Games Development for Pedagogical and Educational Purposes

Abstract

This chapter presents a research developed in collaboration by two higher education institutions. Nowadays, high education programs can only be successful with the use of new technologies in the teaching/learning process, especially when there are special education requirements. Two experiments were carried out: (1) a set of billiard balls, for snooker game, simulated by using physics laws and, (2) aLJo 2009, a game whose aim is to achieve the correct sorting of a sequence to accomplish a common task. Both projects were developed by students from University of Minho (UM), with different background and from different engineering courses. The snooker game, an academic project, aims to demonstrate that, through a simple game, several areas of knowledge can be used. On the other hand, aLJo 2009 was developed considering a collaboration protocol between UM and the Parents and Friends Association of the Citizen with Mental Deficiency (APPCDM), to improve behavior and social skills in patients with mental impairments.