Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Role-playing'

Alchemically is an educational role-playing game that functions as a classroom aid for boosting middle school and high school students' memorization of molecular formulas and molecule's attributes. The game implements several diverse teaching methodologies, including trial and error, practice and feedback, and the presentation of information from audio and visual cues. It also motivates students to continue learning through both intrinsic and extrinsic motivators. Student players craft molecules by choosing and placing atoms into a crafting table, then bonding them together. To help players build molecules, players can reference a journal that includes images, diagrams, and factual information on the molecules included in the game.
Master of Fine Arts

Will more realistic behaviour among non-playing characters (NPCs) in a role-playing game(RPG) improve the overall feeling of the game for the player? Would players notice the enhanced life of a NPC in a role-playing game, or is the time spent in cities and villages insufficient to notice any difference at all? There are plenty best-selling RPGs with simplistic, repetitive NPC behaviour on the market. Does that mean that smarter NPCs is not necessary and that an improvement of them wouldn't benefit the players' impression of it? Or would some of these well recognised games get even better with a more evolved AI? These are some of the thoughts that created the initial spark of curiosity that inspired the making of this article. By assuming that a more complex game AI for the NPCs will improve the realism and feeling in a role-playing game, a research about possible techniques to achieve this was made. The technique Smart Terrain was found most beneficial for the purpose with this research. It's been used successfully in the well-selling game The Sims and appeared to be a good choice for an NPC AI with the flexibility and expandability it delivers. With a technique of great potential selected, a first version of an AI using it was implemented as a module to the commercial RPG Neverwinter Nights 2(NWN2). With the implemented Smart Terrain AI at hand, twelve testers got to compare this AI with the one that is encountered in the original campaign of NWN2. As all the participants in the test thought the new version of the AI more realistic than the original AI, the hypothesis was proven to be true. The results gave a strong indication of that using the Smart Terrain technique is a good choice to achieve higher realism among non-hostile NPCs in a RPG like NWN2.

Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) are a prominent genre in today's video game industry with the most popular MMORPGs generating billions of dollars in revenue and attracting millions of players. As they have grown, they have become a major target for both technological research and sociological research. In such research, it is nearly impossible to reach the same player scale from any self-made technology or sociological experiments. This greatly limits the amount of control and topics that can be explored. In an effort to make up a lacking or non-existent player-base for custom-made MMORPG research scenarios A.I. agents, impersonating human players, can be used to "bootstrap" the research scenario to reach the necessary massive number of players that define the game genre. This thesis presents a system that makes its human players and A.I. players indistinguishable while preserving the basic characteristics of a typical MMORPG. To better achieve identical perception of human and A.I. players, our system centers around the collection, sharing, and exchange of information while limiting the means of expression and actions of players. A gameplay scenario built on the Panoptyk engine was constructed to imitate gameplay experienced in major MMORPGs. We conducted a user-study where subjects play through the scenario with a varying number of A.I. players unknown to them. Three versions of the scenario were created to assess how indistinguishable human and A.I. players were and vice versa. We found, across 24 participants, there were 32% correct identifications, 30% incorrect identifications, and 38% answers of "I don't know". This was broken down into 20% correct identifications, 42% incorrect identifications, and 38% answers of "I don't know" for bot characters and 46% correct identifications, 16% incorrect identifications, and 38% answers of ``I don't know'' for human characters.

Thesis (M.A.)--West Virginia University, 2000.
Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vi, 133 p. : ill. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 107-109).

Video game players demand a volume of content far in excess of the ability of game designers to create it. For example, a single quest might take a week to develop and test, which means that companies such as Blizzard are spending millions of dollars each month on new content for their games. As a result, both players and developers are frustrated with the inability to meet the demand for new content. By generating content on-demand, it is possible to create custom content for each player based on player preferences. It is also possible to make use of the current world state during generation, something which cannot be done with current techniques. Using developers to create rules and assets for a content generator instead of creating content directly will lower development costs as well as reduce the development time for new game content to seconds rather than days. This work is part of the field of computational creativity, and involves the use of computers to create aesthetically pleasing game content, such as terrain, characters, and quests. I demonstrate agent-based terrain generation, and economic modeling of game spaces. I also demonstrate the autonomous generation of quests for online role playing games, and the ability to play these quests using an emulated Everquest server.

Uma das principais vias de transformação no desenvolvimento humano ocorre através da busca pela intersubjetividade. O objetivo deste trabalho foi compreender alguns processos de construção de conhecimento acerca do outro e de si através de um estudo de relações intersubjetivas grupais. Para tanto, trabalhamos com a perspectiva construtivista semiótico-cultural, focalizando especialmente as ações simbólicas dos sujeitos ao buscarem momentos de protagonismo e de reconhecimento uns pelos outros. Procuramos estabelecer uma relação entre essa busca dos sujeitos e a noção levinasiana de desejo, entendido como um movimento da subjetividade ao buscar abrigar o que a excede na direção da alteridade. No processo de investigação, tomamos para exame uma situação empírica envolvendo interações de natureza lúdica, quais sejam, sessões de Role-Playing Game (RPG), que possuem uma dinâmica particular na construção de objetivos e desejos dos jogadores. A dinâmica das relações eu - outro nos jogos de RPG foi analisada a partir da assimetria de posições subjetivas, dialogicamente definidas. Realizamos um mapeamento dessas posições e vimos que nos jogos de representação de papéis há fruição de um mundo imaginário reduzido e presentificado no pensamento. Finalmente, chegamos à proposição de que o significado essencial das construções pessoais está no âmbito de outrem, presente ou ausente, real ou imaginário, em relação ao qual o eu procura constituir um plano de compartilhamento.
One of the main sources of transformation in human development is through the subjects quest for intersubjectivity. The objective of this work was to understand some aspects of the processes of knowledge construction concerning the self and the other. It was developed through a study focusing intersubjective group relationships. In order to achieve that, we worked with semiotic-cultural constructivist perspective, focusing specially, on the symbolic actions of subjects searching for moments of protagonism and of recognition of one by the others. We tried to establish a link between this search of the subjects and the levinasian notion of desire, though as a subjective movement trying to shelter what exceeds itself on the alterity direction. On the investigation process, we examined an empirical situation involving ludic interactions of Role-Playing Game (RPG) sessions. This game has a particular dynamic towards building objectives and desires by its players. The I-other dynamic relations in Role-Playing Games was analyzed observing the asymmetry of subjective positions, dialogically defined. We did a mapping of these positions and saw that in the role-playing games there is the fruition of an imaginary world reduced and made present in the thought. Finally, we arrived to the assertion that the essential meaning of personal constructions is related to otherness, either present or absent, real or imaginary, in relation to which the self tries to constitute a shared setting.

Hilary Putnam's model-theoretic arguments are closely affiliated with arguments for, and against, structuralism. In this thesis I show that this is no coincidence. Internal realism and structural realism are similarly motivated by worries about intentionality,the way that our language and theories "latch onto" the world. Putnam's model-theoretic arguments challenge a traditional epistemological duality thesis that posits an underlying noumenal world beneath the appearances described by our theories. Internal realism and ontic structural realism both deny that there is such a duality. So, one conclusion I draw is dialectical: that there are strong similarities between internal realism and ontic structural realism in both their motivation and their claims. I also address whether ontic structuralists are right to argue that worries about the way that our theories latch onto the world means that we ought to opt for a structural ontology. Might the problem instead lie with the theories' representation of the facts? I consider this question in relation to mathematical structuralism, and argue for an alternative to the ontic structuralist position about mathematics which responds to the same worries about intentionality in terms of the underdetermination of representation, rather than to the structural nature of the objects being described.

CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO
Partindo-se de uma definição, baseada na media ecology, de role-playing game (RPG) como meio de comunicação dotado de linguagem narrativa, tecnologia impressa e modo de recepção interativo, propõe-se que é possível pensar este jogo como hipermídia narrativa em que seus componentes atuem como links de abertura para outras informações, promovendo uma refiguração criativa da realidade. Propõe-se um método de concepção poética e análise crítica para um objeto de design gráfico, um livro de RPG, em que o conceito de abertura da obra é fundamentado pelos conceitos de gozo do texto, deslizamento sígnico de Roland Barthes e semiose ilimitada de C.S. Peirce, instrumentalizado por meio da tradução intersemiótica de Julio Plaza, da hermenêutica de Paul Ricoeur e da Iconologia de Erwin Panofsky. Espera-se com este método contribuir não apenas com novas possibilidades de se pensar e produzir um livro, mas também com a construção e questionamento de uma epistemologia do Design enquanto área de conhecimento. Tal discussão é realizada em duas instãncias: uma instãncia formal, onde é documentada a concepção do suporte impresso do cenário Brasil Barroco, do RPG experimental Incorporais, desenvolvido em paralelo com o método; e uma instância processual, onde o suporte deste RPG será experimentado por jogadores que participarão da ampliação do cenário através da produção de material que será incorporado aos suportes impressos, verificando-se a capacidade de abertura acima descrita.
From a definition, based upon the media ecology, of role- playing game (RPG) as a media with narrative language, printed technology and an interactive form of reception, it is proposed that this game can be though as a narrative hypermedia with its componentes acting as links to other informations, promoting a creative reality refiguration. A proposition is presented for a method of poetic conception and crytical analysis for an object of graphic design, a RPG book, in in which the concept of text opening is fundamented on the concepts of text enjoyment, Roland Barthes' sign sliding and unlimited semiosis of C.S. Peirce, worked through the intersemiotic translation of Julio Plaza, Paul Ricoeur's hermeneutic and Erwin Panofsky's iconology. It is hoped that this method will contribute not only with new possibilities for book conception and production, but also with the assembling and questioning of an epistemology for the Design as an area of knowledge. This discussion is done in two instances: a formal instance, where the conception of the printed support for the Barroque Brasil setting is documented, for the experimental RPG Incorporals, developed alongside the method; and a processual instance, where the support of this rpg will be experimented by players that will participate in the setting development through the production of materials that will be incorporated in the printed supports, verifying the capacity for the openings described above.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2013.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 173-178).
Collective Artificial Intelligence (CAl) simulates human intelligence from data contributed by many humans, mined for inter-related patterns. This thesis applies CAI to social role-playing, introducing an end-to-end process for compositing recorded performances from thousands of humans, and simulating open-ended interaction from this data. The CAI process combines crowdsourcing, pattern discovery, and case-based planning. Content creation is crowdsourced by recording role-players online. Browser-based tools allow nonexperts to annotate data, organizing content into a hierarchical narrative structure. Patterns discovered from data power a novel system combining plan recognition with case-based planning. The combination of this process and structure produces a new medium, which exploits a massive corpus to realize characters who interact and converse with humans. This medium enables new experiences in videogames, and new classes of training simulations, therapeutic applications, and social robots. While advances in graphics support incredible freedom to interact physically in simulations, current approaches to development restrict simulated social interaction to hand-crafted branches that do not scale to the thousands of possible patterns of actions and utterances observed in actual human interaction. There is a tension between freedom and system comprehension due to two bottlenecks, making open-ended social interaction a challenge. First is the authorial effort entailed to cover all possible inputs. Second, like other cognitive processes, imagination is a bounded resource. Any individual author only has so much imagination. The convergence of advances in connectivity, storage, and processing power is bringing people together in ways never before possible, amplifying the imagination of individuals by harnessing the creativity and productivity of the crowd, revolutionizing how we create media, and what media we can create. By embracing data-driven approaches, and capitalizing on the creativity of the crowd, authoring bottlenecks can be overcome, taking a step toward realizing a medium that robustly supports player choice. Doing so requires rethinking both technology and division of labor in media production. As a proof of concept, a CAI system has been evaluated by recording over 10,000 performances in The Restaurant Game, automating an Al-controlled waitress who interacts in the world, and converses with a human via text or speech. Quantitative results demonstrate how CAI supports significantly more open-ended interaction with humans, while focus groups reveal factors for improving engagement.
by Jeffrey David Orkin.
Ph.D.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 2002.
Title from title page screen, viewed February 28, 2006. Dissertation Committee: Paul J. Baker (chair), Amelia D. Adkins, Wayne A. Benenson, Ramona Lomeli. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 160-162) and abstract. Also available in print.

Orientador: Mario Sérgio Vasconcelos
Banca: Elizabeth Piemonte Constantino
Banca: José Sterza Justo
Banca: Luís Guilherme Coelho Buchianeri
Banca: Denise de Camargo
Resumo: O jogo se configura numa das mais antigas atividades humanas. Repleto de significados foi incorporado na linguagem, na arte, na religião e na cultura em geral. Seus estudiosos se estendem pela Filosofia (WITTGEINSTEIN, 1958; HUIZINGA, 1991; SCHILLER, 1995), História (ARIÈS, 1978; CAILLOIS, 1958), Teoria da Comunicação (POSTMAN, 1994), Antropologia (GEERTZ, 1989; MALINOWSKI, 1978) e inevitavelmente pela Educação e Psicologia. Embora nos reportemos com freqüência as demais ciências, nosso trabalho se insere numa tradição psicológica. Buscamos nas teorias do psicólogo russo Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) e do psicanalista inglês Donald Winnicott (1896-1971) uma alternativa para a compreensão do jogo infantil e seu significado na produção da subjetividade. Partimos da apresentação dos autores e suas respectivas biografias intelectuais, detalhando suas concepções de indivíduo, sujeito e meio (social, ambiental e cultural), para em seguida explorarmos conceitualmente zonas de sentido entre suas teorias. Na direção metodológica encaminhamos a discussão a partir da Epistemologia Qualitativa desenvolvida por Gonzalez Rey, criando zonas de sentido entre as concepções de ambiente e jogo infantil. Diante da morte precoce de Vygotsky e a consequente interrupção das suas pesquisas sobre o jogo, buscamos nas teorias dos seus alunos e colaboradores - principalmente Leontiev e Elkonin - os princípios ontogenéticos do jogo infantil complementares à explanação vigotskiana. Defendemos que uma teoria do jogo infantil deve buscar origens nas relações sociais mais primitivas do indivíduo, bem como no uso mais precoce que este faz dos objetos. Tais relações foram amplamente detalhadas por Winnicott na sua teoria dos fenômenos e objetos transicionais e acreditamos que podem ser relevantes para a compreensão do jogo protagonizado, tal qual desenvolvido por Elkonin e Vygotsky
Abstract: The game is set in one of the oldest human activities. It was full of meanings embedded in language, art, religion, and culture in general. His scholars extend the Philosophy (WITTGEINSTEIN, 1958; HUIZINGA, 1991; SCHILLER, 1995), History (ARIÈS, 1978; CAILLOIS, 1958), Communication Theory (POSTMAN, 1994), Antropology (GEERTZ, 1989; MALINOWSKI, 1978) and inevitably for Education and Psychology. Although we refer frequently to other sciences, our work is part of a psychological tradition. We seek theories of the Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) and the English psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott (1896-1971) an alternative to the understanding of children's play and its significance in the production of subjectivity. We start from the presentation of the authors and their intellectual biographies, detailing their conceptions of individual, subject and the environment (social, environmental and cultural), then to conceptually explore areas of meaning between their theories. Following toward a methodological discussion, we discuss the Qualitative Epistemology developed by Gonzalez-Rey, creating zones of meaning between the concepts of environment and children's game. Given the early death of Vygotsky and the consequent disruption of their research into the game, we turn to the theories of his students and collaborators - mostly Leontiev and Elkonin - with the principles ontogenetic children's game, a complementary explanation to Vygotsky's theory. We argue that a theory of children's play should seek origins in more primitive social relations of the individual as well as the earlier use of objects that he makes. Such relationships have been widely detailed by Winnicott in his theory of phenomena and transitional objects, and we believe may be relevant to understanding the game played in children, as it was developed by Eldkonin and Vygotsky
Doutor

The profession of nursing is affected by a nursing and nursing faculty shortage that is impacting the ability to produce adequate numbers of nurse graduates to address the healthcare needs of the future. Nursing schools are increasingly using simulation and/or role-playing to supplement the decreased number of nurse faculty and clinical sites in order to be able to continue to enroll nursing school applicants. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the experiences of nursing students with role-playing and simulation and the extent to which role-playing with simulation is perceived by students as beneficial for learning within the nursing program at the study site. Constructivism theory and experiential learning theory were the theoretical frameworks used to evaluate the student perceptions of combining simulation and role-playing. Seven students from a bachelor's of nursing program volunteered to participate in the study and individual interviews were conducted. Interview transcripts were open coded and analyzed for patterns and themes. The results of the study indicated that the 7 students preferred the combination of simulation and role-playing over the use of either technique independently. It is recommended that simulation coordinators use the combination of role-playing and simulation to enhance student learning in the simulation laboratory. This study promotes positive social change by providing data to the local site on students' perceptions of the benefits of a technique that is able to support instruction and maintain student enrollment during nursing faculty shortages.

Este trabalho estuda as características textuais dos chamados role playing games \'pedagógicos\', com uma dupla finalidade: explicitar alguns dos aspectos que distinguem o jogo de aventura enquanto um tipo de texto, e refletir sobre sua utilização como instrumento pedagógico. O corpus é constituído por dois jogos de aventura com finalidade pedagógica, veiculados em dois suportes: um encarte e um livro. O encarte-jogo integra a Revista do Ensino Médio do MEC (2004) e traz um jogo de aventura bastante simplificado, A travessia do Liso do Suçuarão, baseado no romance Grande Sertão: veredas, de Guimarães Rosa. O livro-jogo traz uma aventura mais complexa que versa sobre o roubo de uma tela de Portinari, O resgate de \"Retirantes\", e faz parte da série Mini-Gurps, desenvolvida para jogadores iniciantes, publicada pela Editora Devir (SP). O quadro teórico que orienta a pesquisa está centrado, principalmente, em aportes da teoria ergódica da literatura, proposta por Aarseth (1997) e, quando necessário e pertinente, foram consideradas também as contribuições de outros teóricos do texto e do discurso, particularmente, os trabalhos de Koch (2002; 2003; 2005) e Maingueneau (1996; 1997; 2001; 2002; 2004). Os jogos de aventura selecionados foram analisados em duas etapas: uma de leitura e outra de observação de uma partida sobre um desses jogos. Na etapa de leitura, o analista coloca-se como operador do texto do jogo com o objetivo de aprendê-lo, explicitando as características hipertextuais desse tipo de texto e as habilidades de leitura que ele requer. Na etapa de observação de uma partida do livro-jogo O resgate de \"Retirantes\", o analista desvela, a partir da ação do Mestre e de sua interação com o grupo de jogadores, a atualização de uma versão possível dessa aventura: proximidade ou distanciamento em relação à aventura proposta no livro-jogo. A explicitação de algumas das características ergódicas desses dois jogos de aventura levam a rediscutir o componente pedagógico que se vem associando a eles. A finalidade pedagógica dos jogos não está centrada no conteúdo informacional que o texto de ficção ajudaria a transmitir, mas sim nas habilidades de leitura e de representação dos jogos.
This paper studies the textual characteristics of the so-called pedagogical role-playing games, with a dual purpose: to explain some of the aspects that distinguish the adventure game as a kind of text and to reflect upon its usage as a pedagogical instrument. The corpus comprises two adventure games with pedagogical purposes, present in two means: an insert and a book. The insert-game is part of Revista do Ensino Médio do MEC (2004) and offers a very simplified adventure game, A travessia do Liso do Suçuarão, based on the novel Grande Sertão: veredas by Guimarães Rosa. The book-game delivers a more complex adventure that talks about the robbery of a Portinari canvas, O resgate de \"Retirantes\" and is part of the Mini-Gurps series, created for beginners, published by Editora Devir (SP). The theoretical frame that guides the research is mainly focused on contributions of the ergodic literary theory proposed by Aarseth (1997), and, whenever necessary and relevant, contributions from other text and discourse theorists were taken into account, especially the works by Koch (2002; 2003; 2005) and Maingueneau (1996; 1997; 2001; 2002; 2004). The selected adventure games underwent a two-step analysis: a reading stage, and one consisting of an observation of a session of one of these games. In the reading step, the analyst places herself as the game operator with the aim of learning it, exposing the hypertextual characteristics of this kind of text and the reading skills it requires. In the observation stage of a session of the book-game O resgate de \"Retirantes\", the analyst reveals, from the Master\'s action and his interaction with the group of players, the update of a possible version of this adventure: proximity or distance towards the adventure proposed in the book-game. Revealing some of the ergodic features of these two adventure games leads to discussing again the pedagogical component that has been associated to them. The pedagogical aim of the games is not centered on the informational content that the fiction text would help spread, but on the reading and representation skills of the games.

In the field of digital media, the study of interactive narratives holds the aesthetics of agency and dramatic agency as core to digital design. These principles hold that users must reliably be able to navigate the interface and the narrative elements of the artifact in order to have a lasting appeal. However, due to recent academic and critical discussions several digital artifacts are being focused on as possible new ways of engaging users. These artifacts do not adhere to the design aesthetics foundational to digital media, but represent a movement away from the principle of dramatic agency in interactive narratives. In an attempt to understand this separation and offer a solution to this developing issue, another non-digital interactive medium was studied: tabletop role-playing games. The designers of this medium were studied to understand the techniques and methods they employed to create dramatic interactive narratives for their users. These case studies suggested the designers used a third design aesthetic, design agency, to help balance the tension between agency and dramatic agency of the users of their medium. This design aesthetic could provide a balancing force to the current issues arising within interactive narrative.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:24:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2008-03-20Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:52:08Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 vasques_rc_me_arafcl.pdf: 3890776 bytes, checksum: 44eeac83a6ec4b10388e434263e58f68 (MD5)
Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)
Este trabalho pretende apresentar uma análise do RPG (Role Playing Game) a partir de sua fecundidade enquanto ferramenta didático-pedagógica. Neste sentido, um de nossos esforços foi o exame de pesquisas brasileiras que abordaram o jogo, para uma melhor compreensão da metodologia aplicada ao estudo deste que é um objeto recente das ciências. Por notarmos a existência de uma visão marginalizadora em relação ao RPG, capaz de limitar as iniciativas de utilização do jogo no processo de ensinoaprendizagem, sentimos a necessidade de desmistificá-lo e, assim, analisamos notícias divulgadas na mídia que sugerem a existência de uma conexão entre o RPG, crimes e rituais de magia; bem como materiais de instituições religiosas em que esta associação também é pontuada. Para assimilar esta tensa relação entre o RPG e a religião, lançamos mão do conceito, formulado por Max Weber, de desencantamento do mundo e, com isso, inferimos a filiação do RPG ao pensamento científico, dedução esclarecedora para a compreensão do conflito deste com o pensamento religioso. Paralelamente à discussão destas questões preliminares, apontamos no RPG traços do Romantismo Anti-Capitalista de Michael Löwy e Robert Sayre, o que nos permitiu compreender características deste jogo que possibilitam uma experiência educativa que contradiz a semiformação oferecida pela Indústria Cultural, ao propor uma ação alicerçada na Experiência (Erfahrung) dos participantes, ao contrário das mercadorias típicas da Indústria Cultural, fundadas na Vivência (Erlebnis) dos expectadores. Abordamos ainda uma especificidade do objeto que julgamos significativa: a possibilidade dos jogadores de lançarem à história um olhar não-determinista, por ser esta apresentada de forma aberta a transformações e construída coletivamente, desnaturalizando o social.
This work seeks to present an analysis of role-playing games (RPGs) from the perspective of their richness as didactical-pedagogical tools. As such, we endeavor to investigate the ongoing research regarding these games, as it is carried out in Brazil, in order to achieve a better understanding of the methodology that has been applied to the study of this brand-new subject of science. Since we notice a trend towards marginalization of role-playing games – an outlook that could curtail initiatives regarding the application of RPGs to the teachinglearning process – we consider it necessary to demystify them; therefore, pieces of news disclosed by the media, implying a connection between RPGs, crime and magic rituals, are analysed; materials issued by religious institutions in which that connection is punctuated are scrutinized as well. To grasp this uneasy relationship between role-playing games and religion, we refer to Max Weber’s concept of disenchantment of the world, and by doing so we infer the association of RPGs to scientific thinking – an enlightening conclusion that has enabled us to understand the conflict between scientific and religious thinking. Besides discussing these preliminary issues, we identify in role-playing games some features from Michael Löwy and Robert Sayre’s Romantic anti-Capitalism, a perspective that allowed us to understand certain traits of these games, traits that enable an educative experience in contradiction with the semi-formation offered by Cultural Industry, by proposing an action grounded in the partakers’ Experience (Erfahrung), instead of the typical commodities of the Cultural Industry that are based in the viewers’ Lived Experience (Erlebnis).

This paper reviews the literature on the psychological predictors of the problematic use of Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs). Nineteen studies were included in the review and results are discussed in terms of seven broad areas; Play time, Demographic differences, Psychological wellbeing and mental health, Personality, Cognitive factors, Physiological factors and Gamer experience and motivations. As a new area of research, the literature at present shows some limitations and inconsistencies across studies. Often factors have been considered in only one published paper, or findings are variable. The most consistent evidence suggests that increased play time is a significant risk factor for problematic use, along with mental health problems and poor psychological wellbeing. The strongest and most consistent predictor of problematic use identified so far appears to be the immersive use of MMORPGs in escaping from real life. Further research should replicate these results and continue to investigate alternative possible risk factors. Longitudinal studies are imperative to differentiate confidently between risk factors and outcomes of problematic gaming, and group comparison studies should include problematic gamers, non-problematic gamers and a non-gaming control group to establish factors associated with problematic gaming specifically as oppose to gaming in general. Studies should consider the impact of age and location of the target population so that results are generalisable to the MMORPG population as a whole. Implication for prevention and intervention of problematic gaming are discussed along with the implications of research in this area on the gaming industry.

Orientador: Marilda da Silva
Banca: Ricardo Leite Camargo
Banca: Edvaldo Souza Couto
Resumo: Este trabalho pretende apresentar uma análise do RPG (Role Playing Game) a partir de sua fecundidade enquanto ferramenta didático-pedagógica. Neste sentido, um de nossos esforços foi o exame de pesquisas brasileiras que abordaram o jogo, para uma melhor compreensão da metodologia aplicada ao estudo deste que é um objeto recente das ciências. Por notarmos a existência de uma visão marginalizadora em relação ao RPG, capaz de limitar as iniciativas de utilização do jogo no processo de ensinoaprendizagem, sentimos a necessidade de desmistificá-lo e, assim, analisamos notícias divulgadas na mídia que sugerem a existência de uma conexão entre o RPG, crimes e rituais de magia; bem como materiais de instituições religiosas em que esta associação também é pontuada. Para assimilar esta tensa relação entre o RPG e a religião, lançamos mão do conceito, formulado por Max Weber, de desencantamento do mundo e, com isso, inferimos a filiação do RPG ao pensamento científico, dedução esclarecedora para a compreensão do conflito deste com o pensamento religioso. Paralelamente à discussão destas questões preliminares, apontamos no RPG traços do Romantismo Anti-Capitalista de Michael Löwy e Robert Sayre, o que nos permitiu compreender características deste jogo que possibilitam uma experiência educativa que contradiz a semiformação oferecida pela Indústria Cultural, ao propor uma ação alicerçada na Experiência (Erfahrung) dos participantes, ao contrário das mercadorias típicas da Indústria Cultural, fundadas na Vivência (Erlebnis) dos expectadores. Abordamos ainda uma especificidade do objeto que julgamos significativa: a possibilidade dos jogadores de lançarem à história um olhar não-determinista, por ser esta apresentada de forma aberta a transformações e construída coletivamente, desnaturalizando o social.
Abstract: This work seeks to present an analysis of role-playing games (RPGs) from the perspective of their richness as didactical-pedagogical tools. As such, we endeavor to investigate the ongoing research regarding these games, as it is carried out in Brazil, in order to achieve a better understanding of the methodology that has been applied to the study of this brand-new subject of science. Since we notice a trend towards marginalization of role-playing games - an outlook that could curtail initiatives regarding the application of RPGs to the teachinglearning process - we consider it necessary to demystify them; therefore, pieces of news disclosed by the media, implying a connection between RPGs, crime and magic rituals, are analysed; materials issued by religious institutions in which that connection is punctuated are scrutinized as well. To grasp this uneasy relationship between role-playing games and religion, we refer to Max Weber's concept of disenchantment of the world, and by doing so we infer the association of RPGs to scientific thinking - an enlightening conclusion that has enabled us to understand the conflict between scientific and religious thinking. Besides discussing these preliminary issues, we identify in role-playing games some features from Michael Löwy and Robert Sayre's Romantic anti-Capitalism, a perspective that allowed us to understand certain traits of these games, traits that enable an educative experience in contradiction with the semi-formation offered by Cultural Industry, by proposing an action grounded in the partakers' Experience (Erfahrung), instead of the typical commodities of the Cultural Industry that are based in the viewers' Lived Experience (Erlebnis).
Mestre

Educational systems can benefit from Virtual Reality’s (VR) ability to support experiential learning. In particular, VR based games, especially role-playing serious games (RPGs), can promote learning through the simulation of various educational scenarios. This thesis proposes an immersive VR-RPG to educate players about the behavior of honeybees. The player adopts the role of a honeybee and experiences a virtual world mimicking the real one from the honeybee’s perspective. Unlike most studies in educational VR, we assess the impact of immersion on knowledge gain by testing the players’ knowledge on the subject before, immediately after, and one week following the use of the system. We also compare the proposed system with both a conventional and a desktop VR-RPG approach. The results indicate that students significantly gained knowledge in all methods compared to the pre-test. We found that the immersion level for both tested VR-RPGs did not have a significant effect on learning. However, the study showed an improvement in knowledge retention for the desktop VR-RPG users compared to those of the conventional method. Moreover, the results revealed that users of the immersive and desktop VR-RPGs were more motivated and engaged compared to those of the conventional method.

CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO
FUNDAÇÃO DE APOIO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DO RIO DE JANEIRO
Este trabalho registra e analisa criticamente uma experiência de inserção dos jogos de RPG (Role Playing Game) como parte integrante do currículo de uma escola particular da zona sul do Rio de Janeiro, com o objetivo de se trabalhar a expressividade e a criatividade dos alunos por meio do uso de múltiplas linguagens e também como meio de se promover o desenvolvimento de variadas competências dentro de sala de aula. Ao todo, 69 crianças e jovens dos 9 aos 17 anos, alunos da 5ª série do Ensino Fundamental ao 2º ano do Ensino Médio, participaram das oficinas focalizadas nesta pesquisa. A metodologia utilizada no trabalho de campo incluiu tanto a observação, apoiada em cadernos de campo e fotografias, quanto a análise dos artefatos produzidos pelos alunos durante (e para) as sessões de jogo, sob a forma de descrições dos personagens, histórias, textos diversos, desenhos, mapas, maquetes etc, além da participação na montagem de mostras dos trabalhos, visitadas por pais, professores, familiares e demais membros da comunidade escolar. Ao lado do teatro, da música, da dança, do vídeo, dos desenhos animados e de outras linguagens e meios de expressão artística e cultural, a prática de jogos como o RPG, que reúnem ludicidade e criatividade, pode servir como forma de se aproximar o ambiente da escola do mundo complexo, múltiplo e multi-midiático no qual as crianças e os jovens das grandes cidades se encontram imersos em seu dia- a-dia.
This work documents an experiment in which Role Playing Games were part of the curriculum in a private school in Rio de Janeiro. The game was used as a tool to promote expression and creativity among the students and also the development of several competencies inside the classroom. Sixty-nine children and adolescents (ages 9 to 17, from the 5th to the 10th grade) took part in the workshops studied here. The filedwork methodology included observation, supported by field notes and photos, along with the analysis of artifacts produced by the students during (and for) the game sessions, such as character profiles, stories, assorted texts, drawings, maps, schetches, mock ups and others, and also their engajement in the preparation of a show, visited by parents, teachers, family membres and other members of the school community. As with theater, music, dace, video-production, animation and other forms of artistic and cultural expression, games like RPGs, that unite creativity and fun, might serve as a way to straighten the ties between the school and the complex, multiple and multimidiatic world where children and adolescents in major cities are imersed in day-to-day basis.

Massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) present fantastic, persistent worlds and narratives for a community of players to experience through pre-defined rules, roles, and environments. To be able to offer the opportunity for every player to try the same experiences, many game developers have opted to create elaborate virtual theme parks: scripted experiences within static worlds that cannot be affected or changed through player actions. Within these games, some players have turned to role-playing to establish meaningful connections to these worlds by expanding upon and subverting the game's expectations to assume a limited sense of agency within the world. The interaction between role-players and the locations they occupy within these worlds is a notable marker of this narrative layering; specific locations inform social codes of conduct, designed by developers, and then repurposed by players for their characters and stories. Through a qualitative case study in World of Warcraft on public role-playing events, this thesis considers how the design of in-game locations inform their use for role-playing, and how locations are altered through storytelling as a result.

When internet-mediated messaging and social networking applications were introduced in mobile phones, mobile messaging entered a new paradigm. Users can easily create profiles and communicate with other users instantly at anytime of day and anywhere in the world. This paradigm however, has brought forward new privacy issues. Over the course of this exegesis I aimed to explore different aspects of privacy issues related to mobile messaging, including users' awareness and the control of the privacy issues when using social networking messaging. This was demonstrated by conducting a project, which involved development of a mobile phone application and a role-playing game. The project created a frictional scenario of users communicating via mobile messaging. My research revealed that the participants lacked awareness of privacy violations when using mobile messaging, and tended not to modify their behaviours immediately when privacy breaches arose. This research contributes to the existing body of research in the area of mobile messaging privacy, and advocated user awareness of privacy issues in this domain. It could potentially be used as a base for future research.

Thesis: M. Eng., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2017.
This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.
Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 63-64).
Teachers that elicit learner knowledge at the beginning of new units are more aware of student preconceptions and reasoning. Teachers who understand student preconceptions are able better to anticipate misconceptions and help students assimilate new knowledge. However, many pre-service and in-service teachers neither collect student ideas nor know how to do so. For my thesis, I have designed and implemented Eliciting Learner Knowledge (ELK), an online, role-playing game for pre-service teachers. While playing ELK, users experiment and learn skills and strategies for gathering students ideas. The game has been iteratively user tested during Teaching System Lab's Dine and Play sessions and implemented in MIT's 11.125 Introduction to Education class.
by Tiffany Chi Man Wong.
M. Eng.

Thesis (MScAgric)--Stellenbosch University, 2013.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Sauvignon blanc wines have become progressively more important in the commercial market. Extensive research is being done in various countries to gain more understanding about the aroma compounds found in Sauvignon blanc wines and the interactions between them. Sauvignon blanc wines often have either have a green or tropical style. The green style is caused by the methoxypyrazines while the volatile thiols are important contributing compounds to the tropical style. Various international studies have focussed on measuring the chemical composition of Sauvignon blanc wines. However, more research is required on South African Sauvignon blanc wines. Little is known of the volatile thiols content of South African Sauvignon blanc wines, although the methoxypyrazine content has been extensively reported on. Although methoxypyrazines and volatile thiols are seen as the most important aroma compounds contributing to Sauvignon blanc character, other compounds contribute as well. Esters, monoterpenes and phenols have been found to influence Sauvignon blanc aroma and interact with the methoxypyrazines and volatile thiols. The complex interaction between the compounds responsible for the aroma of Sauvignon blanc wines are still not fully understood and further research is thus needed. The first part of the current study investigated the interaction between a specific methoxypyrazine and volatile thiol. Five different concentrations of 2-isobutyl-3- methoxypyrazine (ibMP) and 3-mercaptohexan-1-ol (3MH) were spiked in dearomatize, neutral Sauvignon blanc wine. The single compounds as well as every possible combination of the range of concentrations were evaluated using sensory descriptive analysis. It was found using various statistical approaches that ibMP suppressed the tropical attributes associated with 3MH and that 3MH suppressed the green attributes that correlated with ibMP. The concentrations at which the suppression occurred and the degree of suppression was different for each attribute. The second part of the current study focussed on commercial South African Sauvignon blanc wines. Sensory descriptive analysis and chemical analysis were used to assess the wines and measure the volatile thiol and methoxypyrazine concentrations. The concentrations of volatile thiols and methoxypyrazines were found to be in line with international Sauvignon blanc wines. It was also shown for the first time that the mutually suppressive trend between the volatile thiols and methoxypyrazines can be seen in commercial Sauvignon blanc wines as well. Future work is needed to fully understand the complex interaction between the various compounds in Sauvignon blanc wines. Further research could focus on investigating the mechanism of interaction between the volatile thiols and methoxypyrazines as well as other aroma compounds.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Sauvignon blanc-wyne word toenemend belangriker in die kommersiële mark. Omvattende navorsing word in etlike lande gedoen om meer begrip te ontwikkel van die aromaverbindings wat in Sauvignon blanc-wyne teenwoordig is, asook van die interaksies tussen hulle. Sauvignon blanc-wyne het in baie gevalle óf ’n groen óf ’n tropiese styl. Die groen styl word veroorsaak deur metoksipirasiene, terwyl die vlugtige tiole belangrike bydraende verbindings is wat aanleiding gee tot die tropiese style. Verskeie internasionale studies het reeds gefokus op die meet van die chemiese samestelling van Sauvignon blanc-wyne, maar meer navorsing is nodig oor Suid-Afrikaanse Sauvignon blanc-wyne. Min is bekend oor die inhoud van vlugtige tiole in Suid-Afrikaanse Sauvignon blanc-wyne, hoewel daar reeds op groot skaal oor die metoksipirasieninhoud verslag gedoen is. Hoewel metoksipirasiene en vlugtige tiole die belangrikste aromaverbindings is wat tot Sauvignon blanc-karakter bydra, is daar ook ander verbindings wat ’n bydrae maak. Esters, monoterpene en fenole het almal ’n invloed op Sauvignon blanc-aroma en reageer op die metoksipirasiene en vlugtige tiole. Die komplekse interaksie tussen die verbindings wat vir die aroma van Sauvignon blanc-wyne verantwoordelik is, word nog nie volledig begryp nie en verdere navorsing is nodig. Die eerste deel van die huidige studie het die interaksie tussen ’n spesifieke metoksipirasien en vlugtige tiol ondersoek. Vyf verskillende konsentrasies van 2-isobutiel-3-metoksipirasien (ibMP) en 3-merkaptoheksaan- 1-ool (3MH) is by ontgeurde, neutrale Sauvignon blanc-wyn gevoeg. Die enkel verbindings, asook elke moontlike kombinasie van die reeks konsentrasies, is deur middel van beskrywende sensoriese analise geëvalueer. Daar is met behulp van verskillende statistiese benaderings gevind dat ibMP die tropiese eienskappe wat verband hou met 3MH onderdruk het, terwyl 3MH die groen eienskappe wat verband hou met ibMP onderdruk het. Die konsentrasies waarteen die onderdrukking plaasgevind het en die vlak van onderdrukking het vir elke eienskap verskil. Die tweede deel van die studie het gefokus op kommersiële Suid-Afrikaanse Sauvignon blancwyne. Beskrywende sensoriese analise en chemiese analise is gebruik om die wyne te assesseer en die konsentrasies van vlugtige tiole en metoksipirasiene te meet. Die konsentrasies vlugtige tiole en metoksipirasiene was in lyn met dié van internasionale Sauvignon blanc-wyne. Daar is ook vir die eerste keer gewys dat die wedersyds onderdrukkende tendens tussen die vlugtige tiole en metoksipirasiene ook in kommersiële Sauvignon blanc-wyne gevind word. Toekomstige werk sou kon fokus op ’n begrip van die komplekse interaksie tussen die verskillende verbindings in Sauvignon blanc-wyne. Verdere navorsing sou ook kon fokus op ’n ondersoek van die meganisme van interaksie tussen die vlugtige tiole en metoksipirasiene, sowel as ander aromaverbindings.
The South African Wine Industry (Winetech), THRIP and the NRF for financial support

Abstract In this study, the role-playing game Final Fantasy 7 was analysed in regards of its qualities for English language development. Areas concerning language, specifically vocabulary, and video games explored in this study were academic words, words that express time, collocations, frequency, and keywords. Other areas investigated in this study are video games in connection to the syllabus for English, students’ outside of school interests, and implications for teaching. Data from a corpus-based vocabulary analysis showed that the players of Final Fantasy 7 will encounter a rich variety of words and linguistic features. Further, the text of Final Fantasy 7 shares a lot of the same qualities with texts from English 5 and 6, concerning academic words. Although, an analysis of keywords in the game and in the school texts also showed some differences, mainly in terms of grammatical variations, which indicate that Final Fantasy 7 can function as a complement to typical school texts.

Orientador: Luciene Ferreira da Silva
Resumo: Esta pesquisa, centrada no ensino de filosofia no Ensino Médio, investiga a problemática das restrições do ensino e aprendizagem da ética, bem como a forma tradicional com que o tema é abordado no Ensino Médio e tem como objetivo propor uma sugestão de ensino de filosofia através do RPG, resgatando assim o lúdico no Ensino Médio, após esclarecer como aspectos macroestruturais, como o neoliberalismo, configuram a educação. Então, se justifica por viabilizar formas amparadas no jogo como proposta para o desenvolvimento de aprendizagem dos conceitos, empoderando os sujeitos para práticas sociais de transformação social. Trata-se de uma pesquisa com abordagem qualitativa, com utilização de pesquisa bibliográfica e documental sobre as temáticas: jogo, educação, neoliberalismo, filosofia e ética. A hipótese é de que o ensino de ética como componente da filosofia no Ensino Médio, carece de estratégias capazes de facilitar o entendimento das teorias e dos autores que constituem a história da filosofia em relação a este tema. Temos como conjectura, inclusive, que a problemática decorre do alinhamento entre políticas públicas do Estado de São Paulo com políticas econômicas neoliberais que ocasionam precariedade para a escola pública em geral. Portanto, espera-se alcançar a construção ética por meio do jogo, pois a ética é uma temática pouco abordada diretamente nas disciplinas oferecidas no Ensino Médio, mas de extrema necessidade, neste nível de ensino. Com as pesquisas já realizadas,... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo)
Abstract: This research, centered on the teaching of philosophy in high school, investigates the issue of restrictions on teaching and learning ethics, as well as the traditional way in which the topic is addressed in high school and aims to propose a suggestion of teaching philosophy through of RPG, thus rescuing playfulness in high school, after clarifying how macro-structural aspects, such as neoliberalism, configure education. So, it is justified by enabling forms supported by the game as a proposal for the development of learning concepts, empowering the subjects for social practices of social transformation. This is a research with a qualitative approach, using bibliographic and documentary research on the themes: game, education, neoliberalism, philosophy and ethics. The hypothesis is that the teaching of ethics as a component of philosophy in high school, lacks strategies capable of facilitating the understanding of the theories and authors that constitute the history of philosophy in relation to this theme. We also have the conjecture that the problem arises from the alignment between public policies in the State of São Paulo with neoliberal economic policies that cause precariousness for the public school in general. Therefore, it is expected to achieve ethical construction through the game, because ethics is a theme that is not directly addressed in the subjects offered in high school, but of extreme need, at this level of education. With the research already carried out, we... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)
Mestre

GeoQuest is a PhD research project in Geoscience education with a focus on Teaching and Learning Processes. It aims to answer both students’ and teachers’ needs in a fast-changing world, where, in particular, todays’s students need learning tools that use communication codes closer to them, as they are less accustomed to abstraction. On the other hand, there is an increasing need to make the students more aware of the environment: in particular the geological hazards, in a fragile territory like the Italian one, too often put at risk population, property, infrastructure and the natural setting. The widespread lack of geoscience knowledge contributes negatively to keep correct behaviours towards the environment, increasing the danger caused by natural phenomena. Moreover, the decreasing interest in school for the Earth sciences (both from teachers and students) calls for a drastic change in the geoscience teaching, which could engage the students to acquire a passion or at least a stronger interest for the geosciences and in general for the environment. Moreover, an increasingly interconnected and technological world requires students to have specific skills: knowledge of the disciplines founding cores in an interdisciplinary key is required, along with technical and technological skills, mastery of foreign languages, flexibility, attitude to teamwork, creativity and entrepreneurship. Scientific subjects, such as Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM subjects) need to be strengthened and studied through a laboratory approach. On the other hand, teachers pressed to keep up with modern teaching methods and topics, need user-friendly teaching tools, which can allow promote teamwork, laboratory teaching and CLIL (Content and Language Integrated learning) approach. The aim of this work is therefore to prove that it is possible to treat geoscience topics in a modern and attractive way, at the same moment trying to reconcile the needs of teachers to have user-friendly teaching materials that do not require major adaptation, to the needs of students to have an effective training. The best way to increase chances to obtain acceptance by the teachers to use different didactic approaches is the identification of the specific teachers’ needs. The needs have been identified as following: • to have well-structured, user-friendly teaching materials available. Innovative teaching materials must also allow an interdisciplinary and multilingual approach (CLIL approach), and must develop a learning environment allowing an effective skill assessment; • to have teaching materials that use ICT, to enhance the digital competence of the students ensuring an effective student engagement and in the same way encouraging the teachers with user-friendly tools. The project started with an investigation of the existing literature about effective learning. Vygotsky (1978) believed that learning occurred within a learner’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). From the activities, a learner can independently master those challenges, which can be accomplished with the help of additional supports. Offering activities inside the players’ ZPD will create a more appropriate challenge to their skill level than keeping them maximally engaged and in learning (Hamari et al., 2016). Problems that require the exercise of content and skills covered at school, presented as a game may be stimulants and not frustrating due to the controlled difficulties, and it may promote cognitive functions about targeted content: a key element for the enhancement of learning (Greenfield and Carbone, 1985). The difference between the narratives found in digital games and those found in other media, such as books and movies, changes the level of engagement. In books and videos, the person is engaged in the narrative although as a passive consumer and has no impact on the outcome of the narrative. On the other hand, an illusion is created whereby the players of a game perceive themselves as constructing the narrative of that game (Cohen, 2016) enhancing the engage level and effectiveness. These studies suggested to try to approach learning geosciences by gaming, using a new Computer Classroom Role Playing Game (CCRPG), GeoQuest, which has been developed in this PhD project. GeoQuest is a digital game focused on Earth Sciences, that allows the class to interact with the game itself in cooperative learning: it creates an immersive learning environment, in which an interdisciplinary adventure path develops, but containing related topics taken from the disciplines close to the students' age range. The immersive environment and interdisciplinary connections create an engagement that allows to deal ,even with complex topics, in a simple and effective way. As an example of an Adventure Path, the GeoQuest Phlaegraean Fields path, is reported in the following. The path is a mix of geoscience topics intertwined with mythology and literature. The adventure begins underground, in a dark and quiet cave. There are no clues to understand where you are. The player/student is screened in a mystery story where he/she has to decide how to proceed. Players cross narrow tunnels and huge caverns, risk falling into the icy water, or being involved in earthquakes. They hear the unearthly dripping water and the gentle whisperings of lost souls. This adventure is located in the volcanic area of the Phlaegrean Fields. The environment that gradually reveals itself is full of significant elements that can be traced back to a volcanic site, inserted in a complex geodynamic situation. It is located in the Mediterranean area, specifically in Campania, where compressive and divergent geological events produced differentiated magmas and explosive volcanism. During the game, players can also discover where they are from the history of the characters they meet along their path. They meet Charon, the conductor of souls to the kingdom of deads, the Cumaean Sibyl, recounting her love affair with the god Apollo, and Flegra, whose legend was born in Thessaly and is implanted in Campania, naming the zone to Phlaegrean Fields. Lete, god of Sleep embodied in the river that flows near Lake of Avernus, relives through the verses of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. There is also Pirithous, who dared to challenge Ade attempting to kidnap Persephone. The minerals, such as sanidine, biotite, pyroxene and magnetite, allow players to go back to an intrusive weakly acidic rock like syenite. Its presence in the crustal conduit, along with earthquakes, allows players to trace petrological environments typical of the Campania volcanism. An intrusive body such as the syenite provides a geodynamic origin by tectonic convergence. The volcanic area of Phlaegrean Fields is unique in the world and is beautifully described in the “Gigantomachy”, which tells the story of the terrible Giants who were defeated and buried under volcanoes; their attempts to free themselves would trigger the volcanic convulsions of the Earth and explain the origin of earthquakes. Going back to the surface, players can recognise the tuffs, which attest the interaction between groundwaters and magma, typical of the eruptions at Phlaegrean Fields. Finally, the players walk across some sulphur vapours which suggest that they are approaching the area under the Solfatara. They will have to connect the colour of sulphur crystals to their temperature in order to find the right exit towards the surface. GeoQuest deals therefore with topics of geology, volcanology, mineralogy, geodynamics, which are normally difficult to be understood for students and often for science teachers themselves. The interdisciplinary key in the game, connecting history, mythology, latin literature and so on, is used as a leverage to help going through Geosciences and other scientific disciplines, making use of the appeal that humanistic knowledge has among the students and teachers. A multi-phase experimentation has been adopted to verify the effectiveness of CCRPG, which has been carried out for two years. The first step of the experimentation served to calibrate the experimentation itself, to define the experimental protocol and to make the modifications to the gaming activity, that became necessary following the practical verification in the classes. The total research sample consisted of 40 classes, from primary schools to university, for a total of 914 students. Within this sample, 32 classes (731 students) have experimented with the CCRPG and 8 classes (183 students) had a lesson with traditional methodology: frontal lesson, supported by interactive multimedia whiteboard, photos and videos. The experimentation allowed to evaluate and prove that the GeoQuest Project can contribute positively to science education, guaranteeing an effective acquisition of the key competences and the disciplinary ones requested by the modern Science and Technology. This has been demonstrated by the results obtained by the tests which show an improvement in learning levels obtained with the CCRPG of 269%, while the control sample using the traditional lesson shows only an improvement of 133% after the lesson. The GeoQuest Project has been also evaluated by the teachers as a good educational tool, since it is able to stimulate students' interest and keep their attention high during the entire duration of the teaching activity favouring their engagement in the learning process. The final outcome suggests that GeoQuest Project can effectively match the needs identified by students and teachers, attracting the interest of the students on geoscience topics, treating them in a interdisciplinary way. Carrying out the experimentation in several phases allowed us to calibrate and improve the approach , and allowed us to obtain rigorous and reliable results. The teaching tool perfectly complies with the demands of modern society. Above all, the results obtained allowed to answer positively to the research questions identified in teaching and learning processes in Science Education: to create an educational tool that ensures students to build knowledge of the disciplines founding cores in an interdisciplinary key, which allows them to acquire, at the same time, technical and technological skills, mastery of foreign languages, flexibility, creativity and entrepreneurship. Among the few weaknesses identified in the experimentation, it was evidenced by the teachers that the syntax used in the oral and written expression is very rich and sometimes complex for using with digital tools and with the short time characteristics of gaming and storytelling. For example, some phrases that appeared as screenshots were too long to read or contained too complex terms. As a consequence, a collaboration started on linguistic simplification in storytelling and gaming, collaborating with Prof. Johanna Monti, from the University L'Orientale of Naples, Italy. A PhD student is carrying out a Research Project on Linguistic Simplification in the Storytelling applied to Gaming, specifically for GeoQuest Project (PhD thesis title: “Development and effects that the use of Digital Storytelling, understood as a new art of narration, brings in the teaching of foreign languages and cultures”). As a first result, the GeoQuest Hawaii adventure pathway was created according to the canons of linguistic simplification, which will approach the problem identified. Since the beginning of the first experimentation and also as a result of the disclosure of this research work, the requests to try the game in many schools have multiplied. The five already existing pathways will soon be joined by others already requested. Some schools, in different Italian regions, have placed GeoQuest at the base of school projects to support learning or development of scientific and digital skills (Projects with Ministry of Education funds). Also, GeoQuest was chosen as a Joint Project between European countries by the executive board of Science on Stage Europe (https://www.science-on-stage.eu), which deals with the spread and sharing of innovative methodologies to teach Science. Science on Stage funded the exchange between Italy and Iceland for the diffusion of the CCRPG methodology. The final presentation of the results obtained during this European exchange will be carried out in Portugal. The positive experience with the GeoQuest Project attracted the attention of educators at the national, EU and extra-EU levels, suggesting to continue to create a series of related projects, like new educational Apps to explain the correct behaviour to keep during emergencies, or the application of the CCRPG to tourism and to safety education, indicating that gaming can be used effectively also as a outreach and dissemination tool. Chapter summary Chapter I is an introduction, in which the initial idea and the analysis of the needs identified, a presentation of the learning on Gaming, the purpose of the research and the work plan are exposed. The analysis of the needs is done both on the students' learning needs and on the supports to be given to the teachers, in order to contribute to effectively innovate the teaching of Earth Sciences in school. Chapter II: the educational background of the project is presented. The starting point of the research is to use the digital storytelling with an innovative methodological approach, based on inquiry. Modern pedagogy rediscovered storytelling and demonstrated that, even thought not using technologically innovative teaching tools, storytelling enhances the effectiveness of information transmission. Moreover, the digital application of storytelling has been demonstrated to have a positive impact especially on students’ achievement. Chapter III: the CCRPG methodology is described, based on an original Engine, made specifically for this project. The description of the Game is presented, from a technical and didactic point of view. The illustration of the GeoQuest project, is presented through the analysis of one of the adventure trails created. The adventure pathway is described and, through the presentation of papers published in international Journals or on Conference Proceedings, the salient aspects are highlighted: the innovative character of the methodology, the applicability of GeoQuest project to the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics), the use of IBSE (Inquiry Based Science Education) and CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) approaches. Other papers reported highlight the learning environment created by GeoQuest ideal for the assessment of skills, as it guarantees real-life tasks, provided by accessible design, creating an inclusive Educational Environment. Chapter IV collects the results obtained during the teaching experimentation of the Computer Classroom Role Playing Game GeoQuest, where attention was focused on Earth Sciences topics, mediated by an interdisciplinary approach. Knowledge and skills in geology, volcanology and mineralogy were at the basis of the adventures paths produced. The results demonstrated positive responses showing that GeoQuest is able to guarantee an effective acquisition of the key competences and the disciplinary ones of Geoscience as well as, more generally, Science and Technology. Chapter V contains the discussion of the innovative elements of the GeoQuest project. This research shows that the application of CCRPG does not require digital knowledge, it is user friendly, requires little preparation time by the teachers. Above all, the CCRPG can also be used without an internet connection and requires only a laptop, therefore easy to use in the classroom. On the other hand, the results obtained during the experimentation with students show that there are no difference in students’ outcomes between primary, secondary and high school i From pupils to older students, the engage and the interest for the disciplinary topics is high and the results obtained are always very positive and the difference with traditional teaching is tangible. Chapter VI illustrates the conclusions, which highlight the innovative elements and the solutions made using CCRPG, as well as illustrating the weaknesses emerged during the research path and possible solutions. The future developments of the project and the applicability of GeoQuest to different educational fields are also described. Chapter VII reports the References. Appendix. The appendices contain: projects related to GeoQuest, brochures, students tests, teachers tests, the cards with the description of the individual adventure pathways.

Pesquisa realizada com alunos de graduação, na disciplina introdutória de Contabilidade e Análise de Balanço para economistas, com o objetivo de verificar se o emprego das modalidades didáticas do role-play comparativamente ao exercício grupal exerce influência no nível da percepção discente relativas ao desenvolvimento de habilidades (domínio psicomotor), satisfação (domínio afetivo) e aprendizagem (domínio cognitivo). A pesquisa usou o estilo do ?quase-experimento?, aplicado em duas turmas de 28 e 32 alunos. Considerando aspectos éticos relativos a possíveis prejuízos na aprendizagem discente, ambas modalidades didáticas (role-play e exercício grupal) foram aplicadas de maneira alternadas em cada uma das turmas, ocasionando que cada turma desempenhou a dupla função de grupo controle e grupo experimental ao mesmo tempo. Nas duas turmas controles foram aplicados um exercício grupal que tinha por objetivo buscar a reversão econômicofinanceira de uma Cia Aérea em dificuldades por meio da tomada de decisões. Nas turmas experimentais, os mesmos objetivos anteriores foram aplicados à modalidade didática do roleplay. Paralelamente, aplicou-se o questionário ILS desenvolvido por Kolb para identificar os estilos de aprendizagem dos alunos, cujo objetivo era verificar se havia alguma influência dos estilos e o nível da percepção discente. Por outro lado, o questionário da avaliação docente tinha por objetivo verificar se havia alguma diferença no nível da percepção discente antes (pré-teste) e depois do quase-experimento (pós-teste). Como instrumentos de coleta de dados foram utilizados questionários e um focus group. Os resultados demonstram: a) existência de diferenças ?entre as turmas? e ?turmas isoladas? no nível da percepção da aprendizagem, desenvolvimento de habilidades (analíticas e de pesquisa), satisfação com a participação e disposição em participar favoráveis a modalidade didática do role-play em relação ao exercício grupal. b) existência de uma ?pequena? influência no nível perceptivo discente com a inserção do role-play e exercício grupal quando segmentados nos estilos de aprendizagem. c) existência de diferença significativa no nível da avaliação docente aplicada antes do quaseexperimento e na avaliação docente após o quase-experimento relacionado ao estímulo do professor ao conteúdo do curso. Os resultados do focus group, evidenciam que o role-play é efetivamente recomendado para o aprendizado de atitudes (domínio afetivo) e desenvolvimento de habilidades de comunicação, interatividade, pesquisa e tomada de decisões (domínio psicomotor). Conclui-se, ainda, com base nos resultados alcançados, que o role-play deve ser utilizado em complementação a outras modalidades de forma a contemplar possibilidades de aprendizagem aos alunos.
This research was carried out with undergraduate students taking an introductory course on Accounting and Balance Sheet analysis for economists. It focused on verifying whether the use of role-play influenced students? level of perception as far as levels of development abilities (psychomotor domain), satisfaction (affective domes), and learning (cognitive development) go, when compared with group work. The research was conducted using ?quasi-experiment? applied to two groups ? one with 28 students and the other with 32 students. Having in mind the ethic aspects of possible harm to students? learning process, both strategies (role-play and group work) were alternatively used with the two groups, in such a way that both functioned not only as control group but also as experiment group. Both control groups performed group work aiming at finding economic and financial ways out for an Air Company in difficulty, using decision making as the means. In the experimental groups, the same activity should be carried out through role-play. Simultaneously, the researcher used the ILS questionnaire developed by Kolb to identify students? learning styles, with the objective of testing whether there was influence of different styles and the level of awareness by students. On the other hand, the questionnaire for professor evaluation sought verifying if there could be differences in the level of students? awareness before (pre-test) and after (post-test) the quasi-experiment. Questionnaires and a Focus Group were the means for the collection of data. The results showed: a) differences of perception ?among the groups? and ?isolated groups? in relation to level of awareness of learning; development of analytical and research abilities; satisfaction with participation and willingness to participate, all favoring the teaching technique of role-play over group work; b) a ?tiny? influence on student awareness level with the insertion of role-play and group work when segmented in learning styles; c) significant difference of the results in professor evaluation applied before the quasi-experiment, versus after the quasi-experiment, as far as professor incentive on course content goes. The results of the Focus Group show that role-play is effectively recommended not only for the learning of attitudes (affective domain), but also for the development of communication skills, interactivity, research and decision making (psychomotor domain). The results reached lead to the conclusion that role-playing should be used as a complement to other classroom techniques, so as to enhance students? learning possibilities.