to the literature on the nature of students' construction of shared understanding of complex interdisciplinary problems revealing critical recurrent moves. It also extends earlier conceptualizations of epistemic games as primarily discourse games and demonstrates that they are profoundly multimodal and distributed.

We study a five-species cyclic system wherein individuals of one species strategically adapt their movements to enhance their performance in the spatial rock–paper–scissors game. Environmental cues enable the awareness of the presence of organisms targeted for elimination in the cyclic game. If the local density of target organisms is sufficiently high, individuals move towards concentrated areas for direct attack; otherwise, they employ an ambush tactic, maximising the chances of success by targeting regions likely to be dominated by opponents. Running stochastic simulations, we discover that the ambush strategy enhances the likelihood of individual success compared to direct attacks alone, leading to uneven spatial patterns characterised by spiral waves. We compute the autocorrelation function and measure how the ambush tactic unbalances the organisms' spatial organisation by calculating the characteristic length scale of typical spatial domains of each species. We demonstrate that the threshold for local species density influences the ambush strategy's effectiveness, while the neighbourhood perception range significantly impacts decision-making accuracy. The outcomes show that long-range perception improves performance by over 60%, although there is potential interference in decision-making under high attack triggers. Understanding how organisms' adaptation their environment enhances their performance may be helpful not only for ecologists, but also for data scientists, aiming to improve artificial intelligence systems. • Stochastic simulations of the rock–paper–scissors model with Ambush strategy are performed. • The changes in the spatial patterns provoked by the behavioural strategy are quantified. • Organisms' performance in the rock–paper–scissor game is computed. • The impact of the organisms' perception radius in the accuracy of the strategy is investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article studies the kinetic dynamics of the rock-paper-scissors binary game in a measure setting given by a non local and non linear integrodifferential equation. After proving the wellposedness of the equation, we provide a precise description of the asymptotic behavior in large time. To do so we adopt a duality approach, which is well suited both as a first step to construct a measure solution by mean of semigroups and to obtain an explicit expression of the asymptotic measure. Even thought the equation is non linear, this measure depends linearly on the initial condition. This result is completed by a decay in total variation norm, which happens to be subgeometric due to the nonlinearity of the equation. This relies on an unusual use of a confining condition that is needed to apply a Harris-type theorem, taken from a recent paper [2] that also provides a way to compute explicitly the constants involved in the aforementioned decay in norm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The usage of games in the process of teaching and learning is always advantageous, because children prefer to learn playfully. Board-games are particularly enjoyable for children. They do not learn consciously, but they enjoy playing together with their parents and siblings, because board-games bring together both family and friends. Playing board-games is not only a joyful activity, it also develops different skills of the player, as communication skills, strategy creating and problem solving competency, cooperation, etc. Nowadays there are many boardgames on sale, active board-game playing communities organize events, and a culture of playing board-games is developing. Thus integrating board-games in educational activities seems to be a natural process to follow. But this integration has many obstacles, as time and curriculum constrains, the lack of methodological knowledge of the teachers, inadequate choose of educational board-games for some subjects, etc. The aim of this research is to study primary school teachers' attitude to playing board-games and their board-game playing practice. The results show that majority of the participating elementary school teachers love playing boardgames, almost half of them also play board games in their private life. Most of them bring these games to the classroom as well. Teachers love these games, because they are fun, teach logical thinking, make students creative, help them to relax, are team builders, motivate students to learn, get used to speed, develop attention, teach strategies, and are childhood favorites. [This paper was presented at the TDID Doctoral Students' Conference, 14-16 May 2020.]

As members of a social species, we spend most of our time interacting with others. In interactions, we tend to mutually align our behavior and brain responses to communicate more effectively. In a semi-computerized version of the Rock-Paper-Scissors game, we investigated whether people show enhanced interpersonal neural synchronization when making explicit predictions about others' actions. Across four experimental conditions, we measured the dynamic brain activity using the functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning method. Results showed that interpersonal neural synchrony was enhanced when participants played the game together as they would do in real life in comparison to when they played the game on their own. We found no evidence of increased neural synchrony when participants made explicit predictions about others' actions. Hence, neural synchrony may depend on mutual natural interaction rather than an explicit prediction strategy. This study is important, as it examines one of the presumed functions of neural synchronization namely facilitating predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A classical result of K. L. Chung and W. Feller deals with the partial sums S_k arising in a fair coin-tossing game. If N_n is the number of "positive" terms among S_1, S_2, ..., S_n then the quantity P(N_{2n} = 2r) takes an elegant form. We lift the restriction on an even number of tosses and give a simple expression for P(N_{2n+1} = r), r = 0, 1, 2, ..., 2n+1. We get to this ansatz by adaptating the Feynman–Kac methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Understanding how strategic interactions influence trait evolution remains a challenge in evolutionary games. • The evolutionary RPS game investigates the evolution of three strategies under a fixed payoff matrix. • Exploring the impact of a dynamic instead of a fixed payoff matrix could change the dynamics of the game. • The adaptive RPS game, incorporating a dynamic payoff matrix, investigates how strategies change adaptively through trait evolution. The rock-paper-scissors (RPS) game is a classic model for exploring the performance of how multiple strategies interact and evolve over time. The classic RPS game assumes a fixed benefit and cost for each strategy against another one when two players meet, while its evolutionary game considers the frequency dynamics of the three strategies with each's fitness influenced by its net payoff. This may not reflect the complexity of real-world scenarios as strategies can co-adapt with each other. We introduce an adaptive RPS game that captures the dynamics of strategy densities with trait-mediated payoffs, and the adaptive dynamics of coevolving traits via incremental mutations leading to adaptively evolving payoffs. Results show that the adaptive RPS game approaches a steady state of strategy density, if any, faster than the evolutionary RPS game. The stable coexistence of all strategies in the evolutionary game can be easily destabilized in the adaptive game. Strategies that are allowed to adaptively change their traits also performed better and achieved greater strategy densities than those fixed strategies in the adaptive game. The coevolving strategies in the adaptive RPS game exhibit complex and diverse attractors in the trait space, sensitive to both initial conditions and model parameters, but exhibiting positive payoffs with greater benefits than costs. These findings highlight how adaptive games enhance strategy performance by sacrificing eco-evolutionary dynamic stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The state-of-the-art literature indicates an increasing need for co-design education as it is imperative to equip future designers with the co-designing mindset. This derives from the significance of involving 'people with lived experience' in co-design processes to better meet their needs. However, the traditional design education system seems to include mostly individual designing skills, causing a lack of skills in design students to facilitate the active participation of people in co-design. This paper reports on a case study carried out in a third-year Bachelor industrial design engineering course with design students (n = 32) and design educators (n = 4) to find an effective and efficient way of preparing future designers for their role in co-design and to gain insights into design students' experience with learning about co-design. As an instructional method, a co-design workshop including the game-play, game-modding and game-design approaches is introduced. The obstacles and confusion of the design students regarding co-design and co-design education, which they have documented throughout the year on their personalised logbooks, are explained to eliminate them in the future for smoother incorporation of co-design education into design education curricula. Lastly, for future designers' mindfulness of co-design and their role as facilitators suggestions are provided such as accreditation of curriculum activities regarding co-design education.

A game of rock-paper-scissors is an interesting example of an interaction where none of the pure strategies strictly dominates all others, leading to a cyclic pattern. In this work, we consider an unstable version of rock-paper-scissors dynamics and allow individuals to make behavioural mistakes during the strategy execution. We show that such an assumption can break a cyclic relationship leading to a stable equilibrium emerging with only one strategy surviving. We consider two cases: completely random mistakes when individuals have no bias towards any strategy and a general form of mistakes. Then, we determine conditions for a strategy to dominate all other strategies. However, given that individuals who adopt a dominating strategy are still prone to behavioural mistakes in the observed behaviour, we may still observe extinct strategies. That is, behavioural mistakes in strategy execution stabilise evolutionary dynamics leading to an evolutionary stable and, potentially, mixed co-existence equilibrium. Author summary: A game of rock-paper-scissors is more than just a children's game. This type of interactions is often used to describe competition among animals or humans. A special feature of such an interaction is that none of the pure strategies dominates, resulting in a cyclic pattern. However, in wild communities such interactions are rarely observed by biologists. Our results suggest that this lack of cyclicity may stem from imperfectness of interacting individuals. In other words, we show analytically that heterogeneity in behavioural patterns may break a cyclic relationship and lead to a stable equilibrium in pure or mixed strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to examine unexpected arrivals of adult-oriented digital media in the playful storied environments of Grades 1 and 2 classrooms and the possibilities such unsettling literacies may offer. Design/methodology/approach: Posthuman perspectives provide this study's theoretical grounding and methodological approach. Actor-network-theory and thinking with theory are used to examine school play with two video games and the literacies entangled in children's same game machinima productions. Findings: Explorations of transmediascapes animate entangled meaning-making practices across virtual and material childhood spaces. They provide openings for educators to understand their students' literate world-making and consider how those unsettling literacies might have a place in the classroom as generative rather than to-be-avoided contaminations. Originality/value: The theoretical and methodological engagements of this paper offer opportunities to re-consider unsettling literacy encounters as generative contaminations rather than noxious intrusions. This paper shows how, in engaging with unsettling literacies, educators may participate with children in meaningful literacy practices responding to both the tantalizing and the troubling aspects of particular transmedia.

Lucas Pope's 2013 video game Papers, Please places the player-character in the position of an immigration inspector in a fictional Eastern Bloc nation. Since its release, the game has garnered enthusiastic responses, being celebrated by critics as an essential dramatisation of the ethical di- lemmas associated with the migratory flows and fraught border politics of the post-9/11 world. However, this essay argues that this reputation must be scrutinised: for while Papers, Please indeed illustrates some of the contradictions at the heart of contemporary border policy - such as immigrant-receiving states' pragmatic application of exclusionary immigration practices that run contrary to their self-professed liberal-democratic ideals - it also engages in a 'universalising' abstraction of the border space, which limits its feasibility as a lens through which to view 2010s border discourses. Drawing from current research in Border Studies, a close reading of Pope's game illustrates how its geo-historical setting and its omission of crucial phenomena associated with the twenty-first-century border, such as the interactional processes of bordering and the existence of 'bi-cultural' borderscapes, ultimately render it a liberal-democrat- ic fantasy, according to which the conflicts engendered by the enforced geopolitical border are abstract questions of morality and ethics rather than practical socio-political questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collaborative worldbuilding is an ideal digital writing project for promoting critical thinking about contemporary issues, developing and applying disciplinary expertise writing transfer, and building digital literacies. In the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic where the student experience was characterised by isolation, collaborative worldbuilding also offered a powerful means of building solidarity and community. This paper presents a case study of using collaborative worldbuilding for gaming to achieve key digital writing learning outcomes. The case study shows how this innovative pedagogical approach can be mapped to two key frameworks for information and digital literacies: the Digital Competence Framework for Citizens and the Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education of the Association of College and Research Libraries. The case study also illustrates how a MediaWiki installation can be used for worldbuilding and as a means of critically introducing students to Wikipedia itself. Qualitative feedback from the students shows that the class achieved its key learning outcomes. More importantly, student engagement during the class and their feedback ascertains that collaborative worldbuilding is a powerful means of building connections and empathy between students in the context of isolation, amid a global pandemic.

This paper analyzes the relationship between proportional reasoning and understanding fair games in Costa Rican students. We conducted a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the answers to six items on comparing ratios of increasing difficulty level and another item on prize estimation in a fair game. We describe the strategies employed and the semiotic conflicts detected in 292 Costa Rican students from Grades 6 to 10 (11-16-year-olds), comparing the findings with those established in previous research. The results show an increase in the level of proportional reasoning with the grade, although the age at which the higher levels are reached is lower than that assumed by Noelting. The percentage of students applying correct strategies in the fair game problem also increases with grade, and a relationship between the understanding of fair game and the level of proportional reasoning is observed.