Advancements in frameworks for educational games through sound software engineering principles.

Educational games have steadily entered classrooms as a means of challenging advanced students and tutoring those lacking comprehension. However, without adequate educational benefits, instructors are struggling to continually justify the marginal value added of using these programs. It is the intent of this thesis to demonstrate that sound software engineering principles can improve the framework of educational games. First, the core framework requirements of computer-based educational games are outlined. Current educational games are then evaluated based on their ability to meet these requirements. From this analysis, necessary architectural changes are recommended to best facilitate future game advancements. Finally, to demonstrate the viability of the changes, a functional, elementary level educational game is developed based on the recommended modular architecture with low coupling and high cohesion