Educational Game Models: Conceptualization and Evaluation (original) (raw)

Educational game models : conceptualization and evaluation : the practice of higher education

2003

The relationship between educational theories, game design and game development are used to develop models for the creation of complex learning environments. The Game Object Model (GOM), that marries educational theory and game design, forms the basis for the development of the Persona Outlining Model (POM) and the Game Achievement Model (GAM). POM provides researchers with a means to more easily match software development with the intended audience and expected outcomes. The concrete GOM interfaces are realized in GAM which provides a convenient way to develop and document educational games. These models were developed to better understand the relationships between story, play and learning. Both qualitative data collected from group workshops and qualitative data obtained from interviews with people closely associated with the game design process were used to evaluate GAM. Results indicate that GAM is an efficient, well conceptualised and supportive model that can easily contribute to successful development and writing of stories for complex learning environments.

Game object model version II: a theoretical framework for educational game development

Educational Technology Research and Development, 2007

Complex computer and video games may provide a vehicle, based on appropriate theoretical concepts, to transform the educational landscape. Building on the original game object model (GOM) a new more detailed model is developed to support concepts that educational computer games should: be relevant, explorative, emotive, engaging, and include complex challenges; support authentic learning activities that are designed as narrative social spaces where learners are transformed through exploration of multiple representation, and reflection; be gender-inclusive, include non-confrontational outcomes, and provide appropriate role models; develop democracy, and social capital through dialogue that is supported by means of computer mediated-communication tools; and include challenges, puzzles or quests, which form the core of the learning process, where access to explicit knowledge, conversations, and reflection results in the construction of tacit knowledge. It is argued that the GOM version II can be used not only to support the development of educational computer games but to provide a mechanism to evaluate the use of computer games in the classroom.

Insights into Design of Educational Games: Comparative Analysis of Design Models

Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, 2018

The study reports on an ongoing research that intends to identify and validate the core dimensions for Game-Based-Learning (GBL) and further explore the shift in dimensional focus between different phases of educational game development life cycle: pre-production (design), production (development) and post-production (testing and maintenance). Hence, this paper presents the initial work focusing on design phase by presenting a comparative analysis of educational game design models using GBL attributes, validity and framework attributes as analytical lens. The main objective is to analyze the fundamental GBL attributes in existing design models; to identify the common attributes which demonstrate their importance for design phase and highlight any need for further research in terms of attribute validation and framework improvement. This study also highlights the strengths and weakness of existing design frameworks. The results of analysis underline learning/pedagogical aspects and game factors as the most essential attributes for design phase of educational games. Comparative analysis also guides researchers/practitioners to better understand GBL through various properties of different existing design models and highlights the open problems such as lack of tool support, empirical validation, independent evaluations, adaptability and absence of concrete guidance for application to make more informed judgments.

The Challenge in Creating Games for Education: Aligning Mental Models with Game Models

Recently, there has been a great deal of interest in the use of video games for education because of the high level of engagement of players. This article blends research on game engagement from the media flow perspective with current pedagogical theory to advance 2 core design principles for a model educational game design: model matching and layering.

Designing, Using and Evaluating Educational Games: Challenges, Some Solutions and Future Research

2008

Educational games can use storytelling as the underlying model for designing their content and narrative to enhance learning outcomes. We need to evaluate their efficacy to maximise the user benefits. However, the field of user experience (UX) evaluation is full of challenges in itself; and evaluating the UX for digital educational games adds many other complexities. This paper presents various aspects involved in developing digital educational games and in evaluating the user experience derived from these. Felder Silverman learning style mode is presented to incorporate it into educational games and cater for a range of learners. A story design model called Movement Oriented Design (MOD) is presented to guide the process of creating effective educational narratives. A User Experience Research (UXeR) meta-model is presented as the pathway to advance research in this multidisciplinary field.

Game-based Learning - Conceptual Methodology for Creating Educational Games

2009

Game-based learning builds upon the idea of using the enjoyment and the motivational potential of video games in the educational context. Thus, the design of educational games has to address optimizing enjoyment as well as optimizing learning. Within the EC-project ELEKTRA a methodology about the conceptual design of digital learning games was developed. Thereby state-of-the-art psycho-pedagogical approaches (like the Competence-based Knowledge Space Theory) were combined with insights of mediapsychology (e.g., on parasocial interaction) as well as with best-practice game design. This science-based interdisciplinary approach was enriched by enclosed empirical research to answer open questions on educational game-design. Additionally, several evaluation-cycles were implemented to achieve further improvements. The psycho-pedagogical core of the methodology can be summarized by the ELEKTRA's 4Ms: Macroadaptivity, Microadaptivity, Metacognition and Motivation. The conceptual framework of the developed methodology is structured in eight phases which have several interconnections and feedbackcycles that enable a close interdisciplinary collaboration between game design, pedagogy, cognitive science and media psychology.

A Review of Educational Games Design Frameworks: An Analysis from Software Engineering

Game-based learning allows leveraging on young learners preference towards playing games to turn games into tools for learning. There are a number of frameworks developed in the various aspects and theories of gamebased learning. There are many relationships in existing frameworks that has been discussed regarding certain domains such as subject-matter expert, the game environment, developers, game goals and game designs, however, the relationship between subject-matter, game environment, learning theories and game-play is yet to be discussed together. This paper analyzes a few educational frameworks and discusses their relations among domains that they have used. In addition, this paper will discuss the software engineering practices that is of concern to educational games development but have not been discussed in previous literature.

Designing educational games: Key elements and methodological approach

2017 9th International Conference on Virtual Worlds and Games for Serious Applications (VS-Games)

Serious games, especially educational video games, have proliferated in recent years. Despite this, there are very few methodological proposals capable of addressing the design of all the key elements of an educational video game. To deal with this discrepancy, this paper presents a methodology divided into five phases: startup, design, production, test, and post-production; focusing on the design phase of educational games. The design phase structures an educational video game in acts, scenes, scenarios, actions and dialogues; and defines the modeling tasks and generated artifacts which have to be carried out in each step of the process.

AN ANALYSIS OF EDUCATIONAL GAMES DESIGN FRAMEWORKS FROM SOFTWARE ENGINEERING PERSPECTIVE

Game-based learning has dominantly embedded itself into a tool of education in the 21st century. In developing educational games, many researchers have proposed frameworks to define elements of an educational game. This paper presents a survey of the different frameworks for educational games and analyzes these frameworks against several criteria for effective video games, well-designed games and key elements of educational games. The authors will also look at the frameworks support towards learning theories. In addition, the analysis continues in the context of software engineering practices to develop effective educational games.

Game Factors and Game-Based Learning Design Model

International Journal of Computer Games Technology, 2015

How to design useful digital game-based learning is a topic worthy of discussion. Past research focused on specific game genres design, but it is difficult to use when the target game genre differs from the default genres used in the research. This study presents macrodesign concepts that elucidates 11 crucial game-design factors, including game goals, game mechanism, game fantasy, game value, interaction, freedom, narrative, sensation, challenges, sociality, and mystery. We clearly define each factor and analyze the relationships among the 11 factors to construct a game-based learning design model. Two application examples are analyzed to verify the usability of the model and the performance of these factors. It can assist educational game designers in developing interesting games.