My talk in European Researchers in Biology Didactics conference, in Karlstad, Sweden, 8.9.2016.

1. A case study of augmented
reality location-based game for
learning conceptual biological
models
Tuomas Aivelo, University of Helsinki
@aivelo
ERIDOB, 8.9.2016,
Karlstad, Sweden

2. IntroductionDesingandmethodsResultsanddiscussionConclusions
Aivelo, T., & Uitto, A. (2016). Digital gaming for
evolutionary biology learning: The case study of
parasite race, an augmented reality location-based
game. LUMAT, 4(1), 1-25
http://www.luma.fi/lumat-en/4542
LUMA CENTER FINLAND

3. IntroductionDesingandmethodsResultsanddiscussionConclusions
• Researchers create models to study these
natural phenomena
• Many biological concepts (e.g., ”gene”,
”competition”) are processes between objects
• Games are explicitly programmed as models
Problem: Students have regularly problems to
grasp and understand conceptual models

4. IntroductionDesingandmethodsResultsanddiscussionConclusions
Games are interesting
Micro-level
Narrative-level
Meta-level
Breuer & Bente, 2010
Predictions based
on certain context
Specific research
questions and results
”Biological laws”

5. IntroductionDesingandmethodsResultsanddiscussionConclusions
Augmented Reality gaming
• Augmented reality (AR): the supplementation of real-
world environment by any computer-generated output
Milgram & Kishino, 1994
• Widely used in informal education (zoos, museums) or
in outdoor education
• Learning situation is concrete and conceptual
knowledge can be correlated to actual location
Hagustin / Wikimedia CommonsJean-Pierre Dalbéra / Wikimedia Commons

6. IntroductionDesingandmethodsResultsanddiscussionConclusions
Anchorage,
USA
Roger Lew /
Wikimedia Commons
Gävle, Sweden
Alewi /
Wikimedia Commons
Düsseldorg,
Germany
Kürschner /
Wikimedia Commons
Bern,
Switzerland
Fred Schaerli/
Wikimedia Commons

7. IntroductionDesingandmethodsResultsanddiscussionConclusions
Research questions
How do the teachers succeed in playing
a novel AR game and deducing the rules
of the game?
Could teachers perceive the game as a
conceptual model of parasitism?

8. IntroductionDesingandmethodsResultsanddiscussionConclusions
Parasite Race
Built with TaleBlazer:
http://taleblazer.org/gamePage/962
Requires Taleblazer app:
http://taleblazer.org/Support/mobiledownload
Can be found within app with
Game Code: gcvanga

9. IntroductionDesingandmethodsResultsanddiscussionConclusions
Players can choose from
three parasites and two
scenarios.

10. IntroductionDesingandmethodsResultsanddiscussionConclusions

11. IntroductionDesingandmethodsResultsanddiscussionConclusions

12. IntroductionDesingandmethodsResultsanddiscussionConclusions
Testing Parasite Race
• Workshop of primary and secondary
school teachers (n = 14)
• Online questionnaire prior to workshop
and group interviews after playing the
game
• Analysis of gameplay from game logs
LUMA CENTER FINLAND

13. IntroductionDesingandmethodsResultsanddiscussionConclusions
Progressions in the game
• Five players finished game in 45 minutes – these players
exhibited understanding of metalevel in interviews
• Initially, all players did non-beneficial choices, but the
succesful players quickly adapted their gameplay
(Succesful players 33%, unsuccesful 28%, W13 = 23, p = 0.943)
• Succesful players had more total actions
(Msuccessful = 7.25, SDsuccessful= 2.33, Munsuccessful = 4.2, SDunsuccessful = 1.21, W13 = 7, p = 0.030)

14. IntroductionDesingandmethodsResultsanddiscussionConclusions
Feedback from players
• Positive attitude towards the game –
”something different”
• Programming could be used as a
teaching method
• Not necessarily useful for all students

15. IntroductionDesingandmethodsResultsanddiscussionConclusions
Understanding game as a model
• Reflection on refining the model induced
better understanding of the model
• Players seemed to understand the game as
something they just needed to go and do
• Understanding meta-level of game is not
enough to understand biological concept

16. IntroductionDesingandmethodsResultsanddiscussionConclusions
Possibilities to take up games in schools
• Using games for teaching models requires well-
planned activities before and after gaming
• Teachers did not feel competent to program games,
but thought some of their students could do that
• Possibilities for programming to facilitate conceptual
concept learning? (George et al., 2012, Kafai, 2006)

17. References
• Breuer, J., & Bente, G. (2010). Why so serious ? On the Relation of Serious
Games and Learning. Eludamos. Journal for Computer Game Culture, 4, 7–24.
• George, S., Lavoué, É., & Monterrat, B. (2012). An environment to support
collaborative learning by modding. In Proceedings of the 8th European
Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning (pp. 111–124). Paphos, Cyprus.
• Kafai, Y. B. (2006). Playing and making games for learning: instructionist and
constructionist perspectives for game studies. Games and Culture, 1, 36–40.
• Milgram, O., & Kishino, A. F. (1994). Taxonomy of Mixed Reality Visual Displays.
IEICE Transactions on Information and Systems, E77-D, 1321–1329.