NoviCraft

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NoviCraft
Developer(s) LudoCraft
Publisher(s) TeamingStream
Engine Unreal Engine 2
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows
Release2008
Genre(s) Serious game
Mode(s) Multiplayer

NoviCraft [1] is a 2008 video game developed by LudoCraft Ltd. and published by TeamingStream Ltd. [2] [3] [4] It is a resource which aims to support business customers in social excellence, and learn to construct shared understanding with different people in changing contexts. It is a total conversion mod for virtual engagement which was commercially released in 2008. The game's first generation was developed in 2002 [5] for research purposes at the University of Oulu, Finland to test whether computer games could be used for learning. [6] [7] In 2009, NoviCraft was granted the "best e-learning solution of the year" award during a competition hosted by Finland's E-learning Center (E-oppimiskeskus). [8]

Contents

Background

NoviCraft is a serious 3D video game using Unreal Engine 2 that tasks teams with solving problems cooperatively through a virtual adventure which takes place on a prison island. The problems presented to the teams are designed to require coordinated activity and discussion in order to succeed. NoviCraft seeks to improve players' social skills, such as[ citation needed ]:

The game's design goal is to give the team a collaborative learning experience of a shared distributed problem-solving situation. The tasks in NoviCraft have been scripted based on several years of scientific research to promote equal participation from all participants[ citation needed ]. The tasks are built to launch key mechanisms of collaborative learning, such as asking questions, helping others, explaining and listening.

Game procedure

Setting and introduction

Discussions are held concerning the game's participants, goals, and the game's procedure and schedule.

Pre-play questionnaire

Participants fill in the pre-questionnaire concerning their team skills, current situation, and skills or situations that could use improvement.

Gameplay commences

The game is designed for players inexperienced with video games, to be completed in a play time of 4–5 hours. In the game, each participant is represented by a customizable avatar figure, and may communicate with teammates through headphones and microphones via TeamSpeak. The participants' communications and play-performance can be monitored for more detailed analysis and recommendations for further development.

NoviCraft's premise centers around an escape story, where each team has to flee from a prison island by solving five interactive puzzles together. First, a short frame story appears on the computer screen before the tutorial field. In the story, participants are told that they are prisoners being held on an island, and one of the senior prisoners knows possible ways to escape. If they follow the instructions of the senior prisoner as a team, then they can have a chance to escape.

The participants are then placed in a tutorial area to practice the basic functionalities of their avatars for five minutes. Before the game, the participants are also told to collaborate in order to solve the puzzles in the game. Lastly, each player receives different instructions called "parchments" (virtual papers with some instructions for one of the tasks).

Once the game fully begins, participants have to accomplish five tasks that appear in a set order. After each task that they manage to achieve, a gate to a new area opens. The structuring of the game-world is designed as linear to minimize confusion and time spent not solving puzzles. The tasks in The Gate specifically are as follows:

  1. Each team member has to pass a gas field in a barrel with the help of others' instructions.
  2. Members have to send different colored smoke signals in a certain order.
  3. Members have to prepare an oil mixture from ingredients given to them.
  4. The team is split into two pairs who have to pass through a field while building fences to ward off angry dogs.
  5. With the burner oil and tools gathered from the earlier tasks, the team has to build a balloon to escape from the prison island.

Post-play reflection

At the end of the game, each participant fills in a brief questionnaire as an individual to reflect on their gameplay experience. The answers are collected together in-game and compiled into a post-play report. After these personal reflections, the NoviCraft facilitator guides the team through a shared reflection concerning the game activities. This reflection, carried out through group discussion, is at first based on the game, but expands to everyday, work-related situations towards the end.

About one week after the game's conclusion, participants fill in another feedback-questionnaire concerning NoviCraft to again reflect on their gameplay experience.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Team</span> Group linked in a common purpose

A team is a group of individuals working together to achieve their goal.

Collaborative writing is a procedure in which two or more persons work together on a text of some kind. Success in collaborative writing involves a division of labor that apportions particular tasks to those with particular strengths: drafting, providing feedback, editing, sourcing, (reorganizing), optimizing for tone or house style, etc. Collaborative writing is characteristic of professional as well as educational settings, utilizing the expertise of those involved in the collaboration process.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Collaboration</span> Act of working together

Collaboration is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. Most collaboration requires leadership, although the form of leadership can be social within a decentralized and egalitarian group. Teams that work collaboratively often access greater resources, recognition and rewards when facing competition for finite resources.

Situated learning is a theory that explains an individual's acquisition of professional skills and includes research on apprenticeship into how legitimate peripheral participation leads to membership in a community of practice. Situated learning "takes as its focus the relationship between learning and the social situation in which it occurs".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Problem-based learning</span> Learner centric pedagogy

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a teaching method in which students learn about a subject through the experience of solving an open-ended problem found in trigger material. The PBL process does not focus on problem solving with a defined solution, but it allows for the development of other desirable skills and attributes. This includes knowledge acquisition, enhanced group collaboration and communication.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Active learning</span> Educational technique

Active learning is "a method of learning in which students are actively or experientially involved in the learning process and where there are different levels of active learning, depending on student involvement." Bonwell & Eison (1991) states that "students participate [in active learning] when they are doing something besides passively listening." According to Hanson and Moser (2003) using active teaching techniques in the classroom can create better academic outcomes for students. Scheyvens, Griffin, Jocoy, Liu, & Bradford (2008) further noted that "by utilizing learning strategies that can include small-group work, role-play and simulations, data collection and analysis, active learning is purported to increase student interest and motivation and to build students ‘critical thinking, problem-solving and social skills". In a report from the Association for the Study of Higher Education, authors discuss a variety of methodologies for promoting active learning. They cite literature that indicates students must do more than just listen in order to learn. They must read, write, discuss, and be engaged in solving problems. This process relates to the three learning domains referred to as knowledge, skills and attitudes (KSA). This taxonomy of learning behaviors can be thought of as "the goals of the learning process." In particular, students must engage in such higher-order thinking tasks as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Collaboration tool</span> Tool that helps people to collaborate

A collaboration tool helps people to collaborate. The purpose of a collaboration tool is to support a group of two or more individuals to accomplish a common goal or objective. Collaboration tools can be either of a non-technological nature such as paper, flipcharts, post-it notes or whiteboards. They can also include software tools and applications such as collaborative software.

Collaborative learning is a situation in which two or more people learn or attempt to learn something together. Unlike individual learning, people engaged in collaborative learning capitalize on one another's resources and skills. More specifically, collaborative learning is based on the model that knowledge can be created within a population where members actively interact by sharing experiences and take on asymmetric roles. Put differently, collaborative learning refers to methodologies and environments in which learners engage in a common task where each individual depends on and is accountable to each other. These include both face-to-face conversations and computer discussions. Methods for examining collaborative learning processes include conversation analysis and statistical discourse analysis.

Cooperative learning is an educational approach which aims to organize classroom activities into academic and social learning experiences. There is much more to cooperative learning than merely arranging students into groups, and it has been described as "structuring positive interdependence." Students must work in groups to complete tasks collectively toward academic goals. Unlike individual learning, which can be competitive in nature, students learning cooperatively can capitalize on one another's resources and skills. Furthermore, the teacher's role changes from giving information to facilitating students' learning. Everyone succeeds when the group succeeds. Ross and Smyth (1995) describe successful cooperative learning tasks as intellectually demanding, creative, open-ended, and involve higher-order thinking tasks. Cooperative learning has also been linked to increased levels of student satisfaction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scavenger hunt</span> Game in which participants compete to gather specific items or complete tasks in a given order

A scavenger hunt is a game in which the organizers prepare a list defining specific items, which the participants seek to gather or complete all items on the list, usually without purchasing them. Usually participants work in small teams, although the rules may allow individuals to participate. The goal is to be the first to complete the list or to complete the most items on that list. In variations of the game, players take photographs of listed items or be challenged to complete the tasks on the list in the most creative manner. A treasure hunt is another name for the game, but it may involve following a series of clues to find objects or a single prize in a particular order.

Cognitive apprenticeship is a theory that emphasizes the importance of the process in which a master of a skill teaches that skill to an apprentice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Puzzle hunt</span> Type of puzzle game

A puzzle hunt is an event where teams compete to solve a series of puzzles, many of which are tied together via metapuzzles. Puzzlehunt puzzles are usually not accompanied by direct instructions for how to solve them; figuring out the necessary approach is part of the puzzle. These hunts may be hosted at a particular location, in multiple locations, or via the internet.

Computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) is a pedagogical approach wherein learning takes place via social interaction using a computer or through the Internet. This kind of learning is characterized by the sharing and construction of knowledge among participants using technology as their primary means of communication or as a common resource. CSCL can be implemented in online and classroom learning environments and can take place synchronously or asynchronously.

A literature circle is equivalent for young people of an adult book club, but with greater structure, expectation and rigor. The aim is to encourage thoughtful discussion and a love of reading in young people. The intent of literature circles is "to allow students to practice and develop the skills and strategies of good readers".

Team learning is the collaborative effort to achieve a common goal within the group. The aim of team learning is to attain the objective through dialogue and discussion, conflicts and defensive routines, and practice within the group. In the same way, indigenous communities of the Americas exhibit a process of collaborative learning.

Synchronous conferencing or synchronous computer-mediated communication is the formal term used in computing, in particular in computer-mediated communication, collaboration, and learning, to describe technologies informally known as online chat. It is sometimes extended to include audio/video conferencing or instant messaging systems that provide a text-based multi-user chat function. The word synchronous is used to qualify the conferencing as real-time, as distinct from a system such as e-mail, where messages are left and answered later.

The pluralistic walkthrough is a usability inspection method used to identify usability issues in a piece of software or website in an effort to create a maximally usable human-computer interface. The method centers on recruiting a group of users, developers and usability professionals to step through a task scenario, discussing usability issues associated with dialog elements involved in the scenario steps. The group of experts used is asked to assume the role of typical users in the testing.

Collaborative methods are processes, behaviors, and conversations that relate to the collaboration between individuals. These methods specifically aim to increase the success of teams as they engage in collaborative problem solving. Forms, rubrics, charts and graphs are useful in these situations to objectively document personal traits with the goal of improving performance in current and future projects.

Literature Circles in EFL are teacher accompanied classroom discussion groups among English as a foreign language learners, who regularly get together in class to speak about and share their ideas, and comment on others' interpretations about the previously determined section of a graded reader in English, using their 'role-sheets' and 'student journals' in collaboration with each other.

Positive interdependence is an element of cooperative and collaborative learning where members of a group who share common goals perceive that working together is individually and collectively beneficial, and success depends on the participation of all the members.

References

  1. ↑ "NoviCraft: virtual world team building". The Metaverse Journal. 22 February 2009.
  2. ↑ Linnake, Tuomas (16 December 2008). "Vankilapako opettaa johtamista ja yhteispeliä". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  3. ↑ Juntto, Anssi (9 October 2008). "Tiimikoulutus muuttaa pelimaailmaan". Kaleva (in Finnish). Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  4. ↑ Kauppinen, Jukka O. (15 December 2008). "Johtamis- ja tiimikoulutusta videopelien keinoin". Muropaketti  [ fi ] (in Finnish). Otavamedia  [ fi ]. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  5. ↑ Manninen, Tony (2005). Designing Puzzles for Collaborative Gaming Experience – CASE: eScape (PDF). DiGRA Conference. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 April 2012.
  6. ↑ Bluemink, Johanna; Hämäläinen, Raija; Manninen, Tony; Järvelä, Sanna (2009). "Group-level analysis on multiplayer game collaboration: how do the individuals shape the group interaction?". Interactive Learning Environments. 18 (4). Informa: 365–383. doi:10.1080/10494820802602444. S2CID   23176435.
  7. ↑ Bluemink, Johanna; Järvelä, Sanna (2011). "Elements of collaborative discussion and shared problem-solving in a voice-enhanced multiplayer game". Journal of Interactive Learning Research. 22 (1): 23–50.
  8. ↑ Pirkola, Jani (24 April 2009). "NoviCraft is the best eLearning product 2009 - TeamingStream's training game wins award". Archived from the original on 29 April 2009.
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