Games... and... learning (original) (raw)
Related papers
Why Games Work - The Science of Learning
2011
In 2010, the Navy formally added the Damage Control Trainer (DCT) to the recruit training program at Great Lakes, Illinois. Despite the incredibly dense training schedule at the Navy's boot camp, the instructors were willing to set aside two hours of time for recruits to play a game. Why? Because it worked. Even with just one hour of play, research showed that recruits gained a 50-80% improvement in performance that transferred to Battle Stations 21 (BS21), the Navy's capstone training event. This paper explores why games makes these kinds of results possible. It argues that the things that are known to improve learning are almost exactly the same reasons why games work: the time-honored laws of learning. It concludes that the traditional gulf between instructional design and game design is really an issue of perspective, rather than fundamentals.
Computers in Entertainment, 2003
Research published by University of Rochester neuroscientists C. Shawn Green and Daphne Bavelier [Green and Bavelier, 2003] has grabbed national attention for suggesting that playing "action" video and computer games has the positive effect of enhancing students' visual selective attention. But that finding is just one small part of a more important message that all parents and educators need to hear: Video games are not the enemy, but the best opportunity we have to engage our kids in real learning.
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.
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.
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.