The event features three days of activities focusing on serious games research, including workshops, keynote speeches, and paper presentations. Topics cover game design, learning methodologies, and cognitive engagement in gaming. Participants engage in discussions, compete in game competitions, and enjoy networking opportunities, culminating in awards for outstanding papers.
Activities day 1
| Activities of Day 1 – 2024-11-20 | |
| 09:00 | Registration is open (all day) |
| 10:00 | Workshop Workshop on Serious Game Research Session Chair: Avo Schönbohm (World Café) & Vanissa Wanick (Panel discussion) World Café on Six Key Topics to be voted for (Design Frameworks, Learning Objectives, Future Skills, Methodologies, Scales, Publication Strategies, …) Panel Discussion with Senior Researchers (Alf Wang, Eric Klopfer, Francesco Bellotti, Jan L. Plass) |
| 12:00 | Lunch |
| 13:00 | Opening Words and Statistical Embodiment Game |
| Session 1 // Session Chair: Pierpaolo Dondio | |
| 13:15 | Kristina Risley and René Röpke. A Growing Community of Practice on Games and Learning: A Literature Review with Bibliometric and Thematic Analyses Liang Xu, Mark Andrade, Elaine Uí Dhonnchadha and Monica Ward. Cipher in Classrooms: Evaluating Digital Game-Based Language Learning for Irish Vocabulary Acquisition Cecilia Fissore, Francesco Floris, Valeria Fradiante, Marina Marchisio Conte and Matteo Sacchet. Involving teachers in gamified learning activities using generative artificial intelligence tools Antti Koskinen, Antero Lindstedt and Kristian Kiili. Exploring the Potential of Game-Based Learning in AI Ethics Education Yimin Zhou, Merlijn Mac Gillavry, Pengzhi Yang, Zihao Xu, Baitian Zhang and Rafael Bidarra Astral Body: a virtual reality game for body ownership investigation |
| 14:25 | Coffee break and snacks |
| 14:45 | KEYNOTE Speaker: Alessandro Canossa Intro: Sander Bakkes THE TAMING OF THE FOX Data-driven behavioral profiling and evaluation in digital games One size does not fit us all, we are all different. I try to understand users based on how they behave in digital systems and use that understanding to design better, more engaging, more responsive personalized systems. My digital system of choice? Well, games of course! |
| Session 2 // Session Chair: Kristina Risley | |
| 15:30 | Jiayi Cen, Nora McIntyre and Christian Bokhove. Is There Cognitive Engagement When They Comment ‘Haha’: A Dynamic Analysis of Cognitive and Emotional Engagement in Game Video Comments Elizabeth Cloude, Eva Kormann, Marco Steiner, Antero Lindstedt, Kristian Kiili and Manuel Ninaus. The role of feedback type and task performance on concurrent emotions and interest during game-based learning Zacharoula Papamitsiou, Sobah Abbas Petersen, Chrysoula Psyllaki, Gunnar Martin Lamvik and Hans Yngvar Torvatn. On the Design of Gamified Learning Analytics for Immersive Virtual Reality Games Brunella Botte, Giada Marinensi, Henk Aarts, Sander Bakkes and Remco Veltkamp. Evaluating Phillips’ Game Rewards Taxonomy: implications for the Gamification Design |
| 16:45 | Coffee break and snacks |
| 18:00 | Playful Interaction (Turtle Wu Shu) |
| 18:15 | Game Competition, Game and Poster Exhibition (food reception included). |
| 20:15 | Game Competition Awards Ceremony |
Activities Day 2
| Activities of Day 2: 2024-11-21 | |
| 8:45 | Registration is open (all day) |
| 09:00 | Playful Interaction |
| Session 3 // Session Chair: René Röpke | |
| 09:15 | Jan Sau, Imma Boada, Laura Sánchez-Pascuala Gómez and Aleix Dorca Josa. Design and Evaluation of a Serious Game on Household Sustainability Kevin Körner, Ann-Kathrin Steiner, Esther Fink, Jennifer Jennifer Chupakhin and Glaucia Peres da Silva. Graveler – Global Awareness Education through Virtual Voyages Mikhail Fiadotau, Peadar Callaghan, Michela Tramonti and Alden Dochshanov. Wicked Problems as a Frame to Teach Environmental Literacy in a Digitally-Mediated Seminar Game Gianluca Guglielmo, Michal Klincewicz, Elisabeth Huis In’T Veld and Pieter Spronck. Detecting Experts Using a MiniRocket: Gaze Direction Time Series Classification of Real-Life Experts Playing The Sustainable Port |
| 10:25 | Coffee break and snacks |
| BEST PAPER AWARD SESSION | |
| 10:45 | Best Paper Award Session (5 papers and 20 minutes allocated to each paper) Session Chair: Francesca de Rosa Manuel Ninaus, Moritz Edlinger, Nathalie Scheucher and Stefan E. Huber. Establishing a new computational method to predict effects of gaming: A feasibility study on growth mindset Alf Inge Wang. Use of Game Design and Game Elements in Serious Project Management Games Kristina Risley and Vanissa Wanick. Asking the Experts: A Delphi Method Investigation into Serious Games for Leadership Development Mariana Rocha and Pierpaolo Dondio. Gameplay performance as a predictor of Adaptive Expertise in primary school students Jessica L. Bitter, Rieke Deborah Koßmann, Michael Lurz, Lorena Müller and Ulrike Spierling. Adding Chance to a Serious Game’s Mechanics to Encourage Action in Uncertain Situations |
| 12:30 | Lunch |
| Session 5 // Session Chair: Antonio Bucchiarone | |
| 13:30 | Kevin Fiedler, René Schäfer, Jan Borchers and René Röpke. “Deception Detected!” – A Serious Game on Detecting Dark Patterns Octavia Lea, Lynsay Shepherd and Andrea Szymkowiak. HeartGuard VR: Immersive Romance Scam Education Elena Shliakhovchuk and Miguel Chover. Virtual battlefields: the rise of video games “inspired” by war in Ukraine. Chloe Woods, Aaron Tasker-Lynch, Joseph Le Seelleur, Stephen McBride, Ryan Gilbride, Daniel Brice and Darragh Lydon. Development of a Simulation to aid Navigation in First year CS Students |
| 14:45 | Coffee break and snacks |
| 15:00 | Keynote: Prof. Jan L. Plass: Designing Effective Games for Learning Intro: Pierpaolo Dondio Digital Games are pervasive, constantly evolving in their complexity and features, and heralded by many as agents for education reform. Arguably, digital games are also among the least understood genres of educational environments. This presentation will first provide a summary of the affordances of games and distinguish gamification, game-based learning, and playful learning. Using a new design model of playful learning, we will then review empirical research that investigated a variety of cognitive, social, and emotional design patterns to make games and playful learning environments effective learning tools. We will discuss the design of learning mechanics and assessment mechanics, emotional design for learning, and recent revisions of cognitive load theory to make it applicable to the design of games for learning. |
| Session 6 // Session Chair: Iza Marfisi | |
| 15:45 | Anna O. Meshcheryakova and Fabian Hemmert. Making games to make futures: Playfully co-designing games for civic learning and thinking about futures Pelin Celik and Jana Picciani. Envisioning Futures Through Play – Embodiment Techniques For Futures Thinking In Business Contexts Vanissa Wanick, Richard Gomer, Lesia Tkacz, Kristina Risley, Paolo Spada, Marco Meloni and Matt Ryan. Learning Participatory Budgeting via Collaborative World-Building: A Case Study of Empaville Avo Schönbohm. Horizon Makers: A Serious Game for Activating Futures Literacy Skills |
| 17:00 | SGS General Assembly |
| 19:30 | Conference Dinner @ Tangoloft Berlin Kühlhaus Berlin (5th floor), Luckenwalder Str. 3, 0963 Berlin |
Activities Day 3
| Activities of Day 3: 2024-11-22 | |
| 8:45 | Registration is open (all day) |
| 9:00 | Playful Interaction |
| Session 7 // Session Chair: Manuel Ninaus | |
| 09:15 | Marlene Cristina Neves Rosa, Susana Lopes, Natália Martins and Elena Lacomba-Arnau. Games as a non-pharmacology therapy for chronic pain – a mixed method pilot study in older people Agnese Augello, Giuseppe Caggianese, Giuseppe Fulvio Gaglio, Luigi Gallo, Velia Malizia, Stefania La Grutta, Giancarlo Tancredi, Attilio Turchetta and Rosa Anna Vacca. Serious Games as Emerging E-Health Interventions: Design of an Exergame for the SMILER Project Iza Marfisi-Schottman, Hubert Santuz, Camille Bisson, Marc Baaden, Nicolas Férey, Antoine Taly and Olivier Delalande. Escape from PharmaZ: a Game to Boost Pharmacophore Learning through Immersive Augmented Reality |
| 10:00 | Coffee break and snacks |
| 10:15 | Keynote: Eric Klopfer: Games Resonating with Learners and Technologies. Intro: Alf Inge Wang The Education Arcade @ MIT has created a set of principles for designing “Resonant Games,” based on principles of “Resonant Design.” In this talk I will explore some of the theories that Resonant Design is based on, the principles of Resonant Design and the games and experiences that have both emerged from and informed these principles. Much of the work focuses on STEM learning in secondary schools, though work in higher education is also included. This includes making sure that games are designed in line with the affordances of new technologies like AR and VR, but also considering the way that simple technologies can integrate easily into learning environments. Games explored in this will range from collaborative mobile games to AR (and hopefully AI). |
| Session 8 // Session Chair: Alf Inge Wang | |
| 11:10 | Theoklitos Tataris and Stelios Xinogalos. Design and Pilot Evaluation of an RPG Game for Self-Assessment of Informatics and Economics Knowledge in Secondary Education Federico Bonetti, Antonio Bucchiarone and Vanissa Wanick. Using LLMs to Adapt Serious Games with Educators in the Loop |
| 11:45 | Next GALA conference location Best Paper Award Presentation Closing Remarks |
| 12:15 | Lunch and networking |
Workshop on Serious Games Research
This open-format workshop will begin with a World Café centered around five key research topics in serious games, which participants will vote for from a curated list. Potential topics include publication strategies, research methodologies, validated scales for game experiences, defining learning objectives, and more. After a brief discussion and voting, the final five topics will be selected.
Each topic will be facilitated by a dedicated host, who will lead the discussion on a whiteboard. Participants will engage in multiple rounds, spending 10 minutes at each board before rotating to another. The host will briefly summarize the current discussion and guide the next round. We expect to conduct three to four rounds of discussions, ensuring a diverse exchange of ideas.
After the rotations, the hosts will present the key insights from their respective discussions. The workshop will conclude with a panel discussion, led by Vanissa, where experts will provide their perspectives on various research topics in serious games. This interactive format ensures a participant-driven workshop that fosters collaborative learning and engagement.
(Note: We may require five hosts to facilitate the discussions.)
Full Paper Presentation: Each full paper presentation is allocated 10 minutes for the presentation, followed by a 5-minute discussion period.
Best Paper Award Session: Presentations in the best-paper award session will be given 15 minutes for the presentation and 5 minutes for discussion.
GALA Conf 2025 