In the modern age, digital games are widely used as informal media for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education and medical therapy for game-based learning. Digital games provide learners with a graphical system of interaction that enhances scientific concepts within an enjoyable environment. The vastly increasing number of digital games produced in the market affects the quality of STEM digital games while requiring multidisciplinary expertise. This paper proposes a framework for STEM digital game-based learning encompassing input-process-output stages. Several studies from the early 2000s onward were reviewed to discuss and present a new perspective on a framework for the design and development of digital games, particularly for STEM. This proposed framework consists of digital game development as input, experience as a process, and constructs as output. This simple and precise framework will generate a universal product for various types of learners. It can thus be used as a guideline for game designers, developers, and experts to develop STEM digital games and achieve better learning outcomes.
This study involved synthesising new hybrid polymers called ZOPAT, made up of zinc oxide, acrylamide, and tannin, using a blended technique. The effectiveness of ZOPAT in treating textile wastewater was then tested by measuring floc growth rate, flocculation index, strength factor, and recovery factor under optimised conditions. The study also identified the zeta potential, morphology, elemental composition, and functional groups of the polymers. Response surface methodology determines the optimal pH and ZOPAT dose, resulting in 93% colour, 80% chemical oxygen demand (COD), 100% turbidity, and suspended solids (SS) removal at pH 9.22 and 737 mg/L ZOPAT. The study found that ZOPAT was more effective than commercial Polyaluminium chloride in reducing colour and COD, producing larger and stronger flocs, and requiring a shorter coagulation time of 17.5 min. ZOPAT was also easy to homogenise and operate due to its one-unit dosing system. The study attributes the success of ZOPAT to the presence of Zn, N, and K, which create electrostatic attraction with opposite charged particles, and the formation of dye-particle-dye with amide, hydroxyl, and carboxyl groups in ZOPAT, which remove colour, turbidity, COD, and SS. Overall, the study concludes that ZOPAT has significant potential for textile wastewater treatment.