10 simple rules to create a serious game, illustrated with examples from structural biology

Serious scientific games are games whose purpose is not only fun. In the field of science, the serious goals include crucial activities for scientists: outreach, teaching and research. The number of serious games is increasing rapidly, in particular citizen science games, games that allow people to produce and/or analyze scientific data. Interestingly, it is possible to build a set of rules providing a guideline to create or improve serious games. We present arguments gathered from our own experience ( Phylo , DocMolecules , HiRE-RNA contest and Pangu) as well as examples from the growing literature on scientific serious games

Gamification in Citizen Cyberscience: Projects in Particle Physics and Synthetic Biology

We present two new citizen cyberscience projects that are being developed in the research fields of Particle Physics and Synthetic Biology, and discuss several issues to be considered in relation to the gamification of these projects

Online Library Tutorials: A Literature Review

In 2009, the Journal of Web Librarianship published a literature review covering best practices for creating library online tutorials. These principles included (1) knowing the tutorial’s purpose, (2) using standards, (3) collaborating with others, (4) engaging students, and (5) conducting evaluations. The purpose of this current essay is to serve as an updated literature review, culling and synthesizing seven other pedagogical facets from newer literature: (1) technology updates, (2) tutorial maintenance and revision, (3) multimedia learning by gaming, (4) cognitive load theory and chunking, (5) adult education theory, (6) blended and flipped learning, and (7) the importance of ongoing engagement

Adventures in Learning: Creating Role Playing Video Games to Teach and Learn Economics

This article examines pedagogical lessons derived from the learning theory embodied in commercially successfully video games and their link to reported increases in 'fluid intelligence' of student populations. The scholarly literature in this area is reviewed in order to elicit practical principles by which to guide the development of instructional video game modules for the teaching of economics. The authors' experiences in developing and pilot testing such a module, and in subsequently guiding student research efforts to develop an additional module, are then reviewed. The paper concludes that harnessing the benefits of video game technologies in the service of teaching and learning economics is both pedagogically sound and feasible for individual instructors.

The potential for public dialogue and deliberation in the development of national infrastructure policy

Infrastructure spending has come under the microscope recently, with projects like the creation of a new high speed rail line, and the mooted expansion of Heathrow Airport showing the difficulty of persuading everyone of the merit of the project in question. Ian Thompson asks whether it is possible to have genuine public deliberation on a high speed rail line or a public dialogue about an electricity connection

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