A serious game to motivate children to do homework

In this master thesis the concept Mænage School was created based upon theories about serious games, gamification, and game-based learning as well as the experiences and opinions of 17 pupils and 8 teachers. Some applications targeted towards Norwegian elementary school pupils were also investigated. The intent of this concept was to explore if game design can boost pupils motivation towards homework, and if such a concept can help the teacher adapt to each individual pupil s skill level more efficiently. Three iterations of user testing resulted in two high-fidelity prototypes being made, one Unity application for the pupils aspect, and one web application for the teachers . This thesis concludes that serious games can positively affect pupils motivation towards homework. A digital concept such as Mænage School can provide a range of utilities compared to what the traditional homework sheet does. However, thorough research must be conducted on this challenging userbase when making such applications, since the technological and cognitive abilities of children differ greatly between school year two through seven. In addition, no teachers are alike and differ in technological skills and preferred teaching approaches