Educational Games

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Educational Games

• An introductory lecture

Game Theory 10.12.07 Rasmus Harr rasmusharr_at_itu.d
k
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Contents

• A bit of history
• Why educational games got popular during the last
  5 years
• The learning theories behind educational games
• The problems of designing educational games

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A bit of history
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Educational games and the Military

• Chaturanga
• 7th century, India the predecessor of Chess
• Koenigspiel Kriegspiel
• Started as a hobby in prussian military circles
  in 17th century, but spread.
• von Reisswitz 1824 LARGE war game for training
  and fun for the German army

Chaturanga
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Educational games and the Military

• Start of 20th century Almost all countries use
  war games to train and educate in military
  strategy
• World War II extensively gamed
• Today
• Marine Doom
• Delta Force 2
• Guard Force and Joint Force Employment
• Americas Army
• Full Spectrum Warrior
• Close Combat Marines
• Full Spectrum Command

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Business games and simulations

• 1956 US Air Force Monopologs
• Inventory managers managing Air Force supply
  system
• 1957 Top Management Decision Simulation
• University of Washington, business college class
  ? success of business games and simulations has
  continued ever since
• Commercial successes also
• The Tycoon-games, Capitalism-games

Railroad Tycoon
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Educational Computer Games the early days

• The early years (progressive titles)
• Oregon Trail, MECC, 1971
• Lemonade Stand, 1971
• 1973 Plato Inspired by Piaget and Dewey make
  math more everyday like 2 and 2 bananas
  proved to by very effective
• Rocky Boots 1982 (design logical circuits)
  simulation as key to learning environment
• The Robot Odyssey 1984
• The start of behaviorist edutainment too
• 1979 Electric Company Math Fun
• (The more right answers the faster you progress
  through the jungle. If you fail an answer your
  gorilla is thrown in the river and cannot get up
  before answering a new question correctly.)

Oregon Trail 1985 (commercial ed.)
Electric Company Math Fun
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80s Adventure games

• 1982 Snooper Troops
• 1984 Winnie the Pooh in Hundred Acres Wood
• 1985 Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego
• 1985 Oregon Trail (Commercial edition)
  http//www.youtube.com/watch?vYjPL9jwDdhAfeature
  related
• 1986 Mickey's Space Adventure
• (Close integration between motivation and
  learning)
• 80s Educational games contested entertainment
  games in terms of sales (titles described at The
  Underdogs, and Mobygames)

Snooper Troops
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80s and especially 90s Edutainment

• 1984 Seven Cities of Gold
• 1987 Mavis Beacon teaches typing
• A curious offspring Typing of the Dead
  http//www.youtube.com/watch?vzA7CKlpdIh0
• Extrinsic motivation Learning and game are split
  up
• Edutainment market grows and behaviorist titles
  slowly become dominating pushing other types of
  educational computer games out of the market

Mavis Beacon teaches typing
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90s

• Educational games move from game industry to
  educational publishers
• Adventure games grow less popular after the
  mid-90s, and ed. games almost die out
• Commercial games with educational elements
• SimCity (1989), Lemmings (1990), SimEarth (1990),
  Civilization (1991)
• Eco Quest (1992) (designed by Jane Jensen who
  later did the Gabriel Knight-series)
• The Incredible Machine 1993
• Big current edutainment brands are started in the
  mid-90s
• Freddie Fish (1994)
• Putt Putt Saves the Zoo (1995)
• MS Magic School Bus Explores (1995)
• Pajama Sam (1996)

Pajama Sam
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Today Serious games

• The Serious Games initiative 2002
• Games for other purposes than merely
  entertainmentEducational GamesEdutainmentAdver
  gamesBusiness gamesMilitary gamesPolitical
  gamesSimulation Games

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Examples of recent titles

• Making History The Calm and the Storm
• GC Palestine
• Trailer
• Science.net
• Constructivist and socio-cultural approaches

Making History
GC Palestine
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Lots of research world wide

• Starting point Critique of edutainment
• Started out as a serious attempt to use games for
  learning but ended in caricatures of games and a
  conservative use of learning, extrinsic
  motivation bad for learning
• Common Belief
• Better learning experiences, better technical
  platforms learning experience is not limited to
  what happens between player and game (Squire/Gee
  constructionist/socio-cultural learning
  theories gain ground)

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Why educational games got popular during the last
5 years
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Why the rise on popularity of Serious Games?

• Computer games more mainstream
• More research on computer games
• Technology
• Learning is high on the public agenda
• Life-long learning, home learning, supplementary
  training ? a more flexible approach to learning
• Part of the general focus on new media and
  learning
• Remediation New media affects and are affected
  by other media does that also apply for
  education?
• Games Engagement and motivation

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Claims about education and new media

• 21st century skills
• Twitch-speed generation
• Generation G
• Before every child is leftbehind
• Teaching for Innovation
• Staying in front of Indiaand China
• We must look at what games have to offer vs.
  other educational media

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10 min. break

• Grab some coffee after the break its theory!

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How do educational games work?A look at learning
theories used on games
Behaviorism Cognitivism Constructionism Socio-C
ultural Approach
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Behaviorism

• The player practices a specific area through
  repetition while receiving rewards after each
  proper response.
• Extrinsic Motivation and a focus on transfer
  rather than construction
• Pavlov Experiments with dogs
• Thorndike Law of Exercise and Effect
• Skinner Drill-and-practice machine. Overt
  actions, not reflection, not understanding
• 80s behaviorism was prominent, in the 90s it
  became the norm
• Typing of the Dead a very good example

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Behavorism strengths and weaknesses

• Strengths
• Has been very effective within game design
• Has been effective within area of health
• A study of the game Bronkie the Bronchiasaurus,
  which compares the game with watching a
  documentary (Lieberman 1997, 2001)
• Weaknesses
• Scope of learning Focuses merely on training of
  mechanical operations, therefore limits to what
  one can learn memorizing/rote learning of
  specific behaviours but no deep understanding
  (works for writing, typing etc. but not much
  else)
• Extrinsic Motivation Makes kids more interested
  in playing the game than learning ex. getting
  points for completing a level becomes more
  important than learning

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Cognitivism

• How to enhance the learning of video games by
  being aware of the limitations of the humans
  cognitive apparatus
• Titles Discovery and inquiry, letting the player
  construct his/her own learning representations in
  an active dialogue with the game
• Schematas with limits and opportunities
• Piaget is often referred to as the father of
  cognitivism
• Neuro-science on organization of materials
• Retrieval, Encoding, Chunking, Modalities,
  Transfer-problems, scaffolding of information
• Game Example Phoenix Quest Super Tangrams

Phoenix Quest
Super Tangrams
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Cognitivism - continued

• Malone and Lepper 1987 Extrinsic motivation is
  in the way of the learning experience
• Challenge
• Difficulty level, short-term and long-term goals,
  uncertain outcomes, and facilitating investment
  of self-esteem through meaningful goals
• Feedback
• Curiosity
• Encourage exploration and organization of the
  information in relation to both the sensory and
  the cognitive areas. (via pointers towards large
  unknown information hidden in game)
• Experience of control
• Responsive environment, high degree of choice,
  ability of player to perform great effects
• Fantasy
• Fantasy elements which appeal to the target group
  emotionally, metaphors for the learning content,
  and be an endogenous part of the learning
  material
• Interpersonal activity
• Increased motivation resulting from social
  context of game Competition and collaboration
  with peer. Recognition of peers serves as
  motivation

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Cognitivism - Limitations and potentials

• Strengths
• Has a lot to say on the design of the game, and
  the motivation of the learner
• Flow experiences, audiovisual props, control of
  learning process
• Marshall Jones Learning games theory for flow
  explains a great deal on intrinsic motivation
• Klawe Strong elements in video games unlimited
  number of activities, visualization,
  manipulation, symbolic representations, adaptive
  sequencing, feedback, and meaningful,
  contextualized activities.
• Learning outcome Klawe and Sedighian Super
  Tangrams and Phoenix Quest (Math teaching)
• Weaknesses
• Cognitivism often focus on meta-skills
  Problem-solving, thus less on content-side
• Still focuses on the relation between the player
  and the game does not include context of play

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Constructionism

• Emphasizes the active role of the learner and
  external objects in the learning process.
• Seymore Papert drawing on Piaget The Logo
  programming language, uses geometric shapes to
  draw for children. - Mindstorms book and Lego
  toys!
• Constructionist titles Microworlds engage with
  artefacts in microworlds and learn about them
• The constructivist edutainment microworlds
  simulate a part of the world allowing the player
  to explore
• The focus is not on hard content as such, but
  rather on the general skills of creativity,
  problem-solving, critical-thinking skills,
  sequential planning, and memory
• Kafai Research w. letting kids design games
  new media literacy

My Make-believe Castle
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Constructionism - continued

• Strengths
• Includes the context more in the learning
• Works for maths and programming-teaching (Kafai)
• Weaknesses
• Kafai (1996) Design of microworlds is a lot
  harder than drill-and-practice games
• The topic in the microworld has to be integrated,
  no well-tested action formula blueprint as with
  behaviorist or cognitivist titles
• Does not say much about the game

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Socio-cultural approach

• Video games are not the learning experience per
  se but the tool for creating a learning
  experience.
• Rote learning is not what video games is about
  instead they are about mediating discussions,
  reflection, facts, and analysis via the
  surrounding classroom cultures.
• Vygotsky Video game as an embodied tool extends
  action of a given agent (learner) and creates
  opportunities and limitations for the learner.
• Different contexts and tools facilitate a variety
  of learning experiences.
• Carsten Jessens research Peer-learning around
  gaming. Informal learning processes
• Squire 2004 Civilization 3 in the classroom for
  mediating History discussions

Civilization 3
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Socio-cultural approach - continued

• Proximate development (Vygotsky) How far can I
  get alone, how far can I get with help?
• From actual point of development to potential
  point of development.
• Tools/helper are mediators to facilitate the
  learners appreciation of a given activity
• Video game as an embodied tool extends action of
  a given agent (learner) and creates opportunities
  and limitations for the learner.

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Tensions between the 4 theoretical frameworks

• Learning vs. Playing A whole or two parts?
  Extrinsic or intrinsic motivation?
• Freedom vs. control How much freedom to
  students? Teachers creating a firm setting w.
  educational goals
• Drill-and-practice vs. microworlds Benefit of
  drill and practice is limited, but it is cheap to
  create, most research is on micro-worlds, but few
  games reflect that (Making History and GC
  Palestine)
• Transmission vs. Construction Only behaviorism
  and early cognitivism believes in learning as
  transmission, most other theories are about
  constructing knowledge
• Transfer Immersive effects of video games lead
  to lack of awareness of contents, structures, and
  concepts in game results in weaker learning and
  transfer. Stealth or explicit learning?
• Teacher intervention vs. no teacher intervention
  Behaviorism and cognitivism neglect teacher
  approach even though a lot of research says it is
  important

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The problems of designing educational games
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Practical Barriers

• Practical/structural
• Technical limitations
• Limited space
• Time slots for lessons
• Game-related
• Learning the game
• Complexity of the game
• Students a wide target audience w. diff. prefs.
  and skills.
• Balance between playing/learning and integration
  of computer games with teaching
• Expectations
• The students and the teachers initial way of
  thinking about computer games, history, learning,
  and teaching.

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History teaching as an example

• Procedural skillsCivilization 3, Making History
  often counter-factual history understand the
  system behind history (as opposed to facts)
• History the Niall Ferguson- or Jared Diamond way
• MicroworldGC Palestine simulate the
  experience realism, understand the places and
  the people behind a Discovery-like experience
• Often a mix
• Epistemic Games both the system and a
  simulation of the experience ex science.net,
  games for companies

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Design with all 4 theories?

• Behaviorism
• Examines the narrow relation between video game
  and students focusing on the role of motivation
  (no context at all very focused on
  cause-and-effect)
• Cognitivism
• Examines how knowledge of the human cognitive
  apparatus can be used to facilitate learning and
  motivation (a little more context, focuses on the
  why also, as well as preferences of the
  individual player)
• Constructionism
• Shows us how video games can be used as a shared
  artifact for constructing knowledge (a lot more
  context how the game is just one tool on the
  road to learning, includes a social aspect)
•  
• Socio-cultural approach
• Examines the environment that emerges around
  video games in negotiating and constructing
  knowledge. Collaboration, debriefing, and
  discussion (focuses on EVERYTHING how the game
  can be a small part in an educational and
  cultural context)

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Discussion