Using Growing Pet Game in Facebook to enhance students’ learning motivation: in Operating System

course

Ye- Xuan SheDept of information & Computer Engineering

Chung Yuan Christian University Taoyuan, Taiwan

yatwo80@msn.com

Ming-Hong Lin Dept of information & Computer Engineering

Chung Yuan Christian University Taoyuan, Taiwan

s9016030303@hotmail.com

Bin -Shyan Jong Dept of information & Computer Engineering

Chung Yuan Christian University Taoyuan, Taiwan

bsjong@ice.cycu.edu.tw

Yen-Teh HsiaDept of information & Computer Engineering

Chung Yuan Christian University Taoyuan, Taiwan

hsia.yenteh@gmail.com

Abstract—Based on the previous study, game-based learning can raise students’ learning motivation and effectiveness by plentiful sound and light effects. Normal PC games often lack of interactive so that students would feel tired after they play a while. Because of that, this study use the factor of social network to become suddenly popular, we designed the course content in the Facebook and provide the social functions which have pets fighting and scoreboard. Then we probed into the social network games, weather the students could play the social network games without the limitation of time and space or not. And furthermore, we also analyze the social network games’ effect for learning motivation and behavior. In this research experiment has the participants total of 141 students who are third year of college students and study the Operating System course. The experimental group has 70 students, and the control group has 71 students. This research use the game concept which is growing pet, user can answer the question about course or normal growing pet ways to grow pet. Through the social function, we make students fight with each other’s pet after that they can see the score on the scoreboard. According to the experimental data, we see that students will log in the game and play it actively and some of students even log in game at midnight so that we know a truth students would spend their own time to use this social network game-based learning system without the limitation of time and space. Finally, we also confirm that the social functions which include pets fighting and scoreboard indeed enhance students’ learning motivation.

Keywords—Facebook, game-based learning, social network, pets fighting, scoreboard.

I. INTRODUCTION The Operating System is the main subject of ICE and the

course has lots of online resource on online platform. The students need to learn by heart the course content in particular

chapters, for example, “Computer System Structures”, “Operating System Structures”, “Process Concept”, “CPU Scheduling”, “Process Synchronization”, “Deadlock”, “Memory Management”, “File System”. Among these chapters “CPU Scheduling”, “Memory Management” and “Process Concept”, students need to understand these chapters detail and finish the project with these chapters. In OS course we make students to do the quizzes many times so that we could know the students familiarity about the course. All these factors make students to believe that study the OS course isn’t easy, and students learning motivation along with decline. Jong’s research confirm that the game-based learning indeed enhance learning motivation in OS course [1]. But the research’s experiment took students to a computer classroom at a particular time then let them play the game. Because of that, we use the habit that the students login Facebook frequently everyday [2], we build the learning platform on Facebook.

When they login the social-network game on Facebook, they don’t install big size file and just play the game in anytime at anywhere. Then we can observe the variation of students’ motivation and discuss the effectiveness of learning.

Game-based learning is proved a learning way that could enhance students’ learning motivation and help them to organize knowledge [3]. There is lots of research proposed many kinds of game-based learning type including role-playing [4], “First Person Shooter” [5], simulation game [6]. In different subject area used the different type of games. In order to find out the suited game for Operating System, we designed a social-network game consist of course content. In the experiment, we let students play the game after school and they can share, compete, and

2013 Learning and Teaching in Computing and Engineering

978-0-7695-4960-6/13 $26.00 © 2013 IEEE

DOI 10.1109/LaTiCE.2013.11

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2013 Learning and Teaching in Computing and Engineering

978-0-7695-4960-6/13 $26.00 © 2013 IEEE

DOI 10.1109/LaTiCE.2013.11

224

collaborate in the game. And we have a target: if we add social items in this game (for example: battling with pet), the effect of learning motivation and behavior.

II. RELATED WORK

A. Game-based Learning Computer game is one of the largest industries, and it’s

important for many guys’ activity in daily life [7]. In recent years, scholars and teachers attend to the potential of using computer game on learning [8][9][10][11][12]. Combining the students’ high motivation and course content in a game is called game-based learning [13]. Compare traditional education with the way of game-based learning. The traditional education just makes students understand knowledge passively. The way of game-based learning not only makes students join the game actively [14] and enhance students’ motivation but also makes them be willing to spend time in learning [15][16][17]. Game-based learning use in non-entertainment area called “Serious Game” [18][10]. There are already lots of researches that used “Serious Game” at language, science, and healthcare area. For example, a game that is called “Talking Island” teaches students English vocabulary and conversation [12] and the other game that is called “Frequency 1550” and constructed on mobile device teaches Amsterdam students the history of city [19]. These games could grow up the potential of education and design for learners [11] that makes learners learn easily and improve the effectiveness of learning [7][18].

Game-based learning includes the following point [7]:

1. In order to let students concentrate on playing game-based learning games, we provide rich audio-visual effects.

2. Learners should use the knowledge which learned in the past to finish the tasks in the games.

3. These games should give students feedback immediately and let students test by themselves to find out the correct answers.

4. These games provide different level test to help students know that what is they don’t understand yet.

5. There is a social factor which a player would interact with the others.

B. Social-Network Game Social-network game based on the social-network websites,

user can play and release the game through the website. It has become a new trend in Game Industry, the popular social-network games even have millions users [20][21]. In social-network games, most players know each other from social-network website [22]. Through playing games together, players can take tasks and compete with each other in order to enhance the fun. The social-network games typically have the following characteristics:

1. Free: Players don’t spend money on playing games and they could choose time flexibly to play games, we called this “easy in easy out” [23].

2. Asynchronous: When a user interacts with friends, the friends aren’t online necessary. But the system would leave the message to the friends. The way of asynchronous makes users don’t login at the same time but also can enjoy the game with each other.

3. Consumption limits: Users have the fixed energy to use every day in games. When they use up all the energy they should wait for recovery so that it lets users wait for a while and login again and again to enhance the frequency of login times [24].

C. Social-Network Game Design When we design the social-network games, we divided into

two parts: games content and players interaction. Traditional games were designed with games content and games rules. The social-network game except above two elements, it also has a social factor that could interact with good friends. A scholar Aki Järvinen proposed five points about designing social-network games [24]:

1. Symbolic Physicality: Through buttons and action in games could bring the reality feeling to players. For example: there is a function called “Give Me Five” that a player could use with each other in a game so that users could feel the reality feeling of “Give Me Five.”

2. Spontaneity: Developers design games becoming easy to use, for example: a series of actions just push a button and finish all actions, games content include user’s daily life and users don’t need to understand how to operate.

3. Inherent Sociability: The interesting of social-network game is interacting with social circle friend (schoolmates, company colleagues) and how to enhance the interaction in games (help each other, competition.)

4. Narrativity: Through sending messages lets players know status in games by themselves. At the same time, players could know each other’s status and attract others who don’t play the games.

5. Asynchronicity: The characteristic of asynchronicity lets players don’t loss the messages when something interrupt in the games (eating, taking shower, sending SMS). The social-network website would store the status by sort-messages or mail when users login next time they will see these messages to understand what happened at off-line.

III. SOCIAL NETWORK GAME-BASED LEARNING SYSTEM This study use “Facebook application program” to embed

Operating System Little Pet (OSLP) into Facebook, so that the students can use this system for learning. The users can engage in

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social networking, while using the application programs of Facebook. The application programs on Facebook are connected to the Social Channel through the API provided by Facebook. The OSLP uses FLASH interface to show the games frame and this frame based on Javascript by Facebook. The OSLP also gets users’ basic information, records the users’ action and obtains permission of posting a message by the users’ account. Fig. 1 shows the system structure. Users just login Facebook and get into OSLP by application page, they don’t install too much files.

In the OSLP, players should keep pets by doing something. Players can use money buying feed to feed pets so that players should get more and more money in this game. And pets should get training in order to level up and fight to each other’s pets. We design a point called OS (Operating System) points if players get OS points they can buy high-level feed to make pets stronger. When players explore the islands on OSLP maps they should answer some questions about OS course content. Therefore players would learn for keeping pets stronger in the OSLP.

Figure 1. Architecture of SNGBLs

IV. QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN This study uses Pintrich’s Motivated Strategies for Learning

Questionnaire (MSLQ) [25], and divided into three face total 31 questions. Wilke points out that the first part of MSLQ could represent the motivation of course [26] so that we just used the first part to survey students’ motivation.

This study also designed a game questionnaire in order to question students about the game quality, social interaction, learning action and satisfaction. The questionnaire divided into two parts, first part has 18 questions based on Likert 7-point scale and second part has 4 questions. Table I & II show these questions.

V. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE This experiment uses Facebook platform to design OSLP to

assist in course teaching. The subjects were 141 students in the course of Operating System at the Department of Information Management, Chung Yuan Christian University. There are 70

students in experimental group and there are 71 students in control group. Finally, we will modify the experimental number of people by effective experimental data and questionnaires.

TABLE I. QUESTIONNAIRE OF GAME

No. Item 1 The pictures in the game make me satisfied. 2 If there are more anime, I’ll play more concentrated. 3 If there are more audio-effect, I’ll play more concentrated. 4 The questions describe clearly in the game. 5 I got a good interaction with friends in the game. 6 The way of interaction makes me satisfied. 7 When I battle with a friend and win this fight, it makes me happy. 8 I would find the answer of the questions to keep pets stronger than others. 9 The game builds on Facebook so that I can choose learning time flexibly.

10 Through the functions of exploring, fighting stealing feed in the game can help me to review the knowledge what I have learned before.

11 Through this game I don’t feel boring anymore in OS course. 12 The game builds on Facebook makes me use easily. 13 More and more friends join in this game makes me want to play more.

14 The reason of Facebook games are playful maybe not the games are funny but the peers play with you.

15 I like this game. 16 I’ll recommend this game to my senior brothers and sisters in the class.

TABLE II. QUESTIONNAIRE OF GAME

No. Item 1 The pictures in the game make me satisfied. 2 If there are more anime, I’ll play more concentrated. 3 If there are more audio-effect, I’ll play more concentrated. 4 The questions describe clearly in the game.

We use the three chapters “Process Concept”, “CPU Scheduling” and “Process Synchronization” in the game. The difference between two groups is that experimental group could battle with each other but control group could not. The control group’s game system is just traditional game but builds on Facebook, and there is no social item (battle) in the game. In this study, we divide into five steps. In first step, we make two group students take a 1st quiz before experiment a week ago. Second, we make students take a questionnaire of learning motivation for pre-test. Third, we let two group students play the OSLP in the classroom first and let them play after school in two weeks. Fourth, we make students take a questionnaire of learning motivation for post-test. Fifth, we use 2nd quiz to check the effectiveness of learning.

VI. RESULT We get the 84 complete data 41 from experimental group and

43 from control group. In order to analyze variation of students learning motivation, we take the pre-test questionnaire before the experiment and take the post-test questionnaire two weeks later.

Before the experiment, there is a significant difference between these groups and the control group learning motivation is higher than the experimental group (p=0.004131, p<0.005). At post-test questionnaire, there is no significant difference between two groups (p=0.41155, p>0.01). After students play the game, the experimental group learning motivation raise and the control

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group learning motivation decline. It means the “Battle” indeed exciting students to win the fight and it makes them want to explorer islands and answer the questions about course content in this game.

TABLE III. ANOVA OF PRE-QUESTIONNAIRE

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TABLE IV. ANOVA OF POST-QUESTIONNAIRE

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The control group initial learning motivation is higher than experimental group. Fig. 2 shows that the experimental group learning motivation growth rate is positive but the control group is negative. We think the reason is that the experimental group could battle with peers but the control group not. When students play in social-network game-based learning, it would encourage their learning motivation, and the “Battle” is a good way for playing with peers. It causes the students comparing with each other. A healthy competition could enhance their learning motivation more.

In this study, we let students do the game questionnaire finally. The Reliability Analysis of game questionnaire is high reliability (Cronbach’s Alpha is 0.769>0.7). At the part of system, students trust that this study system could enhance the familiarity of course content. Some students indicate that they use Facebook usually so it’s convenient. And some students say that the question bank is not enough, they would easily see the same question. Moreover, they point out the system should enhance the game anime. At the part of interaction, they think that the function of “Battle” is not complete. They want to decide the pet action (for example: attack or defense), and the message of informing a player who was challenged isn’t obvious. Some students suggest the game could add some factors (time for answering question or questions difficulty) in order to increase stimulus. Besides, some students say the reason is that in this game they maybe win a student who is good at this subject. Overall students think this study game system is fun and willing to recommend.

Figure 2. Learning motivation curve

VII. CONCLUSION Over the years, many scholars make students enhance the

learning motivation by game-based learning [3], but few people build the game-based learning system on the Facebook. Development so far, Facebook original function is just socializing with each other who we don’t know in the school, but now it becomes a multiple functions social network website. Among these functions, the popular function is developing applications on Facebook and many developers also build the game on it and the game could invite the user’s friends to join the game together [22]. This study successfully develops the game-based learning system on Facebook and makes the “Operating System” course into the game so that we could observe the social game how affects students’ learning behavior.

In this experiment, we find out something that the social-network game-based learning indeed could raise the learning motivation and observe the students’ behavior in this new model. In the same condition, the experimental group is added the “Battle” item and after the experiment the learning motivation growth rate is better than control group. We could prove that the “Battle” is a good way to raise the learning motivation.

Social-network game-based learning is a new learning model, in this model we make students raise learning motivation and make the course become more fun. In the feature, we’ll enhance the interaction model and make messages be seen easily so that it would increase the battle completion rate. Besides, we’ll also change the difficulty of questions and set the timer to make the “Pet Fighting” more fun.

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