Graphics and Human Computer Interfaces Commons^™

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Flipped Classrooms For Teaching Cs1, Ashish Amresh, Adam R. Carberry, John Femiani

Ashish Amresh

An alternative to the traditional classroom structure that has seen increased use in higher education is the flipped classroom. Flipping the classroom switches when assignments (e.g. homework) and knowledge transfer (e.g. lecture) occur. Flipped classrooms are getting popular in secondary and postsecondary teaching institutions as evidenced by the marked increase in the study, use, and application of the flipped pedagogy as it applies to learning and retention. The majority of the courses that have undergone this change use applied learning strategies and include a significant “learning-by-doing” component. The research in this area is skewed towards such courses and in general …

Uav Sensor Operator Training Enhancement Through Heat Map Analysis, Ashish Amresh, John Femiani, Jason Fairfield, Adam Fairfield

Ashish Amresh

Heat map based data visualization and mining is an emerging area in game engine design and architecture. Employed by many state of the art game engines and popular commercial games, this technology helps populate and collate player activity and behavior to better inform the system for further action. Simulation and serious games can tremendously benefit by applying heat map based visualization for the purposes of analyzing and tracking player behavior. Heat maps are time varying texture maps that represent a chosen activity over a certain grid at any particular interval of elapsed time. In this paper results of applying a …

Interactive Cause And Effect Comic-Book Storytelling For Improving Nutrition Outcomes In Children, Ashish Amresh, Madhumita Sinha, Rebecca Birr, Rahul Salla

Ashish Amresh

Obesity among children and adolescents is increasingly becoming a major public health problem. Poverty and lower socio-economic status as well as lack of parental awareness regarding a balanced diet and adequate exercise all contribute towards childhood obesity. Unfortunately minority children have been especially vulnerable, among them inner-city Latino children continue to have the highest incidence rates of overweight and obesity; hence targeted intervention for this population group is of paramount importance. Access and affordability of smartphones and mobile internet devices provide an opportunity to create nutrition education interventions that can significantly impact and change attitude and knowledge regarding healthy diet …

Developing A Bilingual, Computer-Tailored, Hpv Vaccination Promotion Intervention Targeting Latino Parents, Angela Chia-Chen Chen, Ashish Amresh

Ashish Amresh

In this paper we present an innovative, computer-tailored application aimed at increasing Latino parents' intention to vaccinate their adolescent children against Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). HPV infection is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States. Latinas have the highest age-adjusted incidence rate for HPV-associated cervical cancer compared with their counterparts in other racial/ethnic groups. HPV vaccines offer hope against HPV-associated diseases. Because parental consent is required for children under age 18 to receive t h e HPV vaccination in most U. S. states, parents' attitudes and intention to have their children vaccinated are keys for promoting HPV …

Word Towers: Assessing Domain Knowledge With Non-Traditional Genres, Tyler Baron, Ashish Amresh

Ashish Amresh

This paper presents the design, development and the results of a pilot study for Word Towers (WT), an educational game that combines gameplay mechanics from board-style word building and arcade style tower defense games. To our knowledge, this is the first ever attempt to merge these game genres into a functional educational game. Our efforts open the possibility for other learning games to be reworked into new genres, increasing novelty and player engagement. Expanding the range of genres also allows for learning games to reach a wider audience. The goal of the WT is to provide a natural method for …

Towards A Context Agnostic Platform For Design And Assessment Of Educational Games, Tyler Baron, Corey Heath, Ashish Amresh

Ashish Amresh

The majority of the games designed for improving, acquiring or transferring knowledge rely heavily on building game mechanics that are grounded deeply in the content or subject matter being taught. There is a growing need for educational practitioners and pedagogical experts to have the ability to easily map learning outcomes by choosing from a pallet of functioning game mechanics without having the need to redesign them from scratch. In this paper, we present the current state of the art in context agnostic design and assessment of educational games, and propose three strategies that educators can take advantage of during the …

Reflection On Assumptions From Designing Female-Centric Educational Games, Corey D.C. Heath, Tyler Baron, Kevin Gary, Ashish Amresh

Ashish Amresh

In this paper we present a detailed analysis of the design and implementation of an educational game targeting young women entrepreneurs by a predominantly male team. During the process, we arrived at assumptions based on intrinsic and extrinsic influences that effected the design of the game. After creating a prototype, the game was provided to the target audience during a usability test. Our observations reveal that even after following a rigorous and agile development model that included stakeholders at several time frames, we were not successful in delivering the desired experience to our target audience. We conclude by presenting a …

A Pilot Study Of Computerized, Tailored Intervention To Promote Hpv Vaccination In Mexican-Heritage Adolescents, Angaela Chia-Chen Chen, Michael Todd, Ashish Amresh, Usha Menon, Laura Szalacha

Ashish Amresh

Mhealth Games As Rewards: Incentive Or Distraction?, Kevin Gary, Ryan Stoll, Pooja Rallabhandi, Mandar Patwardhan, Derek Hamel, Ashish Amresh, Armando Pina, Kevin Cleary, Zenaide Quezado

Ashish Amresh

An Adaptive Time Reduction Technique For Video Lectures, Sreenivas P. Shenoy, Ashish Amresh, John Femiani

Ashish Amresh