Re-examination theory-Yokoi

Volume 5, No. 2 July - September 2008

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Journal of Educational Technology Editor-in-Chief Joe Winston

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE Dr. Gulsun Kurubacak

Asst. Professor in Distance Education, Anadolu University, Eskisehir TURKEY.

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English Department, College of Humanities, University of Zanjan, Zanjan, UK. Lecturer, Dept.of Design & Technology, Loughborough University, UK.

Dr. Cheri Toledo

Asst. Professor, IIIinois State University, Iiinois, USA.

Dr. Mary Mcnabb

Director, Learning Gauge, Inc., Chicago, USA.

Dr. Myint Khine

Shony Padmanabhan

Group Co-ordinator, National Multimedia Resource Centre, Pune, India.

Associate Professor, Emirates College for Advanced Education, Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Dr. Nektaria Palaiologou Dept. Of Technology & Digital Systems, University of Piraeus, Greece.

Dr. Freda Turner Dr. Brian Mathews,

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CONTENTS

EDITORIAL Myint Swe Khine Special Issue Editor, Associate Professor, Emirates College for Advanced Education, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Computer games as new media culture have become increasingly popular among young people. Today most children play different genre of games at different times depending on their age, maturity and opportunity. They seem to spend considerable amount of time not only in playing games, but also in socializing about games outside their school hours. Educators believe that game playing involves complex cognitive skills, real-time decision making, managing resources in critical situations and problem-solving.

This special issue of i-manager's Journal of Educational Technology on Educational Games for Engaged Learning brings together a set of articles each addressing the use of computer games for learning in different contexts.

Cheryl Seals, Jacqueline Hundley and Lacey Montgomery reported a game design and development course offered in a university in the United States. The authors noted that students today have grown up exposed to gaming, interactive and 3D environments. Creating a set of game design classes utilizing gaming as a teaching tool can attract and instruct students with familiar methods and environments. The paper details the development of an introductory game design class, its structure, artefacts created, and student and instructor's reflections.

In Oncology of serious games, Lakshmi Prayaga and Karen Rasmussen describe that computer games are not only used for entertainment and they have also become a useful instructional tool for acquiring knowledge. In their paper they reported how serious games can enable the player to learn a task, master a strategy or develop a skill. They argued that serious games can be used for education and training in any organization and suggest that application of serious games requires an ontology for designing high-quality materials.

Kowit Rapeepisarn, Kok Wai Wong, Chun Che Fung and Myint Swe Khine present a conceptual model to create effective educational computer games for undergraduate classroom learning. The paper investigates the appropriate computer game genre by integrating the learning conceptions from the previous researchers. They analyse the data collected from undergraduate classes and proposed a guideline for game designers to consider appropriate game genres for education purpose.

Scott Warren and Greg Jones from University of North Texas, USA put forward Yokoi's theory of lateral innovation and its applications for learning game design. In their paper they discuss how a theory of design from famed game system designer Gunpei Yokoi can be used in learning game design to deliver low-cost, engaging play for learning.

In Play, games and attitudes: student and teacher perspectives of educational games, Gerri Mongillo presented a quantitative study carried out in a North Eastern middle school to determine the influence of participation in educational games on cognition and attitudes towards learning scientific language and concepts during the game play. They have concluded that students who are not interested or reluctant to participate in the class may be encouraged to express their opinions and ideas in a more relax environment provided by the game structures in fostering cooperative learning.

Michael Evans and Feihong Wang in their paper, The overlapping worlds view: analysing identity transformation in real and virtual worlds and the effects on learning, explore the immersive virtual 3D environment of a game and determine the formation of world views by the players. Separate Worlds views and Identitical Worlds views were examined and they proposed a third option, Overlapping Worlds Views.

Finally, Hakan Tuzun and his colleagues offer an evaluation of computer games for learning about mathematical functions. In their study they evaluated the usability of game environments for teaching and learning about mathematical functions. The paper provides information about game design process, implementation and evaluation as well as reflection of the entire process.

We extend our gratitude and appreciation to all contributors for sharing their insight and understanding about the use of games in education and it is hoped that readers will benefit from these experiences.

ABOUT THE SPECIAL ISSUE EDITOR Dr. Myint Swe Khine is currently working as an Associate Professor of Instructional Science and Technology, Emirates College for Advanced Education, United Arab Emirates. He teaches pedagogy and technology courses in undergraduate and postgraduate teacher education programmes. He has published over 100 articles and research papers in international journals.

ARTICLES GAME DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT: USING COMPUTER GAMES AS CREATIVE AND CHALLENGING ASSIGNMENTS By CHERYL SEALS*

JACQUELINE HUNDLEY**

LACEY STRANGE MONTGOMERY***

* Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, Auburn University. ** Ph.D Student, Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, Auburn University *** Ph.D student, Auburn University

ABSTRACT This paper describes a game design and development course. The rationale for forming this class was to use student excitement with video games as an intrinsic motivation over traditional courses. Today's students have grown up exposed to gaming, interactive environments, and vivid 3D. Computer gaming has the capacity to attract many new students to computer science and information technology majors. The rationale of creating a set of game design classes utilizes gaming as a teaching tool to attract and instruct students with familiar methods and environments. This work will introduce the development of an introductory game design class, its structure, artifacts created and student and instructor's reflections.

INTRODUCTION

the nation have seen a drastic decline in student

In recent years there has been a lot of excitement about

enrollment. This is evidence of a growing problem that we

computer gaming as evidenced by the increase in video

will not have enough students in our majors to fill the great

game sale by the computer gaming industry. In April

need for technology careers. The Monthly Labor Review

2007, there was a 15% increase in game sales

specifies that by 2012, the United States will have 500,000

(Brightman, 2006).

With this increase in interest, the

technology jobs that we will not have the personnel to fill in

authors wanted to leverage this enthusiasm and have a

this country. How to get students more excited about

carry over effect into the classroom. Computer gaming

technology in general and specifically computer

will also increase student motivation and attract students

technology and programming?

to the computer science major. The authors wanted to

This class was created with interdisciplinary student

take advantage of intrinsic motivation. “Intrinsic

population in mind. There was detailed introduction to

motivation, also known as self-motivation, refers to

computer gaming theory, design and development, with

influences that originate from within a person which cause

an introduction to the gaming industry.

Does this

a person to act or learn” (Bomia et al., 1997). Today's

interdisciplinary type of class fit into the traditional set of

students have grown up exposed to gaming, interactive

classes within the CS major? This would be very

environments, and vivid 3D. The rationale of creating a set

challenging because of accreditation, but would fit

of game design classes utilizes gaming as a teaching tool

nicely as a special topics class or as a class leading to a

to attract and instruct students with familiar methods and

game design certificate. With so many courses that are

environments. This work will introduce the development of

required (e.g. our department only allows 2 electives) it

an introductory game design class, its structure, artifacts

would be very challenging for students to take this course

created, and student and instructor's reflections

unless highly motivated by the subject matter.

(Brightman, 2006).

students take Game Design and Development, they must

Computer Science departments worldwide and across

currently take it as an independent study and not as a

i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

So if

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ARTICLES component of the standard curriculum.

“We found that it might be more effective to teach the art

Background

design students how to program, rather than to teach the

Teaching Software Engineering and programming through a game design course can be highly beneficial to students in that it integrates a wide array of topics which is more realistic and in pragmatic fashion. In order to create a computer game, a student would need a toolkit of methods. They would learn these methods from prior

CS student how to draw” (Tsai, Huang, & Zeng, 2006). This might prove difficult, but many of game programming activities are scaffold by the use of game programming t o o l s w i t h g r a p h i c a l u s e r i n t e r f a c e s ( e. g.

3DGameStudioTM, VirtoolsTM, Quest3DTM, HalfLife2, etc.)”

In addition, by learning to program the art/design

experience and new information presented in a gaming

students improve their technical communication skills,

course. This type of development effort would combine

which allow them to better interface with the

the artificial intelligence, software engineering, graphics,

programmers in the future. “This is a skill which is necessary

networking, and human computer interaction (Claypool

in the game industry, where programmers and art

& Claypool, 2005). The application of skills that are highly

designers must work very closely together to get their work

transferable is always to the student's advantage. This will

done” (Tsai, Huang, & Zeng, 2006).

provide a practical, yet fun alternative to homework

One of the biggest determining factors of student

reinforcing breadth and depth of knowledge (e.g.

success is motivation, proper foundation, and

computer programming and application of music and

determination. The hope in designing this course is to take

art knowledge).

advantage of the powerful lure of gaming. Many students

Game Design and Programming will utilize fundamental

are motivated by the desire to be a part of shaping the

computer science subjects in practical ways and will

future games industry. The rationale was to engage

incorporate concepts from physics, mathematical

student interest, and to develop a course to attract

modeling, and game specific principles that are not

students to computer science and computer

generally covered with rigor in traditional computer

technology.

science curricula. In an attempt to provide enrichment

Why include gaming courses in computer science

and classes for the non traditional student many game

curricula?

trade schools have worked to capitalize on the

There are various reasons to provide gaming courses in

burgeoning interest in computer gaming.

They have

the computer science curriculum. Intrinsic Motivation is

offered many game classes, but the game industry

good reason to create game courses. “Motivation is

decries this approach. They need students who have a full

student's willingness, need, desire and compulsion to

foundation in computer science with exposure to

participate in, and be successful in the learning process”

networking, programming proficiency, algorithms, and

(Bomia et al., 1997). With the help of intrinsic motivation,

artificial intelligence. The gaming industry require

instructors have enthusiastic harder working classes, while

students trained not only in the areas that support

extrinsic motivation like grades in many cases is not as

programming, but well rounded students who are also

compelling for many students. Gaming courses will take

trained in liberal arts (e.g. history, art, music, creative

advantage of intrinsic motivation to support recruitment

writing). This gives the students a firm foundation and

and retention efforts, because many students are

develops accomplished scholars and game designers

interested in games and can leverage the enthusiasm for

(Coleman, Krembs, Labouseur & Weir, 2005). Basic

gaming in the classroom. Many freshmen are interested

programming can be taught, but creativity is not

in computer science because of their love of video

something that one just mass produce on an assembly

gaming and the opportunity to create the things they love

line. It is required to develop non linear thinkers to create

and spend enormous amounts of time with. Gaming

something truly innovative.

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i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

ARTICLES courses can provide real world experience in research

and game development at near the same levels they are

based learning and game programming.

enamored with video games.

The rationale for the course design was to attract students

Background research also continued by talking to

who were interested in game playing. In many cases with

colleagues at the first game design conference to find

future instantiations of the class a true interdisciplinary mix

out the current state of the art in game design and in

would be appropriate. In most gaming companies there

game course material. From that meeting, a myriad of

are groups that would work with story & plot, graphics,

useful things to investigate (game industry leaders,

animation, music, networking, etc. To have a truly

instructors, their websites, links to course pages, books and

industrial strength game experience, the game

other materials) were found. With this ammunition, two

development team members need to become

courses “Introduction and Game Design” and “Game

mini-experts in areas that support game development.

Design and Development” were designed. The book

The idea of Game Development team throws an extra

chosen for the course is a unique book in that it combines

caveat into the class. The projects are software

the wisdom and expertise of over 25 game industry

engineering projects where team members must

professionals to give an unprecedented view of game

collaborate and share ideas to have successful projects

development from game design to programming, to

(e.g. pair programming). The hope with pair

production and business issues (Rabin, 2005). A

programming exercises is that members don't get stuck

secondary text “Game Design Workshop” was used to

as often and that they can feed off one another's

direct more application oriented section of the class

enthusiasm and knowledge. This is more practical and

(Fullerton, Swain & Hoffman, 2004).

realistic, because in many real world projects

The game design text was the framework for the game

programming is not done in isolation for all of your work.

theory section of the class and was based on the

Members are accountable and their work must be

curriculum framework proposed by the International

integrated into the whole. Also with just one semester

Game Developers Association (IGDA). The Game class

there was not enough time to be exposed to the richness

structure had three major components which are theory,

of gaming design and development. There are just not

application and presentation.

enough curriculum hours and many problems and

Component one is game theor y with lecture,

frustrations were caused by not having a dedicated

assignments and illustration, Component two is

gaming lab.

application of game theory by creating a game during

Game Class Structure

the class that can be played and is fun., Component

The question which came to mind, “How do we improve

three is the presentation of special game topics to give

computer science & software engineering enrollments?”

students more ownership of the content material and the

The investigation began by jumping on the information

intermediate and final game presentation included a

superhighway to search for the Holy Grail to hold the

show and tell of their final creations.

attention of teen and young students. In conversing with

Component One: Game Class Theory

other instructors, colleagues, friends and family, one thing

The

that kept staying in the fore front of the conversations, was

curriculum models to focus course structure:

Rabin

t e x t,

presented

three

sample

video games and the gaming industry and that “you

programming-oriented, inter-disciplinary and game

can't get students to their homework, but you can't get

design. The inter-disciplinary with the rationale of the

them to put down their video games”. This fueled the idea

broadest coverage of topics was chosen to support

that a game development class should be started as an

students who may be interested in gaming, but who may

elective to gauge student interest to study game theory

not have an extensive background in programming and

i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

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ARTICLES may be more interested in game design.

The class

began with an introduction, overview of video games and some of the other topics are as follows:

development driven class.

Component Two: Game Design Projects The rationale for the game design course was to create a

Readings in critical game studies: Ludology for game

class to motivate students to explore other types of

Developers

software not traditionally used in Computer Science



The Games Industry



Readings in Understanding Fun

classrooms.

The projects were all designed to be

educational software that would be supportive to middle and high school lesson plans. An initial engine was



Finding Flow



Game production & teams



Intro to gaming Application (3Dgame studio)



Game Design Documentation



Introduction to Level Design

iterative development, which where levels behind



Modeling

recently released software. This inconsistency caused half



Modeling Application

of the groups to choose other software for their



Human-computer interaction (HCI)



Game Development Project Work



Interface design Computer



Computer Graphics

interesting way to approach the topic and yielded many



Game scripting and programming

different types of products. But not mandating one



Collision Detection Extras

environment was problematic because the instructor



Game data structures and algorithms

only had experience with one environment, which meant



Artificial intelligence



Network Extras



How to Prototype a Game in Under 7 Day



Play testing (Game Usability Testing)

suggested for the first game programming effort, but many found frustration in this environment, in that it was on the bleeding edge of development with frequent updates and documentation (e.g. tutorial support) of

development work.

All student teams were encouraged to explore and find software that would best support their project goals of developing creative educational software. This was an

that in-depth level support would not be available beyond the precursory level of mechanics. This introduces diverse software usage issues, which encourage exploration to find support materials. Also each team needed to investigate the appropriate

Facilities

means in the chosen environment to complete the game

With this being an experimental class, there were

programming project in successful and effective ways.

problems based on obtaining adequate facilities and

The application component of the class was an

software support for the class. With space at a premium

opportunity for students to practice their software

we were able to place some equipment and software in

engineering skills and go through the entire software

an educational lab, but this was problematic in that

engineering lifecycle. They had to create requirements,

everything is recycled each semester which caused the

create initial design, prototype games and play test

loss of some software and other tools. For the Game

games to receive feedback about their designs. In all

Design and Development class, students relied on

there were six games created in the Game Design and

individual downloads from free game design engines

Development class. In the 3D game category there were

which caused consistency problems. For future

three games (engine): Xtreme Rally, Mindcept and

iteractions of the class, there is necessity of having

PsychGame. Xtreme Rally is a car racing game created

dedicated lab facilities for an application and

with 3D game studio (Figure 1). Mindcept was created

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i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

ARTICLES with Half-Life 2 source engine as an adventure game and

needed to create a functional game, an example of one

players solve puzzles to advance (Figure 2). PsychGame

of the games created during the course is presented.

was created with 3D game studio engine and has a series

DITTO: An educational game

of exercises based upon Pavlovian conditioning

Ditto was one of the games created for the game design

(Figure 3).

and development class. Ditto is an educational puzzle

Also in the 2D category there were three games:

game with mechanics similar to games like

Destination Travelers, Ditto, and Street Legal Customs.

Concentration and Memory where the player tries to find

Destination Travelers was created in Flash and the game

matching pairs. Each pair consists of related information,

depicts a family on vacation and the choices they are

like two with the same color or one with a term and the

presented with. Ditto was created with the jMonkey engine

other with information about the term.

as a series of puzzles for youth to teach recognition

Figure 4 shows an example where two matching pairs

through matching drills (e.g. mathematics facts). “Street

have been found. These four blocks have been removed

Legal Customs” was created in Flash as a game for youth

revealing four squares of the background picture. The

financial management and the players buy parts for cars

user, then, selects two more blocks, the word “Duck” and

based on their credit. All of the games created during the

the elephant picture. These blocks do not match and will

class were very interesting, playable and well liked by their

be turned back around to the side containing the letter.

classmates. As an illustration of the breadth of experience

Figure 5 also demonstrates Ditto as a multi-player game.

At the bottom of the screen, the scores of two players are visible.

Ditto fits the educational and puzzle genres. Education games teach as they entertain. Puzzles are categorized as casual games which combine pattern matching,

Figure 1. Extreme Rally Car Race.

Figure 4. Animal names Figure 2. Mindcept: Dreams are your prison.

Figure 3. PsychGame.

Figure 5. Sample Matching Pairs of Blocks.

i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

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ARTICLES logic, strategy, luck, and often time elements. They do not

based graphics API. It was built to provide a full-featured

have a story as common adventure game, but are an

graphics engine written in Java. It allows any rendering

end themselves. The goal in designing a puzzle game is

system to be plugged in by using an abstractor layer. jME

not to make the player feel stupid, but to allow him to

supplies the user with easy to use, but powerful classes for

challenge himself and to help him win. Most puzzles are

building the application.

un-timed and allow trial and error without penalty. These

At a fundamental level, it uses scene graph architecture.

characteristics make puzzles a good educational

Each game state constructs a tree to be rendered by the

medium. Educational game developers must work

engine. This allows for a hierarchical scene design to be

closely with experts in the field of knowledge presented in

translated directly into code. The texturing capabilities of

the game. There should be a clear goal of what the player

the engine were used and found to be fairly intuitive. No

will learn through the game. The game should present

attempt was made to load any externally built models or

age appropriate information in an age appropriate

animations. As for other libraries, FengGUI was used to

manner. The interface should be designed in such a way

create the 2D menu interface. FengGUI is an openGL GUI

not to clutter the screen with confusing objects. Every time

toolkit. JME allows for the use of both Swing and AWT, and it

a player does something, he wants to see something

is likely that other toolkits could be integrated. For xml

happen. Educational games should encourage the

parsing, a library called dom4J was used which is a

player to continue. This can be accomplished by earning

wrapper around javax.xml. It is quite convenient for most

points or receiving encouraging responses to the play

XML processing purposes.

action. It is important to address inactivity in educational games (Bates, 2004).

Game Development Teams In Game Design & Development class, students were

Game Development Strategy

instructed that interdisciplinary team can be highly

The goal for the development of the game Ditto was to

productive and have great outcomes. A key to success in

implement multiple categories (Figure 5) and levels of

game development is a development team of diversified

difficulty from which the user can choose. The categories

skills. There are many team components when

included Chinese Symbols, Math Facts (addition,

developing a game such as storyboarding, graphics

subtraction, multiplication, and division), sign language,

design, Artificial Intelligence, Audio, Dialog, Technical

shapes, colors, etc. The levels of difficulty (easy, medium,

Writers, etc. Although many of the computer science

and hard) determined the numbers of blocks in the game

students developed games, which revolved around

puzzle.

computer programming at the end of their development

The first layer simply implemented one category, animal

process they began to see the benefits of having other

names, at the lowest level of difficulty. After this scenario

components like formally trained technical writers to work

was playable, subsequent layers were developed

on dialog or story, artists to work with animation, musicians

allowing the selection of a category and level of difficulty

to work with audio design, etc. There are many other

using a menu. The information about each game

aspects that are highly important to a good compelling

category was stored in a set of XML files. The game engine

game.

had a game state manager to allow for intuitive

The first task was to designate workable team structures

management of game states.

and all groups were allowed to form based on a group

Game Engine

synergy. Two groups were single member teams (e.g.

The Java Monkey Engine (jME) was chosen as the basis for

PsychGame and MindCept). One group consisted of

the game. The jMonkey Engine (jME) is an open source

three team members (i.e. Ditto) with one developer, one

from (jMonkey, 2007) with high performance scene graph

graphic designer, and a technical writer. This group had

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i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

ARTICLES good synergy and their game was successful and was

how to compromise, be flexible, work within a team and

well received by the class during playtesting. Two groups

realized that all members of a team will have unique

h a d f o u r m e m b e r s ( i . e. X t r e m e R a l l y a n d

contributions. The teams, in many cases, had varying

StreetLegalCustoms). In both groups, majority of the

levels of ability and skills in each area, which in many

members were assigned to program different

cases proved challenging and frustrating. Even with

components of the games and one technical writer to

introductory materials to train the students in the benefits

organize writing, internal group testing, external

of pair programming and working in teams, the semester

playtesting and presentations. This team organizational

was concluded with two one creator games. Each of

structure worked very well for these two teams. The whole

these designers wanted to render their artistic vision

team worked together to define the vision for their game,

without compromise and in the end developed a solo

create a name for their project group, and started

effort. These individuals were very skilled programmers

thinking about marketing, in case their game develops a

and were able to create working games during the

liking/following. The first class milestone was complete

project period of the class time utilizing game engines.

when groups presented their game vision and the

Each game was designed, developed, unit tested and

tentative schedule for management of people and time

playtested in a 4-8 weeks period based upon the size of

resources.

team and size of the final game.

The second step for each team was to develop a website

Component Three: Game Presentations

to help manage group resources and as a dissemination

The rationale for game presentations was twofold, to

point for project deliverables. This website contained

serve as milestones for deliverables and to reinforce

project abstract, description, presentation, and in some

student professional development. Also in many cases

cases the actual game or video. Team Ditto created a

students will have to give professional presentations in the

very personable website that was very reflective of the

future either in the academic world as teachers or in the

group's synergy for their game design project.

business world as training sessions they provide for their

The next step was to design and develop interesting, fun

colleagues and trainees. Each group gave three

and playable games. The Game Design & Development

presentations during the semester. The first group

group all conducted iterative development and rapid

presentation described their game ideas with the theme,

prototyping. They began with Designing their game,

intended game play with paper prototypes and sketches

creating specifications, coding and testing, which were

of proposed setting. The second presentation for each

fed back into iterative redesign of the game until alpha

group was a midterm status report to give all an indication

release of their games were ready for class playtesting.

of their progress and as a reminder that their time budget

The final step in the rapid design cycle was unit testing and

for rapid prototyping was half over. The final presentation

bug testing to get the applications working properly and

for each group was their final presentation with the final

preparing for playtesting of their created works by other

game status, results of playtesting, and demonstration of

students from their class. In all cases, players found that

the working game.

the appearance, user interface and game interaction

Results and Future Work

were very important. In team Ditto, all of their team

The results for the instructor were, that in the future they will

members were computer science majors, and relied on

continue with more offerings of the game design and

the coding strength of one member and the design skills

development class. Many students were frustrated by the

of the others.

theoretical portions of the class, but were highly

It was found that working in game development teams

motivated by the class game projects.

was highly instructive for all students in that they learned

motivated by wanting to have a great game that their

i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

Many were

7

ARTICLES peers and they would enjoy. The results from the Ditto

expressed that working together was a rewarding activity

team were, that they were very proud of the cleanness of

during the class.

the code. The game action was simple but challenging.

References

Ditto can be marketed as a learning reinforcement tool.

They were motivated by their experience and thought that given more time, they would expand the game by adding more categories. Other features that would enhance the game are: a high score list, keyboard block selection, two players, music and sound, and online play.

Conclusion

[1]. Bates, B. (2004). Game Design (2nd ed.). Boston: Thompson Course Technology.

[2]. Birdwell, K. (1999). The Cabal: Valve's Design Process For Creating Half-Life. Retrieved November 16, 2008 from http://www.gamasutra.com/features/19991210/birdwell _01.htm.

[3]. Bomia, L., Beluzo, L., Demeester, D., Elander, K.,

From the instructor perspective, the class met its intended baseline of introducing students to the gaming industry, game design and development, and the creation of educational games. There were many varying levels of students' game attainment based upon overall effort and coordination of groups. Many suffered from not understanding pair programming and group projects, knowing that they have to work together from the beginning to make sure that the project meshes well during the end of a project. For the groups that understood that there is a division of labor and coordination that is necessar y for a successful programming project they received much better results in the end with much less trauma. Groups that waited until late in the game to coordinate their resources in many cases could not or had to do some recreation in order for

Johnson, M., & Sheldon, B. (1997). The impact of teaching strategies on intrinsic motivation. Champaign, IL: ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 418 925).

[4]. Brightman, J. (2006). U.S. Video Game Sales Up 15.5% in April. GameDaily Biz. (May 16, 2006). Retrieved October 8, 2007 from http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/feature/?

Id=12700&rp=49.

[5]. Claypool, K. and Claypool, M. (2005). Teaching software engineering through game design. In Proceedings of the 10th Annual SIGCSE Conference on innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education (Caparica, Portugal, June 27-29, 2005, ITiCSE '05) ACM Press, New York, NY, 123-127.

their games to work successfully. Our assumption is that

[6]. Coleman, R., Krembs, M., Labouseur, A., and Weir, J.

students performed higher based on being more

(2005). Game design & programming concentration

motivated to bring their own creations to life virtually and

within the computer science curriculum. In Proceedings

that a game enhanced course will motivate students

of the 36th SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer

better than traditional instruction.

Science Education (St. Louis, Missouri, USA, February 23-

From a student's perspective, a gaming course offered

27, 2005). SIGCSE '05. ACM Press, New York, NY, 545-550.

the practical application of the software engineering and

[7]. Fullerton, T., Swain, C. & Hoffman, S. (2004). Game

human computer interaction skills they have learned in

Design Workshop: Designing, Prototyping and Playtesting

traditional Computer science courses. The projects

Games. San Francisco, CA: CMP Books.

allowed for the integration of many forms of creativity with

[8]. jMonkey Engine. n.d. Retrieved March 8, 2007 from

respect to computer science skills. Investigating types of

www.jmonkeyengine.com.

games and interface possibilities was interesting and the

[9]. Lewis, M. and Jacobson, J. (2002). Game engines in

designing of the interfaces and interactions was

scientific research. Communication of the ACM 45, 1

enjoyable. Most teams possessed a wide array of coding,

(Jan. 2002), 27-31.

graphic design and interface design skills that they drew

[10]. Rabin, S. (2005). Introduction to game

upon to complete their projects. The students also 8

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ARTICLES development. Hingham, MA: Charles River Media, Inc.

[12]. Tsai, M., Huang, C., and Zeng, J. (2006). Game

[11]. Smith, M. (2008). V Game equips first responders to

programming courses for non programmers. In

save lives: New virtual world hones paramedics' triage

Proceedings of the 2006 International Conference on

skills. Retrieved July 5, 2008 from http://videogames.

Game Research and Development (Perth, Australia,

Yahoo.com/feature/game-equips-first-responders-to-

December 04-06, 2006). ACM International Conference

save-lives/ 1223748.

Proceeding Series, vol. 223. Murdoch University, Murdoch University, Australia, 219-223.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Cheryl D. Seals, Ph. D. is an Assistant Professor in the Computer Science and Software Engineering Department at Auburn University. She conducts research in Human Computer Interaction with an emphasis in visual programming of educational simulations with end user programming, intelligent agent, usability evaluation, computer supported collaborative work, minimalism and additionally she is also involved in software engineering projects.

Jacqueline H. Hundley is a Ph.D student in the Computer Science and Software Engineering Department at Auburn University.

She conducts research in Software Engineering with an emphasis in curriculum development and software engineering tools usage for CS1/CS2.

Lacey S. Montgomery is a Ph.D student at Auburn University. She graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Software Engineering degree from Auburn University in Fall 2004. Lacey is president of the local Upsilon Pi Epsilon honor society. Her research is in the area of sensor networks and location sensing and visualization. Lacey currently teaches Java programming lab.

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ARTICLES

ONTOLOGY OF SERIOUS GAMES By LAKSHMI PRAYAGA*

KAREN L. RASMUSSEN**

* Assistant Professor, Computer Science/Engineering and Computer Technology, University of West Florida. ** Professor, Engineering and Computer Technology, University of West Florida.

ABSTRACT Computer games are no longer just for entertainment; they have also become a useful instructional strategy for acquiring knowledge. When games are used for purposes other than strict entertainment they become serious games.

The goal of serious games is to enable the player to learn a task, master a strategy or develop a skill. Serious games can be used for education and training in any organization, including military, K-20 education, business and industry. The application of serious games in a wide arena requires an ontology for designing high-quality materials.

Keywords: Games as instructional strategy, serious games, ontology, ontology of serious games.

INTRODUCTION

concepts within a career-related scenario or context. The

Games have entered the instructional strategy world as a

framework developed for the design of the games

valuable tool that can be used to engage learners.

culminated in the design of this ontology. A definition of

Games have been used for education and training in

games and serious games is provided to establish a

many ways for multiple content areas, using a variety of

context for such an ontology.

strategies. Effective, efficient and meaningful games that

Defining Games

are serious in nature, provide educators a valuable

Games are a fundamental aspect of human existence

resource that they can use it to promote performance

and are contextualized and defined by the player. Some

and motivation. From pure entertainment to the notion of

researchers define games through processes such as

a game with educational focus, games have emerged

play, rules, and competition (Salen & Zimmerman, 2003).

as a way to engage learners. Design of a serious game

Wittgenstein (1953) proposed that it is not possible to have

requires a comprehensive ontology to focus efforts and

a single definition for the concept “game.” He suggested

development of the end product. This paper presents

defining games as activities with rules, play, or

such ontology and is organized into four main sections:

competition all fail to adequately define the term game.

essential characteristics of a learning environment,

Others (Crawford, 1997, 2003; Kramer, 2000; Salen &

essential characteristics of games, games as an

Zimmerman) have tried to define games based on

instructional strategy and ontology for serious games.

semantics, emotions, and rules. Kramer documented

The ontology for serious games described in this paper is a

that in the German language a game is any activity which

result of research in formalizing a design for educational

is executed only for pleasure and without conscious

(serious) games to teach middle school mathematics in

purpose. In this definition every activity that brings

the context of career themes. The researchers involved in

pleasure is a game (Kramer). Crawford suggested that

this activity included faculty from the University of West

games are scenarios which have rules and provide

Florida and personnel from the Escambia County School

equity. However, the aspect of learning seems to be

District who were awarded a Math and Science

implicit in the definition of the term game. Every game

partnership grant by the Florida Department of Education

requires that the player learn and master rules to play the

in 2007 to develop serious games that integrated Algebra

game and win, which means that games are inherently

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i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

ARTICLES educational, although the purpose and the intent of the

based on theoretical foundations of learning theories

player may not, in fact, be one targeted to learning

including behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism.

(Crawford, 1997). For the purpose of this paper, games will

Common elements applicable to the ontology of serious

be defined as enjoyable and entertaining educational

games in these theories include motivation, contextual

activities that involve rules, challenge and interactivity

relevance, challenge, scaffolding, student engagement

(Salen & Zimmerman).

and feedback. Context, through authentic learning

Serious Games

environments, provides a framework for serious game

Serious games are serious business, contributing to an economy of $2 trillion in the global market towards education and government sponsored training (Susi, Johannesson, & Backlund, 2008). Michael and Chen (2006) define serious games as games that “do not have

development. Instructional design models (e.g., Gagné's (1985) nine events of Instruction, Keller's ARCS model, Malone's Motivational model) provide ways to incorporate resulting instructional strategies to enhance instruction.

entertainment, enjoyment, or fun as their primary

Motivation promotes a desire and curiosity to participate

purpose, … [that] use the artistic medium of games to

and explore the educational content. Malone (1981)

deliver a message, teach a lesson, or provide an

suggested that “if students are intrinsically motivated to

experience” (p. 21). This definition does not mean to imply

learn something, they may spend more time and effort

that serious games do not have entertainment value; in

learning, feel better about what they learn, and use it

fact, the Serious Game Showcase and Challenge (cited

more in the future” (p. 335). Motivated students can then

in Susi et al.) specifically identifies challenge, along with

have an exciting learning experience (Smith, 2006)

reward systems and feedback, as critical elements of a

which, in turn, should be relevant to their own learning

serious game.

However, there are other purposes to a serious game, specifically, education within an entertainment context.

Serious games are designed with a purpose and a focus for a specific audience. Serious games are those games that help to develop a skill, learn a language, or acquire concept knowledge. Examples of serious games designed for a specific audience include (a) those designed for the military which contain training modules

needs. Relevance can be characterized by how material satisfies the needs of the user and is applicable to a particular situation. Keller's (1987) six strategies for relevance include (a) experience (b) present worth (c) future usefulness (d) needs matching (e) modeling and (f) choice. Challenge is a powerful intrinsic motivational factor. Malone and Lepper (1987) described challenge as a situation with clear goals that are relevant to the student that require a response.

focused on warfare strategy, (b) opportunities for

Gagné's (1985) events of instruction are framed around

surgeons to develop specific skills for specific surgeries, (c)

the notion that elements of instruction should include

those that provide educational content (Susi et al., 2008).

techniques to assist learners in acquiring attention, being

The applicability of serious games is wide and strategies

informed of objectives, recalling information. Then,

for designing and developing serious games (including

instructors or teachers design the environment where they

an analysis of a learning environment and the gaming

present content, provide guidance, elicit performance,

world) are needed to facilitate a successful experience

and assess performance. Throughout the learning

for designers, developers, and players.

process, feedback is provided to ensure that the learner

Essential Elements of a Learning Environment Theoretical Perspectives Several theories for the design of learning environment such as those found in games have been advocated

progresses appropriately through the instruction. At the end of the lesson, strategies are put into operation that enhance retention and help the learner to transfer the acquired knowledge to application. A learning environment that incorporates these nine events and is

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ARTICLES challenging will stimulate the learner's curiosity and

that plot or story line and associated narration can

motivational levels to aspire and reach higher goals

determine the success of a game. Players of computer

(Collins, Brown & Newman, 1990).

and video games such as Commandos 2: Warriors of

Another foundation, student engagement, is equally as

Courage and Arcannum reveal that they perceive

important to the learning environment. Levin (2005) found

themselves as participants in the ongoing story and can

that engagement in learning involves the abilities to be a

adequately describe the story of the game that they are

self learner, to explore, to set and assess goals, to transfer

playing and also anticipate the outcomes of the story

learning, to creative problem solving, and to participate

(Carlquist, 2002). Narrative strengths of games combine

in collaborative activities. Jones, Valdez, Nowakowski,

to produce even more immersive and enjoyable gaming

and Rasmussen (1994) found that student engagement

environments (Lambert & Rider, 2001).

plays a vital role in the process of learning. Reflection and

Game play

action are critical components in the construction of

Fitts and Posner (1967) suggest that learning is a process

knowledge and it is difficult to extricate one from the other

of acquiring skills and displaying skilled performance.

(Caine & Caine, 1991; Freire, 1973). Freire believed that

These processes are comprised of a string of organized

reflection promotes critical thinking and learners become

activities. Organization, goal directedness and utilization

actors and not observers and authors of their own

of feedback form the core characteristics of a skilled

decisions.

performance. The journey of learning and mastering the

The theoretical foundation provides the game designer

strategy to reach the goal should include stages that

with a framework by which to structure essential elements

increase gradually in levels of difficulty and complexity of

of a game. This framework provides insight into how

rules. Retaux and Rouchier (2002) state that there must be

players will interact and, hopefully, learn, from the serious

a cognitive challenge in the discovery of the laws of the

game.

universe some of which are implicit and require training.

Essential Characteristics of a Game

An example of this type of challenge would be assessing

All games should be comprised of essential characteristics to provide enjoyment and pleasure to the audience (Bateman & Boon, 2005; Novak, 2008). These characteristics frame the boundaries of the game and

and evaluating if a bridge can be crossed or jumped over in a given scenario. These challenges and complexities are what make the playability of a game interesting.

Gameplay includes interactivity. Games are distinct from

set expectations for the design and development of the

many other types of art, such as listening to music or

game. These characteristics include audience and

watching a painting or a drama. Although all these forms

narration, gameplay, fantasy, graphics, choices,

of art provide pleasure and enjoyment, they engage as

challenge, immersion, and rules.

an observer, not as a participant. Games, on the other hand, are inherently interactive; even games designed

Audience/Compelling Narration The goal of every game is to provide enjoyment to the audience (Bateman & Boon, 2005). Bateman and Boon suggest that focus group interviews and team meetings can assist in developing an engaging framework from which to start the design process. Designers must ensure that game scenarios include interesting stories and plots to engage the player and encourage curiosity and

for individual play like puzzles are interactive since the individual does something that produces an effect.

Games allow the player to explore the environment, participate and interact with it, make decisions, and observe transformations in a make-believe world.

Fantasy The element of fantasy distinguishes a game from a

enticement. This combination facilitates an exploration of

simulation. A simulation is a representation of something

a world of fantasy. King (as cited in Novak, 2008) suggests

real, for example the working of an aircraft, atomic

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i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

ARTICLES structure, surgical procedure etc. Simulations are also

situations and scenarios involving the application of

usually designed for computational or evaluative

higher-order thinking skills by requiring decision making.

purposes. (Crawford, 1997). Games, on the other hand,

Kellar, Watters and Duffy (2005) reported that gamers

include an element of fantasy or fiction in addition to its

preferred games with choices, since it provides the player

realistic components (e.g., buildings, characters, terrains)

with a sense of control over the environment. Examples of

(Crawford) and are designed for entertainment purposes.

these games include Role Playing Games (RPGs) like Lost

But these characters or situations need not correspond to

Odyssey and Civilization. RPGs allow the player to assume

real persons, animals, buildings, etc. A person can be an

roles, execute decisions and experience the outcomes of

alien, an animal can be a robot and a building can be in

decisions in a fictitious world, one different from the real

the shape of a butterfly. It is this aspect of representing

world. Such experiences can, in a sense, provide positive

reality through the artist's rendition with aspects of fantasy

social and emotional impacts on learners as the player

that transports the player from the real world to the world

has (a) learned to interact with real life scenarios such as

of fantasy and engages the learner in unfamiliar territory.

deliberating and deciding on one set of actions vs.

Games like Zork and Myst, through the elements of

another and (b) experimented with strategic planning

fantasy, provide an engaging and immersive

activities involving allocation of game resources in a

environment for the player (Novak, 2008).

fictitious environment and experience the consequences

Graphics and Level Design High-quality, relevant graphics are important for a successful game, examples of games include Doom, Quake 3 Arena (Hardwiger, 2000), and Myst (Novak,

through rewards and or penalties without real world hardships. These elements facilitate the player entering a fantasy environment, strengthening another element of the framework.

2008). They constitute a necessary condition for the ‘Net

Challenge and Tension

genners’ who grew up with an exposure to computers and

Engaging games must also include challenge and

digital media (Oblinger 2004; Prensky, 2005). Although

tension as a way to retain player interest. Challenge and

high-quality graphics are not a sufficient condition for a

tension can be encouraged through the use of elements

good game, or in other words, quality graphics do not, in

such as distractions and attention focusing strategies. A

and of themselves, make a game successful (Erick, 2006;

good game must have frequent changes in flow of the

Peney, 2008). Other elements such as gameplay,

game, peaks and dips to deliver challenge and tension

narration and fantasy are important for a successful

(Kramer, 2000).

game.

Immersion

Level design includes the creation of environments,

The most interesting aspect of games is that they create

scenarios and missions to be accomplished in a game

an immersive environment for the player. Immersion is an

(Novak, 2008). Additionally it also includes determining

aspect of games that is rated highly by game designers,

the time that a player should spend on a particular level. A

developers and players (Brown & Cairns, 2004) and

general rule seems to be that a player must be able to

makes the player a participant in the environment.

complete one level in a session to maintain the tension

Several aspects of the gaming environment contribute to

and interest in the game (Novak). This level perspective

this immersion including intricacies (e.g., realism, sound

approximates to fifteen minutes for children and two

effects and depth) woven into the game, elements of

hours for gamers for computer games and upto forty-five

fantasy, challenge, story line, and tension. Such

minutes for a console game (Novak).

immersion contributes to the player's enjoyment - a

Choices and Decision Making

primary goal of the game and ensures replayability

The gaming environment presents the player with

(Kramer, 2000).

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ARTICLES Rules and Feedback

video and computer games. The challenge for

Setting clear goals and feedback is necessary for a player

instructional designers is to use the myriad of available

to participate and progress in a gaming environment.

technologies to design an engaging and stimulating

Games must have clear instructions to help the player

learning environment. Experimental use of serious games

understand the rules of the game; rules must be equitable

to motivate children to learn include the use of PlayStation

(Crawford, 1997; Novak, 2008). Feedback is usually

games to teach fundamental math concepts in Britain

offered through rewards and penalties in games. Fullerton

(Macmillan, 2006). Dede (2005) found that the gaming

(as cited in Novak) stated that creating meaningful and

environment is beneficial for unmotivated, failing

interesting choices is an important challenge for game

students and observed that students who are distracted

designers. Positive and negative reinforcements and

and cannot concentrate on instruction can be highly

feedback provide the necessary motivation to make

focused and motivated to complete a task when

modifications of skill sets that allow the player to continue

engaged in games.

the game (Burgos, Van Nimwegen, Van Oostendorp, &

Games must be contextualized in situations, plots, and for

Koper, 2003).

serious games, on academic standards. Educators are searching for ways to prepare students to lead the way in

Games as an Instructional Strategy It is not surprising that games can be used as an instructional strategy, since games are inherently educational in that every game requires mastering a skill to win (Crawford, 1997). Jones (2003) and Oblinger (2004) indicated that nearly 60% of students in the age group of six and older ('Net genners and millenials [born since 1 9 8 0 ] ) p l a y c o m p u t e r g a m e s. I n t e g r a t i n g computer-based or video games into a learning environment scaffolds students from using video games as recreational activities to using games as educational materials. Students are attracted by video and computer games, and educators have the opportunity to take advantage of manipulating gaming environments for instructional purposes. Through the use of games educators can create an exciting and motivational instructional environment by including elements of imagery, challenge, experimentation through role play

inventions and innovations. During the development of the game ontology, that is the subject of this paper, a set of serious games were designed where the contextualization was a combination of STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and Careers. The objective of the challenge was to design a game where students could innovatively resolve problems while they built foundational knowledge and skills related to career awareness and the use of Algebra.

A group of faculty, school district content experts and career specialists defined and used the ontology presented to develop tools to engage students in career and math and science concepts for the purpose of improving performance and practicing critical thinking skills in math, science, reading and writing all using an gaming instructional approach integrated into the middle school classroom.

and feedback, all essential to successful learning, and, in

The instructional strategy of gaming can promote skill

turn, defining elements of a serious game.

development in the following areas: critical thinking,

Oblinger (2004) further observed that the ‘Net genners’ had the following characteristics: (a) they gravitate toward group activity (b) believe that it is cool to be smart and (c) are fascinated by new technologies. This student

control, engagement and feedback. In addition gaming can help students see relevance of situations to their own environment and learn strategies to work in a self-paced environment.

population is not intimidated by technology; they believe

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Skills

in using technology to its fullest potential and respond

Games are a creative teaching strategy that enhances

positively to technology-mediated instruction including

learning and problem solving. Gaming strategies are

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ARTICLES being used by the authors to make learning interesting,

Playing at their own pace, players gain familiarity with the

stimulating and fun in middle schools. Van Eck (2006)

setting, which increases their self esteem (Dempsey,

suggests the use of several commercial off the shelf

Lucassen, Gilley, & Rasmussen, 1994). The setting is

games in higher education, including Simcity2 and other

secure because there is no external pressure, and the

adventure games which are open ended for hypothesis

player creates and develops a comfort zone from which

testing and problem solving; games such as CSI can be

to navigate and participate in the game. Mitchell and

used to teach forensics.

Savill-Smith (2004) observed that the gaming scenario

Control

can provide prompt feedback, an essential element of a

Control and reflection are other critical elements in the learning process (Caine & Caine, 1991; Freire, 1973).

Control is defined as a feeling of self-determination on the part of the student (Malone & Lepper, 1987). Providing students the ability to control their learning environment is in itself a motivation that helps learning (McLeod, 2006).

good instructional strategy (Chickering & Ehrmann, 1996), through game elements such as a score card and messages related to progress and answers to questions.

Feedback can be advantageously used in creating instructional materials within a gaming environment in two ways:

McLeod maintained that video games provide

1. Motivate the student by providing hints, suggestions,

opportunities for gamers to be the producers of

and examples to steer the student in the right

knowledge, not just consumers. In addition, video and

direction towards learning.

computer games also provide students with scenarios

2. A reporting feature which provides accountability for

that require reflection (Anderson, 2004). Control can also

teachers and parents for the time the child spent in a

involve elements of reflection. Reflection provides the

gaming environment. Typically reporting should

ability to act and transfer knowledge to unfamiliar

include the cumulative score, time spent by the

territories and further acts as a motivational factor for the

student on each question, the bench mark or other

student because the student experiences the fulfillment

type of standardized information to identify the topic

of a successful transference of knowledge (TAP, 2000). The

being tested. Additional features could include

gaming scenario provides opportunities for students to

e-mailing the score to the teacher or parent of the ```

take control over their actions and reflect upon the

student for recording purposes, and maintaining

strategies employed in a particular game.

grade books. Figure 1 is an example of a report

Student Engagement and Motivation

generated by the Math Matters games.

Computer games provide engagement, which is why

Contextual Relevance

people want to play these games (Jones, 1997). Jones

Oblinger (2004) and Prensky (2005) also note that

suggests that since games offer participant engagement

computer and video games provide the context that

and interactivity, games can be a good instructional delivery system. Games allow the student to interact with the game world by manipulating the variables and experience the effects of these manipulations (Jenkins, 2005), thus engaging the student in play.

Feedback A major roadblock that students face is the lack of confidence on their journey to learning. A gaming situation is an ideal candidate to create a platform for boosting confidence through feedback mechanisms.

Figure 1. Report from Math Matters game i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

15

ARTICLES students can relate to, since it is an environment that they

gaming environment and the learning environment.

are constantly engaged in and are not intimidated by. In

Ideally this ontology should include all of the concepts

fact as pointed out by Klassen and Willoughby (2003) the

previously discussed as essential characteristics of a

gaming world can be used as a motivational factor to

game comprising the first catalog, and a learning

promote learning. Consequently, the gaming

environment comprising the second catalog. The third

environment can be used as a strategy to have a captive

catalog is the ontology which merges the concepts from

audience for instructional purposes.

these two catalogs and concepts inherent in serious

Self-Paced Learning Environment

games. The methodology used to construct this ontology

Oblinger (2006) and McLeod (2006) maintain that a computer gaming environment can provide a self-paced learning environment that is advantageous to both the student and the instructor. Students usually shy away from approaching the instructor for further explanations on a concept, but the gaming environment

is to map the correspondence for the elements in each catalog and provide a strategy to address the correspondence in the serious games column. Table 1 is the resulting ontology, IDEAS Pro. The ontology can be implemented into a game design and development project by using traditional instructional design processes

provides an alternative pathway, allowing the student to learn concepts by replaying a section of the game any number of times. This self-paced learning environment also frees up the instructor time to help other students who prefer instructor help. Connolly, Stansfield, and McLellan

Games – Essential Elements (Catalog 1)

Learning environment – Essential Elements (Catalog 2)

Serious Games Essential Elements (Catalog 3)

1. Audience

a. Audience and Learning outcomes

Identify and Design for a specific Domain / Audience with appropriate learning Outcomes

2. Gameplay

b. Instructional Strategy to deliver content including goals, objectives etc

Determine Instructional Strategies to be embedded in a game environment

3. Narration / Immersion

c. Student Engagement

Establish Story line and build contextual relevance for instructional content in an Immersive environment

4. Challenge / Tension

d. Challenge / Scaffolding, Reflection

Apply Instructional strategy to story line and provide challenging scenarios to encourage Reflection

5. Rules / Feedback

e. Feedback

Set and design scenarios to promote critical thinking, Reflection and include feedback mechanisms

6. Fantasy, Graphics, level Design

g. Attention / Motivation

Production phase Design an enticing environment with rich media effects that attracts student attention and provides motivation.

(2006) mention that a virtual tutor or an e-coach provides coaching/feedback through hints and is extremely important in serious games. Such feedback and guidance help students develop abilities of reflection and scaffolding (Collins et al., 1990).

A Proposed Ontology for Serious Games Ontology is defined as “[A] classification of the types and subtypes of concepts and relations necessary to describe everything in the application domain” (Sowa, 2000, p. 454). In a series of research and development efforts, catalogs of gaming and learning environments elements that facilitate and promote performance and, motivation have been designed, developed, implemented, and evaluated. From the two catalogs, a third catalog was designed: a serious gaming environment protocol which links the elements in gaming and learning environments. This protocol led to the development of an ontology that provides designers of educational games and other serious game developers a framework for creating serious games. A sample design of a game with the proposed ontology is presented here.

The ontology for serious games is a marriage between the

16

Table 1. Ontology of Serious Games: IDEAS-Pro

i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

ARTICLES and principles. These processes and principles include application of learning and instruction theory as the product is designed, developed, implemented, and evaluated. This process, formalized as IDEAS-Pro, is outlined in Figure 2.

In the IDEAS-Pro system, learning outcomes are identified, using needs analysis and academic standards data.

From that point, instructional strategies, the type of game to be designed is selected. The plot, or story line, is then established. Extensive storyboards are used to make sure that standards, content, and story are aligned. Finally, the production begins (the Pro in IDEAS-Pro). The cycle is iterative and includes both formative and summative evaluations. An iterative, concurrent system becomes the norm where decisions are revisited and revised as the ontology is put into practice. In Table 2, the application of IDEAS-Pro to a serious game Providers, a game designed to teach algebraic concepts for 7th and 8th graders is

Figure 3. Avatar (female) Pilot in trading card format.

presented (Prayaga & Rasmussen, 2007). Figures 3 and 4 are game assets from Providers used as trading cards similar to the popular toy trading cards like Yohijo that students can exchange as they go through the different game levels during the semester.

Conclusion In this article we have provided an ontology which was found in theory from both the academic and the entertainment (gaming) worlds. The application of the IDEAS-Pro ontology to game development provides a framework or structure by which designers and developers can create serious games that meet the requirements of the education or training situation as well

Figure 4. Spaceship in trading card format.

as the entertainment needs of the player. In environments where performance is the ultimate objective, merging the essential game elements with a strong theoretical foundation greatly improves chances for successful serious games.

Figure 2. Ontology Framework i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

17

ARTICLES Identify Audience (7th & 8th Graders) / Narration/ Game Summary

Determine Instructional Strategy / ARCS/ MALONE Elements

determine Instructional Strategy Goals and Outcomes / SSS Benchmarks

Establish Contextual Characteristics (Aligned Knowledge, Skills, Abilities

Apply Instructional strategy to story line /Roles of Avatars & Nonplaying Characters (NPC)

Set and design Sample Activities in the game to reflect Math Examples (Type of Assessment)

Supporting Materials Video Support

Steers aircraft along planned routes with the assistance of autopilot and flight management computers

Commander: Sets the scenario stage, explains the problem. Establish the role of participant in problem-solving the scenario.

Participant plays role of captain and chooses one of the following avatars to represent character Avatar 1: human male Avatar 2: human female Avatar 3: alien furry creature Avatar 4: alien muscular creature NPC- Navigator/ Radiotransmitter NPC- Leader of the Federation NPCCommanding Officer

The cruiser is at position (x,y). In what quadrant is it located.

Opening overview of game, with power expert explaining the purpose of the game and detailing the uses of math as part of the game.

Establishes the environment, context, and overall goal.

STEM

Providers Simulation where the members of an elite group called the Providers must collect fuel cells found at mathematically coded locations in the galaxy and successfully bring to the reactor which is desperately low on fuel cells.

Player chooses an avatar and cruiser before departing on mission. Each level introduces different coordinate locations, equations, and navigation obstacles.

Establish Contextual relevance /Career Cluster/ Related Career Fields

Gain attention through student activity (Steering aircraft) Activity is located in a fantasy world.

Motivates the student, arouses his / her curiosity to explore the game

Provides Relevance for mathematics, because the game scenario requires the student to go to allocation given the coordinates.

Motivates and Challenges the student to complete this task to proceed further into the game.

Aerospace Pilot, Learning Copilot and Flight outcomes: Student identifies Engineer each quadrant and the characteristics of points in each quadrant (positive and negative

Example Benchmark From: Florida SSS MA.D.1.3.2 Interprets and creates tables, function tables and graphs (all four quadrants

Aerospace Engineering and Operations Technicians

Summary at end of each level, recap of progress, motivation to next level, reiteration of the math processes explored.

The first fuel cell is at coordinates (x, y).

The formula for the distance from the 2 2 origin is d = x  y The distance to the first cell is approximately,

Uses mathematics to solve problems

Table 2. The Providers (A serious game designed using the proposed ontology of serious games)

investigation of game immersion, CHI '04 extended

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20

i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

ARTICLES ABOUT THE AUTHORS Dr. Lakshmi Prayaga, Assistant Professor, is actively engaged in research in the use of simulations, educational games and visualization tools for mathematics, science and computer science concepts. She was the PI for a partnership grant from FLDOE (2007) to design and develop educational games to teach middle school mathematics with a focus on the importance of math in careers. She also received a grant from MROW (2008) to direct women students to design a game to teach high school economics and target female students. She will be involved in the design and testing phases of the project. She co-authored two books, Beginning Game Programming with Flash (CengageLearning, 2007) and Programming the Web with ColdFusion MX and XHTML. (McGraw-Hill Publishers, 2004).

Dr. Karen Rasmussen is the chair of the Department of Computer and Engineering Technology and the Department of Instructional and Performance Technology at the University of West Florida. She is a professor and teaches courses in Performance and Instructional Technology. She has co-authored a text on web-based instruction and conducts research on the variables affecting learning in distance environments. Her department leads the way in implementing two mobile learning initiatives, Human Performance Technology and Technology Systems Support.

i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

21

ARTICLES

CREATING EFFECTIVE EDUCATIONAL COMPUTER GAMES FOR UNDERGRADUATE CLASSROOM LEARNING: A CONCEPTUAL MODEL By KOWIT RAPEEPISARN*

KOK WAI WONG**

CHUN CHE FUNG***

MYINT SWE KHINE****

* School of Information Technology, Murdoch University, Western Australia. ** School of Information Technology, Murdoch University, Western Australia. *** School of Information Technology, Murdoch University, Western Australia. **** Emirates College for Advanced Education, United Arab Emirates.

ABSTRACT When designing Educational Computer Games, designers usually consider target age, interactivity, interface and other related issues. They rarely explore the genres which should employ into one type of educational game. Recently, some digital game-based researchers made attempt to combine game genre with learning theory. Different researchers use different pedagogy conceptions. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the appropriate computer genre in designing effective educational computer games that can be used as learning tools in Thai undergraduate classrooms by integrating the learning conceptions from the previous work of those researcher’s. The following steps are used to conduct this study: summarize the survey of Thai students' opinions toward game genre; analyse the characteristics of genre of computer game; match those characteristics of genre with learning theories; and propose the conceptual model from the comparison. The results of this analysis can be used as a guideline for Educational computer game designers in considering appropriate genres of game for education purpose.

INTRODUCTION

(2002). Thus, the idea of using computer games for

Computer and video games are becoming popular due

learning has gained more attention in recent years.

to the fact that youth today are growing up with

Educational games have been widely used in schools

technology and playing games become part of their

both in primary and secondary levels. The Interactive

daily activities. On average, the children between 2 and

Digital Software Association (Van Eck, 2005) reported that

18 years of age spend 20-33 minutes a day playing digital

35% of game players are under the age of 18, 55% are;

games. Boys between the age of 8 and 13 spend most

male; 43% are female, and 43% of game players are in

time playing digital games with an average of 47 minutes

the age group of 18-49 . From the figures, it implies that

per day (Green & McNeese, 2007). Computer games

people have played computer game significantly in

have taken over as the medium of choice of

colleges and universities. But the idea of bringing this

entertainment. Game as a medium is not only good for

educational technology in tertiary level has just begun in

entertainment, but also has huge potential in education.

some countries.

Game researchers like Prenskey (2001), Gikas & Van Eck

research on educational computer game for tertiary

(2004), Boop (2007) and Gee (2003) confirm that

level in Thailand.

computer games can be effectively used for learning

design the effective educational computer games for

Unfortunately, there is scarcely any Game researchers also attempt to

and teaching. Computer games can be used to give a

classroom environment. Variety of aspects brought into

better form of education and can even make computers

considerations include: gender, level of age, racial

become the unique tools of learning (Jayakanthan

diversity, number of players and the role of teachers.

22

i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

ARTICLES Apart from these, quite a few computer game researches

1. Overview of IT and Digital Game Markets in Thailand

focus on analyzing educational design with learning

The computer gaming industry in many countries has

conceptions.

become bigger than other entertainment business such

Some examples of researchers on

game-based learning like Prenskey (2001), Gikas & Van

as movies and music. The digital game industry in

Eck (2004), Boop (2007) and Gee (2003) attempt to

Thailand is also expanding considerably with the

analyze game genre to support learning theory.

The

government support under the National IT plan

question that follows is “what appropriate game genres

(Thuvasethkul and Koanantakool, 2002). IT 2000 has

can be used for education purpose?”

This paper

provided the framework and guideline for IT policies and

attempts to answer this question.

initiative for five years. After that the National IT Committee

Consequently, the authors conducted a survey of the Thai

(NITC) conducted a research and developed a ten year

students from four universities, two private and two public,

National IT Policy for the period 2001-2010 called IT 2010.

which are both in metropolitan and regional areas.

IT 2010 identified five main goals that have to be

Nineteen participants were interviewed with the above

developed as follows: e-Society, e-Education,

question. Participants provided variety opinions. Most of

e-Government, e-Commerce, and e-Industry.

them claimed that selection of appropriate game genres

In e-Education aspect, educators tend to concentrate on

for learning is based on the learning contents and subject

what a specific ICT technology can and cannot do for

areas. Thus, the authors carry on this finding by further

education. Even though many of the technologies have

investigating the learning conceptions. Subsequently, it

similar characteristics, one technology may have

came up with four sub-query concern with learning

different potentials depending on the purpose of using it

theories which will relate to and be supported by the

(Haddad and Jurich, 2002). As illustrated in Table 1,

game genre. They are (i) what should learner learn from

Personal Computer and Internet have high flexibility and

each particular genre?

interactivity.

(ii) what level of the learner's

intellectual skills is required to reach these learning objectives? (iii) what should be the matter or subject to reach these objectives and match the characteristic of particular genre?, and (iv) what kind of learner should learn this learning content and use particular genre?

Hence, the learning theories of Bloom-learning objectives (Bloom (1956), Gangé-learning capabilities (Gagne, Briggs & Wager (1992), Prensky-learning content (Prensky (2001) and Honey and Mumford-learning styles (Honey & Mumford, 1992) have been examined to answer the above 4 questions respectively. Eventually, the conceptual model of game genre that supports the learning theories has been proposed as a guideline for designing effective educational computer games. This

It is observed that while gaming industry in Thailand is growing rapidly, computer games are not widely used for teaching in tertiary institutions.

2 . Genre of Computer Games in Education Environment Computer game genres have been organized in many ways.

Computer game experts classified them into

various categories. Crawford (1984) divides genres of computer game into 2 broad groups: (i) Skill-and-action games including Combat Skill-and-action games: Combat Games, Maze Games, Sports Games, Paddle Games, Race Games; and

comprising of Adventures, D&D Games, Wargames, Technology

Outreach

Flexibility

Radio

High

Television

High

how the game industry in Thailand is growing. This will be

Video

followed by the genres of games in education

paper will begin with the overview of IT and digital game markets in Thailand in order to pave the background of

environment, and game genre supported pedagogy theories.

(ii) Strategy games

Sensorial Stimulation

Interactivity

Limited

Audio only

Limited

Limited

Audio-Visual

Limited

Low

High

Audio-Visual

Limited

Computer

Low

High

Audio-Visual

High

Internet

Highest

High

Audio-Visual

High

Table 1. ICT and their potential for education (Haddad and Jurich, 2002)

i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

23

ARTICLES Games of Change, Educational and children games, and Inter personal Games. Bergeron (2006) concludes that the standard genre of game encompass Action, Adventure, Arcade (Retro), Combat (Fighting), Driving, First-Person Shooter (FPS), Military Shooter Multiplayer Puzzle Real-Time Simulation (RTS) Role Playing Game (RPG)

Game genre

Frequency 52

Action

Percentage 5.0

Adventure

52

5.0

Battle Music (song) game

10 93

1.0 8.9

Fighting

8

0.8

First Person Shooter

21

2.0

Flight Simulator

8.9

0.2

Shooter, Simulation, Sneaker, Sports, Strategy, Third-Person

Puzzle

2 93

Shooter (TPS), Trivia and Turn-Based. While Prensky (2001)

Racing

33

3.2

Real Time Strategy

233

22.5

affirms that computer games are generally recognized

Role Play Game (RPG)

216

into eight genres consisting of action, adventure, fighting,

Sport game

156

20.8 15.0

puzzle, role-playing, simulation, sports and strategy

Shooter

69

6.7

1,038

100.0

games, most games fall within a particular category.

Some bridge different gaming styles and, thus, could appear under more than one category simultaneously.

For instance, Battle, Racing, Fighting and Shooting games are subcategory of Action games. Strategy games may include Puzzles and Adventure games on the gameplay.

Additionally, Role Play games may be a sub-genre or special type of Adventure games.

Among those genres of games, some are more popular than others. From GMNews: Discussion on Game Genre (GMNews, 2008) some claim that First Person Shooters and Role Playing Games have pretty much dominated the market for a good few years now. Some argue that they don't think any genre has an advantage over the others. There are many games of different genres that have also become very successful. According to the survey of the games genres that Thai students play recorded from 4 universities, Strategy, Role Play and Sport games is the most popular game genres they play respectively ( Table 2).

Total

*Respondents can answer more than one game genre

Table 2. Game genres that Thai students from four universities play

classify educational games as one genre of computer games. Distinguishing from other game genres, the particular purpose of educational games is to teach or train with explicit educational goals and is based on an actual curriculum. The emphasis is on teaching a specific body of knowledge. Rather than being structured as a straight-forward set of lessons or exercise, these programs are structured like games, with such elements as scoring, timed performance, or incentives given for correct answers. Educational games consist of variety of general game genres and it is difficult to categorize them specifically (Schiffer, 2006). Amongst different genres, researchers Quinn (1994), Roberts, (1976), Ju & Wagner (1997) appear to concentrate on the two types, simulations and adventure. Quinn (1994) confirmed that the adventure game genre appears to provide the best foundation for the development of teaching resources.

In addition Kirriemuir & McFarlane's survey (2003)

The summary of game genres classification in this paper,

discovered most education games belong to strategy

were selected and integrated from the standard genre

and simulation.

categories described by Bates (2004), Burn & Carr (2006),

those genres mentioned earlier, are there any genre that

Wolf (2002) and genre from the research finding of Thai

can work well in education environment?”

students.

The following category of game genre,

alphabetically, provides definitions, characteristics, and examples of game titles as illustrated in Table 3.

3. Computer Game Genre for Pedagogy: Thai Students' Perspective

To answer this question, the authors interviewed 19 participants from four Thai universities.

The results are

illustrated in Table 4.

According to the participants the game genres which appropriate for education environment are action

Generally, game experts or game developers also

24

The question that follows is: “Besides

games, adventure games, puzzle games, racing games,

i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

ARTICLES Game genre

Explanation of Genre

Action Games

The most well known genre & the largest class of computer games. Keeps the player moving and involved all the times. Does Not require deep thinking, primary skills are hand/eye coordination & quick reflexes. It is often about fighting, battle, shooting, racing and highly intense physical play.

Beat-em-up, Survival Horror,Unreal Tournament,Doom, Quake, issile Command

Adventure Focus on storytelling & narrative. Players must Games move through a complex world, accumulating tools, overcoming obstacle until finally reaching the treasure or goal. Game play typically needs logical thinking & persistence from the player.

Adventure on the ATARI 2600, Gabriel Knight, Indiana Jones, Monkey Island, Time Zone, Wizard and the Princess.

Fighting Games

Sub-genre of action games & is one of the major computer games. Games involve characters who fight usually hand-to-hand, in one-to-one combat situations. Fighters are represented as humans or anthropomorphic characters. The goal is to create quick bursts of swift and intense action.

Bloody Roar, Dead or Alive, Double Dragon, Fight Unlimited, Mortal Kombat, Starmaster, Street Fighter, Tekken, Virtua Fighter.

Include Rhythm and Dance Games. Game play requires players to keep time with a musical rhythm. This grouping of games is differentiated by the timed elements usually synched to music somehow. Many require a specialized controller like DDR, but not all. May include controller simulating drums, turntables, guitars or maracas.

Beatmania, Bust a Groove, Dance Dance Revolution, Donkey Konga, Eyetoy Groove, Guitar Freaks, Para Para Paradise, Pon 'n' Music, Space Channel 5.

Music Games

Puzzle Games

Example of game title

Atari Video Cube, Devil Dice, Intelligent Qube, Jigsaw, Mercury, Myst, Puzzle Bobble.

Using motorized vehicle to move faster than an opponent to reach a specified goal or beat a specified time. Usually racing games use cars, but motorcycle, power boat, and flight/space racing games also exist.

APX skiing game DOWNHILL, Dog Daze, Indy500, Night Driver, Street Racing.

Player assumes the roles of fictional character and collaboratively creates stories. The characters may include specifics such as species, race, gender, occupation or also include various abilities: strength and dexterity.

Anvil of Dawn, Diable, Dragon Lore 2, Rivers of MUD, Sacred Pools, Sunflower, Unsafe Haven, Zodiac.

Simulation Contain a mixture of skill, chance, and strategy to simulate or try to accurately depict real world situations, physics, and events as accurately as possible. There are several categories of simulation games: Racing Simulators, Flight Simulators and ‘Sim' type games

Flight simulators: Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000: Racing Simulators: NASCAR; 'SIM' type: SimCityBrotherbund

Role Playing Games

Shooter Games

Sports Games

Strategy Games

Focus on shooting & often destroying.

Sometime called Shoot-Em'-up. Requires the player to blow enemies or objects in order to survive and continue game play.

Asteroids, Berzerk, Centipede, Duckshot, Galaga, Missile Command, Starwar, Tempest

Games that simulate the playing of any Tiger Woods, PGA Tour, sporting activity.

Focus on planning & NHL 2004. management. Have to know the rules right but can also let players change them. It may let the players to customize the game to suit for themselves.

Emphasize on thinking, rationalizing, theorizing, problem-solving, etc. The focus is the combination of analytical skill & tactics.

Require more time to play. Need balance resource, just enough information provide for motivation and interest.

Frequency Percentage

Action Games

1

5.2

Adventure Games

6

31.6

Puzzle Games

3

15.8

Racing Games

2

10.5

Role-Playing Games

5

26.3

Simulation Games

8

42.1

Sports Games All game genres Depend on content & subject areas

Require the player to solve logic puzzle or navigate complex locations. Not surrounded with story or actions. Most puzzles should present without time pressure, but the rules must be clear.

Racing Games

What game genres do you think are appropriate for education environment?

Chess Games, Civilization, Command and Conquer, Final Fantasy, Tactics, Ogre Tactics, Roller Coaster Tycoon.

6

31.6

10

52.6

5

26.3

*Participants can answer more than one opinion

Table 4. Game genres which appropriate for education environment: interview results from Thai teachers and students

role-playing games, simulation games, and sports games. Among these range of genres, the top three most appropriate access along to the genres participants are Simulation games (42.1%), Adventure games (31.6%) and Sport games (31.6%) respectively. Conversely, there were three participants who thought that violent game genre such as Fighting and Shooting Games are not suitable to pertain in learning situation. Some argue that “it is not a genre but a content that increase in violent, aggressive or sexual areas”. However, most of them thought that every genre of game can apply to educational games (52.6%). Those who gave this opinion indicated that it depends on the content and subject areas of what will be taught. Subsequently, the authors pursue another question: “What subject areas do you think educational computer games can best support?

Why?” The results are shown in Table 5.

In addition to the information in Table 5, six participants indicated that educational computer games can support almost every subject area. Some of them added the comments of game genre which is suitable for some subjects, for example, role-playing games for 'law' when people are in the court; simulation games for learning content which is risky or need an experimental basis.

In brief, the findings imply that not any particular game genre is the most suitable for learning and teaching.

Every genre can be considered but depends on the learning content and subject areas. For further study in

Table 3. Characteristic of game genre

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ARTICLES Learning Content

Subject areas

analysis of learning and teaching method to answer the

Communication

Journalism, new report, Advertising, Tourism

Experiment & Risk

Human anatomy, Medical Science, Surgery, Chemistry

taxonomy to compare with Bate's (2004) Game

Fact

Laws, Political Science

taxonomy.

Language

Vocabulary, Grammar, Foreign language

The above literature review, reflects back to the purpose

Management

Planning, Business, Accountcy

Memory

History, Archaeology

Motor skill

Sports, Physical Education

Procedure

Cookery Science, subjects related to 'How to'

Reasoning & Logic

Mathematics, Arithmetic, geometry

Table 5. Subject areas which educational computer games can best support: interview results from Thai students

above three questions. Gikas and Van Eck (2004) used theories of Gagné's learning capabilities and Bloom's

of this paper which is to answer the main question: “What is the appropriate game genre to design educational computer games?” Prior to this question, there are four sub-queries concerned with learning theories which will relate to and be supported by game genre. They are: (i) What should learner learn from each particular genre (learning objective)? (ii) What levels of the learner's intellectual skills is required to reach these objectives (learning capability)? (iii) What should be the matter or

this matter, some other learning theories should be taken

subject to reach these objectives and match the

into account. Those learning theories will be discussed in

characteristic of particular genre (learning content)? and

the following section.

(iv) What kind of learner should learn this learning content

4. Game Genre and Pedagogy Theories

and what learner's behavior match the characteristics of

To understand educational gaming and fully utilize the power of this digital technology in the classroom, several pedagogy theories need to be emphasized and examined in order to develop a framework for the deployment of computer games for learning. Different researchers on game-based learning use different

particular genre (learning style)?

Hence, this section will

provide the basic concepts of each learning theories and reflect on these four sub-queries. The learning theories and concepts include: Bloom's Leaning Objectives, Gagné's Learning Capabilities, Prensky's Learning Contents, and Honey and Mumford's Learning Style.

pedagogy concepts to analyse games in the use of

4.1 Learning Objectives

learning environment. One of these is Prensky (2001) who

Bloom's (1956) taxonomy of educational objectives

claimed that teachers have to understand the type of

includes three domains: cognitive (about knowledge),

learning content. Prensky proposed the relationship of

affective (about attitudes) and psychomotor (about

learning content, learning activities and possible game

doing). Among these three domains, cognitive domain is

style. Gee (2003) also attempted with a list of 36 learning

the widely accepted system.

principles in computer games which contain 12

h i e r a r c h y o f s k i l l s r a n g i n g f r o m k n o w l e d g e,

It was classified into a

principles. Gee's principles are strongly centred on the

comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and

traditional ways of guided leaning by doing. Boop (2007)

evaluation. He stated that the main reason in constructing

proposed a framework to answer three main questions

taxonomy of educational objectives is to facilitate

that are important to educational game design. These

communication. An awareness of these levels can help

questions are: (i) what actually is the learning purpose? (ii)

one determine how well students really know the course

what is and should be the material used to reach these

content.

A hierarchy of six levels, description (learner

goals? and (iii) how should this learning content be learnt?.

action), and key verbs associated with each cognitive

Boop (2007) proposed three subfields of didactic analysis

domain, and some potential IT activities are illustrated in

analysis of learning goal, analysis of learning content, and

Table 6.

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i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

ARTICLES Level

Description (Learner action)

Knowledge

Find answers to quiz Recall previously Define, repeat, learned material identify, list, label, question from internet

Comprehension

Application

Analysis

Synthesis

Evaluation

Key verbs

Grasp meaning, Describe, pick, explain, restate choose, review, discuss, pick ideas

Potential IT activities

Use PowerPoint to make a cartoon, or make a newspaper report

Use learned material in new situations

Apply, use, solve, Use Publisher to interpret, employ create a board game, make a storyboard of book using PowerPoint

Separate material into component parts & show relationship between parts

Analyse, detect, compare, inter, test, conclude

Pull together separate ideas to form a whole

Arrange, create, collect, predict, combine, plan,

Identify relationships between information using the charting features of Excel

Problem solving Problem solving Involve the formation of

Higher-order rules order rules which require as prerequisites

Rules and defined concept

which require as prerequisites

Concrete concepts

Make judgments Assess, decide, about the value judge, revise, of materials or select, test methods

Use Dreamweaver to construct a web site which helps solve an everyday problem

which require as prerequisites

Discriminations

Use email to engage in an online forum debating the issues

Combining lower level rules to solve problems in a situation never encountered by the person solving the problem. May involve generating new rules which receive trial and error use until one that solves the problem is found.

Combining of more simple rules to more complex. These rules are invented to the purpose of solving a practical problem.

Performing a kind of 'regularity' over a variety of specific situations. Learners can define concept when they can demonstrate the meaning of some particular class of objects, events, or relations.

Identifying an object property and object attributes (colour, shape, etc.).

Such concepts are called concrete because the human performance they require is recognition of a concrete object Learners are able to identify it by name or other ways Making different responses to the different members of a particular class. Learners can see the essential different between inputs and responding differently to each.

Figure 1. Gagne's intellectual skills of learning capabilities Table 6. Bloom's Cognitive Objectives group by level, description, key verbs and potential IT activities (Bloom, 1956; Dalton, 1986)

different learning activities according to particular types of content. Prensky proposed the relationship of learning

4.2 Learning Capabilities

content, learning activities and possible game type as

Gagné's taxonomy of learning states that there are five

illustrate in Table 7.

major categories of learning outcome: verbal

4.4

information, intellectual skills, cognitive strategies, motor

Learning style is useful in identifying the methods by which

skills and attitude. The five subcategories of intellectual

people prefer to receive information from their

Learning Style

skills are hierarchical in nature (low level skills to high level

environment and undertake their learning. Among the

skills). Intellectual skills are the capabilities that make the

learning styles which are classified as experiential, Honey

human individual competent. They enable him/her to

and Mumford learning style is one of the well known

respond to conceptualizations of his/her environment.

experiential learning. These learning styles are easy to

Gagné's hierarchy of intellectual skills follows

remember, widely understood, accepted and used by

programmed instruction since one skill must be learned

most learners. Honey and Mumford (1992) classified

before another can be mastered. Five levels of learning

learners into activist, reflector, theorist, and pragmatist.

capabilities are illustrated in Figure 1.

The four styles are as shown in Table 8.

4.3 Learning Contents

There is an attempt to integrate learning style with game

Prensky discussed about how to combine gameplay and

genre as appeared in Rapeepisarn (2008) and

learning in his paper “Computer Games and Learning:

Dondlinger (2007). They proposed a new conceptual

Digital Game-Based Learning”. He claimed that teacher

model of relationship between game genre, learning

has to understand the types of learning content. With

activities and learning style by bridging the gap between

different kinds of learning content, teacher can see what

the Prensky (2001) and Chong's et al (2005) studies. They

kind of learning are really going on such as learning fact,

argued that Prensky choose all standard game

skill, judgment, theory, reasoning, process, procedure,

categories of computer games matching with learning

creativity, language, system, obser vation and

activities and learning content, but these is lack of the

communication.

comparison with learning style of the users. While Chong

Additionally, teacher can choose

i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

27

ARTICLES Learning content

Learning Activities

Possible Game Styles

Facts: Law, politics, product

Questions, association, memorization, drill

Game show competitions, flashcard type game, mnemonics

Skills: interviewing, teaching, management

Imitation, feedback, coaching, continuous practice

Persistent state games, role-play game, detective game

Judgment: management, decisions, timing, ethics

Reviewing cases, asking Role-play games, questions, feedback, multiplayer interactive, coaching adventure game, strategy game, detective game Imitation, feedback, Role-play games coaching, practice

Behaviors: supervision, selfcontrol, setting example Theories: marketing rationales, how people learn Reasoning: strategic & tactical thinking, quality analysis

Logic, experimentation, Open ended simulation questioning games, building game, construction games Problems, examples Puzzle

Process: Auditing, strategy creation

System analysis & Strategy game, adventure deconstruction, practice games

Procedure: assembly, bank teller, legal

Imitation, practice, play Timed games, reflex games

Creativity: invention, product design

Play

Puzzle, invention games

Language: acronyms, foreign language

Imitation, continuous practice, immersion

Role-play games, reflex games, flashcard games

Systems: health care, markets, refineries

Understanding principles, Simulation games graduated tasks

Observation: models, morale, inefficiencies, problems

Observing, feedback

Communication: appropriate language, involvement

Imitation, practice

Concentration games, adventure games Role-play games, reflex games

game genres are regrouped into 8 categories and are compared to learning objectives, learning capabilities, learning contents, and learning style as a model shown in Figure 3 and Table 9.

Learning Styles

Characteristics

Play Game Behavior

Immerse in new experience, enjoy here & now, open minded, flexible, enthusiastic, Seek to centre activity around themselves.

Prefer working as a team, being a group leader, Be able to brainstorm to solve the problems.

Reflectors

Stand back & ob- serve, cautious, take a back seat, collect & analyse data about experience & events, slow to react con-clusion, use information to maintain a big picture per-spective.

Go through the important data in the game, follow the instructions, spend a long time before making decision, not to lead the game.

Theorists

Think in a logical manner, rationally & objectively, assimilate facts into coherent theories, fit things into ra-tional order, keen in basic assumptions, principles, theories, models & thinking system.

Go through the data and follow the instruction before the start of the game, be able to give careful thoughts when choosing the game elements, Formulate good strategy to defeat the enemy.

Keen to put ideas, theories & tech-niques into prac-tice, search new ideas & experimental, act quickly & confidently on ideas, get straight to the point, be patient with endless discussion.

Follow closely the instructions & strategies that were mentioned in the briefing, believe they can play better if they were given proper instruction.

Activists

Pragmatists

Table 8. Characteristics of four styles of learning (Honey & Mumford, 1992) and their behavior when playing game (Chong et al, 2005)

Table 7. Summary of Prensky's Learning Content, Learning Activities and possible Game Styles

and others investigated the behaviour of each learning style while playing game,

only three different game

genres are studied. Rapeepisarn and others' model is Figure 2. Conceptual model of relationship of learning styles, learning activities and possible game genres

illustrated in Figure 2.

The list of game genres from the survey are classified into 13 genres according to which Thai students play (as shown in Table 3).

Those genres are somehow

overlapping and some can be classified as sub-genre of another. For example, Action Games fall into things that have to shoot, or race; Battle Games can be sub-genre in Fighting Games; Music Games may take variety of forms and often group with Puzzle Games due to their common use of “rhythmically generated puzzles”. Thus, in this paper

28

Figure 3. Integrated game genres to support learning concepts

i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

ARTICLES Game Genres

Learning Objectives

Learning Capabilities

Learning Contents

Learning Styles

game. Basically game creator usually takes

Application Comprehensi on Knowledge

Defined Concepts Concrete Concepts Discriminations

Facts, Skills

Activists

demographic data, age, gender, racial diversity role of

Adventure Evaluation Synthesis Analysis Application Comprehensi on Knowledge

Problem Solving Higher Order Rules Defined Concepts Concrete Concepts Discriminations

Judgment, Reflections Process, Observation, Skills

Fighting

Application Comprehensi on Knowledge

Defined Concepts Concrete Concepts Discriminations

Facts, Skills

Puzzle

Comprehensi on Knowledge

Concrete Concepts Discriminations

Reasoning, Creativity

Pragmatists

Role Playing

Evaluation Synthesis Analysis Application Comprehensi on Knowledge

Problem Solving Higher Order Rules Defined Concepts Concrete Concepts Discriminations

Skills, Judgment, Behavior, Language, Communic ation

Activists

Evaluation Synthesis Analysis Application Comprehensi on Knowledge

Problem Solving Theories, Systems Higher Order Rules Defined Concepts Concrete Concepts Discriminations

Reflectors, Theorists

Application Comprehensi on Knowledge

Defined Concepts Concrete Concepts Discriminations

Activists

Evaluation Synthesis Analysis Application Comprehensi on Knowledge

Problem Solving Judgment, Process Higher Order Rules Defined Concepts Concrete Concepts Discriminations

Action

Simulation

Sports

Strategy

the teachers, into account when designing games.

Several researchers on game-based learning (Prensky (2001), Gikas & Van Eck (2004), Boop (2007), Gee (2003) attempted to analyze the instructive methods by which computer games support learning. Nevertheless, there are many pedagogical principles which exist. Some of Activists

those principles are really useful.

For example, the

theories of well known and widely accepted such as Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning Objectives; Gangé's intellectual skills; Honey and Mumford's Learning Styles; and Learning Content of Prensky match to possible game types. It is the attempt of this paper to compare these learning conceptions with game genres. The model of integrating is shown in Figure 3. The process that led to this new model is conducted by (1) matching the

Facts, Skills

characteristics of game genres with Prensky's learning contents and learning activities, (2) analysing learning activities of each genre with Bloom's taxonomy and Gangé's intellectual skills, and (3) compare the behavior when playing game Chong et al (2005) of each style of learning (Honey & Mumford, 1992) with each game genre. In order to make this model comprehensive,

Theorists

Table 9. Comparison of game genres to support learning objectives,learning capabilities, learning contents and learning styles

comparison of game genres to support the learning concepts is illustrated in Table 9.

The results of this analysis will be a tangible framework for choosing game genres for designing an effective educational computer game. This framework can also be used as a criterion to answer the question “What is the appropriate game genre to design educational

Discussion

computer game?” Interestingly, Adventure, Role-Playing,

Good educational computer games provide not only an

Simulation and Strategy Games reach all levels of

attractive context for engaging learners in activities, but

learning objectives and capabilities. All these four game

also need to deliver substantive educational content to

genres are also mentioned in the findings of most

achieve learning objectives. Educational computer

researchers Gee (2003), Quinn (1994), Roberts (1976), Ju

games require strategizing, hypothesis testing, or

& Wagner (1997) that they are good foundations of the

problem-solving, usually with higher order thinking than

development of teaching resources. On the contrary,

repeated memorization or simple comprehension

Puzzle games which fall into the least levels of learning

(Dondlinger, 2007). However, in creating effective

objective and capabilities are also used widely in

educational computer games, creator have to match

educational game.

particular education topics or content into the structure of

suggest the use of Puzzle games for the novice game

i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

One of the survey's participants

29

ARTICLES players. This genre of game involve solving logic puzzles or

some findings from the Thai students and integrating the

navigating complex locations such as Maze. Most puzzles

works of researchers on digital game-based learning, the

should present without time pressure, and it is extremely

authors attempt to answer the question “ what

important that the rules be clear. The interface should be

appropriate game genre can be best used in education

simple and allow for trial and error without penalty by

environment?” After summarizing the opinion from the

making it easy to reset the problem or undo a particular

interview of Thai students, they come up with other four

move (Schiffer, 2006). As for Action Games, generally it is

sub-queries concerned with game genre and learning

the most well known genre, reaching three levels of

conceptions. Subsequently, the four pedagogy theories

learning objectives and capabilities, and also Fighting

namely Bloom's taxonomy of learning objective, Gagné's

and Sports Games as well. While in Adventure games, the

intellectual skills of learning capabilities, Prensky's learning

players must have patience and require a great deal of

contents compared with game genres and Honey and

thinking, Action Games have to be fast and keep the

Mumford learning styles have been integrated to answer

players moving at all times. Additionally, in terms of

the questions. Finally, the conceptual model that shows

selecting the appropriate game genres for a particular

the comparison of the use of computer game genre

style of learner, it can be determined by looking at

supporting learning theories has been proposed.

learner's dominant learning style.

hoped that findings from this research will be useful in

Wolf (2002) and Schiffer (2006) suggest a guideline for

designing educational games in the future.

designing effective educational computer games that

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Proceedings of the Level of Digital Games Research

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Myint Swe Khine is currently working as an Associate Professor of Instructional Science and Technology, Emirates College for Advanced Education, United Arab Emirates. He teaches pedagogy and technology courses in undergraduate and postgraduate teacher education programmes. He has published over 100 articles and research papers in international journals.

i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

31

ARTICLES

YOKOI'S THEORY OF LATERAL INNOVATION: APPLICATIONS FOR LEARNING GAME DESIGN By SCOTT J. WARREN*

GREG JONES**

* Assistant Professor, Department of Learning Technologies, University of North Texas, Denton, TX . **Assistant Professor, Department of Learning Technologies, University of North Texas, Denton, TX .

ABSTRACT There are several major challenges for instructional designers seeking to design learning games. These include the lack of access, the cost of rapidly advancing/expensive technology tools that make developing games uneconomical, the institutional time constraints limiting game use, and the concerns that schools lack sufficiently robust computer systems and bandwidth to allow their teachers and students to take full advantage of “bleeding edge” technology. This paper discusses how a theory of design from famed game system designer Gunpei Yokoi can be leveraged in learning game design by focusing on the use of mature technologies already widely present in schools. By thinking about older technologies in innovative ways instead of relying on the flash of the newest graphics to motivate learners, learning game design can deliver low-cost, engaging play for learning.

Keywords: Yokoi, Lateral Thinking, Game Design, Learning, Instructional Design, Mature Technologies.

INTRODUCTION

entertainment uses. Since these resourses are not

The use of digital games, simulations, and other complex

normally available to educators interested in designing

systems to support learning in educational environments

and building learning games, we must examine what is

are at the forefront of the current push in the field of

ideal and what is actually possible when creating learning

education, with the call coming from many quarters to

games.

seek out the motivating aspects of such constructs as a

Costs of the Bleeding Edge

means of improving learning (Prensky, 2001; Squire,

So-called “bleeding edge” technologies may be defined

2006). Research on these systems has been correlated to

as (i) so new that the user is required to risk stability and

improve student motivation to learn (Tuzun, 2004),

productivity to use it (ii) the tendency of the technology to

improve understanding of historical concepts (Squire,

be extremely expensive (iii) there is a lack of consensus

2004), improvement in student writing (Warren, Barab, &

about the best approach to design and (iv) there is a lack

Dondlinger, 2008), and understanding of complex

of knowledge about the technology in the particular field

science concepts and systems as well as social empathy

in which it is being used (Wikipedia, 2008a). In recent

and history content (Barab et al., 2007; Dede, Ketelhut, &

years, the term has also been used to refer to technology

Ruess, 2006). While these are promising results that bear

that is “ahead of cutting edge,” but still within the reach of

further study, the projects that support the game worlds

those technically sophisticated to attempt its use. Users of

are often funded with millions of dollars in government

such technology should expect that it should not always

funding, which makes employing the technologies and

work as expected. The first definition has been employed

accompanying designs difficult for the average

for this article.

practitioner. The high-end graphics, long development

What is problematic from this perspective is that there is a

times, and large staffs enjoyed by such projects allow for

lot of knowledge in the field of game design about the

the development of game systems that are closer to what

best way to design for entertainment, but much of this is

game companies are developing for commercial

kept commercially secret in order to protect trade

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i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

ARTICLES secrets. While there have been many books and articles

process for system design, not on the physical creation of

published on the subject of designing games in general,

it. As a result, they must often turn to professionals with

there are far fewer published about how to design games

these skills, since most complex design projects are

for learning. In the field of education, our knowledge of

difficult to develop by a single professional. Even a small

how to design educational games that allow us to reach

project requires several experts to provide the necessary

learning goals is still nascent, with only a few researchers

technical skills to create something. Salaries for these

reporting empirical studies that have found significant

experts range from $55,000 US a year to a high of around

differences for learning (Dondlinger, 2007; Hays, 2005).

$85,000 US for an experienced game programmer

Over the last decade, a lot of money has been spent

(International Game Developers Association, 2008).

developing bleeding edge games, simulations, and

This expense may in turn require the constant seeking of

other innovative systems that have life-like graphics,

grants from governmental and private sources, which

sounds, and experiences for those that can afford the

further reduces the time that the instructional designer has

systems. The cost of developing digital games has soared

to supervise the game's design. It therefore makes more

from reports of $3 to $6 million a few years ago to $10 to

sense to focus less on “bleeding edge technologies for

$20 million and more to make today (Takatsuki, 2007).

improving learning” and more on “bleeding edge

When the Sony PlayStation 3 was in development, it was

innovations that leverage technology for improving

estimated that the cost of a single console would run

learning” using existing or re-examined technologies.

$494, but only sold for $399 with the maker seeking to

Another possibility is to examine our thinking about how we

make a profit from their licenses to develop games for the

leverage technology to design games for learning. Yokoi's

system (Gamespot Staff, 2005).

theory has been used for several decades and can

The existence of such bleeding edge systems for

provide some ideas for teachers and instructional

commercial entertainment that many students and

designers with small or no budgets and limited

teachers already have at home creates a difficult tension

technology proficiency.

for instructional designers and researchers seeking to

Yokoi's Theory: Lateral Thinking about Withered

exploit the motivating power of the game constructs that

Technology

have been developed for these systems. If the learning

Gunpei Yokoi was a long-time designer of game system

affordances of these systems stem only from the ever-

components for the Nintendo Company of Japan,

evolving graphics, sound, and interactions available from

currently well-known for its Wii game console as well as

these systems, how can a designer of educational games

popular video game characters like Mario and Donkey

match the explosive developments coming from the

Kong (Crigger, 2007; Wikipedia, 2008b). His most notable

game industry? Should designers even try to keep up with

achievement was designing Nintendo's highly successful

the massive corporate games or return to more traditional

Game Boy system. This evolved from his personal

curricula? Will students reject educational games that

philosophy of design, which he called “Lateral Thinking of

lack the high-powered graphics and interactions that are

Withered Technology”. This was originally depicted in a

present in commercial games? These questions pose a

book of interviews with the famed Nintendo game system

fairly serious challenge for educators seeking to use them

designer called “Yokoi Gunpei Game House”. Lateral

in classrooms and for designers considering their use as a

thinking has been conceived in the research literature as

basis for instructional systems development.

non-linear, creative or critical thinking that allows for

Another challenge that comes from attempting to

multiple, often innovative solutions to problems (Barak &

leverage these new systems is that many instructional

Doppelt, 1999; DeBono, 1968; Waks, 1997). The term

designers are researchers without advanced technical or

“withered” simply refers to technologies that have

programming skills. Their role as a designer is on guiding a

matured to the point that they are inexpensive,

i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

33

ARTICLES understood by the general public, and require little

what a game must include and processes by which

training on the part of the user to be implemented easily

games should be designed. By synthesizing rules that are

(Wikipedia, 2008b). By applying linear thinking to such

offered by both of these authors, we may be led to state

mature technologies, his theory stated that they could be

that a game must include a) a rule-based interactive

employed in innovative ways that would engage users

system, b) a quantifiable outcome characteristic, c)

without adding unnecessary cost to the products.

artificial conflict and play characteristics, and may also

What matters in the context of this theory is that the novelty

include d) a modeling reality characteristic (Dondlinger &

of the play and the interactions between player and

Warren, in press).

system are intrinsic motivation rather than having top-end

What is problematic is that if a designer takes these as

graphics and high-end computer processor power

hard and fast rules instead of employing lateral thinking,

(Crigger, 2007). By employing this philosophy, it was

they may be constricted by thinking that each element

revealed that it is more cost effective to rely on older,

must be present or that they must follow prescribed

proven technologies for design rather than bleeding

design process in order to reach the goal of designing a

edge technologies and he even went so far as to suggest

game. This also artificially restricts what may be viewed as

that employing advanced technologies may interfere

a game. For example, some systems do not include an

with designing innovative products because of excess

artificial conflict, but instead incorporate a real one such

focus on the technology rather than on the innovate use

as in Jane McGonigal's World Without Oil (Ernst, 2007). This

of it. Further, the design and development time is lower

example could be disqualified, using the rules above, as

when applying lateral thinking about mature

being “game.” However, the average person engaged in

technologies than it is for “bleeding edge” products,

this system may clearly identify it as a game, because it

because they are proven to work effectively even as they

has a sufficient number of characteristics from those that

save both the developer and user money. In many

they have played in the past for them to categorize them

educational settings shrinking budgets and reduced

as such.

grant funding are recurrent problems. How then can be

If the designer can discard preconceived notions of what

Yokoi's theory leveraged in the field of education as we

constitutes a game, what technologies must be present,

seek to design games for learning?

and what technologies are valuable for designing

Re-examination

learning systems whether they come in the form of game,

The basic principle of lateral thinking is to generate new

simulation, or instructional module, they free themselves

ideas and approaches, without regard to order or

from the conceptual boxes that say that a game must be

sequence (Barak & Doppelt, 1999; DeBono, 1968; Waks,

the same as what has come before it. Further, if the

1997). This forces the examination of technologies that

designer can re-examine technologies that are

are already abundant in specific education settings in

perceived as “withered,” they may find utility in employing

creative ways that force instructional designers to think

them in an unintended, innovative manner that sparks

differently about how things must be done. Instead,

meaningful learning. The authors' research related to

designers must think about alternatives to the existing

learning game designs employed in several instructional

ways of using a well-known technology that are more

settings ranging from K-12 to corporate and higher

engaging for the learners by challenging them to act in

education and the assorted challenges facing each that

novel ways in response to our instructional designs. For

include limited bandwidth, tight budgets for software,

example, the authors have read numerous books about

older hardware, and limited training opportunities (Barab

game design ranging from Salen and Zimmerman's Rules

et al., 2007; Jones & Warren, 2008; Jones & Kalinowski,

of Play (2004) to Crawford's Art of Interactive Design

2007; Warren et al., 2008; Warren & Dondlinger, in press).

(2003) that have each provided concrete ideas about

This has led to the idea, borrowing from Yokoi's, that

34

i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

ARTICLES educational games should avoid seeking bleeding edge

approaches are offered that stem from existing

solutions, and should instead leverage mature, disparate,

applications of the principles of re-examination noted in

and sometimes discarded technologies in innovative

the preceding figure. Most notably, two efforts that have

ways that stem from re-examination and analysis of the

served in their own instructional design and development

underlying learning affordances of these technologies,

projects or have been evident in the work of other major

rather than relying on the development of entirely new

projects have been focussed in which either

systems. There are five basic principles that should be

“mature/withered” or popular and widely available

considered when re-examining mature technologies that

technologies have been leveraged to support learning.

we frame in terms of the following questions:

Mature technologies.



Is it a mature technology?

Several technologies have made strides in terms of ease



Is it widely available?

of use and improved features since original research in



Is it well understood?

the late 1990s and early part of this decade found no



Is the technology inexpensive?



Can the technology be used to develop innovative pedagogy?

When applying these principles as part of lateral thinking towards innovation, it is suggested that the process that has emerged from the authors’ own design work takes advantage of the fairly simple ADDIE model of instructional design (Bichelmeyer, 2005) which consists of (a)nalysis, (d)esign, (d)evelopment, (i)mplementation, and (e)valuation. Figure 1 presents this process.

significant differences when employed to support learning and achievement (Fertig, in press). Given that products that leverage hypertext, simple graphics, word processing, and other tools that have existed for over a decade, users who may have found them challenging or even frightening to use initially, have likely developed substantially improved or even mastery over skills needed to use the products successfully. As such, each should be reexamined in terms of their utility for education and be accompanied by a liberal application of lateral thinking about how they may be used in innovative ways in schools

Defining the technologies

to support learning and/or instruction.

In terms of leveraging technology in the service of

By leveraging such technologies, instructors and/or

learning, the authors do not seek to limit the reader to a

instructional designers can generate a product in a fairly

small number of possibilities. Instead, a small number of

short period of time using existing tools that their students have high access to, as well as comfortable with in terms of daily use. Further, many of these technologies have morphed into Web 2.0 tools such as simple online word processors like Google Docs and open-source tools like those included in Sun's Open Office.org software suite.

Being widely available at no cost, students and teachers use these often in classrooms to create projects on existing computers while requiring little to no bandwidth and does not require high processor speeds to function well.

However, access alone to the product(s) does not engender use (Cuban, 1988; Cuban, Kirkpatrick, & Peck, 2001). By employing lateral thinking about how Google Docs may be used to encourage something like

Figure 1. Suggested process for Technology Re-examination

i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

35

ARTICLES collaborative storytelling, the focus is taken off the

(Canadian Broadcasting Center News, 2006), The Lost

technology product itself and is instead focused on using

Ring (Terdiman, 2008), and World without Oil (Egner,

it in an innovative manner to engage in learning tasks.

2007). Within each of these games, players are sent to

Other innovative uses could include using inexpensive

numerous web sites, videos with embedded text and links,

wireless, global positioning system-enabled (GPS)

and social networks to discover and discuss clues to the

handheld computers to send students to investigate pre-

numerous puzzles and mini-games. By examining each,

developed science inquiry spaces (Wikipedia, 2008c).

engaging in creative and critical thinking, and working

Using the devices to perform experiments that leverage

with peers through numerous forms of online

the existing functions of the device could then allow

communication, players unravel the larger mysteries that

students to upload the data to a classroom computer.

are at the heart of each game.

Using this computer in conjunction with an LCD projector

At their core, alternate reality games (ARG) are those that

would then allow the class to challenge each group's

take the substance of everyday life and weave it into new

findings or make evidence supported inferences about

worlds that, while easily recognizable by players, is

problems posed by the teacher.

different enough that it drives cognitive dissonance in the

Alternatively, teachers could allow students to design

learners and includes a narrative that drives both play and

problems collaboratively online using hypertext links and

learning (M.J. Dondlinger & Warren, in press). Each of the

images to resources that other groups of students would

technologies employed to develop an ARG are widely

have to solve as they investigate real historical problems

available for free or can be constructed using the

depicted in artwork found on the web pages of numerous

software that can be downloaded for free or arrives pre-

museum collections. In this case, the students become

loaded on most personal computers such as simple

the designers of the learning activities themselves and

video editors, word processors, and image manipulation

use the technologies simply as a tool to show deep

programs like Google's Picasa.

learning about the concepts of history, art, and inquiry.

In this case, the maturing technologies are used laterally

This aids in taking the focus off the technology as

by linking them together in innovative ways to create

necessary for learning and instead places it in a category

innovative games without the cost of developing

of technology as means of supplementing student critical

bleeding edge games that often require high levels of

thinking, creativity, and communication with peers and

expertise and a large, highly trained staff. While the game

teacher.

may not have all of the intense graphics of the latest XBOX

Popular technologies

360 titles, they include the underlying motivating contexts

There is utility remaining in technologies that are not

and challenges. When employed in games, these

“bleeding edge” and these may be leveraged to

strategies drive players to engage in creative problem

improve learning game design. Technologies in the form

solving and collaborative play towards achieving the

of social networks such as MySpace and Ning.com or

learning and play goals of the design.

online digital video sharing sites like YouTube are

With these suggestions offered, it is important to note that

(i) supported by past research but still open to new

there are several projects that have developed

questions as they evolve, (ii) maturing in terms of user

educational games, simulations, and other innovative

familiarity and facility, (iii) less costly than “bleeding edge”

learning environments that have knowingly or

technologies in both development time and funding,

unknowingly applied one or more of these principles in

and (iv) can incorporate the motivational, social, and

their designs. These have often been constrained by the

narrative properties of bleeding edge technologies.

public school technology systems with which they

Examples of games that employ these technologies

worked, financial limitations of the project or users, and in

include online alternate reality games like Cathy's Book

some instances team member values that restricted

36

i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

ARTICLES developing a high-cost product. Over the past few years,

In both cases, the lateral thinking about the technology

several projects have been developed in which

came in the form of the particular instructional designs

instructional designers have applied these in response to

and the actions that learners could take in each project's

the needs of their learners and have noted important

world. In the case of River City, students engage in the role

achievement, motivation, and attitudinal gains

of someone transported in time to investigate water

stemming from innovative uses of matured technologies.

pollution problems leading to community illness in a

In the following section, several projects that leverage

historical simulation (Dede et al., 2006). The learning

these principles to develop engaging games and other

activities, as well as the accompanying game activities,

forms of online environment are described.

would force students to both understand the science

Specific designs that leverage these principles

concepts as well as the historical context within which it

Quest Atlantis and River City: Active Worlds.

Both Quest Atlantis (Barab et al., 2007) and River City (Dede, 2006), stemmed initially from the United States' National Science Foundation (NSF) which provided grant funding for projects that targeted science inquiry learning for elementary and early secondary students. In each case, the underlying system that the projects relied on was Active Worlds, which is a 3D virtual world building platform that includes both free building spaces as well as private worlds developers can purchase (Barab, Thomas, Dodge, Carteaux, & Tuzun, 2005). This particular technology was originally created in 1994 and has undergone several evolutions in technology since that time. When the educational projects began in the early part of this decade, the Active Worlds web browser could still run on a personal computer (PC) running Windows 95 with minimal video and memory requirements, which would allow most schools to run the game worlds. Figure 2 shows an example of the level graphics from one of Quest Atlantis' worlds.

occurred. In Quest Atlantis, students are engaged in an open-ended fantasy space in which they are asked to help the fictional Council of Atlantis, which consists mainly of fictional characters approximately the same age as the students themselves (Barab, Warren, & Ingram-Goble, in press). Players complete science and other subjectarea inquiry and problem-based learning activities in several different worlds where the fictional scenarios ask students to complete simulated science experiments (Barab et al., 2007). Student work is contextualized as helping the Council to better understand their own world, while players here on Earth receive game rewards, additional narrative elements, and new virtual spaces to explore. In both projects, the mature technology of Active Worlds, which is proven and has been developed over nearly fifteen years, and the lateral thinking by the project designers has come through innovative use of the technology to contextualize subject matter that is often resisted in the age group that they have created these spaces to serve (Anderman & Leake, 2005; Anderman, Maehr, & Midgely, 1999).

Whyville: Adobe Flash™.

This project was also funded in part by the NSF as well as other organizations and it was intended to increase the interest of children in science learning through multidisciplinary contexts. Research has found that girls have had an especially strong affinity for the virtual world, which is important since girls have traditionally not been as interested in science learning as boys (Foley, Jones, & McPhee-Baker, 2002). Beginning in the late 1990s, the

Figure 2. The observatory's linguistic cipher in Quest Atlantis' Anytown world.

project leveraged the Adobe Flash™ software to develop an online, collaborative world in which students could

i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

37

ARTICLES communicate about what they learned, as well as build

the target goal of improving formal student achievement

virtual items and businesses as part of a virtual economy

related to vocabulary, reading comprehension, and

similar to those in commercial games described by

written language skills as a supplement to classroom

Castranova (Castranova, 2001). The innovative use of

instruction. Chalk House immerses students in an

widely available, mature commercial software such as

authentic writing role, a newspaper reporter, assigned to

Flash allowed the development of a strong virtual space

unearth the mystery of a purportedly haunted mansion in

that was both innovative when it emerged and continues

which several victims have disappeared. Numerous

to evolve today with a reported three million users.

puzzles, linguistic challenges, and game structures place

The Door: Web 2.0.

students in a world where assessment emerges naturally

This project, intended for undergraduate students at community colleges and universities, leverages numerous Web 2.0 technologies such as Facebook and MySpace social networks, Podcasts for digital audio sharing, YouTube digital videos, and Linden Labs' Second Life (Warren, Dondlinger, & Whitworth, 2008). These were used to develop a distributed, online course game modeled on alternate reality games (ARG) like ilovebees.com and World Without Oil (Dondlinger & Warren, in press; Ernst, 2007). Within the context of the game, students learn the basics of computer tools such as word processors and spreadsheets, as well as

from their interactions with characters and environment, with the goal of leading students increased engagement to reading and writing. As the group engaged in lateral thinking about the technology needed to support school use of the system that would drive Chalk House, a framework emerged that dictated that the game would (i) operate under Windows, Macintosh, and Linux operating systems, (ii) require minimal hard drive space, bandwidth, and computer memory, and (iii) deliver 3D graphics capable of being displayed in the majority of schools in the United States today. Figure 3 shows an example of the level graphics from Chalk House.

important concepts of group problem solving and

Java's™ computing performance several years ago

working for clients as they are immersed in a multi-tiered

made it an unlikely choice for developing a real-time

narrative mystery that challenges students to uncover the

multi-user online game. However, upon re-examining it

real motives of the characters with which they

today, the combination of improved computer

communicate with through e-mail, online forums, and

performance, pervasive use on multiple computer

with digital avatars. This project employed lateral thinking

platforms, and Java's™ better operating characteristics

about how courses could be designed to use low or no-

make it a good choice for educational game design.

cost technologies with a proven track record to design

Civilization III: Commercial gaming serving learning

and develop a dynamic curriculum that would engage

This seven year-old turn-based strategy simulation game

and motivate learners without the costs associated with developing other educational games (Warren, Dondlinger, & McLeod, 2008; Warren & Dondlinger, 2008).

Chalk House: CRG Framework using Sun's Java™.

This 3D online learning environment focuses on immersing middle school students in a narrative-based game intended to improve literacy skills: namely, reading and writing. Chalk House is the first of series of learning modules being developed using the CRG 3D Framework (Jones & Warren, 2007; Warren & Jones, 2008). The digital framework, developed in Java™, has been designed with

38

Figure 3. A view of Chalk House within the Created Realities engine.

i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

ARTICLES comes from the world of commercial gaming and has been used in a support role for students coming to appreciate historical concepts (Squire, 2004, 2006). In this case, the lateral thinking about the technology has come in the form of determining how the game system may best support learning and then developing outside activities in the face-to-face classroom to interrogate the lessons that students learned as well as correct misconceptions they brought to the experience. Further, there are free versions of the original 1991 Civilization game simulation that can be downloaded and used that

Figure 4. Students participating in the Charles River City Augmented Reality from the MIT website (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2008)

do not have the high end graphic quality of the more recent versions of the series, and may be a better option

Discussion

for designer's with tight budgets. While this is definitely one

Despite the argument that in education it is important to

possible approach to applying lateral thinking, the fact

re-examine “withered technologies,” we also believe that

that ‘the underlying system may encourage some

research and design conducted with “bleeding edge”

misconceptions about linear historical thinking because

technologies is also important in education. Grant-

the game may not be intended to accurately simulate

funded projects by the United States' National Science

real events’, using older commercial games for learning

Foundation (NSF) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) as

should be done with caution.

well as their counterparts in other countries have

Augmented Reality Games: Handhelds.

contributed substantially to the forward thinking

These should not be confused with the previously discussed Alternate Reality Games. Augmented reality games (AuRG) combine real world and computergenerated data. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Teacher Education Program has created several educational AuRGs (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2008). The lateral thinking involved in designing AuRGs stems from using (i) handheld

orientation of researchers and theorists in the field of education as they seek innovations that help students and instructors at every level of education. In fact, several of the projects mentioned here began as inquiries into the use of, if not bleeding edge, then at least forward-thinking technologies to be leveraged to improve teaching and learning (Table 1).

Uses Uses mature widely technology available, well understood technology

Project

computers, which are far less expensive than providing laptop computers to students and can provide one-toone computing, (ii) it allows the designer to leverage the

Uses inexpensive everyday technology

Uses innovative pedagogy and technology

portability of the units and, when equipped with GPS, they

Quest Atlantis

X

X

X

provide location to key into data, while (iii) blend nearly

River City

X

X

X

cost free real-world activities with low cost technologies

Whyville

X

X

X

The Door

X

X

X

X

X

X

Civilization Series

X

X

Augmented Reality Games

X

for creating content (Muir et al., 2006). Thus, AuRGs take advantage of real-world assets by overlaying the required new reality on top of the existing reality using the technology. Figure 4 shows students using handhelds during an augmented reality game experience.

Chalk House

X

X X

X

Table 1. Design projects that have leveraged older technologies.

i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

39

ARTICLES The data and dynamic understandings of the role of

it's innovative game play and physical structures helps to

technology in education that have been reported by

answer this critique. The Wii, which has less graphics and

these well-funded basic research projects has been

computing power of competing consoles from Microsoft

invaluable in terms of moving forward everyday teachers

and Sony, has been the best-selling game unit in the world

and learners as they prepare for the conceptual age work

for the past two years (Carst, 2008; Richtel, 2007), while

st

of the 21 century.

selling for less than the competing systems.

However, because of the costs of developing “bleeding

Conclusion

edge” technologies and the lack of access to these

By focusing too much on the media (e.g. video games,

projects for the majority of teachers and students, it is

simulations, virtual environments), we often fail to

important to identify the unexplored learning, instruction,

generate strong, replicable instructional game designs,

and media affordances of inexpensive existing and

distracted by the need to compete with the beauty of

mature technologies to determine how instructional

high resolution graphics. It is important to note that over

designs that lead to the same improved motivation,

the last forty years, there has been a lot of costly, difficult to

critical thinking, creativity, organizational skills, and self-

play games and simulations on the market and have

efficacy found in well-designed video games can be

failed commercially and have become laughing stocks

developed. The field has not sufficiently conducted

in mainstream media. This stems from the fact that they

research on these products to determine which of their

do not complete their task of entertaining well and the

constituent parts will lead to improvements in these

underlying system structures make them unusable. If

psychological constructs in order to build our own

instructional game designs are generated that use

effective games, simulations, or virtual environments

“bleeding edge” technologies that also do not do their

(Dondlinger & Warren, 2008). Further, if other instructional

task of educating well, the designer's time, the learner's

development products can be developed without the

time are wasted and we do not advance the field in

monetary, manpower and time cost, by including the

general. Most importantly, it is believed that moving

underlying elements of these products, it is a service to the

forward in the area of learning game design should be

learners, instructors, and field as a whole. If other

conducted with an acute awareness of the costs of

designers or educators cannot recreate the reported

pursuing bleeding edge technologies that most

successes of a “bleeding edge” product due to

educators cannot afford to accept.

inadequate reporting of instructional designs, research failures and successes, and the general price to be paid for the “bleeding edge,” it does not contribute to the field and advance the general knowledge.

[1]. Anderman, L. H., & Leake, V. (2005). The ABCs of Motivation: An alternative framework for teaching preservice teachers about motivation. Clearing House: A

What are some of the concerns that stem from this approach? It is possible that if we do not remain on the “bleeding edge” with the media and complex digital structures used for teaching and learning, students may lack engagement and interest because older designs are competing with the computer games and other advancing media they are engaged with. If the media generated is sub-par because of lack of facility to develop good instruction, they will be lost anyway. Further, the success of Nintendo's Wii game console (a descendant of those designed using Yokoi's theory) and 40

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[48]. Wikipedia. (2008a, January 2008). Bleeding Edge.

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Dr. Scott J. Warren works as an Assistant Professor of Learning Technologies at the University of North Texas. He holds a Ph.D. in Instructional Systems Technology from Indiana University-Bloomington. His current research examines the use of emerging online technologies such as immersive digital learning environments, educational games and simulations, and open source course management tools in complex systems in K-20 settings. Prior to working in higher education as a teacher, researcher and designer, he taught both social studies and English in urban and suburban settings for nearly a decade.

Dr. Greg Jones interest is in expanding the way technology can be used to further the creation and distribution of knowledge and learning. His research focuses on the areas of emerging technologies for learning, which include visualization systems for Education, Virtual communities, Tele-mentoring, and 3D online learning environments (virtual environments). These technologies support learning by the distribution of interaction and feedback across both time and space via interactive forms of multimedia. http://courseweb.unt.edu/gjones

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ARTICLES

PLAY, GAMES, AND ATTITUDE: STUDENT AND TEACHER PERSPECTIVES OF EDUCATIONAL GAMES By GERRI MONGILLO* * Assistant Professor, William Paterson University, New Jersey.

ABSTRACT The main purpose of this qualitative study was to determine the influence of participation in educational games on cognition and attitudes of seventh-grade students. Student attitude towards learning scientific language and concepts during gameplay was examined. This study was conducted in a seventh-grade science classroom in a North Eastern (USA) middle school. The effects of collaboration, socialization, membership, identity, and game culture were examined. Findings indicated that the use of educational games engaged various types of learners via an Alternate Learning Approach. Specifically the students who have limited language skills may benefit from games through the use of common language. Also students who are disinterested or reluctant to talk in class may be encouraged to voice their opinions and ideas in the more relaxed group setting provided by game structures that foster cooperative learning.

Key words: Middle School Education, Educational Games, Attitudinal Development.

INTRODUCTION

concerning the selection and implementation of games

Primary grade teachers have long understood the

that address cognitive and attitudinal development.

benefits of using games as a method to re-contextualize

Review of Related Literature

learning. In our work driven middle and secondary

Extensive research validating the use of play, including

classrooms, play is eliminated from the curriculum in favor

the play of educational games, has been done on the

of direct instruction in what is referred to as the antiplay

primary level (e.g., Bruner, 1983; Bruner, Jolly, & Sylva,

philosophy (Johnson, Christie, &Yawkey, 1999).

If play

1976; Fromberg, 2002; Kamii, 1985, 1989) suggesting

appears at all in later schooling, it is relegated to the non-

that there is a strong relationship between gameplay and

essential status of an extra-curricula activity, or used as a

the development of cognitive and attitudinal

reward system (Fromberg, 2002). Games are demoted to

competencies (e.g., Bredekamp & Copple, 1997; Bruner,

an inferior status in middle school curricula because of

Jolly, Sylva, 1976; Johnson, Christie, & Yawkey, 1999; Kamii

the pejorative perspective of play and often regarded

& Lewis, 1992). However, there is less research on the

tangential; many educators perceive games as

value of play and games with upper elementary or

meaningless child's play.

middle school age students.

This perspective of games

suggests that the benefits of play in the development of student's cognitive and attitudinal capacities are overlooked and under rated in traditional middle school instruction (Holton, Ahmed, Williams, & Hill, 2001).

An attribute of play not to be overlooked is the contribution play makes toward enhancing the older student's attitude towards learning. One of the essential components of attitude was described as “a preparation

Games for the purpose of this study were defined as

or readiness for response” (Allport, 1935, p. 805). That is, an

having at least two or more players, an element of

individual's reaction to a situation is determined by past

challenge and competition following a predetermined

experiences, either positively or negatively. These prior

set of rules, and criteria for winning (Jacob & Dempsey,

experiences affect both interest and motivation.

1993; King, 1986). Not all games are educational,

Educators frequently bemoan the middle school

interesting or motivating so the question arises 44

i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

ARTICLES student's lack of interest and motivation as an obstacle to

Purpose of the Study

learning. Many middle school students' attitudes toward

This qualitative study sought to discover the impact on

learning are negatively affected by the irrelevant manner

student attitude towards science learning where games

in which academic material is introduced (Alberts, 2003).

were implemented as an educational strategy. This study

Students find little or no connection between learning and

was conducted within a seventh-grade classroom

their everyday lives. In addition, school-based learning

consisting of 27 average ability students aged 12-14 in

and play become mutually exclusive concepts. Dewey

order to observe and describe gameplay as it naturally

(1916) aptly commented on this disconnect when he

occurred. Data was collected from six participants (2

stated that “the passage from play to work should be

female, and 4 male) from one class section. The

gradual, not involving a radical change of attitude but

curriculum in this classroom was chiefly designed around

carrying into work the elements of play” (p. 10).

This

major scientific topics that were implemented within an

suggests that the cognitive and attitudinal capacities

inquiry-based model of instruction. Findings discussed

developed through play may transfer to life long learning

are taken from a larger study that also examined

strategies.

language and concept use during games, however this

Although games and play are not apparent in

paper will focus specifically on the following research

adolescent schooling, they are an integral part of their

question: What affect does participation in educational

daily lifestyle. One has only to observe the out-of-school

games have on student attitude toward learning scientific

activities of these students to see the amount of time and

language and concepts?

effort they spend on various games that require multiple

Method

literacy skills (Alverman, Hinchman, Moore, & Phelps, 1998; Bean, Bean, & Bean, 1999; Gee, 2003; Moje et al., 2004). Inclusive in the concept of multiple literacies are the various ways of communicating described as accepted language use in specific social and situational contexts (Gee, 1996; Street, 1995) as well as a variety of new multimedia technologies (New London Group, 1996/2000).

Over the course of this study, data were collected through teacher and student interviews, classroom observations, self-study evaluations and field notes. Data collection commenced at the start of the Earth History unit. The length of this study was 6 weeks. This researcher observed, interviewed, and recorded classroom activity at least 3 days each week. The classroom teacher implemented

Student attitude toward learning may not only be addressed by participation in games, it may be optimized.

Data Sources

Psychologist Csikszentmihalyi (1991)

theorized that we achieve optimal experiences through a trancelike state he called flow, a condition that is often achieved in play.

According to Csikszentmihalyi we are

totally absorbed in all aspects of play during the flow state, the experience is one “that focuses attention and motivates action” (p. 32).

5 educational games during the unit of study. The types of games observed varied and included versions of popular game shows (i.e., Gameshow, Jeopardy®, Memory, and Pyramid).

Frequently the teacher created the game

questions but in at least one instance (Gameshow) the students created the questions and answers. Students integrated technologies to create games such as using the Internet to research question and answers; and they also used an electronic version of Jeopardy® which was

Finally, the implications from the research on cooperative

located on the Internet. Using this electronic version the

games (DeVries & Slavin, 1976) include more effective

teacher was able to insert content specific questions and

teaching and learning, improved student achievement,

answers and the students were able to play the game, in

and improved attitude toward learning.

teams using the classroom computer. Educational games implemented in the classroom were audio taped

i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

45

ARTICLES while the researcher recorded field notes. One element

narrative and verbal data. Analysis was ongoing and it

of study during games focused on the participants'

was through this constant comparison method that the

behaviors and attitude.

The purpose of audio taping

researcher found emerging trends and patterns in the

gameplay was to holistically understand the dynamics of

data (Hubbard & Power, 1999). Reliability was assured

the game and capture the interactions between all of the

through this process as well as triangulation of data

participants during the games.

sources. Consistent with the design of the qualitative

The participants' audio taped interviews were analyzed to

study, findings were reported through a rich, thick

discover their attitude toward learning science through

description of the phenomena which creates for the

educational games.

reader the sense of having been there (Guba & Lincoln,

Responses to each interview

question were analyzed separately to understand

1981).

patterns that led to understanding of the participants'

Results and Discussion

perspective and attitude concerning games. Field notes

Attitudinal Development Toward Science Through

were analyzed and data was used to compare tentative

Educational Games

results from the interview findings. In addition to the initial interviews, impromptu interviews occurred with both the teacher and the students during the study and near the end of the study.

These interviews were also tape

recorded, and the researcher wrote field notes.

Attitude was defined in this study as the mental processes that determine the responses of each person in the social world (Allport, 1935). Further, attitudes are formed based on our values and beliefs mediated by our cultural background and daily social interaction. The analysis of

Data Analysis

participant interviews, self-evaluation forms, and

First, the teacher and student audio taped initial interviews

gameplay observations provided information relating to

were transcribed and analyzed to discover the

the research question concerning the affects of

participants' beliefs concerning educational games.

educational games on student attitude toward learning

Frequency of recurring themes were noted, compared

scientific vocabulary and concepts.

and contrasted to create discrete categories as the data

Student Interview Analysis

was systematically coded. Next, the subsequent interviews with the participants were transcribed and coded comparing the patterns from the initial interviews to the later.

Data analysis of the initial interviews suggested patterns in the following three categories: Motivation, Interest, and Fun. Table 1 provides definitions of these categories and samples of student (all names are pseudonyms)

One of the student documents collected and analyzed

responses from the initial interviews that exemplify these

was the teacher created and administered Study

categories.

Strategy Evaluation Form. This self-evaluation form

grounded in the theoretical rationale set forth in this study

provided important insights to how students perceive the

as well as a reflection of the participants' responses.

The definitions for these categories were

value of games and their role as participants in games.

Qualitative procedures were used to collect and analyze

Category

data. Qualitative data were analyzed through a logico-

Motivation

Motivation is the reason we act and guides our interest and attitudes.

Student view: Like, when I know we are going to play a game I like to come to class.””

Interest

The quality of exciting curiosity or holding one’s attention.

“Student view: Games make it [science] more interesting…”

Fun

To enjoy an activity, amusement.

Student 1 view: “Games are a fun way to learn.

Student 2 view: Games are pretty fun.””

inductive process where topics were identified, clustered in categories, and patterns were formed from these categories.

Finally, explanations and interpretations

were formed, based on the categories and used to answer the research questions (Mertler & Charles, 2008).

The process was based on logic to make sense of the

46

Definition

Examples from the Initial Interview

Table 1. Students' Initial Perspectives of the Affect of Educational Games on their Attitude

i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

ARTICLES Motivation, Interest, and Fun

activity (Fun).

Motivation was defined as the reason for why we act and

The findings of the final student interview (Table 2) were

motivation guides our interest and attitudes (Hallowell,

analyzed and compared to the initial interview. Although

1955). Only one student (1 of 6) said that he enjoyed

the conversation was guided by the questions asked in

science as a subject. Participants reported that

the initial interview, new issues were discussed.

educational games increased their motivation to

analysis yielded two additional patterns in the final

participate in a classroom activity when the games were

interview data, namely (i) Relief from Boredom and

based on scientific vocabular y and concepts.

(ii) Alternate Learning Approach. These additional

The

Participants suggested that they looked forward to

categories may have been generated because the final

coming to class when they anticipated gameplay and

interview was conducted in a whole group talk where

another student explained, “Games are a better way to

students had the opportunity to elaborate and extend

study vocabulary and concepts than just reading…it

their responses precipitated through feedback from their

[games] makes it easier and fun [sic] than tests.”

peers.

Interest was defined as the quality of exciting curiosity or

The category Relief from Boredom is associated with the

holding one's attention.

Interest is closely related to

participants' attitude toward an activity. During the final

motivation in that when students are motivated by an

interview the participants mentioned that the Earth History

activity, their interest is increased. Participants reported

unit contained a great deal of reading which they

during the interview that the games increased their

considered dull. That is, they found both the scientific

interest in science. Games peaked curiosity for some and

content and the activity boring.

as one student stated games “make it [the study of

mentioned in her interview that this unit was content

The teacher also

science] more interesting.” Another student spoke of the

heavy and “contains too much vocabulary and

excitement of games because of the possibility of

concepts.” This unit contained less hands-on activities

winning, “I like competing even though we don't always

than other units they had studied during the year. The

keep score . . . you know, it gets you into it.”

students also discussed that playing games relieved their

Responses where the participants discussed playing

boredom. One student explained, “Studying straight from

games as an enjoyment or amusement were

a book you kinda [sic] get bored after awhile and it's hard

categorized as Fun. All (6 of 6) described games as “a fun

Category

Definition

way of learning!” One student elaborated referring to the games played in previous science units “I found playing

Motivation

Motivation is the reason we act and guides our interest and attitudes.

Student view: “I don’t like science … …when we play games I look forward to coming to class.”

Interest

The quality of exciting curiosity or holding one ’’s attention.

Student view: ““I feel excited and curious because we play games.”

Relief from Boredom

In play we are absorbed by the activity and our attention is focused on the act of constructing knowledge.

Student view: ““Yeah, when playing a game, I ’’m always into it, awake and stuff. ”

Fun

To enjoy an activity, amusement.

Student view: “Games are a fun way to learn.”

Alternate Learning Approach

A non --traditional or a non --didactic learning approach or strategy.

Student view: “I know when I play a game I remember more.”

the games helpful because you were having fun and learning at the same time.” From the students' perspective, the games made learning science enjoyable, although the majority (5 of 6) said that they did not like science as a subject.

Overall, the findings for the initial interview suggested that students' perceived the affect of educational games on their attitude toward learning scientific vocabulary and concepts as positive. The notable benefits of gameplay identified included, motivation to participate, increased interest in participating in an activity using scientific language and concepts, and experiencing an enjoyable

Examples from the Interviews

Table 2. Student Perspectives of the Affect of Educational Games on their Attitude Over Time

i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

47

ARTICLES to focus sometimes.”

forward to coming to class more than I usually do

During the play of educational games the participants

because I'd be having fun but at the same time I'm

had the opportunity to become focused on the science

learning something but you don't really realize it.” Students

content because they were not bored by the activity.

who have formed a negative attitude toward learning

Related to the Relief from Boredom category is the

scientific vocabulary and concepts may develop a more

concept of flow, (Csikszentmihalyi, 1997) a condition

positive attitude through participation in activities that

where one is totally absorbed in an activity. The flow state

motivate them to learn.

creates an optimal learning condition because there is

Some of the participants expressed that they were

intense focus on using skills to construct knowledge.

motivated by educational games because they felt less

According to Csikszentmihalyi (1991) play provides the

threatened in the game environment where the

conditions necessary to achieve the flow state because

atmosphere was relaxing and friendly. Consequences for

in play, we are focused and interested.

failure were minimized and students reported that they

An Alternate Learning Approach was defined as a non-

were at ease venturing answers in the form of guesses to

traditional or a non-didactic learning approach or

game questions, as opposed to being called upon to

strategy. One student reported, “When you play games

answer a question in the traditional classroom exchange.

you're not really thinking about the learning process.”

A student spoke about her attitude toward answering in

Research (Johnson & Johnson, 1994; Slavin, 1995) related

class verses answering game questions, “I'm nervous in

to cooperative learning approaches suggested that

class but not in games.” Another student agreed, “Yeah,

students' attitudes were positively affected through their

like tests you’re nervous if you know you are not going to do

participation in cooperative games.

well . . . But when you play a game like you have fun”.

Student Perspectives of the Value of Educational Games

Educational games lower the risks for some of the participants who felt empowered to venture answers

Over Time

without the fear of being penalized through grades or

Motivation

embarrassed in front of their peers.

Several participants stated the reason that they did not like the Earth History unit was because “there was too much reading.” However, all (6 of 6) of the participants reported that playing educational games motivated them to become involved in gameplay despite the fact

Interest When asked about playing games in class several of the responses mentioned increased interest as a reason for a change in attitude towards studying science content.

that the games were based on scientific content. One

Researcher: How do you feel about coming to class when

student, who had the lowest grades reported that she did

you know in advance that you will be playing a game that

not like science as a subject but she was motivated by

day?

gameplay as demonstrated in her remark, “I am not

Student 1 : I feel excited and curious because we are

much into science but because we are doing this

going to play…it feels like it's not a class at all, just having

[playing games] I'm getting more into science”. She

fun.

achieved higher scores in games, which suggested that

Researcher: Why do you think that your instructor

when motivated, she performed at a higher level when

Ms. Woods has you play games in class?

compared to the written assessments and the final quiz.

Another student’s remarks mirrored the earlier student’s response concerning her attitude toward learning science. She stated, “I don't like science at all but I like games . . . I guess when we play games I kinda [sic] look

48

Student 2 : I don't like school but I think she has us play games so we get interested in science.

Researcher: Okay, does it work for you?

Student 2 : Yeah.

i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

ARTICLES Researcher: (To student 3) How about you?

are bored.

Student 3 : I don't really listen in class but when we play

Student 2 : Yeah, like also when I'm playing games like I'm

games I am interested and I kinda [sic] learn stuff I never

always awake and stuff, but sometimes when we are just

pick up in class.

sitting here and reading or doing notes and stuff I'll just

From the participants perspective there appears to be a

zone out-like how when I'm reading a book sometimes I'll

link between interest in the activity and their attitude

like repeat the word but be thinking about

towards learning the subject matter.

something else.

Relief from Boredom

Student 3 : When you play a game you are having fun and

As mentioned earlier, the ‘flow’ state provides an optimal learning environment that relieves boredom. According

you don't care about anything else really.

Boredom appeared to play a large role in the

to Csikszentmihalyi (1997), “Optimal experiences usually

participants' dislike of the study of this unit. Their attitude

involve a fine balance between one's ability to act and

toward the science content was affected by boredom.

the available opportunities for action” (p.30). In order for

One student’s reference to the action of the game

flow to occur, the activity must provide an attainable

(“always into it”) displayed that he was in the state of flow

challenge. Too great a challenge causes anxiety and

where anxiety and boredom were alleviated. Another

too little causes boredom. Educational games provide

student echoed the earlier students’ perspective in his

the opportunity for the participants to act where they were

response to a question about boredom, “In class I'm

able to meet the challenges presented in the games

sleeping… she [teacher] talks too much so we get bored .

(successfully answering content questions 59% of the

. . when we play games we pay attention more.” One

time). In addition, the participants were interested and

more student aptly described the characteristic of flow

engaged in gameplay, thereby meeting the conditions

where one becomes totally absorbed when he said,

for the flow experience to take place.

It was noted

“When you play a game . . . you don't care about

however that some of the participants thought that

anything else.”

Memory and Pyramid 2 were less challenging than the

Fun

other games played. One student remarked, “In Memory

The participants also reiterated that games were “a fun

you only have to guess to be right” and another student

thing to do” and “a fun way to learn.” Fun is not usually

agreed “Yeah, like Jeopardy was more interesting and

associated with traditional school learning as echoed by

fun”.

student “we don't usually have fun learning in school.”

Findings indicated that all (6 of 6) of the participants

From another student’s perspective playing games were

complained that the Earth History unit contained too

not only fun but also a helpful approach for both the

much reading and suggested that the educational

students and the teacher, “I think its fun (playing games in

games were a relief from tedious reading. In the following

school) because it helps us and the teacher, it's like a two

conversation participants, explain how their participation

for one deal.” She expressed her belief that both the

in games was seen as a ‘Relief from Boredom’. They were

students and the teacher benefited from games

stimulated and focused which enabled them to become

because she assumed that the teacher also liked to have

involved in the science content where traditional

some fun most likely because the teacher frequently

teaching and learning instruction failed.

implemented gameplay in class.

Student 1 : Playing games once in a while will get you

An Alternate Learning Approach

more involved and more interested in it [science] instead

This category was defined as a non-traditional or a non-

of being bored . . . when you're studying you are just

didactic learning approach. Games as an alternate

thinking about it and it doesn't really help

learning approach were discussed during the final

because you

i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

49

ARTICLES interview and the students related the reasons why they

supervision they remained involved in the game and

felt they learned better and more willingly:

there was very little off task behavior. Students would

Student 1 : I know when I play a game, I remember more.

occasionally enter into sidebar conversations, but would

Student 2 : You don't really realize it [learning] when you

soon be pulled back into the game usually by peer request. Remarks such as “it's your turn” or “c'mon read the

play.

Student 3 : Yeah, when you play games you are not really thinking about the learning process.

next question” were often made and such remarks brought order back to the group.

Another frequent

behavior that denoted engagement was that students

Student 4 : Yeah, not only do you enjoy [games] but you learn a lot at the same time.

often asked for the moderator to re-read the question or ask for clarification of either the question or answer.

These findings indicated that the students were capable

Several times the students sought out the assistance of the

of articulating the reasons why they felt educational

teacher to settle a dispute or clarify a response. These

games helped them to learn and study better than

behaviors suggested that the students' attitudinal

traditional approaches. A student summarized, “I learn

development was positively affected through their

from kids who know more than me. Sometimes I think I

participation in games.

don't know stuff but playing makes me know I actually know more stuff than I thought.”

When asked if they

thought they were prepared to take the final quiz most (4 of 6) reported that they thought they would do well (high B). However, one student thought she would obtain a high C and another remarked, “I think I'd do okay.” As it turned out the first student scored 83% and the second one scored 62%. Interestingly, in games the first student used vocabulary appropriately 43% of the time and the

Teacher Interview Analysis The classroom teacher, was also interviewed using a similar protocol that was used with the students.

responses were analyzed using the same method and coding that was applied to the student interviews to identify her perspectives on the use and value of educational games. Table 3 provides the results from the data analysis.

second one surpassed her by achieving correct usage

Category

Definition

Examples from the Interview

57% of the time. This finding emphasized the result that

Motivation

Motivation is the reason we act and guides our interest and attitudes.

Teacher: ““They [students] have self --drive to answer. ”

Interest

The quality of exciting curiosity or holding one ’s attention

Teacher: ““They seem happy playing games … especially pleased if they [can] answer a question. ”

Relief from Boredom

In play we are absorbed by the activity and our attention is focused on the act of constructing knowledge.

Teacher: ““Seventh grader ’s need to let their hair down and enjoy class. ”

Fun

To enjoy an activity, amusement.

Teacher: ““Games are a fun way to reinforce concepts that I have integrated into my lessons. ”

Alternate Learning Approach

A non-traditional or a non --didactic learning approach or strategy.

Teacher:““[Games] are another strategy, diversity, another facet of teaching.”

students learn and express their understandings in various ways and tests are just one measure of knowledge.

Overall, the participants were able to clearly articulate the reasons they believed their attitude towards learning during the Earth History unit improved. They reported that the participation in educational games positively affected their attitude toward learning scientific vocabulary and concepts. One student suggested, “Learning vocabulary is hard . . . you should play games before every test because it can like help you” and another added, “to remember and put them [vocabulary and concepts] into your own words.”

Researcher observations corroborated these findings in that student behaviors observed during games showed that students were engaged and on task.

Although

students played games in groups with minimal

50

Her

Table 3. Teacher Perspectives of the Affect of Educational Games on Student Attitude

i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

ARTICLES Findings showed that there were several commonalities between the teachers’ and the students' perspectives on

Category

Question 1 Playing Jeopardy

Student:“ Jeopardy because we are playing a game.””

Interest

Student:““We remember because we want to.”

Student: ““It had questions that I knew the answers.””

Student: ““I find the game more helpful because we are having fun.””

Relief from boredom

Student: ““Games…rather … than just asking questions we can prepare competitively.””

Student:““Making the questions is a good way to study.”

Student: ““Jeopardy because it is easy. ”

Fun

Student: ““Yes, because we learn in a more fun way. ”

Alternate Learning Approach

Student: “Yes, because if I do not know the answer to a question, someone else will say it, and I will learn from that.””

behavior as self-drive, which guided the students' attitude teacher, her students “seem happy and especially pleased when they [can] answer questions.”

As an experienced middle school teacher, the class

Student: “I preferred the game because it was fun and I learned. ”

teacher understood that adolescents are easily bored and distracted from learning science vocabulary and concepts, “Seventh grader's need to let their hair down and enjoy class.” Educational games offer a ‘Relief from Boredom’ as well as some fun, “There are serious times; games are a fun way to reinforce concepts that I have integrated into my lessons”. The teacher also expressed her belief that educational games provide an Alternate Learning Approach, one that “Helps them [students] to understand what they have studied adequately, a study strategy, they are learning a lot from it [games]. Further she stated that many of her students were auditory learners, “I remember what I hear,” said one of her students.

Educational games are another approach for students to “hear” scientific content. Both the students and the teacher viewed games as a study strategy that improves

Question 3 Strategy Preference

Student:“Yes, “ I Student:““Yes, because found the activity I wrote down the helpful…because … it questions and I know had a lot of the answers.”” information.””

that games motivated her students to participate in an

and interest. Interest was sustained and according to the

Question 2 Writing Questions

Motivation

the value and use of educational games. She also felt activity based on scientific content. She described this

Self-Evaluation Question Topics

Student: “I needed to review my notes in order to create questions.””

Student: ““I think Jeopardy is a better study strategy because this makes learning fun, and this was competitive.””

Table 4. Student Reflections on Studying Science through Games and Writing Game Questions

the activity helpful in reviewing? Explain why? (b) This week, you completed a study guide packet of questions for our game show activity in which you reviewed the concepts for Part 1 of the Earth History unit.

Did you find this study strategy helpful? Explain how this has helped you review the concepts, and (c) Which study strategy did you find more beneficial to you personally?

Question one asked students if they thought playing

learning. The teacher reported that test scores increased

Jeopardy was a helpful study strategy. All (6 of 6) of the

when she included gameplay as an educational activity.

participants answered yes to this question. The reasons

Participants' Attitude Towards Studying Science Through Self-Report The participants were asked to answer three questions concerning the effectiveness of two study strategies implemented by the teacher for the Earth History unit.

Each question and response was analyzed and compared and contrasted to the patterns discovered in the interview data. Responses were coded according to the methods used with the interview data to discover if similar or new patterns emerged (Table 4).

The questions were: (a) Today, you played a Jeopardy science game show related to the Earth History-Part 1 unit of study. Did you find

varied, but they were related to the categories reported in the interviews. Three participants said that the game was a fun way to review material or “we learn in a more fun way.” A student said, “Yes, I found playing the game helpful because we were having fun and learning at the same time . . . we didn't even realize that we were learning.”

As an Alternate Learning Approach, the game format allowed students to learn from their peers. One participant remarked, “If I do not know the answer to a question, someone else will say it, and I will learn from that.” One student wrote, “We remember because we want to” demonstrating both Motivation and Interest.

In question two, all (6 of 6) of the participants agreed that

i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

51

ARTICLES writing the questions and answers for the game was an

question, or requesting clarification of question. Their

effective way to study. This question addressed the ways

commitment to accuracy and following the rules also

in which the students felt about writing the game

demonstrated their interest in playing games.

questions and was considered a characteristic of an

findings suggested, educational games appeared to

Alternate Learning Approach. Several remarked that the

have had a positive affect on students' attitude towards

activity required a review of their notes and readings. For

learning scientific vocabulary and concepts.

example, a student said, “Yes, I needed to review my

Educational Implications: The Power of Play

notes in order to create questions.” Another participant stated that writing the questions was a helpful way to remember the material. Two students concluded that writing the questions was a positive experience that made them feel more confident about the subject matter. They were also motivated in terms of playing the game because they felt prepared, “I wrote down the questions and I know the answer to my questions.” One among them showed both Motivation and Interest because writing the questions meant that she would encounter some questions in the game that she had written and learned. Another student suggested that the boredom of studying is relieved in his statement, “making the questions is a good way to study”. Interestingly, none (0 of 6) of the participants described the writing activity as ‘Fun’.

Not surprisingly, 5 of the 6 participants' responses confirmed that they preferred playing ‘Jeopardy’ to writing the questions. The sixth participant wrote “both” as an answer to the question. The themes that were repeated stressed that playing ‘Jeopardy’ was a fun, motivating, and interesting way to use scientific vocabulary and concepts. A student stated his preference and implied that the game was less tedious than writing the questions when he wrote, “Jeopardy because it is easy and fun and I learnt”.

As the

The value of playing educational games with older learners was demonstrated in this study. Students need opportunities to learn in a non threatening space and games offer this. Students should be afforded the opportunity to rehearse and explore ideas through play.

Within the context of play, attitudes were positively affected and the participants reported that they felt less threatened than in their traditional classroom setting. The positive outcomes reported involved improved student attitude towards learning in the content areas. In addition, educational games created a venue where participants felt at ease exploring ideas through guesses and partial answers without the threat of embarrassment if their response was wrong.

An advantage of game play is that students are at ease and often use their everyday language to help them understand the highly technical language of science by using their common language. From the socio-cultural perspective, where teaching and learning are influenced by social processes, Moje et al. (2004) reported that in traditional science classrooms, adolescents are often discouraged from using everyday language to explain their scientific understandings. Similarly, the participants in the present study were encouraged to utilize their multiple literacies through the play of games where the

The researcher's observations of the participants while

use of non-school language was considered

they played the games corroborated what was reported

acceptable.

during interviews and self-evaluations. Participants were on task, engaged and motivated during gameplay. The participants spent nearly five classroom hours engaged in gameplay during the time of this study. Throughout the game time activities, participants played eagerly and arduously.

Participants rarely engaged in off-task

conversations and when they did, they were usually concerning the game rules, a dispute over an answer to a 52

During games, participants talk to explore concepts and build understanding while 'playing' with their peers. Peer collaboration in games exposes them to alternate perspectives by listening to others. Participants also share and receive feedback that expands their understanding through dialogue.

An important element in creating and implementing

i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

ARTICLES successful educational games includes careful

42(6), 438-449.

Retrieved April 23, 2004, from the

consideration of the structure of the game as well as the

Academic Search Premier database.

student's role in its creation and implementation. When

[6]. Berk, L., & Winsler, A. (1995). Scaffolding children's

the students took an active role in writing the game

learning: Vygotsky and early childhood education.

questions they participated actively in their learning and

Washington, DC: National Association for the Education

reported that they recalled more information (despite the

of Young Children.

fact they complained about writing the questions, they were motivated because they preferred playing a game to the standard lecture or homework assignment). The structure is also critical because games that were too easy (i.e. Memory) were not engaging therefore neither educational nor motivating.

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Finally, during games students are often totally involved in the play, a state referred to as ‘flow’ (Csikszentmihalyi, 1991) where one is totally absorbed in the activity. This creates an optimal learning environment and as educators we know that we are in need of finding

[9]. Bruner, J. S. (1983). Child's talk: Learning to use language. New York: Norton.

[10]. Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1991). Flow: the psychology of optimal experience. New York.

alternative teaching and learning activities that stimulate

[11]. Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1997).

the often disinterested adolescent student. Games may

psychology of engagement with everyday life. New York:

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[12]. DeVries, D.L., & Slavin, R.E. (1976). Teams-games-

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dr. Gerri Mongillo, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Professional Studies at William Paterson University where she is the director of and teaches in the Graduate Reading Program. She completed her doctorate at Fordham University. Her research interests include teacher preparation, instructional games, adolescent literacy, and professional development of reading teachers. Her recent publications related to gameplay and instruction: Improving Expository Writing of Pre-service Teachers in an Online Environment. Contemporary Issues in Technology & Teacher Education (Wilder, & Mongillo, 2007) and Instructional Games: Scientific language use, concept understanding, and attitudinal development of middle school learners (Unpublished dissertation, 2006).

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ARTICLES

THE OVERLAPPING WORLDS VIEW: ANALYZING IDENTITY TRANSFORMATION IN REAL AND VIRTUAL WORLDS AND THE EFFECTS ON LEARNING By MICHAEL A EVANS*

FEIHONG WANG**

* Assistant Professor, Department of learning sciences and technologies, Virginia Tech. **Doctoral student, School of Education in the instructional design and technology program, Virginia Tech.

ABSTRACT Of late, digital game-based learning has attracted game designers, researchers and educators alike. Immersion in the virtual 3D environment of a game may have positive effects on K-12 students' cultivation of self (Dodge et al., 2006).

Currently, two opposing views related to game-based identity formation are presented in the literature: the Separate Worlds View (SWV) and the Identical Worlds View (IWV) (Stevens, 2007). The purpose of this paper is to explore these views to determine whether a third position might be required for a more comprehensive treatment. To this end, we offer The Overlapping Worlds View (OWV). The Overlapping World View proposes that an individual's virtual and real world identities are neither entirely separate nor identical. The degree of overlapping of identities depends on the social consistencies between virtual and real worlds. This third view thus opens opportunities in educational research and instructional design in a context, where current and future generations of learners will grow up in a digital, environment many experiencing virtual worlds as an integral part of their private and public lives.

Keywords: Identity, Separate World View, Identical World View, Overlapping World View, K-12 Education, Digital gamebased learning, Massive multi-player online games.

INTRODUCTION

personalization of learning, lead game-based learning

Although the use of games for educational purposes can

proponents to claim: “A good game's design is inherently

be traced to the use of war games in the 1600s (Gredler,

connected to designing good learning for players” (Gee,

2004; Langton, Addinall, Ellington, & Percival, 1980), the

2007a, p.21). Today's students represent a generation

application of game techniques to create digital game-

growing up with interactive digital and communication

based learning (DGBL) has gained dizzying amounts of

tools, in which the use of games for home and school is

attention in the past decade. Riding on the back of

common (Oblinger, 2003, 2006). This generation,

continued advances in computing and networking

particularly youth from ages 8-18, are also considered to

technology, modern digital games have evolved far

be the leading population in online gaming (Annetta,

beyond their roots in arcades and simple graphical

Klesanth, & Holmes, 2008).

systems to include levels of complexity and realism that

An increasingly popular type of virtual experience for

permit for unprecedented levels of embodiment,

youth is what is referred to as massive multi-player online

experience, and immersion (Chee, 2007; Smyth, 2007).

games, or MMOGs. MMOGs are persistent, 3D online

Massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs), especially,

gaming worlds that incorporate role-playing and

have of late attracted specific attention from game

multiplayer systems with the use of instant messaging and

designers, researchers, and educators. As Squire (2007)

voice chat (Cole & Griffiths, 2007; Griffiths, Davies, &

states, “the study of games and learning is ready to come

Chappell, 2004). Often times, these virtual worlds require

of age” (p. 167). Attributes of digital games such as strong

teams of players to coordinate their efforts to conduct

motivation effects, contextual bridging, and

missions that advance their status, individually and

i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

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ARTICLES collectively, in the game world. These worlds continuously

that a player takes on a new or independent identity in a

exist and evolve where literally thousands of players from

game world, one that is markedly different from the real

around the world meet, interact, and play together

world identity. Examples of these can be found in the 3D

(Smyth, 2007). Important to the position offered in this

virtual world Second Life (www.secondlife.com), where

article, virtual worlds are believed to have specific impact

participants portray themselves as animals, who in the in-

on children's formation of identity. To illustrate, this, Dodge,

world parlance are referred to as “furries.” The parameters

Barab, Stuckey, Warren, Heiselt, & Stein (2008) conducted

of Second Life allow players to construct and portray an

an in-depth ethnographic study of four middle school

identity much different from the real world. The IWV, on the

students participating in a 3D virtual world designed to

other hand, claims that game identities and real world

explore

identities are the same (Stevens, 2007). The argument is

life

sciences,

Quest

Atlantis

( h t t p : / / a t l a n t i s . c r l t. i n d i a n a . e d u / ) . T h e c a s e s

that players do not make a distinction between their real

demonstrated that children's senses of identity (within a

world and virtual world identities. One way this is expressed

learning context) might be altered and advanced within

is that virtual world occupants refer to themselves as

3D multi-user virtual worlds through “expressing agency,

“gamers.”

adopting commitments, developing meaning, and

Using the example of Cliff above as a substantive case,

engaging in learning” (p. 234). For example, one

our proposal is that separate and identical worldviews are

participant, Cliff, who had previously expressed disinterest

insufficient to explain the complex interrelationships of

and lack of motivation in the place-based classroom “lit

real and virtual world identities. In the next section, we

up” when he entered the 3D virtual world and became a

examine ways MMOGs potentially affect identities of

collaborative, supportive, expressive contributor. Most

youth during game play. After identifying what is

notably, Cliff expressed agency through the adopted role

perceived as insufficient specification and complexity in

of technology expert. As evidenced in the case study

the existing two views on identity, we offer a third

(p.236), Cliff's time spent in the 3D world and contributions

perspective, the Overlapping World View (OWV). The OWV

to the discussion increased noticeably. Most impressive

suggests that virtual and real world identities are mutually

was that Cliff identified himself as the “Quest Atlantis

constitutive in game play. The integration of an MMOG

Master” and was proud that he could now express his

player's virtual and real world identities depends in part on

inner “techno-geek” identity amongst classmates and

the individual's local and distant connections, ties, and

teacher. This reported episode compels us to question a

collaborations. As Nardi and Harris (2006) noted in an

simple either-or distinction between virtual and real

empirical investigation of players in World of Warcraft,

worlds. As Cliff's, and others' documented in Dodge et

perhaps the most popular MMOG in the world, learning

al.,'s (2008) work experience belies the relationships and

and identity are intricately intertwined during game play.

effects of virtual and real world, which are more complex.

As one player commented, “I like [in World of Warcraft]

Better stated is that there is a mutually constitutive

that you kind of feel a part of this bigger world. You have to

relationship (Barab & Wolf, 2006) between real and virtual

go and explore and find out things and meet people” (p.

world identities.

155). In conclusion, we suggest two key questions related

As Dinter (2006) notes, digital networked technologies

to this view that should be investigated to understand

and associated media are of great importance for

potential learning and to guide future teaching, design,

children's processes of individual identity formation.

and development: 1) What aspects of identity can be

Currently, two opposing views related to game-based

extracted from the virtual world to have positive, lasting

identity formation exist in the literature to explain the

effects on learning? 2) How should developers, designers,

effects: the Separate Worlds View (SWV) and the Identical

and teachers orchestrate virtual play to facilitate positive,

Worlds View (IWV) (Stevens, 2007). The SWV view proposes

healthy identity formation?

56

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ARTICLES MMOGs: Interdependency of Play, Identity, and

process of developing their own identity (Konijn & Bijvank,

Learning

2007). Stahl (2006) defined self and identity as a cognitive

Self, or identity, as Mead (1934) pointed out, “is

artifact that is socially constructed and internalized

accomplished in a process of taking the role of the other

through mimicking. Identity, as proposed by Marcia

with increasing degrees of sophistication that are

(1966), is resolved by an internal, self-constructed, and

mastered in sometimes literal and other times

dynamic organization of aspirations, skills, beliefs, and

metaphorical play and gaming activities” (p.338). From a

other factors. This paper defines identity as, basically, a

situated learning and legitimate peripheral participation

subjective sense of an invigorating feeling of being active

perspective (Lave & Wenger, 1991), identity

and alive (Erikson, 1968), that is to say, the sense and

transformation is a crucial indicator of learning and

perception of who one is (Lee & Hoadley, 2007). The virtual

development. Identities, in contrast to and combination

environment of a game is a sandbox, a set of

with group norms and practice, are important features to

representations and behaviors with which the player can

attend to when analyzing performance (Barab, Evans, &

use to express himself (Squire, 2007, p.175). Individuals,

Baek, 2004; Evans & Powell, 2007). Digital technologies

therefore, can explore new identities in game-based

including video games, as Jaffee (1998) states, may

virtual worlds, i.e., MMOGs, by participating in virtual

disrupt, threaten, or enhance identities. Consequently, an

communities and forming social relations (Hagel &

exploration of identities and game play is in order.

Armstrong, 1997).

The impact of video games is believed to have particular

Identity Formation and Transformation in Virtual and Real

relevance to today's K-12 students, the so-called “Net

Worlds

Generation” (Jones, 2002), as they have grown up with

There are two current opposing views regarding game-

interactive digital technologies readily at-hand. These

based identity formation and transformation: Separate

students approach life differently as they integrate digital

World View (SWV) and Identical World View (IWV). The SWV

technologies into their daily routine (Federation of

states that “games are a world apart from the real world

American Scientists, 2006). Gaining particular attention in

where players can take on new identities” (Stevens, 2007,

this realm of technologies and software are massive

p.59). While the opposing view claims that identities are

multi-player online games (MMOGs), which are defined

crafted through game play, virtual/game identities

as persistent, networked, interactive, narrative

actually mirror real world identities (Stevens, 2007). These

environments in which players collaborate, strategize,

two extreme views either neglect the effect of the virtual

plan, and interact with objects, resources, and other

community on individual identity formation or

players within a multi-modal environment (Dicky, 2006;

exaggerate it. On one hand, the SWV tends to propose

Nardi & Harris, 2006). Social interaction with mid-size to

that players leave their virtual identities in the virtual world

large groups online is a defining feature of MMOGs

as “leaving work at home”. This view fails to take into

(Smyth, 2007). MMOGs allow users to experiment in a safe,

account the effects of the virtual communities on an

non-threatening environment and to expand, explore,

individual's identity formation. As Calvert (2002) stated,

and reflect on different aspects of themselves (Turkle,

people's interactions and interpretations significantly

1995). In MMOGs “children can play imaginary roles and

influence the identities they form. MMOGs provide

in the process develop the capacity to see themselves,

participants with a different way of social interaction and

as others might-to see themselves as both object and

different technical experiences, which contribute to

subject- the quintessential quality of self ” (Waskul & Lust,

formation of individual identities. In a randomized,

2004, p.338). Therefore, immersion in MMOGs may

longitudinal study conducted by Smyth (2007), it was

possibly affect K-12 students' cultivation of self or identity

discovered that 100 college-aged MMOG players (18-20

specifically (Dodge et al., 2006) since they are still in the

year old) developed new friendships as a result of playing

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ARTICLES the game, and game play had unexpected, adverse

flows from being or seeking to become a member of a

effects on the real world (less sleep, worse health). Thus,

particular society, be it in-game or in-world (Gee, 2007a,

spending excessive time in a virtual world began to have

p. 40). That is to say, the transfer of a MMOG player's virtual

both positive and negative impact on the participants'

and real world identity to the opposite world depends on

real world. Though Smyth noted MMOGs bring a different

their social identity in that world. The mutual constitution of

experience than other types of game play, further work

an MMOG player's virtual and real world identities

need to be done to clearly delineate the unique

depends to a certain extent on social consistencies

behavioral implications. Contrastingly, the IWV takes

between these two worlds. Based on these raised issues,

virtual and real world identities to be identical, which may

this paper suggests an “Overlapping World View�. Figure 1

exaggerate the effects of virtual worlds on identity

indicates the relationship among these three worldviews.

formation. As the work of Penual and Wertsch (1995) help

When putting these three views on a continuum based on

us to understand, the identity of an individual established

the degree of identity sharing between the virtual and the

in a virtual world, most often in the form of an avatar with

real world, the OWV is centered emphasizing a healthy

varying similarities to the player's actual physiognomy, is

middle ground between extremes of the continuum.

often contextually constrained and will not be completely

Implicit points being raised are that ultimatums should be

transformed to his or her real life. Similar to everyday life,

avoided and that real and virtual worlds now need to be

the cultivation of a virtual identity in MMOGs emerges

examined in tandem. In an age of growing up digitally,

from the innumerable possibilities that culminate over a

and with national priorities (at least in the United States)

history of choices, decisions, and consequences that are

towards cyberlearning (US National Science Foundation,

patterned and structured (Waskul & Lust, 2004). Very often,

2008), empirical and practical work that engages real

there is a difference between an individual's self-

and virtual worlds cannot be avoided.

presentation in real life and what they develop as their

The Overlapping World View: Mutually Constitutive

virtual form of self-presentation (Dinter, 2006). For

Identities

example, gender-reversal is an often-practiced technique of MMOG players. A shy girl may become a talkative brutish boy in MMOGs. Neverthless, it does not mean she will take this male persona back to her everyday life, the embodiment of digital avatars is much more complex than the IWV claims (Biocca, 1997). Taken as a whole, a player's virtual and real world identities are neither entirely separate nor identical. The development of self entails a complex, shifting process of negotiation among an individual's ideas about what they might become, what they would become, and what they are afraid of becoming. An individual will behave so as to approach or avoid models of other possible selves

Virtual and real world identities are mutually constitutive in MMOG play. As Oblinger (2006) states, gamers must immediately recall prior learning from outside venues - life and school - when participating in an online virtual world.

That is to say, gamers draw from their real world identities to adapt to and to succeed in a video game. However, there is a limitation of the transfer of an individual's real world identity to the virtual identity. As Stryker (1980) indicated, the human sense of identity is linked to roles, groups, and society. It is a product and process, as the identity is shaped by the larger society (p.163). The transfer of virtual and real identities depends on the social identities in the opposing worlds. Returning to the study by

(Marcia, 1966). The identities are often limited or shaped by the social identity, which is formed in a given situation in which one gains the values, established practices, knowledge, and skills from more capable peers.

Research conducted by Yee (2005, 2007) indicate that MMOGs allow new forms of social identity. Social identity

58

Figure 1. The continuum of worldviews on real world and virtual identities.

i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

ARTICLES Dodge et al. (2008), the case of Amelia, a fifth grader

Finally, in support of our proposal, Waskul and Lust (2004)

participating in Quest Atlantis, illustrates how real and

claim,“in role-playing game participants are uniquely

virtual world identities are susceptible to overlap. In a

situated in the loose boundaries of the person-player-

wonderful example of how a young girl combines her real

persona trinity” (p.340). Waskul and Lust (2004) define

and virtual identity, Dodge and his colleagues write:

person as the wide variety of identities players occupy

Amelia demonstrates a fluency with technology showing

and roles they play in everyday life such as students,

spontaneity and sociability. For example, she moves

employees, adolescents, adults, spouses, and parents.

comfortably through the Quest Atlantis virtual space,

Persona is the player's game role while player is gamer

zapping between worlds and often inviting other students

who plays the imaginary persona. Therefore, the person-

to accompany her: “u want to go somewhere fun?”;

player-persona in some significant ways justifies the need

“Minnie do u want to go to culture world?... follow

for a middle ground, or overlapping world view. Waskul

me.” Likewise, Amelia uses several different chat

and Lust (2004) take persona mainly as the product of

venues to meet friends: she often asks others, “you

game rules, which fails to recognize the importance of

know AIM talk? do u ever get on?” Indeed, in her

the virtual social identity in the formation of the virtual

online chats, she meets students at other local

identity. Waskul and Lust (2004) briefly touch on the identity

schools often asking questions to establish whether

transformation idea by stating “fantasy, imagination, and

they have friends in common and even in other cities

reality are notoriously porous: experience, knowledge,

and countries, a network of online communities.

and understanding routinely slip from one to another”

Despite the tension between nature and technology,

(p.339).

these examples suggest that technology affords

Implications for MMOGs in Education: Designing for

authentic and novel modes of participation. (P.242)

Identities

As Goffman (1974) pointed out, in taking on a role, the

As Lee and Hoadley (2007) point out, a major reason that

individual does not take on a personal identity but a bit of

educational games have failed to be effective and

social categorization, that is, social identity. On the other

relevant is because not enough attention has been given

hand, in a MMOG, a player may gain an identity as a

to the formation and effects of virtual identity. On one

great warrior; this identity is obviously not transferable to his

hand, the freedom to develop a healthy, positive identity

or her real world identity without some obvious alterations.

in a virtual world should be a general design specification.

For that reason, although it is often believed that identity

Contrarily, how one organizes and directs online play to

formation occurs whenever individuals participate in a

influence offline identify is poorly understood. For MMOGs

community of practice (Lee, 2007), transforming one's

to have a potentially positive influence on learning, game

real world identity to the virtual world (or the reciprocal) is

developers, instructional designers, and teachers might

limited by some degree to the social consistency

seek ways for social identities constructed in virtual worlds

between two worlds. The phenomena of playing with

to have positive effects on learners' real world identities.

external self-presentations can be found in the virtual

Figure 2 specifies the identity transfer between the virtual

world quite often (Dinter, 2006). Virtual worlds provide

world and the real world. There is a certain overlap of a

participants with chances of role-playing to try out

game player's real and virtual identities. The

different roles and identities, even among different virtual

transformation of identity starts with the transfer of the real

worlds. These examples indicate that consistency

world identity to the virtual world. Players bring their real

between two worlds cues the transfer of the user's virtual

world identities, knowledge, and skill into the game world.

identity to his everyday life, and transforms his real world

When these two worlds have high social consistency in

identity into one that is more closely aligned to his virtual

terms of the learning objectives, the circle will rotate, in our

world identity.

example in an arbitrary counter-clockwise fashion. If

i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

59

ARTICLES executed correctly, players might feel more of

use of the role-playing features of MMOGs. The successes

themselves after playing the game, similar to the

in the game world should be determined by the degree

expressions captured by Cliff and Amelia above. As a

to which that the player is taking the desired identity.

result, indicated by the dotted line in the second image in

Consequently, the learner will feel that she/he should be

Figure 2, the overlap between identities increases.

praised for the virtual character's success or be blamed

The transformation of identity in real and virtual worlds is an

for the failure (Gee, 2007b, p. 49). NPCs in the game can

artifact of game play that requires further exploration to

also be designed to provide positive feedbacks to lead

understand potential learning and guide future design.

the shared value of the virtual communities toward the

There are two key questions that need to be investigated.

desired identities. Meanwhile, teachers can help to

1) What aspects of identity can be extracted from the

increase the transfer of the virtual identity by building the

virtual world to have positive, lasting effects on learning?

social values in the classroom to be consistent with the

2) How should developers, designers, and teachers

social identity in the virtual game world. For example, if the

orchestrate virtual play to facilitate positive, healthy

desired identity is “I am a math person”. The characters of

identity formation?

the game can be those who are normally related to math

Domain related identities are the first and the most important identities that can be extracted from the virtual game world to have positive, lasting effects on learning.

As Gee (2007b) pointed out learning in semiotic domains requires taking on a new identity and forming bridges from one's old identities to the new one (p. 45). That is to say, a student needs to be willing to take on the identity related to a learning objective to be successful in learning it. For example, students in a foreign language learning class need to take on the identity as a conversational person to be involving in oral language practice. In addition to domain related identities, identities such as scientific

work in the real world such as mathematicians, engineers, or even a carpenter. All the challenges and rewards of the game should to some extent be closely related to math, though, they can start from very simple one to help the player gradually adapt to the new identity “ I know math”.

The new math identity needs to be reinforced through the entire game play process by various forms of feedback introduced through design. In the end, the point we wish to emphasize has been captured well by Dodge et al.

(2008): “educators should endeavor to better understand and utilize the potential of modern media and technologies for the cultivation of self” (p.247).

thinker and team worker are also important.

Conclusion

In order to orchestrate virtual play to facilitate positive and

Our emphasis on real and virtual world identities, and

healthy identity formation, the game developer and

subsequent import for education, is not unique. James

designer should first be clear about what identity they

Paul Gee, perhaps the most recognizable scholar in this

want students to bring out to their real world identities. After

emerging area of games and education, defined three

that, the designer can design the game roles, rules, and

different identities related to playing games: virtual

challenges based on the desired identities by taking full

identity, real identity, and projective identity (2007b). His definitions of virtual and real world identities lend credence to the definitions and extensions offered in this paper. The virtual identity is “one's identity as a virtual character in the virtual world” of game while the real world identity is the non-virtual person playing a computer game (Gee, 2007b. p. 47). Gee's focus of the projective identity is different to the overlapping view. Gee defined the projective identity as “to project one's values and

Figure 2. Relationship among three psychological needs

60

desires onto the virtual characters and seeing the virtual

i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

ARTICLES characters as one's own project in the making� (Gee,

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS Dr. Michael A. Evans is an Assistant Professor in the department of learning sciences and technologies at Virginia Tech. He has established a research and scholarship agenda in educational games and simulations, focusing on collaborative play and mobile applications. Currently, he has two publications in press that deal with this emerging area “Mobility, Games, and Education” to be published in the Handbook of Research on Effective Electronic Gaming in Education, and “Games, Simulations, and Knowledge Building” to be published in the Handbook of Research on New Media Literacy at the K-12 Level. He has also developed a new graduate level course in Digital Game-Based Learning, where findings from his research and scholarship are presented and discussed. Moreover, he has established an informal network of colleagues and students to form the Move+Play+Learn Group, which studies games and simulations in formal and free-choice learning settings, URL: http://www.colab.soe.vt.edu/mpl/.

Feihong Wang is a second year doctoral student in the instructional design and technology program, School of Education at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg. Her research interests include educational games and simulations, especially how identities are formed and transformed in game environments and the effects this may have on in world learning.

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ARTICLES

EVALUATION OF COMPUTER GAMES FOR LEARNING ABOUT MATHEMATICAL FUNCTIONS By HAKAN TÜZÜN*

SELAY ARKUN**

FUNDA KURT****

EZGİ BAYIRTEPE-YAĞIZ*** BENLİHAN YERMEYDAN-UĞUR*****

* Assistant Professor, Hacettepe University, Turkey. **Research Assistant, Hacettepe University, Turkey. ***Ministry of National Education, Turkey. ****Ministry of National Education, Turkey. *****Ministry of National Education, Turkey.

ABSTRACT In this study, researchers evaluated the usability of game environments for teaching and learning about mathematical functions. A 3-Dimensional multi-user computer game called as ‘Quest Atlantis’ has been used, and an educational game about mathematical functions has been developed in parallel to the Quest Atlantis' technical and pedagogical structure. The pedagogical aspects of the game were based on three theories of learning: experience-based learning, inquiry-based learning, and portfolio-based learning. For evaluating the effectiveness of the environment, four learners participated in the implementation in a lab environment and researchers observed and interviewed them. This paper includes information about the design process of the game world, an evaluation of its implementation, and reflections of the researchers.

Keywords: Game-based learning, Computer games, Video games, Mathematical Functions real world, uncertain, and governed by rules. Instructional

INTRODUCTION In recent years, learners have become the focus of

games are software providing students to learn content or

education and new methods for learning have been

to develop problem solving abilities (Demirel, 2003).

developed and used. These initiatives have also affected

There are some components that make a game a real

the learning environments. Yalin (2000) describes the

game (Prensky, 2001):

learning environment as the physical environment in

1. Rules: Rules set the limitations of the games and

which teaching and learning occur. Learning

provide different ways to achieve our objectives. If there

environments that engage learners may provide an

aren't any rules, it is not a game, just an entertainment at

entertaining experience in the learning process and as a

large.

result the achievement of learners might get better. In

2. Goals: Goals have a major role in motivation. If there

parallel to the development of technology, interest in

aren't any goals, players will not want to keep playing

computers and computer games has grown and the

games. Through goals, users perceive that they have a

idea of using computer games for education has

responsibility, so they spend effort and time. In most

emerged. According to Garris, Ahlers, and Driskell (2002),

games, most of the goals are apparent from the

when learners come into the circle of a game, they

beginning like making the highest score, finishing the

discover its structure and continue playing game by

game, or taking the flag.

adopting it.

3. Feedback: Feedback provides notification of the users'

Garris, Ahlers, and Driskell (2002) describe a game as an

progress to them. When there is a change in users' status,

activity that is voluntary and enjoyable, different from the

feedback is given. This makes the game interactive.

64

i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

ARTICLES 4. Challenge: Challenge in a game is the problem

model, the aforementioned game characteristics and

situation that players are trying to solve. Players would

instructional content are input. These go into a game

never feel fear or excitement without facing real

circle that includes user judgments or reactions such as

challenges. This motivates them and sustains their

enjoyment or interest, user behaviors such as greater

gameplay.

persistence or time on task, and feedback. In this process,

5. Interaction: There are two different types of interaction,

learner discovers the game's structure and then begins to

first of which is between player and computer, which

conduct inquiry. Finally, all of these lead to the

could be called as feedback. The second one is the

achievement of training objectives and specific learning

social relations forming among users while playing. It's

outcomes.

difficult to find the content the computer games include

In the past 30 years, the time being spent for video games

in movies or books, because computer games provide

has increased. In the mid 80's, children were spending 4

interaction and allow players to experiment.

hours a week on average at homes and in video game

6. Story: Story presents what the game is about. For

rooms. In early 90's, the time in video game rooms

example, chess is a conflict game; Tetris is about

decreased, but the time being spent for video games at

recognizing the shapes and positioning them. Story can

homes increased while the usage started to differ for

be conveyed at the beginning of the game or within the

gender. While girls were playing 2 hours a week on

game indirectly.

average, boys were playing 4 hours a week. In the mid

While challenge and risk are components of a game for some; it is rule, strategy, competition and chance for others (Garris et al., 2002). Actually, there are four components serving for instructional objectives (Squire, 2003): 1. Challenge: The challenge of the game must be neither so easy nor so hard to accomplish. Learner should taste glory and should keep on going. Through challenge, users find problems and solve them, while satisfying their emotions through excitement, fear and enjoyment.

2. Fantasy: Computer games involve fantasies. Games take us to a dreamland from the real world. That creates interest and motivates the users. Learners can learn in a dreamland, such as learning physics theories while piloting an airplane.

3. Complexity: Games should make the players think by creating complex situations that offer them different ways to get out of it. But this complexity should not be impossible.

90's, girls were spending 4.5 hours a week, while boys were spending 7.1 hours. Today girls are spending 5.5 hours a week, while boys are spending 13 hours (Gentile & Anderson, 2003). Considering all of this time being spent on computer games, using computer games for learning is clearly important. Using computer games might eliminate the boredom in the learning process and make learning enjoyable for learners.

Numerous studies presented that learners generally have a difficulty in understanding mathematical functions (e.g., Barnes, 1988; Dorofeev, 1978; Gerson, 2008).

Traditional method of learning and teaching mathematical functions require learners to attend materials presented along with lecture. More active methods have been called for “producing, discussing and testing the validity of mathematical statements” (Bloch, 2003). Such active methods have been evaluated recently as web-based materials (Baki & Güveli, 2008) and the use of graphical calculators (Ersoy, 2007). These studies found positive effects on learning

4. Control: A game must let players feel that they control

and learner attitudes. Godwin and Sutherland (2004)

the game, in this way players achieve enjoyment. On the

pointed to the importance of collective knowledge-

contrary, so much control might end up with players losing

building and indicated that “new pedagogical practices

their interest in game.

with ICT should both harness the potential of ICT to support

In Garris et al.'s (2002) Input-Process-Outcome Game

individual inquiry and work within this inquiry-led practice

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65

ARTICLES to develop collective knowledge” (p. 150). Based on this

QA includes inquiry-based and experiential activities and

need and the recent popularity of multi-player computer

portfolios for assessment. Content in QA is various such as

games, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the

science, geography, history, technology, health, art,

usability of a multi-user computer game for teaching and

economy and music. Though, there hasn't been any

learning about mathematical functions.

activity related to mathematics. This has been the first attempt of making a 3-D, multi-user game for a

1. Method This study is an evaluative case study (Yin, 2003), and is qualitative in nature. Evaluative case studies have three

mathematics lesson in QA, and mathematical functions was chosen as the subject for this experiment.

distinctive features: description, explanation, and

For design of the 3-D game environment, another existing

judgment (Merriam, 1998). Descriptions and researcher

virtual world has been duplicated and conceptualized as

reflections of the case were provided in this study for an

the “fonksi10” world. Then necessary 3-D objects have

understanding of the usability of a game environment for

been found and arranged. The fonksi10 virtual world

teaching and learning about mathematical functions.

included four schools, a barn, and a main building including bedrooms and a dinner room (Figure 1). The

1.1. Research context and participants The implementation occurred on January 26, 2005 at a computer laboratory in the Computer Education and Instructional Technology Department at Hacettepe University in Ankara, Turkey. Four conveniently invited learners attended the implementation. The characteristics of these participants are presented in

storyline immerses learners in this context as part of an imaginary vacation.

The fonksi10 virtual world includes direction signs, explanation plates, and talking avatars all around the virtual world. This is to make sure learners do not get lost and for guiding them in tasks. Avatars narrate the written texts. There are three quests in the world, which are

Table 1.

1.2. Design of the game-based learning environment Quest Atlantis educational game was used for this study.

Quest Atlantis (QA, http://www.QuestAtlantis.org) is a 3Dimensional (3-D) multi-user computer game. QA environment involves education, entertainment, and social commitments. General goal of the game is making users save Atlantis by engaging with educational

designed like a roll of paper. They rotate in the air for taking the attention of learners. Their explanation pop-up in a new window when quests are clicked on.

Learners' progression in the game was designed in the following order: 

Interacting with the first avatar in front of the home, at the entrance of the world (Figure 2).

tasks. QA is more than a technology. It's a virtual environment supporting learner communities all around the world. The structure of the QA, such as its narrative, virtual worlds, and rules, forms a meta-game and this context provides a base for learning activities (Tüzün, 2006).

Prior Computer Knowledge Competency of Functions No Computer literate

Participant

Grade Level

Age

Gender

Participant 1

8th

14

Male

Participant 2

9th

15

Male

Yes

Computer literate

Participant 3

10th

16

Female

Yes

Computer literate

Participant 4

9th

14

Male

Yes

Computer literate

Table 1. Characteristics of participants

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Figure 1. An overview of the game world. The software allows for viewing the game world (upper left), built-in web browser (right), and chat window (lower left)

i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 l No. 2 l July - September 2008

ARTICLES

Figure 4. Learner inquiries into function types Figure 2. Entrance of the game world



Going to barn and interacting with the avatar in front of it.



Going inside the barn, and reading the texts on the walls and getting information about functions (Figure 3).



Through the hints taken from avatars, going to schools and reading the boards for finding hints about function types.



Going home and learning function types by reading the tables (Figure 4).



Finding and solving the first quest.



Looking around the bedrooms.





Figure 5. Learner's avatar in the dinner room.

Eating fruits on the tables is one of the activities to experience the type of functions

Looking around the dinner room and eating the

together in one school, and their going to schools in

dinner (Figure 5).

couples are all based on social-constructivism (Vygotsky,

Finding and solving the two quests in the dinner room.

1978). These experience-based activities were designed

The distribution of the learners into schools, their coming

so that learners could experience the types of functions through participatory activities. Likewise, the activities of eating in the dinner room or distribution into bedrooms served for a similar purpose. The constructivist side of these events gives answers indirectly by creating an environment which provides the learner assimilate the subject, by not leaving the learners alone, and by being there when it is needed. The pedagogical framework of the game has been based on three theories of learning: experience-based learning, inquiry-based learning, and portfolio-based learning (Tüzün, 2006).

Experience-based learning: Actually, mathematics is a difficult subject to teach in an environment like QA

Figure 3. An avatar introduces the learner into mathematical functions

through experience-based learning methods. But in the

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67

ARTICLES fonksi10 world, the activities are about going to school,

participants were interviewed.

eating and sleeping which learners do everyday. Through

1.4. Data sources and data analysis

these daily activities, learners immerse themselves in functions without leaving the real world. They experience by living and doing.

All four participants were interviewed through semistructured methods at the end of the implementation.

Interview questions prompted the participants to reflect

Inquiry-based learning: In fonksi10 world, activities and

on their experience and questions were related to their

hints for doing them are put around the world. Learners

general experience in the game, their learning

can find the hints by guiding their virtual characters. Hints

experience, their motivation while participating in the

were concealed in schools, in barn, and in the main

game, and the comparison of this environment to other

building. Text on the reading tables, number of beds and

learning environments the participants encountered

chairs are all hints. The reading texts do not include the

previously. Emergent issues were followed-up through

knowledge directly. Texts include just some information

additional questions. These interviews were recorded on a

and a questioning style, which make learners think and

digital recorder and later transcribed, and resulted in 36

conduct inquiry.

pages of single-spaced data.

Portfolio-based learning: There are three instructional

All researchers attended the implementation and

activities in the dinner room. Through the structure of QA,

recorded their observations, feelings, and overall

learners must answer these questions and write their

reflections immediately after the implementation and

reflections. Teachers can evaluate these answers and

interviews. These observation records produced 26

reflections through a teacher toolkit. All these give

pages of single-spaced data.

teachers an opportunity for portfolio-based assessment.

1.3. Implementation process

During the data analysis, the common themes across all observation records were identified through a content

Before experiencing the fonksi10 world, learners were

analysis and constant comparison method of grounded

immersed in other worlds of the QA for orientation for half

theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). The emergent themes

an hour. This orientation included:

were triangulated through the interview records. Excerpts



Information about QA and the fonksi10 world



The reason for learners' being there

from the interview records were used to illuminate the thematic reflections of researchers. These thematic units are presented as results in the following section.



Purpose of the study



Directions for navigating the world, necessary keys,

2. Results 2.1. Design

and how to use the chat.

After the orientation, learners were guided to the fonksi10

3-D and experience-based learning environments are

world. When learners entered the fonksi10 world, they

difficult to design. For this project, four researchers spent

couldn't understand the situation, what to do, and how to

30 hours each. First step was preparing the content and

move at the beginning. They waited for the confirmation

second was developing an appropriate environment.

before every move. But after a couple of minutes, they

Both of these took so much time, effort, and creativity. It

adapted to the situation and started to move

was difficult to find every 3-D object in designers' mind.

independently. All four learners went in every place that

One had to either design herself/himself or buy it. In

they must go, but a few of them confused the order. They

addition, lots of technical difficulties were encountered in

went back for reading the texts again or for listening to the

the design process.

avatars. When it was thought they were lost, they were

2.2. Guidance

helped by giving hints. The whole implementation took an

Learners' unfamiliarity with the environment resulted in

hour to complete. At the end of the implementation, the

some difficulties related to navigation or following

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ARTICLES information, and this made them wait for researchers’

2.5. Getting out of focus

confirmation before their every move. In these situations,

In QA-like environments, the attraction of audio-visual

learners were guided. This guidance was provided in the

objects can cause the learners get away from the actual

following three areas:

focus. For example, learners might interact with objects

Guidance related to missed issues: In implementation,

unrelated to the subject matter when looking for hints in

some learners missed reading tables or interacting with

the world. Because of this, learners might miss the hints,

avatars. They were informed about the availability of

have difficulties with tackling game tasks, and as a result

these.

their motivation might decrease. So it is appropriate to

Guidance related to usability issues: At times, learners

pay attention to this matter when designing and

had difficulties when moving their virtual characters.

implementing this kind of learning environments.

Similarly, they were helped with these difficulties too.

2.6. Entertainment

Guidance related to challenges: They were asked

Learners clearly enjoy learning with games. Interviews

questions to help them find definitions and to give them

exposed that learners had fun while learning the

hints for questions that were not answered. They were

mathematical functions through a game. The following

reminded of possibilities about collaboration or their

excerpt reveals this matter:

chance for revisiting the virtual places.

Q: Would you like to learn functions in this way, instead of

2.3. Difficulties in the use and implementation of

school?

technology

A: Yes.

It is not possible to implement this project without

Q: Why?

electricity, Internet connection or computers. Even a comprehensive preparation may not work. In fact, we had to change the laboratory which was planned to use before. This caused so much technical troubles. First of all, the software had to be setup again. Then there was trouble with some computers' operating system and a

A: Because, that's more enjoyable.

Q: Enjoyable? Could you please tell which things make this environment enjoyable?

A: It's on a computer, we progress at our own pace, there are graphics and it's colorful, that's why.

speaker didn't work as a result and learners had to be

Q: I see. Alright, then could you please tell me the most

replaced. Because of these differences of performance

three that you liked?

between computers, pace of learners changed and this

A: When I click on the book on the table I can get

decreased their motivation at times. Consequently, it was

information, when I click on the avatars they narrate the

better to check for troubles again and again before the

information along with the text, and the quality of

implementation and to have a backup plan for technical

graphics and the environment around me.

difficulties.

2.7. Games are effective for learning

2.4. Implementation time

Games are appropriate for instructional objectives. All

The implementation of game environments took so much

four learners have ended all game activities willingly.

time. In a traditional class environment, teachers just

Through their answers in interviews and in the game, it was

lecture and students listen; this does not take much time.

apparent that they increased their experience related to

But in the game environment, learners were experiencing

mathematical functions:

and inquiring for learning; consequently this takes much

Q: How do you describe learning?

longer. Longer implementation time of game-based

A: If I could remember what I've seen before, this means

learning environments might be an inhibitor factor for

I've learned.

using them in formal school contexts.

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69

ARTICLES Q: Do you think you learned mathematical functions

learning. I think that environment was better with these

now?

questions.

A: Yes, I do.

Q: What do you mean with questions?

Q: Would you like to learn in this way, instead of school?

A: Hum, there were three [quests].

A: Yes, I would.

Q: You say that guidance was good?

Q: Why?

A: Yes.

C: It would be easily remembered.

Q: What are the other factors that made you continue?

2.8. Experience-Based Learning

A: It was not boring.

It is known fact that lessons would be better if we give

Q: Why it wasn't boring?

examples from learners' lives, prepare concrete learning

A: Because it was different. It was a new environment that

environments, and provide learning based on

was different from the real world.

experience. This could be easy for social and applied sciences, but it is harder to do in mathematics. In this study this approach has been used. Mathematical functions was chosen which was not easy to teach concretely.

Learners' answers in interviews showed that, the design has provided an experience-based learning environment. One of them said the factor which made him enjoy the environment was the realistic structure of it.

Another said he liked the examples and it was easier to keep the topic in mind with these kinds of examples.

2.11. Self-paced learning In environments like QA, learners learn at their pace and are independent from each other. Learners can go back and review the content if they want. The possibility to review the material and self-paced learning increases their engagement for sustaining their participation. A learner indicated the following about the environment: Q: What are the differences between the environments in school and here?

A: In school, teachers just lecture. We don't have to use

2.9. Inquiry-Based Learning It has been observed that learners liked finding hints and answering quests by using these hints. Clearly, learners enjoyed inquiry-based learning. It has been observed that learners completed the first two quests willingly but

our minds. Here we must spend effort. We must think like, what I have to do now or where I have to go? We must think hard.

Q: Anything else?

not the third one. The reason for this could be that the

A: It's enjoyable, I can do willingly.

questions of the third quest were similar to other quests

Q: You say this environment is more enjoyable? Why do

and there were more questions in the third quest. It could

you think so?

be better putting in fewer questions in the quests while

A: Because, you do it only by yourself. I don't like learning

reducing the redundancy.

in a very crowded environment.

2.10. High Motivation

Another learner indicated:

During the implementation, it was observed that learners

Q: What are the differences between the environments in

kept on answering questions by themselves without

school and here?

getting tired, and learning without blocking others.

A: First of all, this environment is hands-on, it is easy to

Sometimes, they forgot that this was a lesson. A learner

learn. School environment is boring, teachers always

implied this the following way:

stand by you. Here it is better and more enjoyable. I think it

Q: Which factors keep you going in the activities?

would be more effective.

A: First of all, the questions. You must learn for replying to

Q: You told that it was a hands-on environment. Why do

these questions and you must continue to activities for

you think so?

70

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ARTICLES A: You move around by yourself, you see everything and

opportunities for self-paced learning, and collaboration

recognize. Because of all these, it's more enjoyable.

affordances. The entertainment opportunities also

Q: Alright, you said teachers were boring, why do you

provided value-added to the learning process.

think so?

However, some issues related to using game-based

A: It changes from teacher to teacher. For example in

environments for learning need to be considered. The

exams, you beware of teachers.

case revealed that building these kinds of environments

Q: I see. Are there any more differences between these environments?

A: Class is crowded, but here you are alone. It's quieter; you can concentrate on more easily. You can go back and review if you want; it's hands-on, because it's handson.

2.12. Collaboration

require extensive resources in terms of time and money. In addition, adoption of these kinds of learning environments by learners takes time and requires an orientation. Technical difficulties might arise that can hinder the usability of the learning environment. When compared to traditional learning environments, using these kinds of environments require more time. Learners in these environments might follow personally meaningful

In this study, collaboration had two dimensions. First, there

but off-target activities by being carried away by the

was a competitive situation and it was observed that

attractiveness of the environment.

learners didn't want to collaborate. But on the other side, environmental structure was suitable for helping one another. They could communicate by using the chat tool.

A learner found the answer of a question that he couldn't solve in that way. This prevented the disappointment of that learner and was an add-on to the social process of learning. It also increased the satisfaction of the helper. In the interview the helper indicated that:

This study was conducted with limitations. For example, learners were put together conveniently in an experimental laboratory condition. The study can be replicated in natural classrooms having a unique culture and history under real world conditions. Another limitation was related to the topic chosen. It was difficult to generalize the findings to all discipline of mathematics since only the topic of mathematical functions was

Q: Which factors did you like when learning in this

covered in the game environment. For that reason, results

environment?

and conclusions need to be interpreted while considering

A: First of all, chatting with other students was so good.

these limitations.

Seeing others' characters in this environment was

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Hakan Tüzün is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technology at Hacettepe University in Ankara, Turkey. His current work involves the design of rich learning environments, frequently with the aid of technology but also by considering the culture of the learners and the communities they are part of. He can be contacted at htuzun@hacettepe.edu.tr Selay Arkun is a research assistant in the Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technology at Hacettepe University in Ankara, Turkey.

Ezgi Bayırtepe-Yağız, Funda Kurt, and Benlihan Yermeydan-Uğur are Computer teachers at primary schools in Turkey.

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