John Kirriemuir and Angela McFarlane (2003) wrote a survey-based conference paper on how “pure” computer and video games (that is, games that are not explicitly designed to be educational) tend to be used in classrooms.
Kirriemuir and McFarlane report that games are typically used in five ways: (1) research projects, although hardly any schools continued to use the games after the projects ended; (2) school-oriented competitions; (3) computer clubs that are largely unsupervised and not part of a learning program; (4) a vehicle for literacy or critique (that is, describing or evaluating games); or (5) a reward or incentive to maintain good behavior.
The most common games used in classrooms were reported to be strategy and simulation games. SimCity and Roller Coaster Tycoon were the two most commonly used…
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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:
- 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.”
- Theoretical Foundation. Alternatives based on educational theory and existing computer games research, identifying three generations of educational computer games.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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.
In a recent paper by University of Wisconsin academics David Shaffer, Kurt Squire, Richard Halverson, and Jim Gee, the authors argue that learning is most powerful when it is personally meaningful, experiential, social, and epistemological all at the same time. Video games are “powerful contexts for learning because they make it possible to create virtual worlds, and because acting in such worlds makes it possible to develop the situated understandings, effective social practices, powerful identities, shared values, and ways of thinking of important communities of practice.”
The authors highlight commercially available games such as Rise of Nations and Civilization III as games that offer rich, interactive environments in which students can explore counterfactual historical claims. Railroad Tycoon and other games that urban planning are also discussed. Click here to read the full paper. In practice, how comfortable are teachers in using commercially available games for learning? How can teachers be provided with resources and appropriate training to what works in classrooms and what games are useful?
Kurt Squire recently published in a recent issue of Educational Researcher (November 2006) a paper entitled From Content to Context: Videogames as Designed Experience. Squire points out, “As research and development initiatives proliferate, educational researchers might benefit by developing more grounded theories about them. This article argues for framing game play as a designed experience. Players’ understandings are developed through cycles of performance within the gameworlds, which instantiate particular theories of the world (ideological worlds). Players develop new identities both
through game play and through the gaming communities in which these identities are enacted.”
The paper goes through several examples of recent games such as America’s Army and Full Spectrum Warrior that are both simulations and hypothetical worlds that offer desiged experiences. Education would be wise to investigate these games, as they naturally have characteristics fruitful for learning (e.g. learning by doing, experiences that enable students to develop “situated understandings”, immediate feedback and reinforcement, identity development as expert problem solvers, etc.).
We revisit Marc Prensky’s paper, Digital Game-Based Learning from the first issue of Computers in Entertainment (2003). Prensky discusses the importance of video and computer games for a new generation of learners.
Prensky writes: “What attracts and glues kids to today’s video and computer games, I believe, is neither the games’ violence, nor even their subject matter, but rather the learning the games provide. Kids like all humans love to learn when it isn’t forced upon them. Modern computer and video games provide learning opportunities every second, or fraction thereof. What kinds of learning? On the surface, game players learn to do things to fly airplanes, to drive fast cars, to be theme park operators, war fighters, civilization builders, and veterinarians. But on deeper levels they learn infinitely more: to take in information from many sources and make decisions quickly; to deduce a game’s rules from playing rather than by being told; to create strategies for overcoming obstacles; to understand complex systems through experimentation. And, increasingly, they learn to collaborate with others. Many adults are not aware that games have long ago passed out of the single-player isolation shell imposed by lack of networking, and have gone back to being the social medium they have always been on a worldwide scale. Massively multiplayer games such as EverQuest and Lineage now have hundreds of thousands of people playing simultaneously, collaborating daily and nightly in clans and guilds.”
Read the full paper here.
Yasmin Kafai in UCLA discusses a difference in philosophy between instructionists and constructionists regarding educational video games. Instructionists have typically tried to “embed” learning into games (using “games to teach”), while constructionists have students construct new knowledge while building or creating new things (using “games to learn”). She argues that “constructionist approaches have received far less attention than their instructionist counterparts, but it is conceivable that they hold far more potential for engaging childrens’ enthusiasm for games in the service of learning.” Click here to read Kafai’s paper (2001).
A good paper that investigates the recent enthusiasm for educational gaming is assistant professor (Wisconsin-Madison) Kurt Squire’s Cultural Framing of Video Games (2002) found in the journal Game Studies. This paper directs researchers, politicians, game developers and the public in general toward some important issues. Questions addressed include: what are people learning about academic subjects playing games such as SimCity, Civilization, Tropico, or SimEarth? Might games be used in formal learning environments? Read the full paper by clicking on the link above.