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Serious games and seriously fun games: Can they be one and the same?
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... This intentional design, aiming to serve an educational purpose, distinguishes serious games from commercially available games, which might be used for serious purposes but were originally designed for entertainment. On the other hand, games like Darfur is Dying (Shen et al., 2009) were developed as serious games from their conception. In a seminal book on serious games, Abt (1987) highlights that education and entertainment need not be mutually exclusive, suggesting that serious games can, and should, be both instructive and engaging. ...
... In another example, a team of students at the University of Southern California developed a serious game called Darfur is Dying in 2006. The game is set in a refugee camp in Darfur, Sudan, and was designed to raise awareness about the humanitarian crisis in the region (Shen et al., 2009). Players of the game took on the role of a refugee in the camp, and were required to navigate a variety of challenges and obstacles in order to survive. ...
This qualitative research study aims to examine the potential of the commercially available serious game, Spiritfarer. The study focuses on the game's unique approach to serious themes and its ability to facilitate discussions about grief. A grounded theory approach was used to analyze lived experience descriptions from 54 participants. Findings indicate that Spiritfarer can impact gamers' outlook, knowledge, and behaviors, particularly related to grief, empathy, and loss management. The game achieves this through effective game design principles that generate emotional reactions and establish a connection between the narrative, characters, and players.
... Competitive trivia games elicited participants' attention throughout the game. In today's social media-dominated world, where attention-focused characteristics such as sensory elements, rewards and game choice are increasingly sought by users, exploring ways to incorporate these elements into serious games and even storytelling can improve GBL performance (Shen et al., 2009), particularly for international and interdisciplinary audiences who do not know each other and meet online. Continuation of a narrative across successive activities also appeared to motivate participants through familiarity and continuous self-development. ...
Purpose
This study aims to enhance integration of game-based learning (GBL) as a tool for conveying intricate circular economy (CE) concepts effectively into international and interdisciplinary higher education collaborations for the development of sustainable communities.
Design/methodology/approach
A series of game-based workshops by the Circular EELISA Community of the EELISA European University program were examined in terms of their compliance with literature-based GBL characteristics and their international, interdisciplinary and online conduct. An online survey conducted with 17 workshop and/or challenge organizers from four participating universities in different countries revealed expert experiences and perceptions on these points.
Findings
It was found that sensory elements, rewards and game choice enhanced engagement and motivation in all gamification, serious game and storytelling experiences, and that a combination of multiple GBL approaches was more effective than a single-method challenge design. Diversity-friendly collaboration, cooperation and immersion were particularly important when involving culturally and disciplinarily diverse participants.
Practical implications
This study offers practical recommendations to improve both the performance of GBL-based learning environments in current and future education alliances and collaborations and the potential of GBL approaches to motivate youth to contribute to more sustainable communities across and beyond Europe.
Originality/value
The findings underscore the value of innovative pedagogical methods in shaping environmentally conscious mindsets and practices across institutions of higher education. To that end, this is the first study that investigates GBL in CE education with implications for international university cooperation.
... Esto resalta la importancia de las narrativas en la facilitación del aprendizaje situado y en la inmersión de los jugadores en un entorno que enmarca el conocimiento. Estos resultados apoyan estudios previos que han notado el impacto positivo de las narrativas en el aprendizaje de los jugadores (Alexiou y Schippers, 2018;Calderón y Ruiz, 2015;Crutzen y van't Riet, 2015;Ebrahimzadeh y Alavi, 2016;Fokides et al., 2019;Ravyse et al., 2017;Shen et al., 2009;Shi y Shih, 2015). ...
1. INTRODUCCIÓN La implementación de software interactivos para acercar a la población una institución como puede ser un museo tiene un gran potencial (Eva-risto et al., 2016), pues estos se encuentran en línea con la realidad social que viven la mayoría de usuarios a la que va dirigido este tipo de software. Desde una perspectiva histórica, Roberts y Sutton-Smith (1962) ya destacaban la eficacia de los videojuegos en la preparación de un amplio espectro de público para vivir en sociedad, resaltando su utilidad más allá del entretenimiento, como herramientas para fortale-cer vínculos sociales y culturales. En este contexto, Zubiaur (2016) señala la percepción de aburrimiento que los museos pueden generar en los jóvenes, planteando un desafío para hacerlos más atractivos. Salas (1980) sugiere que la educación es clave para cambiar esta percepción, proponiendo que los museos sean vistos como espacios recreativos y estimulantes para la imaginación. En este sentido, la tecnología emerge como una solución para conectar los museos con el público en su entorno cotidiano. En la línea de integrar tecnología y cultura, el videojuego se destaca como una herramienta efectiva para llevar los contenidos museísticos al hogar o al aula. Buckinham (2005) identifica tres elementos
... For instance, Mission HydroSci is a 3D virtual learning environment where middle school students explore water resources through scientific argumentation [25]. Other examples include Darfur is Dying, which aims to raise awareness about the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Sudan [26], Papers, Please which explores the ethics of immigration [27], That Dragon Cancer which approaches death and terminal illness [28], and the commercially available game Spiritfarer which deals with themes of loss and grief [29]. ...
... While this game was designed as a popular first-person shooter by the United States Army, it also had real-world content built in. At first, it was designed solely to engage the users with the hope of recruiting them and offset the need for subscriptions, but later it became a tool for the actual training of new recruits (Shen et al., 2009). A well-known example of a game designed for changing social perspectives is Darfur Is Dying (2006). ...
Climate science can be too complex for the general public to understand. By sharing several exemplary projects in this chapter, I hope to demonstrate how combining interactive storytelling in immersive environments with simulation, games, telepresence, social learning, and govies (a blend of movies with games) can provide mass audiences a deep learning experience about the natural world and issues related to the climate crisis. This approach offers participants extraordinary opportunities as scientific explorers to investigate real-world problems, present scientific information through live broadcast and pre-rendered videos projected on immersive cinema screens, and access media resources through individual touchscreen terminals and AI-driven voice-controlled interactions to participate in real-time group discussions in a shared space – physical and virtual – simultaneously. The metaverse is here, and the technological and social features of these immersive experiences hold tremendous value for public engagement with science education and climate communication.
... However, standalone learning systems presented as video games are getting more and more popular as they are released for the respective app stores. These games have to compete against other video games in the same app stores which raises their requirements for success (Shen, Wang, and Ritterfeld 2009). Quality measures like stability, proper presentation and intuitive controls are decisive for their success. ...
Electronic learning, with all its different variations, approaches and applications, is a very relevant topic in today's education. E-Learning is a wide field, as it affects classes in school as well as training scenarios for adult persons. This work describes the development of two E-Learning systems: EinMalEins Trainer and Division Trainer. Both applications are part of the learning lab of Graz University of Technology. This document sums up the theoretical background of the development process as well as the realization. A lot of emphasis in this work laid on applying different testing methods, therefore thinking aloud testing as well as automated testing are handled more deeply. The methodology behind these methods is explained and the results are presented.
... Strategy and simulation games are, according to our research (see Lux & Budke, 2020a), particularly geographically complex as they include, for example, various actors that are associated with the SDG-relevant issues such as climate change and a sustainable city development, as well as operating on multiple scale levels and incorporating complex cause-effect-relationships. In contrast, educational games that currently exist are often less motivating, less complex and offer less freedom of action (e.g., Shen et al., 2009), which is attributed to these games rarely being developed by experienced game developers, resulting in games that have boring game mechanics that are additional to the content, rather than merging the two in an engaging way. As such, we recommend to, at least, be open to the use of commercial games. ...
The chapter is concerned with the use of digital games in educating about societal challenges connected to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in geography classes. The first part of the chapter summarizes the potentials of the medium and answers the question of why bringing games into the classroom is worth the effort. Subsequently, the chapter offers guidelines to aid teachers in making this step, including guidance on how to choose the right game for the given purpose, how to integrate the game into the lesson, and most importantly, how to reflect on the playing experience with the students.
Anthropogenic climate change nowadays has an impact on many young people's lives. However, awareness of the climate crisis does not necessarily lead to a transformation of one's lifestyle. With high hopes of preparing students for global challenges and sensitizing them to act in solidarity, the pedagogical approach of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is now part of many curricula, but this does not necessarily achieve the desired success. The field of Transformative Education is currently developing out of the criticism of the now institutionalized educational approach of ESD, both in terms of content and methodology. The aim of this paper therefore is to give an overview how Transformative Learning and Digital Location-Based Gaming can be combined as a different way of climate change-related knowledge transfer.
This work explores the balancing of an educational game to teach sustainable development in organizations by focusing on player interaction and employing strategies. Game success is a challenge that relies on balancing the relationships among its elements. Balancing is a complex process performed over multiple iterations, starting at game conception and continuing throughout development and testing stages. This work extends our previous case study, which did not consider player interaction for the game balancing. We built two models that contains all game mechanics using the Machinations framework. The first model includes elements that randomly produce, distribute, and consume resources, while the second model analyzes player interaction and implements four player strategies. We simulated these models in batch plays, analyzed game states, and adjusted game economies. The random model simulation achieved a victory rate of 40%, while the interactive model simulation with player strategies increased victory rates to values between 66% and 81%. These results show that player interaction and decision-making can be more decisive than randomness in achieving victory. Machinations contributed to enhancing the game, proved its usefulness for simulating complex models, and deepened our understanding of game dynamics, including player actions, potential deadlocks, and feedback mechanisms. This work supports other authors’ findings by demonstrating that balancing the game as early as possible in the development process, considering player interaction, makes the design feasible; and provides evidence that computer simulations, such as Machinations, benefit the game balance and improve the game design without the need to build a prototype and conduct extensive playtests.
Fun has long been considered inherent in the act of playing. Some authors argue that it is an element always present in games, and others that it is not, that there are several types of fun and several factors that change the perception of fun, but fun has always been associated with positive effects on players. As a subjective concept, and dependent on context and player experience, understanding fun in games is a challenge for developers. With the development of the industry and the research on digital games, it became necessary to create new artifacts for the design and validation of fun. Understanding fun is also essential for serious games, which have been criticized for not being fun. Thus, better understanding fun and how to achieve it is a big challenge where crucial outcomes could benefit application areas such as education, health, and others. But the roadmap for such an area of research has not been established. This chapter presents fun as a grand challenge in games and digital entertainment and proposes a path for future research.
Interactive games are powerful environments for learning. Research consistently finds that players learn new skills, knowledge, insights, attitudes, or even behaviors, in games that challenge them to think, explore, and respond. How do games stimulate and support learning? Consider the following features of well-designed games, found also in the best non-game learning environments. Typically, interactive games challenge players to solve compelling problems. Players learn by doing, in a virtual setting that responds to every move and decision they make. They interact with the game environment, develop skills to succeed in that environment, and rehearse those skills repeatedly. They have opportunities to experiment, fail, and try again until they succeed, and they receive help when needed. Games usually adapt to players’ abilities and keep the level of difficulty in a range that is challenging but not impossible for each individual. Players receive feedback on their progress and they are able to see how their choices enhance or hinder the desired outcome. They learn what is valued by receiving rewards (e.g., gaining points or status) or punishments (e.g., losing points or status) for their decisions and performance. They may also observe role-model characters experiencing positive or negative consequences for their behaviors. And, players often collaborate with other people so they can learn from each other and develop strategies to use in a game.
These well-established approaches to teaching and learning occur with skillful tutors and classroom teachers, and also with interactive games. It is important to note that the capacity of games to teach does not guarantee that their lessons will be desirable ones. For example, the entertainment industry has produced a variety of popular games that promote fear, hate, and violence. Most studies investigating games’ effects on players’ emotions, attitudes, and behaviors conclude that players learn these lessons well, sometimes to the point of antisocial behavior. On the other hand, games designed to teach more valuable lessons can also be effective, and the curriculum of games has been expanding into new topic areas and applications. Almost any message could be conveyed, condoned, and rehearsed in an interactive game. To paraphrase former FCC Commissioner Nicholas Johnson’s famous quotation made decades ago about the effects of television, and substituting “games” for “television,” it is fair to say today that “All (interactive) games are educational games. The question is: What are they teaching?”
To begin to answer that question, and to consider implications for future game design, this chapter cites research that has identified the kinds of learning that takes place with games and, in some cases, how this learning happens. It organizes current research on interactive games and learning into nine areas:
• Motivation to learn
• Perception and coordination
• Thinking and problem-solving
• Knowledge
• Skills and behaviors
• Self-regulation and therapy
• Self-concepts
• Social relationships
• Attitudes and values
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This chapter appears in the book, Playing Video Games: Motives, Responses, and Consequences.
Bibliographic citation:
Lieberman, D.A. (2006). What can we learn from playing interactive games? Chapter in P. Vorderer & J. Bryant (Eds.), Playing video games: Motives, responses, and consequences. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, pp. 379-397.
Packy & Marlon, an interactive video game designed to improve self-care among children and adolescents with diabetes, was evaluated in a six-month randomized controlled trial. In the game, players take the role of animated characters who manage their diabetes by monitoring blood glucose, taking insulin injections, and choosing foods, while setting out to save a diabetes summer camp from marauding rats and mice who have stolen the diabetes supplies. Study participants were patients aged 8 to 16 from two separate diabetes clinics. Each participant received a Super Nintendo video game system at an initial clinic visit and was randomly assigned to receive either Packy & Marlon (treatment group, N = 31) or an entertainment video game containing no diabetes-related content (control group, N = 28). Participants were interviewed and a parent filled out a questionnaire at baseline, three months, and six months. The findings in this study indicate that well-designed, educational video games can be effective interventions. There was improvement in the treatment group relative to the control group in terms of diabetes-related self-efficacy, communication with parents and friends about diabetes, and self-care behaviors, and a decrease in unscheduled urgent and emergency doctor visits. Participants in the study were, in general, well-controlled patients who were receiving excellent medical care.
Given the interactive media characteristics and intrinsically motivating appeal, computer games are often praised for their potential and value in education. However, comprehensive research testing these assumptions is still missing. Preliminary comparative studies on the learning effects of games versus traditional media have shown some promise. In this paper, we describe a comparative study that thoroughly investigates the effects of interactivity and media richness on science learning among college students. We also discuss important results and implications yielded from comparisons among four conditions in our experiment (game, replay, hypertext and text).
Auditory perceptual learning has been proposed as effective for remediating impaired language and for enhancing normal language development. We examined the effect of phonemic contrast discrimination training on the discrimination of whole words and on phonological awareness in 8- to 10-year-old mainstream school children. Eleven phonemic contrast continua were synthesised using linear interpolation coding from real speaker endpoints. Thirty children were pre-tested on the Word Discrimination Test (WDT) and the Phonological Assessment Battery (PhAB). Eighteen then trained for 12 x 30min sessions over 4 weeks using an adaptive three interval two alternative phonemic matching task. The remaining children participated in regular classroom activities. In Post-testing, trained children significantly increased their age-equivalent scores on both the WDT and PhAB by about 2 years. For the PhAB, no improvement was found in the controls. Enhanced performance in the trained children was maintained in a delayed test 5-6 weeks following training. Enhancements on the trained discriminations were weak and variable. The results indicate a dramatic improvement in phonological awareness following phonemic discrimination training without matching perceptual learning.
Auditory perceptual learning has been proposed as effective for remediating impaired language and for enhancing normal language development. We examined the effect of phonemic contrast discrimination training on the discrimination of whole words and on phonological awareness in 8- to 10-year-old mainstream school children. Eleven phonemic contrast continua were synthesised using linear interpolation coding from real speaker endpoints. Thirty children were pre-tested on the Word Discrimination Test (WDT) and the Phonological Assessment Battery (PhAB). Eighteen then trained for 12 x 30 min sessions over 4 weeks using an adaptive three interval two alternative phonemic matching task. The remaining children participated in regular classroom activities. In Post-testing, trained children significantly increased their age-equivalent scores on both the WDT and PhAB by about 2 years. For the PhAB, no improvement was found in the controls. Enhanced performance in the trained children was maintained in a delayed test 5-6 weeks following training. Enhancements on the trained discriminations were weak and variable. The results indicate a dramatic improvement in phonological awareness following phonemic discrimination training without matching perceptual learning. (c) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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