What Are We Playing At? What It Means to Integrate Games into the Curriculum, and Why We Should Do It

This session will present an overview of the field of digital game-based learning (DGBL), including what it means to integrate games into the curriculum and the theory and rationale behind how, why, and with whom games are effective. It will also discuss DGBL-related research and practical questions, what DGBL looks like when it is done correctly, and what kinds of infrastructure and support are needed to help faculty integrate games meaningfully

Using Games to Promote Girls\u27 Positive Attitudes Toward Technology

Studies show that women make up only 35% of the IT workforce, and the schism between boys\u27 and girls\u27 interests in math and science is well documented. Richard Van Eck suggests that providing girls with more positive experiences with technology may impact their overall attitudes toward technology and perhaps even toward math and science. Van Eck chose games, naturally engaging experiences, as the basis of a two-semester study involving 92 fifth- and sixth-graders participating in game playing and authoring experiences in the classroom. He analyzes the differences in experience, attitude, and interest level between boys and girls. His results suggest that the use of a wide variety of games experienced in mixed gender groups may improve girls\u27 attitudes toward technology

Building Artificially Intelligent Learning Games

The idea of digital game-based learning (DGBL) is gaining acceptance among researchers, game designers, educators, parents, and students alike. Building new educational games that meet educational goals without sacrificing what makes games engaging remains largely unrealized, however. If we are to build the next generation of learning games, we must recognize that while digital games might be new, the theory and technologies we need to create DGBL has been evolving in multiple disciplines for the last 30 years. This chapter will describe an approach, based on theories and technologies in education, instructional design, artificial intelligence, and cognitive psychology, that will help us build intelligent learning games (ILGs)

Using Games to Promote Girls\u27 Positive Attitudes Toward Technology

Studies show that women make up only 35% of the IT workforce, and the schism between boys\u27 and girls\u27 interests in math and science is well documented. Richard Van Eck suggests that providing girls with more positive experiences with technology may impact their overall attitudes toward technology and perhaps even toward math and science. Van Eck chose games, naturally engaging experiences, as the basis of a two-semester study involving 92 fifth- and sixth-graders participating in game playing and authoring experiences in the classroom. He analyzes the differences in experience, attitude, and interest level between boys and girls. His results suggest that the use of a wide variety of games experienced in mixed gender groups may improve girls\u27 attitudes toward technology

Digital Game-Based Learning: It\u27s Not Just the Digital Natives Who Are Restless

After years of research and proselytizing, the proponents of digital game-based learning (DGBL) have been caught unaware. Like the person who is still yelling after the sudden cessation of loud music at a party, DGBL proponents have been shouting to be heard above the prejudice against games. But now, unexpectedly, we have everyone\u27s attention. The combined weight of three factors has resulted in widespread public interest in games as learning tools

Promoting Transfer of Mathematics Skills Through the Use of a Computer-Based Instructional Simulation Game and Advisement

This study looked at the effect of contextual advisement and competition on transfer of mathematics skills in a computer-based instructional simulation game and simulation in which game participants helped their “aunt and uncle” fix up a house. Competition referred to whether or not the participant was playing against a computer character, and context of advisement referred to whether the participant had access to a reference book and video clips, or just the reference book. The video consisted of advice on how to solve the problem and was delivered by the “aunt and uncle.” One hundred and twenty-three seventh- and eighth-grade students were randomly assigned to one of five conditions formed by crossing the two independent variables and adding a control group. Results indicated that non-competitive conditions may be best for transfer learning and that highcontextual advisement (video) may promote transfer

Digital Game-Based Learning: Still Restless, After All These Years

We have the evidence and the design tools to demonstrate that digital games are powerful learning tools. Whether we choose to take advantage of the opportunity before us is a completely different question

SAPS and Digital Games: Improving Mathematics Transfer and Attitudes in Schools

Many suggest that digital games are a way to address problems with schools, yet research on their ability to promote problem solving, critical thinking, and twenty-first century skill sets appears to be mixed. In this chapter, I suggest that the problem lies not with digital games, but with our conceptualization of what it means to promote problem solving and critical thinking, and how transfer of such skills works in general and, specifically, with games. The power of digital games lies not in some magical power of the medium, but from embedded theories (e.g., situated learning and problem-centered instruction) and from good instructional design (the principles of learning and teaching to which all good instruction must adhere). This chapter describes situated, authentic problem solving (SAPS): a model to explain how digital games can promote transfer and improve attitudes toward mathematics. By examining research on the instructional practices (situated learning) and outcomes (transfer, problem solving, attitudes) that lie at the heart of SAPS, we can chart a path forward for best practices of digital games in mathematics education