FST Graduate Research Topic
Research Topic: RPG like Quest Design for Web-based Multiplayer Assessment Game
Suggested By: Maiga Chang
Last Update: March 19th, 2025
This research topic can only be taken by both Thesis route and Project route student. This research topic include the following project development. The project outcome needs to be examined by well-designed experiment for quanititative and qualitative data analysis (for Thesis route student) and pilot testing for usability and technology acceptance analysis (for both Thesis and Project students).
In the past, we have developed a chessboard like Web-based Multiplayer Assessment Game (https://megaworld.gameserver.ca/) and done some pilots on it. The assessment game allows learners role playing in the chessboard like world and its village. The idea of the game is to assess learners' knowledge and skills implicitly when they play the game. The learners can pickup quests from NPCs in vary places such as houses, weapon and food stores in the villages, and the game can assess learners' learning performances when they turn in the quest. Although the game has five quest types (i.e., greeting quest, true-false quest, multiple choice quest, fill-in-the-blank quest, and short-answer quest), those quests are "quiz" like instead of RPG like. Learners may feel boring and be aware of they are assessed rather than play the game.
This research project focuses on the design of RPG quests for different disciplines and learning subjects include language learning, math, science, and botany, so the students will be not aware of they are assessed while playing the game. Due to the reward of a quest usually include experience points and receiving experience points can make student's character level up, this research project also needs to consider the experience points required for leveling as well as the experience point range that different quest types should have.
The student needs to analyze and categorize RPG like quest types for at least four different disciplines: language learning, Math, science (Physics, Earth, and Botany). While analyzing the quest types, the student also need to find out the experience point ranges for different quest types as well as for different levels. Because of sometimes players may want to challenge higher level quests to prove themselves or want to complete lower level quests easily. From the leveling point of view, the student needs to consider the required experience points for leveling from one level to another. For these experience points relevant issues, the student may need to take flow theory into consideration while dealing with it.
At the end, the student required to design quests for players leveling at least five levels in the game in the four abovementioned disciplines. The student also needs to design a pilot experiment which can be used to figure out the effects of those RPG like quests and to collect the perceptions toward the assessment game and its RPG like quests that the players may have.
The student can learn how to design RPG like quests for educational assessment game with academia theory like flow theory and learning progress theory. Also, for Thesis route student, he or she can know how to design a practical experiment and what quantitative and qualitative research methods can be applied to such research. For project student, he or she can know how to design a pilot for doing usability and technology acceptance analysis. Skills of designing and evaluating a questionnaire's validity and reliability can be learnt either. The last but not least, the student is going to know HTML/XML and JavaScript better while design the quests.
The student is better to have the following skills or knowledge:
|