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Serious Gameswith an emphasis on educational
value
Adam Nakama 4/19/11 --MMA 2011
Overall summary, ToC, etc.
• Goal: To give you some insight into the broad field of educational games, especially in regards to our own experiences as Learning Scientists and our class goal of studying MMA.o A secondary goal will be to introduce other fields of study that
relate to ours through this medium.
Overall summary, ToC, etc.
• Goal: To give you some insight into the broad field of educational games, especially in regards to our own experiences as Learning Scientists and our class goal of studying MMA.o A secondary goal will be to introduce other fields of study that
relate to ours through this medium.
Discussion Topics• Motivation / context for discussion• A brief history / overview of edutainment• What is a game? Serious game? Educational game?• Theoretical constructs / historical context• Some research / products of interest• Related constructs outside of ITS/game design• The proceduralist punchline / endogenous design
One important point
READ LEPPER & MALONE
One important point
READ LEPPER & MALONE
One important point
Or re-read Lepper & Malone
Why do people care about games and learning?
Why do people care about games and learning?Games are fun.
Why do people care about games and learning?Games are fun.
They also:• increase motivation
Why do people care about games and learning?Games are fun.
They also:• increase motivation• might increase learning
Why do people care about games and learning?Games are fun.
They also:• increase motivation• might increase learning• might decrease learning
Why do people care about games and learning?Games are fun.
They also:• increase motivation• might increase learning• might decrease learning
In what sense of "learning"? "Deep" learning? Transfer tasks? Immediate recall? PFL? In what contexts?
Why do people care about games and learning?Games are fun.
They also:• increase motivation• might increase learning• might decrease learning
In what sense of "learning"? "Deep" learning? Transfer tasks? Immediate recall? PFL? In what contexts?
These are mostly open questions, and everyone has an opinion.
*
Edutainment
Games and learning have had a sordid past 30 years.
Edutainment
Games and learning have had a sordid past 30 years.
Are games for learning a new phenomenon?
Edutainment
Games and learning have had a sordid past 30 years.
Are games for learning a new phenomenon?
Edutainment
=
=
Edutainment
Edutainment
Edutainment
Edutainment
Edutainment
Edutainment
Educational Travel Adventure -- e.g. "Oregon Trail"
The Educational Adventure genre -- e.g. the JumpStart series
For more info, see Mizuko Ito's "Engineering Play"
Edutainment
Edutainment
Edutaintment
What is a game?
What is a game?
From academics:Roger Caillois (1957)
What is a game?
From academics:Roger Caillois (1957)Katie Salen & Eric Zimmerman (2003)
What is a game?
From academics:Roger Caillois (1957)Katie Salen & Eric Zimmerman (2003)Jesper Juul (2005)
What is a game?
From academics:Roger Caillois (1957)Katie Salen & Eric Zimmerman (2003)Jesper Juul (2005)
From designers:Sid Meier
What is a game?
From academics:Roger Caillois (1957)Katie Salen & Eric Zimmerman (2003)Jesper Juul (2005)
From designers:Sid MeierErnest Adams & Andrew Rollings
What is a game?
From academics:Roger Caillois (1957)Katie Salen & Eric Zimmerman (2003)Jesper Juul (2005)
From designers:Sid MeierErnest Adams & Andrew RollingsRaph Koster
What is a game?
From academics:Roger Caillois (1957)Katie Salen & Eric Zimmerman (2003)Jesper Juul (2005)
From designers:Sid MeierErnest Adams & Andrew RollingsRaph KosterChris Crawford
What is a game?
From academics:Roger Caillois (1957)Katie Salen & Eric Zimmerman (2003)Jesper Juul (2005)
From designers:Sid MeierErnest Adams & Andrew RollingsRaph KosterChris Crawford
Which definition seems most complete to you, or resonates most with you?
An Aside: History lesson
We live just outside the Dark Ages of video game scholarship
An Aside: History lesson
=
Narrativists
An Aside: History lesson
Gamists
An Aside: History Lesson
Thoughts? Questions?
Two major strains of influence
• Ethnographic• Proceduralist
The Magic Circle
"All play moves and has its being within a play-ground marked off beforehand either materially or ideally, deliberately or as a matter of course. Just as there is no formal difference between play and ritual, so the ‘consecrated spot’ cannot be formally distinguished from the play-ground. The arena, the card-table, the magic circle, the temple, the stage, the screen, the tennis court, the court of justice, etc, are all in form and function play-grounds, i.e. forbidden spots, isolated, hedged round, hallowed, within which special rules obtain. All are temporary worlds within the ordinary world, dedicated to the performance of an act apart."
-- Johan Huizinga, "Homo Ludens" (1938)
An ethnographic approach
"As much of America surfaces in a ball park, on agolf links, at a race track, or around a pokertable, much of Bali surfaces in a cock ring. For itis only apparently cocks that are fighting there.Actually, it is men."
-- Clifford Geertz, "Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight" (1973)
Proceduralism
"[P]roceduralist games are process-intensive. In these games, expression is found in primarily in the player's experience as it results from interaction with the game's mechanics and dynamics, and less so (in some cases almost not at all) in their visual, aural, and textual aspects."
-- Ian Bogost, "Persuasive Games: The Proceduralist Style" (2009)
A fancy chart
Sasha Barab James Lester
Jacob HabgoodJames Paul Gee
Why bother with so many dichotomies?
Narrativism vs. Gamism (Ludology)
Ethnography vs. Proceduralism
Constructionist vs. non-Constructionist
Academics vs. Game devs
Learning Scientists vs. Game Studies
What is a Serious Game?
What is a Serious Game?
Educational games
What is a Serious Game?
Newsgameso http://www.freeonlinegames.com/game/september-12.htm
l
What is a Serious Game?
Training games
What is a Serious Game?
Training games
Bonus: should these games be in the same category as educational games?
What is a Serious Game?
Games for change
What is a Serious Game?
Healthgames
What is a Serious Game?
Artgames
Educational Games
An educational game is:
Educational Games
An educational game is:
• A game that intends learning as the primary outcome
• A game presented in an educational context
• An attempt to make a game out of the process of education
Educational Games
An attempt to make a game out of the process of education
e.g. XP instead of grades
Pause for clip of Schell's DICE talk -- 19:51- 24:13
http://www.g4tv.com/videos/44277/dice-2010-design-outside-the-box-presentation/
Educational Games
A game presented in an educational context
Educational Games
A game presented in an educational context
• Is Oregon Trail an educational game when it is played outside of school?
Educational Games
A game presented in an educational context
• Is Oregon Trail an educational game when it is played outside of school?
• How about World of Warcraft when it's played for class?
Educational Games
A game presented in an educational context
• Is Oregon Trail an educational game when it is played outside of school?
• How about World of Warcraft when it's played for class?
o What are some benefits to introducing and playing games in educational settings?
o Are those benefits lost when applied to games not intended as educational? Are any benefits gained?
o Conversely, does an educational game need to be introduced in a classroom setting?
Educational Games
A game that intends learning as an outcome
How might games accomplish this?
Educational Games
A game that intends learning as an outcome
How might games accomplish this?• Adding points
Educational Games
A game that intends learning as an outcome
How might games accomplish this?• Adding points• Embed normal educational activities in a "fun" context
Educational Games
A game that intends learning as an outcome
How might games accomplish this?• Adding points• Embed normal educational activities in a "fun" context• Use educational content as flavor
Educational Games
A game that intends learning as an outcome
How might games accomplish this?• Adding points• Embed normal educational activities in a "fun" context• Use educational content as flavor• Allow practice of an educationally-relevant process skill in a
game context
Educational Games
A game that intends learning as an outcome
How might games accomplish this?• Adding points• Embed normal educational activities in a "fun" context• Use educational content as flavor• Allow practice of an educationally-relevant process skill in a
game context• Take advantage of Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal
Development
Educational Games
A game that intends learning as an outcome
How might games accomplish this?• Adding points• Embed normal educational activities in a "fun" context• Use educational content as flavor• Allow practice of an educationally-relevant process skill in a
game context• Take advantage of Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal
Development• Procedurally demonstrate/concretize important ideas/facts
Educational Games
A game that intends learning as an outcome
How might games accomplish this?• Adding points• Embed normal educational activities in a "fun" context• Use educational content as flavor• Allow practice of an educationally-relevant process skill in a
game context• Take advantage of Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal
Development• Procedurally demonstrate/concretize important ideas/facts
Anything else?
Studying Fun
Sweetser & Wyeth -- GameFlow model
Koster -- "A Theory of Fun"
Rai, Beck & Heffernan -- "Mily's World: a Coordinate Geometry Learning Environment with Game-Like Properties"
Moffett -- "Applying Causal Models to Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment in Video Games"
Other academics/devs worth talking aboutJane McGonigal
Nicole Lazarro
Here is the point that I would like to beat into the groundKafai (via Habgood) -- Intrinsic integration
Lepper -- Endogenous design
Bogost -- Tight coupling in procedural rhetoric
Don't make MathBlaster, make Zombie Division
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