Hop.Skip.Jump.Games. The design, development, deployment and evaluation of video games to support locomotor acquisition in a classroom setting

Abstract

Sedentary video gameplay is typically described as a contributing factor to poor locomotor skills (hop, skip and jump etc.) observed in the modern day child. Further, poor locomotor skills are a significant predictor of problems elsewhere including health, speech and language, behaviour and reading fluency. Conversely, with the emergence of 3D sensor interfaces (e.g. Kinect), video games now support full body, gross motor simulated interactivity. This offers an intriguing opportunity to transform a potential barrier to locomotor acquisition into a veritable training ground. This thesis is initially concerned with the design of a theoretically informed and ?principled? framework (entitled PaCMAn: Principles and Conditions for Motor Acquisition) which can be utilised to underpin video games for locomotor acquisition for use in the classroom setting. Following this, a series of adaptable games are developed to facilitate instant adaption of gaming features by a human adaptive component; the teacher. The adaptive nature of these games allows the teacher to negotiate currently existing 3D sensor limitations by adapting parameters of gameplay ?on the fly? in line with individual user needs. The teacher is also expected to deliver additional parts of the framework that the game/system cannot. Specific details relating to the role of the teacher, in terms of the deployment process, were evaluated during an initial period of action research carried out in the classroom setting. This resulted in the articulation of A Teacher Adaption and Deployment Guide. A second period of action research focused on the effectiveness of videogames for locomotor acquisition in the classroom; both from the point of view of the teacher (i.e. could teachers do all of the things asked of them in the deployment guide?) and from the point of view of the learner (i.e. did an extended period of gameplay lead to improved locomotor skills?). Quantitative findings indicate that the games outlined in this thesis supported significant improvements in user locomotor skills. Additionally, qualitative findings indicate that teachers were not only capable of deploying these games effectively but were also empowered by the meaningful role they had to play in the delivery process. Ergo, video games present as a useful platform capable of supporting and enhancing both the teaching and learning of locomotor skills in the classroom setting.