Learning in Video Games

Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen of the IT-University of Copenhagen wrote a doctoral dissertation entitled Beyond Edutainment: Exploring the Educational Potential of Computer Games. The dissertation consists of five parts:

1. Background. Grounding work towards an inclusive and solid framework for educational use of computer games, with the conclusion that “educational use of computer games remains strongly influenced by educational media leading to the domination of edutainment.”
2. Theoretical Foundation. Alternatives based on educational theory and existing computer games research, identifying three generations of educational computer games.
3. Main Empirical Study. An empirical study of 72 Danish high-school students and teachers using a commercial historical strategy game (Europa Universalis 2) is presented with the intent of examining the actual use of computer games in an educational context, adopting a third generation perspective.
4. Combining Empirical Findings with Existing Theory. Examining some key findings around the barriers for educational computer game
   use, the effectiveness of learning from computer games, etc.
5. Discussion. Discussion of a general framework for understanding educational use of computer games, extending an “experiential learning approach, where concrete experiences are the starting point that can be transformed through reflection, instruction and active experimentation.”

According to the author, the ideal use of video games are “an experience-based hermeneutic exploration in a safe rich environment, potentially scaffolding the student while maintaining student autonomy and ensuring a high emotional investment in the activity” (p. 3). Egenfeldt-Nielsen provides a pretty nice historical account of educational media and video games, and the literature review on video game research is worth reading too. Click here to download and read the dissertation (warning: large file!). Thanks Matt.

Charles Reed, chancellor of the California State University system, has an interesting perspective on the future of education, as described in this recent cnet article. Responsible for over 400,000 students and 46,000 employees over 23 campuses, Reed envisions students becoming more like telecommuters. They might “meet with faculty and peers one day a week on campus, and then use simulations, virtual worlds and information downloaded for coursework the rest of the week.”

With Reed expressing concerns over expanding enrollment numbers and limited classroom space, it seems that the next logical place to look is in virtual space. Over 70 universities have already built island campuses in Linden Labs’ virtual environment, Second Life. It seems to me that virtual environments are a great way to learn some things — e.g. business (e.g. virtual real estate, intellectual property concerns), economics (virtual economies, competition, cooperation), art and architecture, social science issues like diversity and discrimination, and game design among a host of other topics — but there also seem to be some serious limitations and concerns that come along with an increased reliance on online class sessions. Will the open-ended anonymous nature of the world create more distractions (e.g. what if a student comes dressed as a chimpanzee in the virtual classroom)? If the teacher becomes more like a facilitator in a virtual world, is authority undermined too much? How much guidance/control does (and should) the teacher have? Then there are all the technical issues and high bandwidth requirements, not to mention equity issues — which schools can afford the technology?

In a conference paper presented at the Interaction Design and Children Conference, Robertson and Good (2004) consider the feasibility and benefits of game authoring for children. Ten teenagers created their own stories in the medium of interactive 3D virtual reality computer games, using a game authoring tool available in a commercial role-playing game, NeverWinter Nights. The authors wanted to take some first steps toward exploring some of the educational benefits of letting children create stories using game authoring tools. Interviews were administered, and while thin, the data highlights the more enjoyable activities expressed by the children, along with the more frustrating aspects of using the toolset. While this paper doesn’t actually say a whole lot (especially in terms of its data), game authoring is presented as a good way to develop creative narrative skills such as character creation, plot planning, and dialogue writing.

Reference: Robertson, J. and Good, J. (2004). Children’s narrative development through computer game authoring.  In Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Interaction Design and Children. New York: ACM Press.

Video games have sometimes been touted as the gateway to increased computer literacy. Students can play games in the classroom, design their own games as a class activity (e.g. Kafai), or mod games — that is, to adapt an existing game (typically using a toolset) for some other purpose.  Games with some degree of modding capability include; Neverwinter Nights, The Sims 2, Dungeon Siege, Second Life, Freedom Force VS. The Third Reich, and Half-Life, among others. Can game modding increase self-efficacy and motivation while teaching female students basic IT skills?  Two students at Penn State University offered an extra curricular course, Gaming for Girls, in which an all-female class modded Warcraft 3 while learned some basic IT skills. Was it effective?  The paper’s findings are somewhat inconclusive due to a small sample size, but it does provide interesting food for thought for how game modding could be an effective approach for engaging students. Click here to read the paper (PDF format).

Yucel, I., Zupko, J., & Seif El-Nasr, M. (2006). IT education, girls, and game modding.  International Journal of Interactive Technology and Smart Education, 3(2).

Teachers realize that preparing lesson plans and the act of teaching itself causes the teacher to master the subject matter in an in-depth way. What happens when you let the students themselves become the teachers — that is, to let kids create their own educational video games to teach others? Kafai (2006) published a series of studies in which 10-year old children designed their own games, complete with characters, storylines and game themes to teach math (fractions) and science. Rather than embedding ”lessons” directly in games (i.e. more of an “instructionist” strategy, Kafai discusses a “constructionist” strategy that allows students to construct new relationships with knowledge while designing their own games. Therefore, learning takes place during the process of building games.

One interesting finding: Kafai notes “persistent gender differences in virtually all design aspects ranging from violent feedback in case of a wrong answer, the cast of extended characters, the goals of the game, and fantasy context…Although there are no significant gender differences in the proficiency of making games, it is obvious that girls prefer to make very different fraction games from those designed by boys in their class. Most interestingly, when asked to design science rather than fraction games, these gender differences disappeared. Click here to read Kafai’s paper from Games and Culture (in PDF format), along with her more in-depth discussion about gender differences in game design.