Serious Games with 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?

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 = =

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

Edutaintment

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 Meier Ernest Adams & Andrew Rollings

What is a game? From academics: Roger Caillois (1957) Katie Salen & Eric Zimmerman (2003) Jesper Juul (2005) From designers: Sid Meier Ernest Adams & Andrew Rollings Raph Koster

What is a game? From academics: Roger Caillois (1957) Katie Salen & Eric Zimmerman (2003) Jesper Juul (2005) From designers: Sid Meier Ernest Adams & Andrew Rollings Raph Koster Chris Crawford

What is a game? From academics: Roger Caillois (1957) Katie Salen & Eric Zimmerman (2003) Jesper Juul (2005) From designers: Sid Meier Ernest Adams & Andrew Rollings Raph Koster Chris 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 a golf links, at a race track, or around a poker table, much of Bali surfaces in a cock ring. For it is 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 BarabJames 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?

Educational games

What is a Serious Game? Newsgames o 12.html 12.html

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 ce-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 about Jane McGonigal Nicole Lazarro

Here is the point that I would like to beat into the ground Kafai (via Habgood) -- Intrinsic integration Lepper -- Endogenous design Bogost -- Tight coupling in procedural rhetoric

Don't make MathBlaster, make Zombie Division