Abstract:

In this work, we present a knowledge game entitled "Know the University of Patras" addressing the history, the infrastructures and the various activities of our University of Patras. Our motivation has been to inspire all members of our academic community to learn about the establishment and evolution of the Institute we are part of either as students or as faculty members and administrative personnel. Furthermore, our game can be a simple yet effective way for visiting students or faculty members, like for example in the context of exchange programs like Erasmus+, to gain knowledge regarding the University they selected to join.

Usually, we are intrigued to look into the past and present of our University only after graduation since everyday intensive routine and obligations absorb the vast majority of our time. But even when we do manage to spend time on looking into the history and activities of our University, information is scattered on various websites and books, which makes it hard for interested people to gain the big picture in a comprehensive, coherent and memorable way.

Games are effective tools for learning since they boost motivation and engagement through interactive and narrative-driven experiences, improve comprehension and retention by allowing players to actively participate and foster critical thinking. Especially regarding history and activities of an Institute, games could suggest effective tools for learning by making the process more engaging and memorable through experiences, motivation, and the ability to learn by doing, which can lead to a deeper understanding than traditional methods alone.

Our game is based on a collection of more than 50 questions classified into three categories, namely History-Administration, Infrastructure-Resources and Activities, based on information from various specialized websites under the domain of the University of Patras and also other local and national sources. Registered players are first presented with a short overview on a particular subject and then they are asked to select the correct answer among multiple choices to a given question. Correct answers increase the players' scores which are recorded in a cumulative way and feed a top-10 board. All textual content is presented as an overlay on various relevant real-world images enriching player experience and making acquired knowledge focused and memorable. To the best of our knowledge no similar approach or application has been presented for highlighting and promoting history and activities of Universities.

Our game is responsive, it supports accessibility features and it is currently offered in Greek and English. For the development we used h5p, an open-source framework that allows users to create and share interactive content, such as quizzes, interactive videos, and presentations, which can then be embedded into websites, learning management systems (LMSs), and other online platforms. We used the popular Wordpress Content Management System to host our game and Javascript to fine-tune user interface aspects.

Keywords:

Knowledge game, interactive content, history and activities of Higher Education Institutes, h5p, wordpress.