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Tourney is a game-based learning platform developed as a long-term research & development project at the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland. The project aims to introduce game-based learning principles at all stages of education by engaging students and teachers to play an isometric platform game. The game consists of levels that each encompasses a set of questions. These questions manifest as obstacles and are represented as unpassable bridges in a labyrinth, which if answered correctly, unlocks continuing paths towards a portal to conclude the level. In 2016 Tourney project team collaborated with the Radiology & Nuclear Medicine Clinic of the University Hospital Basel in Switzerland to develop new game elements that would support the radiologists' training to recognize uncommon pathologies. For this collaboration project, two new question types have been developed to measure repetitive and high frequency task performances of the players. Additionally, an improved user analytics method and a procedural level generation algorithm was implemented. In this paper, the new game elements are explained with a theoretical background and the experiment setup are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The LEGO® Serious Play® (LSP) method is a designed facilitation and workshop method for serious cases where participants build LEGO models to answer questions asked by the workshop facilitator. In this paper, LSP method and process were presented in strong relationship with career planning for undergraduate students in Germany. The experiment was carried on for six sessions and the results of each study are presented and compared to identify the most suitable method to support career planning. The participants were asked to build up models based on decision-making processes, their goals and their individual guiding principles. Each participant responded to a question before and after the LSP workshops and their responses were compared qualitatively and quantitatively. At the end of the LSP sessions, the results present more complex and personalized statements, and therefore differ clearly from the answers before the workshops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Customer experience has become an important factor for the digital and non-digital value creation. Some brands, products or services create their unique selling preposition only based on a well-designed customer experience. This requires a mind change that puts the customer into the center of the design to create and improve the customer's experience. In this paper we present an extension of the Service Journey Modelling Language (SJML) v2.0 and outline a semantic annotation approach that can be analyzed. The results of the analysis help to identify areas of improvement for streamlining the customer experience in several dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the experiment settings and the evaluation of gamifying a biology class using the digital learning game platform Tourney (Korkut et al., 2014) are presented. This platform, retitled as BioTourney and equipped with biology-related contents, is implemented as a self-learning assessment tool in the biology curriculum of 10th and 11th grade of a secondary school (age group: 15-17). It provides an e-learning game environment for self-paced learning based on the ability to overcome increasingly difficult levels of the biology learning curriculum. As a major gamification aspect, mastering individual levels was rewarded through feelings of achievement. Tourney itself has been developed at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland in 2014 by an interdisciplinary team of researchers from business/economics, design, computer science, applied psychology and pedagogics. The project continues to develop solutions for various application areas in higher education. Besides state-of-the-art design and game technology, Tourney comprises gamified elements of learning in order to enhance learning outcomes and knowledge transfer. With the content-independent framework structure, teachers can create customized challenges for students by choosing and assembling modular elements associated with course-relevant learning materials. BioTourney has been released for application in the classroom after thoughtful preparation and careful testing with beta users outside the school. The experiment was carried out in October 2015 with a limited number of pupils (N=32) who have never played the game before. Game play data from the experiment have been collected and analyzed with regards to user knowledge and user interactions with the game. Learning engagement and the players’ perception of learning progress were assessed through an online survey. Although the feedback has indicated moderate enjoyment in playing BioTourney, the majority of pupils have implied that they have learned something. Gameplay data analysis and player feedback suggest that BioTourney is an example where game-based learning has made a positive, measurable impact and supported personalized learning. The paper presents the research setup, the BioTourney tool as well as the test environment, and discusses the benefits and future adaptations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gamification is a current trend in the business as well as the educational sector and is increasingly being applied in various disciplines and learning settings, especially in the context of e-learning. In order to take the various needs and requirements of learners from different disciplines into account, a concept called Content Independent Game Framework (CIGF) (Korkut et al., 2014) and a corresponding online learning web platform called Tourney (http://www.tourney.ch) have been developed for the application in the context of higher education. According to the concept, teachers on the one hand, are content experts and mentors for the learning process. The students, on the other hand, are explorers, achievers and individual learners. For this reason, according to the CIGF, teachers act as game designers, creating playful challenges based on their subjects and geared to their students' needs. How difficult the game level is designed and what knowledge is to be imparted in which way depends on the teacher's evaluation, expertise and imagination. The application of the CIGF aims at engaging students in online learning environments as well as motivating instructors to rethink their content and design it in a new, attractive way to comply with the prerequisites of the digital age. The paper introduces the concept of the Content Independent Game Framework and the respective online learning platform Tourney and describes different use cases in the context of higher education. Furthermore, the different types of user data collected with Tourney as well as game stages designs are presented. Gained experiences from these game stage designs with regard to the underlying learning strategies as well as learning outcomes from user observations are reported and discussed and a future outlook is given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourney" is the title of a digital learning game, which aims at increasing the learning outcome of students on various levels of their study programs. "Tourney" is being developed with an interdisciplinary approach, critically focused on creating a content independent game framework for a versatile application in the learning environment. This platform offers a well-designed, flexible and multifaceted tool kit of exemplary self-learning sequences that the lecturers and also students can enrich with their own structured content in order to create learning paths by choosing and arranging modular elements. Additionally, the tool allows monitoring students' learning progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]