PUBLICATIONS
Here you'll find all peer-reviewed academic publications in which I was an author or co-author. These include both full research papers — published in journals and conferences — and posters/short papers.
FULL RESEARCH PAPERS
Exploring the Impact of Player Traits on the Leaderboard Experience in a Digital Maths Game (2024)
Abstract: Digital Game-Based Learning (DGBL) uses digital games to enhance engagement and learning, but its efficacy is linked to game features. Leaderboards are a commonly used feature to increase motivation through competition, improving engagement and learning outcomes. However, infinite leaderboards, displaying all players in an ordered ranking based on their scores, can demotivate players depending on their performance and characteristics. This study investigated primary school students’ experience with an infinite leaderboard during a digital maths game intervention. 1389 Irish students participated in a 6-week programme with the game ‘Seven Spells,’ which featured an infinite leaderboard. Player traits and opinions about the game and its leaderboard were gathered via questionnaires and surveys. Leaderboard enjoyment was influenced by players’ position on the leaderboard and maths anxiety levels. Maths anxious players disliked the leaderboard more than non-anxious players, even after controlling for their position on the leaderboard. How much players liked to play against each other was also found to be a significant factor predicting the enjoyment of the leaderboard. There was also a small correlation between leaderboard enjoyment and overall game enjoyment. These insights exemplify players’ characteristics that should be considered when incorporating infinite leaderboards into maths games to avoid negative impacts on gaming experiences.
Authors: André Almo, Mariana Rocha, Attracta Brennan, Pierpaolo Dondio.
The Influence of Social Competition and Maths Anxiety on Game Performance (2024)
Abstract: Digital Game-Based Learning (DGBL) uses serious games to deliver educational content. DGBL has the potential to aid children’s development of maths skills, providing educators with alternatives to traditional mathematics teaching. However, the efficacy of serious games can be affected by their attributes, including whether they are single or multi-player. While competition in a multi-player environment may enhance players’ interest and motivation, potential social pressure may lead to anxiety and affect performance. In maths education, there are additional challenges. Mathematics Anxiety (MA), the negative emotional response to mathematics, may interact with game features and impact players’ experience. This study assesses players' performance in a digital maths game called ’Seven Spells’ across two different game modes (vs. Human and vs. CPU), and it also investigates whether MA levels impacted players’ performance. 43 children from two classes in an Irish primary school participated in this study. Each class played a different game mode of the ‘Seven Spells’ game, one group playing against computer-controlled characters (vs. CPU) and the other playing against their classmates (vs. Human). The game mechanics were identical between the two competition game modes. The children completed the modified Abbreviated Mathematics Anxiety Scale (mAMAS) and a mathematics questionnaire before participating in the intervention, which included 4 sessions. They also participated in a focus group session at the end of the intervention. Data on their gameplay were collected throughout the first three sessions and analysed through multiple linear regression models to investigate possible connections between MA, maths knowledge, game modes and game performance. The results of the multiple linear regressions indicate that game performance was positively influenced by the duration of gameplay and the complexity of moves — measured by the number of moves and cards used — while being negatively affected by MA. However, a significant interaction between MA and the competition game mode was observed, suggesting that MA had a more pronounced negative impact on players in the vs. Human game mode compared to the vs. CPU game mode.
Authors: André Almo, Maíra Amaral, Mariana Rocha, Attracta Brennan, Pierpaolo Dondio.
Abstract: Science communication is an instrument of approximation between science and overall society. In recent years, the growth and strengthening of science communication projects in Brazil is perceived within educational institutions, mostly due to the expansion of universities in the countryside and academic interest in promoting social returns. However, due to the territorial extension of Brazil and historical financial resources centralization, there is a persistent regional deficit. Since 1990, Neuroscience has acquired scientific and social emphasis, becoming a popular topic, encompassing from development and pathologies to strategies to maximize teaching and work. Therefore, this work will consider the achievement of Brazilian Brain Week initiatives in the years 2017, 2018 and 2019, as well as the number of Academic Leagues of Neuroscience in Public Universities, in order to promote a discussion about Brazilian regional differences in relation to science communication.
Authors: Mariana de Souza Elysio, Carlos Henrique de Carvalho Teixeira, André Almo, Rômulo Wesley Nascimento Silva, Luana de Almeida Pereira.
Abstract: Leaderboards have often been shown to increase engagement and motivation in digital serious games, supporting better learning outcomes and positively affecting players’ game experience. However, few studies show how the player’s position on the leaderboard can be a demotivating factor and how the presence of a leaderboard can increase competition and social pressure on players to the point of hindering their game experience. In examining the relationship between a leaderboard and the player’s game experience, we sought to identify the significant factors influencing whether or not a player liked the presence of a leaderboard in a digital maths game. We conducted an experimental study involving 434 Irish primary school children who participated in a 6-week digital game-based learning (DGBL) programme playing the game Seven Spells, which included a game leaderboard. Results indicated that the players’ enjoyment of the leaderboard depended not only on their in-game performance (i.e. their position on the leaderboard), but also on their level of maths anxiety and how much they enjoyed different play modes such as playing versus a classmate or playing alone. These results suggest that game designers should consider the non-cognitive traits of players when deciding on the inclusion of a leaderboard in a digital maths game, in order to mitigate its potential negative effects on the players’ game experience.
Authors: Pierpaolo Dondio, André Almo, Maíra Amaral, Ephrem Tibebe, Mariana Rocha, Attracta Brennan.
Abstract: This study aimed to evaluate the hepatic antioxidant activity of a high-fat diet supplemented with chia oil in mice. Forty animals were divided into Control (C, n = 10), Control + 1.5 % chia oil (CC, n = 10), High fat (HF, n = 10), and High fat + 1.5 % chia oil (HFC, n = 10) groups. Chia oil reduced serum triacylglycerol in the HF group (p < 0.05). Chia oil promotes lower hepatic concentrations of F2-isoprostane (8-epi PGF2α) and thiobarbituric acid (TBARs) than HF. Chia oil increased liver protein expression and activity of superoxide dismutase 1 and 2 (SOD1 and SOD2), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx). It also upregulated the expression of PPAR-γ and NRF2, a master transcription factor involved in the antioxidant response in the liver, compared to their counterparts. The results reveal that chia oil improves the metabolic and antioxidant systems in the liver of high-fat diet-fed mice.
Authors: Aline Batista, Fernanda Torres Quitete, Thamara Cherem Peixoto, André Almo, Elisa Bernardes Monteiro, Patrícia Trindade, Lilia Zago, Marta Citelli, Julio Beltrame Daleprane.
Abstract: Several studies suggest the need to develop technology skills from a young age. The development of computational thinking enhances multidisciplinary abilities, such as abstracting and decomposing a problem into smaller parts to find a solution. Among various tools, educational games can be implemented to efficiently stimulate the development of technology skills in primary school students. The current paper describes an educational game designed to motivate players to learn and reflect on cryptography, a collection of computer science techniques adopted for data protection. The Code of Kells is a mystery game that aims to support the development of computational thinking and maths abilities for primary school students. In this collaborative game, 10-12 years old players use cryptography techniques to discover who stole the Book of Kells – an ancient manuscript kept in the Trinity College Library in Ireland. To identify the criminal's identity, the players should work on teams and follow a map of Dublin city to collect encrypted clues hidden in popular locations, such as Phoenix Park and Dublin Castle. The participants should follow guidelines provided by a cipher sheet that illustrates cryptography techniques such as Caesar's Cipher, Polybius Cipher, Pigpen Cipher and the Morse Code. Each clue leads the player closer to the revelation of who stole the book of Kells. In this study, 80 primary school children (10-11 years old) evaluated The Code of Kells by sharing their experience through an adapted version of the Game Experience Questionnaire (GEQ). Nine dimensions of the questionnaire were assessed considering children’s previous mathematics and literacy scores, besides their levels of maths anxiety. Results suggest that children with higher mathematics performance positively perceived the game and found it challenging. However, results also indicate that maths high achievers students also felt tense while playing. Students with high levels of maths anxiety perceived the game as a sensory and imaginative immersive activity.
Authors: Mariana Rocha, André Almo, Pierpaolo Dondio.
Seven Spells and Peer Tutoring: a Collaborative Mathematics Game Experience (2022)
Abstract: Mathematics anxiety (MA) is a negative emotional response to the manipulation of numbers and the solving of mathematical problems, potentially hindering learning and leading to poor maths skills. Digital game-based learning, in which games are used for education, has been recognised as a potential tool for reducing MA and positively influencing learning, information assimilation, and retention. Peer tutoring is an active learning method that reduces MA in addition to benefiting students academically. This study assessed how ’Seven Spells’, a digital maths game developed by our team, affects students’ levels of MA and mathematics performance. We hypothesized that this game could be used in classrooms to control MA and potentialise mathematics learning when combined with peer tutoring. 55 children from two 4th classes in an Irish primary school participated in this study. Over a period of three weeks (two days/week), the groups played the ’Seven Spells’ game with and without peer tutoring. A mathematics knowledge test, including content covered by the game, was administered at the beginning and end of the study to assess the children’s mathematics skills. Game scores were also analysed. At the end of the study, the children participated in an interview, answering questions about the game and the peer tutoring experience. The average game scores increased significantly for the entirety of the children, and also for both groups separately. MA only decreased significantly in the no-peer tutoring group, suggesting that the peer tutoring approach, which was expected to reduce MA, was not successful. No statistically significant differences were found between the peer tutoring and the no-peer tutoring groups in terms of game scores, mathematics errors and MA, further pointing out that the peer tutoring approach was not successful either in reducing MA or in stimulating mathematics learning.
Authors: André Almo, Mariana Rocha, Attracta Brennan, Pierpaolo Dondio.
Remote emergency teaching: a neurophysiology perspective (2021)
Abstract: In 2020, a worldwide public health emergency began. In order to curb the transmission of the SARS CoV-2, measures of social distancing were applied, which reduced interpersonal contact and triggered profound changes in behaviors related to social interaction. Educational systems around the world have adapted to this new reality, adopting emergency protocols characterized, in large part, by replacing classroom activities with virtual ones. The objective of this article is to discuss the impacts of social distancing in higher education through a neurophysiological approach, connecting stress, empathy and the historical context of emergency education when compared to Distance Learning, in addition to the tools at our disposal and the complexities of the virtual environment. Teachers must be aware of the impact of stress and the use of digital and distance learning tools on student training, looking for responsible ways to go through this historical moment and strategies to deal effectively with the teaching challenges evoked by the pandemic.
Authors: André Almo, Regina Célia Cussa Kubrusly, Vladimir Pedro Peralva Borges-Martins.
Abstract: This study evaluated the effect of green banana flour (GBF) consumption on obesity-related conditions in mice fed high-fat diets. GBF was prepared using stage 1 green banana pulp, which was dehydrated and milled. Mice were fed a control diet (n = 20; 10% of energy from lipids) or a high-fat diet (n = 20; 50% of energy from lipids). After 10 weeks, mice were divided into 4 groups based on feed: standard chow (SC; n = 10), standard with 15% GBF (SB; n = 10), high-fat diet (HF; n = 10) and high-fat diet with 15% GBF (HFB; n = 10) for 4 weeks. HFB exhibited lower gains in body weight (-21%; p < 0.01) and in all fat pads (p < 0.01) compared with the HF group. SC, SB, and HFB showed smaller retroperitoneal white adipose tissue diameters (p < 0.001). SB and HFB-treated mice showed lower levels of leptin, IL-6, and TNF-α compared with the SC and HF groups (p < 0.01). In the GBF-fed groups, there was a reduction in the abundance of Firmicutes (SB: -22%; HFB: -23%) and an increase in Bacteroidetes (SB: +25%; HFB: +29%) compared with their counterparts. We demonstrated that GBF consumption attenuated inflammation and improved metabolic status, adipose tissue remodeling, and the gut microbiota profile of obese mice. Novelty: Green banana flour (GBF) consumption, rich in resistant starch, regulates body weight in mice fed high-fat diets. GBF consumption improves fat pad distribution in mice fed high-fat diets. GBF improves obesity-associated systemic inflammation and regulates gut microbiota profile in mice fed high-fat diets.
Authors: Carolyne Pimentel Rosado, Victor Hugo Cordeiro Rosa, Bruna Cadete Martins, Aruanna Cajaty Soares, André Almo, Elisa Bernardes Monteiro, Alessandra da Rocha Pinheiro Mulder, Nathália Moura-Nunes, Julio Beltrame Daleprane.
Abstract: Front-of-package labels (FOPL) are recommended to reduce consumer intake of ultra-processed food products (UPP). The multiple traffic-light label is one example of FOPL that indicates the content of target nutrients in products by displaying red (high), amber (medium), and/or green (low) color-coding. The red code may implicitly enhance sweetness perception and approach dispositions toward sweet UPP via cross-modal visual-taste interactions. We conducted two experiments to examine the possibility of contradictory influence of explicitly learned and implicit cross-modal associations on the emotional responses evoked by UPP pictures. In both experiments, we first explicitly associated the color codes with health-related meanings. In Experiment I (n = 78), a psychometric tool estimated the emotional responses (pleasantness and arousal ratings) evoked by UPP pictures when preceded by red, amber, or green color-codes. In Experiment II (n = 24), we recorded participants’ electrocortical brain activity to assess the early posterior negativity (EPN) component as an index of the emotional responses to UPP. The reported pleasantness (Experiment I) and the EPN amplitude (Experiment II) were greater for sweet UPP relative to salty UPP when primed with red codes but not when primed with green or amber. A red code increased positive emotions toward sweet UPP despite its explicit association with increased health-risks. Thus, the use of multiple traffic-lights might lead to an unintended implicit approach behavior toward sweet UPP. Designers, researchers, and policy makers may consider color-taste cross-modal associations when designing, testing, and applying FOPL.
Authors: Thayane C. Lemos, André Almo, Rafaela R. Campagnoli, Mirtes G. Pereira, Leticia Oliveira, Eliane Volchan, Laura Krutman, Rafael Delgado, M. Carmen Fernández-Santaella, Neha Khandpur, Isabel A. David.
POSTERS & SHORT PAPERS
The Red Color and Preference for Ultra-Processed Sweet Foods (2024)
Abstract:
Authors:
A game design-centric taxonomy for feedback features in digital serious games (2023)
Abstract:
Authors:
Feedback, learning outcomes and mathematics anxiety in a Digital Game-Based Learning approach in mathematics education (2023)
Abstract:
Authors:
Designing Intelligent and Adaptable Educational Games to Reduce Mathematics Anxiety in Primary Schools (2022)
Abstract:
Authors:
Anime and Manga as Science Popularization Instruments: the Power of Asian Culture as a Gateway to Scientific Topics (2022)
Abstract:
Authors:
Promoting Knowledge in Neuroscience in Academic Environment — The Experience of the Neuroscience Biomedical Academic League (2018)
Abstract:
Authors:
Neuroscience Biomedical Academic League — An Undergraduate Experience of Promoting Events and Knowledge in Health Education (2018)
Abstract:
Authors:
Efficacy of the nutritional traffic-light label on the emotional impact of ultra-processed food and drink products (2017)
Abstract:
Authors: