Video game pedagogy: Good games= good pedagogy (original) (raw)
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Researchers have argued that an effort should be made to raise teachers’ and parents’ awareness of the potentially positive educational benefits of playing video games (e.g., see Baek, 2008). One part of this effort should be to increase understanding of how video games can be situated within teachers’ existing goals and knowledge of learning and instruction. However, relatively little research on game-based learning addresses teachers (Ketelhut & Schifter, 2011), and for many a gap remains between the apparent enthusiasm of researchers and policy makers relative to the potential of educational games and the attendant practicalities of selecting and implementing video games in classroom settings. This article begins to bridge this gap by providing research-based areas of awareness and a discussion of factors that can facilitate understanding related to choosing and using video games. To this end, we show how educational games can be conceptualized from different theoretical perspectives on learning and discuss a number of essential design issues that educators should take into account when considering a video game for educational use.
The Invention of Good Games: Understanding Learning Design In Commercial Video Games
2008
Ultra-brief Summary (Single Sentence Summaries:) Introduction (area of study) In order to design educational games that remain effective as both games and as learning objects, it is necessary to understand how successful games teach. The problem (that I tackle) However, the best games are designed for entertainment and not education, and while they teach effectively, their designs are not expressed in educational terms that could be used by designers of instructional games. What the literature says about this problem Although current literature often cites examples from COTS games to support claims about how games teach and there is a growing body of research on the use of games in formal learning situations, the main focus has been on the learners and there have been no comprehensive detailed examinations of how specific games teach. How I tackle this problem By treating the COTS game as though it had been deliberately created as an educational game, it becomes possible to identify the learning requirements for the game as well as the strategies used to support that learning in a form suitable for examination as instructional design. How I implement my solution Using methodology adapted from reverse engineering called 'instructional decomposition', both macro and micro design elements can be identified. The result This work will contribute to the body of knowledge on elements important in the design of educational games by identifying specific strategies employed in top-rated games to facilitate specific learning requirements.
Social, Education, and Psychological Issues, 2014
Play has been an informal approach to teach young ones the skills of survival for centuries. With advancements in computing technology, many researchers believe that computer games1 can be used as a viable teaching and learning tool to enhance a student’s learning. It is important that the educational content of these games is well designed with meaningful game-play based on pedagogically sound theories to ensure constructive learning. This chapter features theoretical aspects of game design from a pedagogical perspective. It serves as a useful guide for educational game designers to design better educational games for use in game-based learning. The chapter provides a brief overview of educational games and game-based learning before highlighting theories of learning that are relevant to educational games. Selected theories of learning are then integrated into conventional game design practices to produce a set of guidelines for educational games design.
Beyond Entertainment: Games as Learning Technologies
2004
Computer and videogames are increasingly becoming recognized as providing a powerful means for learning. This paper explores what is it about today's digital games that provide such deep learning experiences, together with how educational designers can harness the potential of games.
Editorial. Digital games and learning
Journal on Educational Technology, 2019
This special issue aims to increase the body of knowledge and evidence concerning the learning potential of video games and gamification, as well as the problems associated with educational uses of games (Persico, Passarelli, Dagnino, Manganello, Earp, & Pozzi, 2019). The selection of papers presented here has been informed by this overarching aim. At the same time, we hope that educators planning to employ games in their classes will find that they provide inspiring examples of educational uses of games. Since designing appropriate and pedagogically sound game-based learning interventions is a difficult endeavour, we do hope that the following articles will contribute to dissipate the fog that often envelops design principles for Game-Based Learning.
Video Games as Tools for Education
Computer and video games are a channel of evolution and productivity that is most consumed keeping the notice of scholars through a variety of disciplines. In general, computers and video games were ignored by educators. When educators considered the games, they noticed the social consequences of gambling, ignoring the remarkable educational potential of the game. This article looks at the history of educational research games and argues that the perceptive potential of games has been ignored by educators. Current developments in the game, including interactive stories, authoring tools, and digital world collaboration, suggest powerful new opportunities for educational media. Video games are an important part of improving education through its ability to force players to present realistic simulations of real-life situations. The beginning of the proper use of gaming technologies for education and training and there is no need for scientific and engineering methods to create games not only as a more realistic simulation of the physical world but to provide experience Effective learning. This document illustrates building up to date Integration of educational principles and game design into dialogue between them and defining games that can be integrated based on design, entertainment and educational features. The work follows a drawing tray that forms part of the framing definition and after selecting categories of design templates, before focusing on user interaction modes, from a pedagogical point of view, given its relevance to end users
Examining the Pedagogical Foundations of Modern Educational Computer Games
This study examines the pedagogical foundations of modern educational (computer video) games. Specifically, Cooper’s (1985) literature review framework was used to locate and examine relevant literature and games (published between the year 2000 and 2007) and to organize and report findings. A total of 50 articles and 55 educational games met specified selection criteria. The pedagogical foundations of the games were further investigated by contacting the authors of the games. Twenty-one games were based on established learning theories or instructional strategies, and the developers of two games stated that no instructional strategies or learning theories were used to design their games. No information regarding the pedagogical foundations of 32 games was found or received.
Game based learning -a different perspective
Video game use in education has focused on the application of games within the existing education system and on their inherent potential for producing learning (Gee 2003). However, research has revealed a fundamental mismatch between the goals of games and the object of school-based learning . As a result, efforts to integrate games into the curriculum have frequently fallen flat despite the best intentions of teachers and the gaming industry. Such efforts have failed either because games designed to educate do not engage their intended audience, or because truly engaging games do not provide enough educational value.
First things first: design principles for worthwhile educational videogames
2008
Abstract Three design principles are advanced for multi-user educational videogames. First, they should support situative embodiment in academic knowledge, where personally meaningful activities and coherent narratives foster collective engagement. Second, they should offer multiple levels and forms of meaningful assessment and the opportunity to succeed, fail, and try again. Third, they should provide useful feedback that is used to enhance participation, learning, and curricula.