Senior Lecturer in Software Engineering, Graphics and Multimedia
Jacob spent over a decade working as a programmer in the games industry before entering academia. He worked for companies like Gremlin Interactive and Sumo Digital and led the programming teams on Hogs of War and Atari’s version of MicroMachines.
Jacob now teaches on the Games Software Development degrees, including modules on 3D Game Prototyping for the PlayStation 4, Real-Time 3D Techniques using DirectX 11 and Research Methods. He is course leader for the MSc in Games Software Development and a member of the academic advisory board for PlayStation First and TIGA. Through that relationship with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Sheffield Hallam now have the largest PlayStation teaching facilities in the world.
He is studio manager of the Steel Minions game studio (www.steelminions.com), which provides work-based simulation for students on the MComp and MSc Games Software Development degrees. Steel Minions were the first university studio in the UK to release their own PlayStation minis title in 2012 (BounceBack) and were the first university studio in the world to publish a PS4 title in 2015 (PieceFall).
Jacob's research interests are in the field of game-based learning and he is particularly interested in the way educational games integrate their learning content into a game. He also has an academic interest in novice programming tools and has written two books on hobbyist game development using Game Maker.
Game-Based Learning
Business, Technology and Enterprise
Steel Minions: www.steelminions.com
BounceBack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A7yX3jTOVg
PieceFall: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vIORHIkOig
Software Engineering, Graphics and Multimedia
MSc Games Software Development
3D Game Prototyping
Real-Time 3D Techniques
Research Methods
Software Studio Planning
Jay, T., Habgood, J., Mees, M., & Howard-Jones, P. (2019). Game-based training to promote arithmetic fluency. Frontiers in Education, 4, 118. http://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2019.00118
Featherstone, M., & Habgood, J. (2018). UniCraft: Exploring the impact of asynchronous multiplayer game elements in gamification. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2018.05.006
Rose, S., Habgood, J., & Jay, T. (2017). An exploration of the role of visual programming tools in the development of young children’s computational thinking. Electronic journal of e-learning, 15 (4), 297-309. http://www.ejel.org/volume15/issue4/p297
Habgood, M.P.J., & Ainsworth, S.E. (2011). Motivating children to learn effectively:exploring the value of intrinsic integrationin educational games. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 20 (2), 169-206. http://doi.org/10.1080/10508406.2010.508029
Habgood, M.P.J. (2010). Crossing the road: bringing legitimate peripheral participation to game development degrees (Guest editorial). International Journal of Gaming and Computer-Mediated Simulations, 2 (3), i-vii. http://doi.org/10.4018/jgcms.20100701
Habgood, M.P.J., Ainsworth, S., & Benford, S. (2005). Endogenous fantasy and learning in digital games. Simulation and Gaming, 36 (4), 483-498. http://doi.org/10.1177/1046878105282276
Schirm, J., Tullius, G., & Habgood, J. (2019). Towards an objective measure of presence: examining startle reflexes in a commercial virtual reality game. In CHI Play 19, Barcelona, Spain, 22 October 2019 - 25 October 2019 (pp. 671-678). New York, USA: ACM: http://doi.org/10.1145/3341215.3356263
Rose, S., Habgood, J., & Jay, T. (2019). Using Pirate Plunder to develop children’s abstraction skills in Scratch. In CHI 2019, Glasgow, Scotland, UK, 4 May 2019 - 9 May 2019. ACM: http://doi.org/10.1145/3290607.3312871
Rose, S., Habgood, J., & Jay, T. (2018). Pirate plunder: game-based computational thinking using scratch blocks. In Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Games Based Learning, (pp. 556-564). Academic Conferences and Publishing International Limited: https://www.academic-conferences.org/conferences/ecgbl/
Melville, L., Habgood, M.P.J., Kyvelou, A., Smith, N., & Lacey, M. (2018). Building bacterial knowledge: Games as teaching aides for higher-order thinking skills. In Ciussi, M. (Ed.) Proceedings of the 12th European conference on games based learning, (pp. 404-413). Academic Conferences and Publishing International Limited: http://www.academic-bookshop.com/ourshop/prod_6548565-ECGBL-2018-Proceedings-of-the-12th-European-Conference-on-GameBased-Learning-PRINT-VERSION.html
Habgood, J., Moore, D., Alapont, S., Ferguson, C., & van Oostendorp, H. (2018). The REVEAL educational environmental narrative framework for PlayStation VR. In Ciussi, M. (Ed.) Proceedings of the 12th European conference on games based learning, (pp. 175-183). Academic Conferences and Publishing International Limited: http://www.academic-bookshop.com/ourshop/prod_6548565-ECGBL-2018-Proceedings-of-the-12th-European-Conference-on-GameBased-Learning-PRINT-VERSION.html
Mees, M., Jay, T., & Habgood, J. (2018). Designing an adaptive learner model for a mathematics game. In Ciussi, M. (Ed.) Proceedings of the 12th European conference on games based learning, (pp. 800-807). Academic Conferences and Publishing International Limited: http://www.academic-bookshop.com/ourshop/prod_6548565-ECGBL-2018-Proceedings-of-the-12th-European-Conference-on-GameBased-Learning-PRINT-VERSION.html
Habgood, J., Moore, D., Wilson, D., & Alapont, S. (2018). Rapid, continuous movement between nodes as an accessible virtual reality locomotion technique. In IEEE VR 2018 Conference, (pp. 371-378). IEEE: http://doi.org/10.1109/VR.2018.8446130
Habgood, J. (2018). Unpacking effective learning through game analytics. In CHI 2018 Data-driven educational game design, Carnegie Mellon University, 21 April 2018.
Habgood, J., Wilson, D., Moore, D., & Alapont, S. (2017). HCI Lessons From PlayStation VR. CHI Play 2017, 125-135. http://doi.org/10.1145/3130859.3131437
Mees, M., Jay, T., Habgood, J., & Howard-Jones, P. (2017). Researching adaptivity for individual differences in numeracy games. Extended Abstracts Publication of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play - CHI PLAY '17 Extended Abstracts, 247-253. http://doi.org/10.1145/3130859.3131315
Pivec, M., Gründler, J., Admiraal, W., Alemi, M., All, A., Almeida, A., ... Magnussen, R. (2017). Preface. Proceedings of the 11th European Conference on Games Based Learning, ECGBL 2017, viii-x.
Habgood, M.P.J. (2015). Zombie Division : a methodological case study for the evaluation of game-based learning. In 9th European Conference on Games Based Learning : ECGBL 2015, Steinkjer, Norway, 8 October 2015 - 9 October 2015 (pp. 219-226). https://www.academic-bookshop.com/ourshop/prod_4038034-ECGBL-2015-9th-European-Conference-on-Games-Based-Learning-Steinkjer-Norway-ISBN-97882081820891081082085882083-ISSN-20490992.html
Habgood, M.P.J., Jones, C., & Mallinson, D. (2015). Outnumb3r3d : intrinsically motivating mathematics for the PlayStation 4. In The 9th European Conference on Games Based Learning : ECGBL 2015, Steinkjer, Norway, 8 October 2015 - 9 October 2015. http://academic-conferences.org/ecgbl/ecgbl2015/ecgbl15-home.htm
Ainsworth, S., & Habgood, J. (2009). Exploring the effectiveness of intrinsic integration in serious games. In EARLI 2009 : Fostering communities of learners : 13th Biennial Conference for Research on Learning and Instruction, The University of Amsterdam (UvA) and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU), Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 25 August 2009 - 29 August 2009. http://www.earli2009.org/nqcontent.cfm?a_id=1
Baker, R.S.J.D., Habgood, M.P.J., Ainsworth, S.E., & Corbett, A.T. (2007). Modeling the acquisition of fluent skill in educational action games. Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics), 4511 LNCS, 17-26. http://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-73078-1_5
Habgood, M.P.J., Ainsworth, S., & Benford, S. (2005). Intrinsic fantasy: motivation and affect in educational games made by children. In 2005 AIED workshop on motivation and affect in educational software, Amsterdam. http://www.informatics.sussex.ac.uk/users/gr20/aied05/finalVersion/JHabgood.pdf
Habgood, M.P.J. (2011). Maintaining an ethical balance in the curriculum design of games-based degrees. In Bissett, A., Ward Bynum, T., Light, A., Lauener, A., & Rogerson, S. (Eds.) Ethicomp 2011 : the social impact of social computing : Proceedings of the twelfth international conference. (pp. 202-209). Sheffield Hallam University Press
Anglin, S. (Ed.). (2010). The game maker's companion. New York: APress.
Habgood, J., & Overmars, M. (2006). The game maker's apprentice: game development for beginners. Berkeley, California: APress.
Hamilton, A., Moore, D., Alapont Granero, S., & Habgood, J. (2019). A Night in the Forum. PlayStation Store: VRTRON Limited. https://store.playstation.com/en-gb/product/EP2996-CUSA12481_00-THEIMPERIALFORUM?emcid=pa-st-165932
Habgood, J., Moore, D., Alapont Granero, S., Wilson, D., Hamilton, A., Ferguson, C., & Wilson, J. (2018). The Chantry. PlayStation Store: Steel Minions. https://store.playstation.com/en-gb/product/EP4325-CUSA12254_00-DRJENNERSMALLPOX
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