Educational environmental geoscience e-gaming to provide stimulating and effective learning

Abstract

Current Higher Education students mostly comprise so-called Generation Y who have grown up with personal computer and e-gaming technologies. As such, they may respond positively to educational gaming as stimulating and effective complementary learning tools. This paper reports on evaluation of an environmental geoscience e-game developed with other complementary learning technologies for a final year option module for GEES-subject undergraduate students. The e-game was based on an author-published academic article. Semi-quantitative and qualitative evaluation evidences this was an effective approach and complemented more traditional educational learning methods, with a high level of student engagement, including, unexpectedly, with the academic article.

Background

Current Higher Education (HE) students mostly comprise a mixture of so-called Generation X and Y who have been grouped into 1961–1981 and 1982–2001 birth years respectively (Knight, 2008). Generation Y students are mostly ‘digital natives’ connected 24/7, bored by routine and goal-orientated (Knight, 2008), and as such, may respond positively to technology-based learning environments. However, this is a generalisation as there will be students with different abilities, interests and cultural backgrounds.

Increasingly, digital technologies are being effectively utilised as geoscience teaching and learning tools, for example, in order to assist students to use field equipment (Jarvis and Dickie, 2009) and to understand often complex problems such as 4D sedimentary processes (see Mountney, 2009). Stainfield et al. (2000) also show how virtual field-trips can provide “direct learning opportunities and indeed bridge formal and informal learning”, without the associated logistical challenges and risks involved in running field trips. Falloon (2010) shows that virtual environments enhance student engagement, focus communication and, when used in group situations, “leads to better co-operation and collaboration between students”. However, there are issues, as highlighted by Stumpf et al. (2008), as some students may not engage with the virtual environment.

Recent research shows the potential of video game-based learning. Squire (2008) illustrates that ‘players’ show advanced understanding of problem solving, with ‘serious gamers’ pointing to ‘a future paradigm for eLearning’. There are, however, very few geoscience articles utilising virtual gaming; this may be due to the relatively advanced computer programming skills necessary. These may be beyond most, if not all, academic practitioners, although note Leed’s University’s online gold place educational e-game www.see.leeds.ac.uk/misc/miner/. Educational e-gaming literature is focused on medical procedures (Citak et al., 2008), engineering (de Sousa et al., 2012) or forensic investigations (Ma et al., 2010); the latter showing students become experienced without physically attending crime scenes themselves.

Geoscience teachers at Keele have focused on field- based methods for geoscience learning, providing opportunities for self-paced, independent and group learning, as well as gaining crucial employability skills (see 2009 Planet Special Issue 21; Pringle et al., 2010; Cassidy and Pringle, 2010).

A 2010 PG Certificate research project into Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLwT) developed and evaluated a variety of complementary technology learning tools (Table 1) with third and final year participating students taking an Engineering Geology and Hydrology option module. Although only 11 strong (five female and six male), they were studying five different GEES-subject Degree streams with an average age of 25. The module’s learning outcomes were to demonstrate key aspects of engineering geology and hydrology and critically evaluate and solve practical ‘real-world’ problems through a combination of formal lectures, practicals and group-based PBL exercises on case studies. It was important to use the same participants within a short time-scale for consistency, as this made subsequent analysis and reflections more in step with pedagogic literature and addressed validity concerns of multiple cohorts or having the same cohort over a longer time period (see Cohen et al., 2005).

The TLwT project trialled relatively simple-to-use technologies, moderately advanced technologies and one highly advanced technology, the virtual e-game (Table 1). The e-game will be discussed in more detail. The TLwT research project addressed the following questions:

• Can complementary learning technologies be utilised effectively in HE?

• Can educational e-games provide a stimulating and effective learning environment?

Table 1 Description of e-learning technologies utilised in the TLwT project, learning outcomes and respective time taken to generate.

PATHWAYS	TEACHING & LEARNING TOOL	TOOL DETAILS	INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES	ASSESSMENT	HOURS REQUIRED TO GENERATE
1. SIMPLE-TO-USE TECHNIQUES
Keele intranet resources	A. Lecture hand-outs	Colour & greyscale handouts & slides	Knowledge transfer from teacher to student, reinforces lecture material. Removes need to transcribe lectures	Useful for 50% formal exam	0.25 h per lecture
B. Practicals	Hardcopy or digital	Independent & PBL group self-paced learning	Forms 50% of module	Variable, (2 h per practical)
C. Internet web-links	Themed into subject-relevant areas. Includes external sources	Flexible access to allow self-paced and managed learning.	No	0.25 h to source & upload per link
Academic articles	D. Research articles	Links to digitally available published academic articles	Aware of current research in module-relevant areas	Useful for 50% formal exam	0.25 h to source & per article
Media	E. Media articles	Links to digitally available media articles	Up-to-date current practices	Useful for 50% formal exam	0.25 h to source & upload per link
2. MODERATELY ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES
On-line quizzes	F. Bespoke intranet multiple choice quizzes	Time-restricted, taken (1) at start & (2) mid-way through module	Students to realise (1) current understanding & (2) what they have learnt & understood	Formative	8 h per quiz
Multi-media resources	G. Recorded audio/video lecture summaries	5 minute vodcast explanation of key slides, both mp4 file & YouTube links	Reinforces lecture material, allows remote self-paced learning, on hand-held devices	Useful for 50% formal exam	0.75 h per vodcast
3. ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES
Digital immersive scenario	H. Virtual e-game	Virtual commercial placement of ‘user’ with inter-active animated avatar	Provide stimulating & effective complimentary learning environment	Useful for 50% formal exam	150 h for script, resources & refinement for academic, 150 h for programmers & graphic design team

The Virtual Geoscience Trainer (VGT) e-game

Two funding awards allowed dedicated computer programmers from Keele’s School of Pharmacy to develop the e-game. This team had years of experience developing interactive virtual exercises, albeit on medical and pharmacy applications (see www.keele.ac.uk/pharmacy/vp). An 18 month project lead-in time created, evaluated and refined (four times) the VGT e-game to make it run smoothly, remove inaccuracies, allow it to be checked by colleagues and debugged before it could be utilised, taking ~300 h in total to develop.

The VGT e-game was based on a site investigation near Shrewsbury in Shropshire, UK, where a domestic property owner requested assistance to locate a coal-mine shaft that might be located within his property boundary. The resulting multi-technique near-surface geophysical surveys were successful; the mine-shaft was subsequently remediated and capped following standard geotechnical practices. There was a link to the published study (Pringle et al., 2008) at the end of the exercise.

The VGT e-game was designed so that the user played the role of a HE graduate level entry employee of an environmental geophysical company; a virtual animated client (or avatar) was visually requesting assistance that was designed to ‘immerse’ the user in the scenario. In the author’s commercial experience as an environmental geophysicist in a UK consultancy company prior to academia, this was a fairly common situation, although usually by telephone conversations and/or e-mails. An initial 2,000 word script of typical site investigation (SI) steps that would be gone through was created under sequential headings of: (1) initial queries; (2) costings; (3) site specifics; (4) previous work; (5) available site information; (6) site reconnaissance; (7) full survey and; (8) data interpretation/project conclusions.

Two programming options were potentially available to allow users to interact with the avatar: (1) multiple answer questionnaire style or; (2) users to type questions and allow software to match their question to list of responses. Due to a limited budget of £7.5k, option (1) was utilised with animated avatar responses (Figure 1). To make this more realistic, spurious but sensible-sounding queries were added, for example, the user could request if there was any relic mine machinery on site; however this would be unlikely within a domestic garden. An information box (with static avatar) periodically provided explanations (Figure 1). The final stage (8) had users reviewing collected data (modified from the paper) and had three chances of choosing where the mine-shaft might be located; if successful, the user was congratulated and a photograph shown of the subsequent SI.

Figure 1 Screen shot from start of e-game showing virtual client avatar (right), information pop-up box and user-specified answer options (bottom).

The VGT e-game included marking of user-input throughout. A final exercise ‘score’, complete user transcript and link to the publication were provided on completion (Figure 2). A humorous job title (ranging from ‘office tea maker’ for the lowest scores to ‘management material’ for the highest) was also given as the e-game should not be too formal, or students would not engage with it. The script was deliberately designed with different question/answer choices, thus allowing users to progress through the e-game along different pathways depending on the choices made. This encouraged users to repeat the e-game, and have their subject knowledge expanded and reinforced, thus improving the overall learning experience. Audio and text information were incorporated, depending on whether the e-game was isolated or class-based respectively. The virtual avatar was designed to replicate computer gaming environments, being animated and text lip-synched to increase user engagement.

Figure 2 Screen-shot from end of e-game showing button options (top), user score/rating (bottom) and transcript information.

Table 2 Summary of key themes and semi-open codes discussed during initial focus group. Codes ranked by frequency, with sub-codes given where appropriate.

THEMES	CODES	NO. OF RESPONSES	SUB-CODE	NO. OF RESPONSES
Participants perceived preferred learning	Logical/mathematical	20
Intra-personal	16
Inter-personal	12
Visual/spacial	8
Kinaesthetic/doing	7
Keele intranet resources:	D. Research articles	17	Too technical	6
Poor access	4
Need review articles	4
Too specific	2
Don’t understand	1
G. Multi-media vodcasts	12	Positive	10
Negative	2
A. Lecture hand-outs	9	Positive	5
Too much material	2
Technical terminology	2
Not answering questions	2
H. E-gaming	6	Positive (educational)	4
Negative (non-educational)	2
B. Practicals	5	Positive	5
C. Internet resources	5	Positive	5

TLwT Research Project Methodology

After ethical approval and other necessary steps were undertaken, the first project stage developed e-learning technologies including the VGT e-game (Table 1). A student focus group comprised nine student participants who had a semi-open subject discussion with recorded audio, gauging students learning styles, general thoughts on learning technologies and anything else deemed relevant that was subsequently coded. The VGT e-game was then undertaken in module week eight of twelve, observed and participants VGT scores noted. The timing of the intervention was deliberate; most course materials had been covered so students should have had an appreciation of appropriate SI steps needed for the e-game. A post-intervention focus group containing eight participants was similarly organised, additional discussion points on the e-game were obtained, and a questionnaire providing semi-quantitative data acquired.

TLwT Project Results

The initial focus group found student participants had a variety of preferred learning approaches, the most popular being logical/mathematical as would be expected from GEES-subject undergraduates (Table 2). Lectures and academic journal articles had a mixed response on effective learning, with practicals and fieldwork important learning tools. Internet information was periodically used to reinforce knowledge. Multi-media resources were very positively received if available. Four students used educational e-games regularly and six were serious computer gamers, one dual-subject student commenting:

“I’m also keen on some games like Sim City, it has helped my history course”.

The VGT e-game was completed by participating students in approximately one hour. Recorded contemporary observations during the e-game indicated that students were generally task-focused and engaged once they had understood what was required; discussing potential answers with peers and occasionally requesting clarification. Most students re-did the task on completion to improve their original score (Figure 3) and to reinforce learning. Two students rapidly answered questions without reading online material, gaining scores of 6 and 10. One student was quoted as commenting: “it’s different but a great way to learn”.

Figure 3 Graphical summary of students’ initial e-game scores (average of 8).

The post-intervention focus group evidenced the VGT intervention as uniformly appreciated and highly rated by students as a useful, repeatable and informative learning tool (Table 3). An unexpected outcome was that both group learning and observer assistance during the e-game was observed to significantly enhance student learning. Unlike practicals (which were positively received), the e-game gave a consistent, repeatable experience whenever it was used. The vodcasts were also highly rated as an effective learning tool (Table 3). Post- intervention focus group comments included:

“I think it’s really good, because no other course tells you how you should be conducting yourself, how you converse with a client… it’s really professional, and you don’t get that kind of guidance normally”.

“You are put in that situation and you are faced with the responsibility of talking with the client, and what you say carries a lot of weight. And you have to stand by your word afterwards”.

“It is just a case study, but you could build more content in, it’s a great platform.”

Figure 4 Graphical summary of students rating the VGT e-game (2.2 average).

Table 3 Summary of key themes and semi-open codes discussed during post-intervention focus group. Codes ranked by frequency, with sub-codes given where appropriate.

THEMES	CODES	NO. OF RESPONSES	SUB-CODE	NO. OF RESPONSES
Keele intranet resources:	H. Virtual E-game	11	Positive	9
Too basic	2
G. Multi-media vodcasts	9	Positive	9
B. Practicals	7	Positive	7
D. Research articles	6	Positive	5
Too technical	1
Positive	2
A. Lecture hand-outs	4	Positive	3
Too long	1
F. Intra-net bespoke on-line quizzes	4	Positive	3
Negative	1
C. Internet web links	1	Positive	1

Figure 5 Graphical summary of students rating the e-game quality (4.2 average).

The course end questionnaire asked participating students to rate the e-game (Figure 4) and its quality (Figure 5) as well as the other learning technologies in the module (Figure 6). Two commented on the e-game: “a great fun interactive learning tool” and “useful to see how an actual job would work”.

The VGT e-game 4.3 average rating was relatively high in comparison to other technologies trialled (Figure 6), albeit lower than the traditional lecture handouts (4.6) and the same as the lecture vodcasts (4.3).

Figure 6 Graphical summary of students’ average rating of learning technologies trialled (see Table 1).

Discussion

The VGT e-game had a maximum user ‘score’ of 14, which was only attained by one participating student (Figure 4). Interestingly, there was no gender disparity of marks, in contrast to Ke’s (2008) study on school-age mathematics-gaming participants who found boys did better than girls. Bostock and Lizhi (2005) also found statistically valid gender imbalances in online discussions. Achieving a maximum mark was, however, not the aim of the e-game. Rather, by re-running the e-game, students expanded and reinforced their learning experiences. Students were observed to be very much engaged during the e-game intervention. Students ranked the e-game only slightly lower than lecture handouts; a significant achievement for an e-game versus a more traditional learning format (see Chalkley, 2003). Possibly, students found the e-game more accessible as they were mostly Generation Y as Knight (2008) details. While students found some spurious potential e-game answers and job titles amusing, they did find it useful that the e-game was not too formal; otherwise it may have led to a lack of engagement as Falloon (2009) discusses.

Arguably, the 2009-10 participating students benefited from the intervention, as they were observed to be engaged in both the module and the TLwT project, as evidenced by comments in the pre- and post-intervention focus groups (Tables 2 and 3 respectively). Participating students also gained an average module mark of 66% (11 students), comparatively higher than other years; 61% 2007–8 (17), 61% 2008–9 (17), 60% 2010-11 (18) and 62% 2011–12 (41) respectively. Lecture hand-outs and vodcasts were well rated (Figure 7), the latter allowed self-paced and PDA mobile learning. The participating course evaluation comments included; “never out of my depth even with new material” and “Youtube lectures excellent”.

Developing this e-game involved experienced programmers and digital graphic designers, whose skills would be beyond most academic practitioners, to create the structure, animated avatar and web portal. A potential solution for others interested in replicating the e-game would be to collaborate with computer scientists such as undertaken in this study, or indeed to directly utilise programmers as they could adapt the e-game with other GEES-subject content case studies. The latter solution would significantly reduce e-game development time from ~150 h to ~30 h given the appropriate script and resource material. Academic time required to generate the e-game, as detailed in Table 1, may also prove problematic. Present research at Keele, funded by further GEES small-project grants, is currently developing an academic e-game utilising a PDA ‘app’.

Falloon (2009) suggests virtual avatars and e-games “act as powerful communicating and learning mediums” which has been evidenced in this study. Warburton (2009) has shown that online Second Life™ multi-player virtual environments could be used as academic learning tools, although this requires students to be logged in and can be variable in content and virtual discussions. The VGT, however, delivered a 24/7 consistent student experience which did require other participating students, if not in a group environment. To benefit the wider GEES-subject academic community, this e-game is available as an open access, internet digital educational resource at www.keelesop.co.uk/vp_geo_trainer (please contact authors for username and password). It is hoped that this resource will be useful and utilised by practitioners and learners.

An unforeseen project benefit was that students subsequently felt emboldened to read and discuss the published academic article on which the e-game was based. Participating students pre-intervention commented;

“I find journals horrible… I will maybe take one paragraph, and probably use it out of context… so I reference it without fully understanding what the reference is talking about”

whereas post-intervention;

“I read one [academic] paper and find it awful to read and too technical, but I found this one [published paper used in this study] easier now I’ve played the game.”

Getting students to engage with published, refereed journal articles is a challenge as other authors have evidenced, see, for example, Waller and Knight (2010). In their study, participating students perceived article content to be too complex and difficult to access; their solution was to give dedicated tutorials on specific journal articles.

Conclusions

• It may be expected that undergraduate students would struggle with the different learning technologies trialled, but evaluation found they were at ease with the technologies used in this study. Indeed, almost half the participating student cohort were serious computer gamers.

• Lecture hand-outs were most highly rated of the technologies used in this study, with the e-game and lecture vodcasts next highly rated.

• Whilst the e-game was time-consuming to create and required experienced computer programmers, students were very positive about it, and found it a stimulating and effective learning tool.

• Unexpectedly, the e-game was found to encourage students to engage with the academic publication on which it was based.

Acknowledgements

Luke Bracegirdle, Karl Reid and Tom Pardoe are thanked for software design and programming. Mike Edge is acknowledged for providing avatar audio. Emma Dawson and Stephen Bostock are thanked for project guidance, support and supervision. A 2009 Innovation in Keele award and a 2010 Higher Education Academy (GEES) small project grant part-funded this study. Richard Waller, Jamie Hansen and two anonymous reviewers are thanked for reviewing an early version of this paper.