REPOSITORY > RESULTS

Abstract

Serious games are part of the new emerging world of an education environment that is based on sophisticated technology with elements of entertainment. They have been seen as a good opportunity to support learning processes because of their ability to increase visualizations and challenge student creativity. They have the potential to significantly improve training and education activities and initiatives. As a part of serious computer games, business simulation games support training and learning that is focused on management of economic processes. They are to be considered an effective tool for empowering and mediating learning business content. They act as serious games that bring learning outcomes through simulation of real-life situations and business environments. Most of the results presented in the chapters 3,4 and 5 are published in journal papers, conferences and as a chapter in a book addressing e-learning.
This dissertation is divided into three major parts. The first part is focused on exploring the existing business simulation games and the selection and classification of their technical properties. The second part explores the existing attempts to design a comprehensive and complex taxonomy framework for business simulation games designed to categorize and evaluate their properties. The identified missing elements in the current proposed taxonomies were used as a starting point for the design of a new category addressing the games' educational properties. The usability of the new category is illustrated with an assessment of two use cases, i.e. simulation games taken from the area of project management. The results obtained using a survey and a teacher and student evaluation are presented and discussed. In the third and last part, we have applied the learnability parameters that have been developed in the previous part to other serious games in one of the fields of science and education – engineering. The incorporation of these properties in game development and implementation in the thesis was present through the development of the FOREVICA game, which teaches and practices the digital investigation procedure. The observation and the survey for the evaluation of FOREVICA lead to the conclusion that game implementation is effective and ensures that the educational objectives can be achieved through entertainment and learning provided by the implemented game scenario.