在當今，全球人口快速老化，台灣也即將進入超高齡化社會，這使得健康老齡化成為重要議題，而健康飲食成了實現健康老齡化的關鍵。然而，隨著生活型態的變遷和飲食習慣的改變，許多高齡者在健康飲食方面面臨挑戰，這也使得自我調節能力變得極其關鍵。本研究旨在探索一款虛擬寵物學習夥伴結合自我調節的理論、數位遊戲學習的應用等策略，以增強高齡參與者的參與行為、參與動機與成效，並評估此系統設計對高齡參與學習者的參與行為、參與動機與自我調節成效之影響。
本研究開發名為「健康夥伴」的虛擬寵物養成遊戲，將自我調節的理論框架融入虛擬寵物養成遊戲流程中，包括：以寵物引導目標設定、以寵物促進監控與控制、以寵物獲得回饋與反映。研究涉及新北市某樂齡中心的44名平均年齡68歲的高齡學生，進行為期兩周的實驗。參與者分為實驗組（有虛擬寵物）和控制組（無虛擬寵物），通過系統的行為數據與前後測問卷量表調查，分析系統對於參與行為、參與動機和成效之影響為何。
研究結果如下，(1)在參與行為方面：虛擬寵物養成遊戲能有效幫助高齡學生建立良好的參與行為；(2)在動機影響方面：參與動機方面的效果有限，實驗組在動機構面中的相關性與滿意度方面的得分低於控制組，表明寵物相關遊戲內容與學習者需求的相關性和滿意度需要進一步提升；(3)在成效的部分：實驗組的自我調節能力沒有顯著高於控制組，且後測沒有顯著高於前測；體驗回饋的部分：虛擬寵物養成遊戲非常受歡迎且受試者喜愛獎勵系統，並且大部分的人有極高的意願再次使用，但建議針對高齡者改善易用性和介面字體。
綜合上述，本研究資料可以證實在參與行為方面有效的能夠幫助學生，但是在動機與成效上並不顯著影響，這可能因為研究週期較短，自我調節能力的提升效果可能受到限制，未來應進行長期研究以及擴大樣本範圍，以全面了解虛擬寵物相關設計對自我調節的持續影響。

In today's world, the global population is rapidly aging, and Taiwan is on the brink of becoming a super-aged society. This makes healthy aging a crucial issue, with healthy eating being key to achieving it. However, with lifestyle changes and shifts in dietary habits, many elderly people face challenges in maintaining healthy eating, making self-regulation abilities extremely critical. This study aims to explore a virtual pet learning companion integrated with self-regulation theory and digital game-based learning strategies to enhance the participation behavior, motivation, and performance of elderly participants. It also seeks to evaluate the impact of this system design on the participation behavior, and motivation, self-regulation efficacy of elderly learners.
The study developed an application called "Healthy Companion," incorporating a theoretical framework of self-regulation into the app's processes, including: guiding goal setting with the pet, promoting monitoring and control with the pet, and obtaining feedback and reflection through the pet. The research involved 44 elderly students from a senior center in New Taipei City, with an average age of 68 years, over a two-week experimental period. Participants were divided into an experimental group (with virtual pets) and a control group (without virtual pets). Pre- and post-tests, along with system behavior data and questionnaires, were used to analyze the system's effectiveness in enhancing self-regulation abilities and learning motivation.
The research results are as follows: (1) In terms of participation behavior, the virtual pet nurturing game effectively helped elderly students establish good participation behaviors. (2) In terms of motivation impact, the effect on participation motivation was limited. The experimental group scored lower in relevance and satisfaction compared to the control group, indicating a need to improve the game's content relevance and satisfaction to better meet learners' needs. (3) In terms of effectiveness, the experimental group's self-regulation ability was not significantly higher than the control group, and post-test scores were not significantly higher than pre-test scores. In terms of user feedback, the virtual pet nurturing game was very popular, and participants liked the reward system. Most expressed a high willingness to use the game again but suggested improving usability and interface font size for older adults.
Based on the above, the study data confirm that the intervention effectively helped students in terms of participation behavior. However, it did not significantly impact motivation and effectiveness. This may be due to the short study period, which might have limited the improvement in self-regulation abilities. Future long-term studies and a larger sample size are necessary to fully understand the lasting impact of virtual pet-related designs on self-regulation.

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