Just For Fun: Writing and Literacy Learning as Forms of Play

This article focuses on Ink, a Multiplayer Online Game (MOG) being developed at Michigan State University. The design of Ink reflects the developers’ understanding of writing pedagogy and rhetorical theory. Ink allows players to enter into complex rhetorical situations that include exigencies, audiences, and rhetorical purposes. The developers of Ink hope that placing players in these rhetorical situations will facilitate literacy learning while simultaneously providing a satisfying game experience. Players will hopefully learn while having fun. In order to test the effectiveness of Ink as a game and learning environment, the authors designed a small-scale preliminary study with a focus group of student playtesters. The study was designed to answer three fundamental questions: Will players write? Will players have fun? Will players learn? The study generated some evidence that the answer to all three questions is “yes.”     

Learning loops – interactions between guided reflection and experience‐based learning in a serious game activity

In a study on experience‐based learning in serious games, 45 players were tested for topic comprehension by a questionnaire administered before and after playing the single‐player serious game Peacemaker (Impact Games 2007). Players were divided into two activity conditions: 20 played a 1‐h game with a 3‐min half‐time break to complete an affect self‐report form while 25 also participated in a 20‐min reflective group discussion during their half‐time break. During the discussion, they were asked by an experimenter to reflect on a set of topics related to the game. We present the analysis of the questionnaires, which illustrates that contrary to our expectations the reflection period had a negative effect on the learning of the players as judged by their performance on closed‐form questions at levels 1–5 (out of 6) on the Bloom taxonomy of learning outcomes. The questionnaire also included a few open questions which gave the players a possibility to display deep (level 6) learning. The players did not differ significantly between conditions regarding the questions measuring deep learning.     

Challenging games help students learn: An empirical study on engagement,flow and immersion in game-based learning

In this paper, we investigate the impact of flow (operationalized as heightened challenge and skill), engagement, and immersion on learning in game-based learning environments. The data was gathered through a survey from players (N = 173) of two learning games (Quantum Spectre: N = 134 and Spumone: N = 40). The results show that engagement in the game has a clear positive effect on learning, however, we did not find a significant effect between immersion in the game and learning. Challenge of the game had a positive effect on learning both directly and via the increased engagement. Being skilled in the game did not affect learning directly but by increasing engagement in the game. Both the challenge of the game and being skilled in the game had a positive effect on both being engaged and immersed in the game. The challenge in the game was an especially strong predictor of learning outcomes. For the design of educational games, the results suggest that the challenge of the game should be able to keep up with the learners growing abilities and learning in order to endorse continued learning in game-based learning environments.     

Learning results and terminal values from the players of SimCity and The Sims

Most research on the topic conducted in the past did not elaborate in depth on the attributes of games that correspond to specific learning results. In this study, the means-end chain theory has been adopted as the theoretical basis to focus on the players of SimCity and The Sims (two of the most representative titles of the simulation game genre) as the subjects of the research. Through in-depth interviews conducted using the Soft Laddering approach, the study aims to examine the key attributes that would trigger learning results for players when playing games and the terminal values that the players would experience internally. The study also featured group comparison of subjects based on their gender. Results of the study showed that gamers still emphasise on the key aspects of Simulated reality and Self-created game content for simulation games. These two attributes have been found to lead to the learning results of Gain authentic experience and Cultivate imagination and creativity, ultimately leading to the terminal value of Sense of accomplishment.     

Interactive story authoring: A viable form of creative expression for the classroom

The unprecedented growth in numbers of children playing computer games has stimulated discussion and research regarding what, if any, educational value these games have for teaching and learning. The research on this topic has primarily focused on children as players of computer games rather than builders/constructors of computer games. Recently, several game companies, such as BioWare Corp. and Bethesda Softworks, have released game story creation tools to the public, along with their games. However, a major obstacle to using these commercial tools is the level of programming experience required to create interactive game stories. In this paper, we demonstrate that a commercial game story construction tool, BioWare Corp.’s Aurora Toolset, can be augmented by our new tool, ScriptEase, to enable students in two grade ten English classes to successfully construct interactive game stories. We present evidence that describes the relationship between interactive story authoring and traditional story authoring, along with a series of factors that can potentially affect success at these activities: gender, creativity, intellectual ability, previous experiences with programming, time playing computer games, and time spent online. Results indicate that students can successfully construct sophisticated interactive stories with very little training. The results also show no gender differences in the quality of these interactive stories, regardless of programming experience or the amount of time per week playing computer games or participating in general online activities, although a subset of female students did show a slightly higher level of performance on interactive story authoring. In the educational context of this study, we show that ScriptEase provides an easy-to-use tool for interactive story authoring in a constructionist learning environment.     

Using commercial video games in flipped classrooms to support physical concept construction

Based on the flipped‐classroom model and the potential motivational and instructional benefits of digital games, we describe a flipped game‐based learning (FGBL) strategy focused on preclass and overall learning outcomes. A secondary goal is to determine the effects, if any, of the classroom aspects of the FGBL strategy on learning efficiency. Our experiments involved 2 commercial games featuring physical motion concepts: Ballance (Newton's law of motion) and Angry Birds (mechanical energy conservation). We randomly assigned 87 8th‐grade students to game instruction (digital game before class and lecture‐based instruction in class), FGBL strategy (digital game before class and cooperative learning in the form of group discussion and practice in class), or lecture‐based instruction groups (no gameplay). Results indicate that the digital games exerted a positive effect on preclass learning outcomes and that FGBL‐strategy students achieved better overall learning outcomes than their lecture‐based peers. Our observation of similar overall outcomes between the cooperative learning and lecture‐based groups suggests a need to provide additional teaching materials or technical support when introducing video games to cooperative classroom learning activities.     

Kes Sesi: A mobile game designed to improve kindergarteners' recognition of letter sounds

Learning letters is an important area of language learning, conducive to the beginning of reading and writing. Indeed, today's generation prefers to learn through digital games rather than through formal teaching processes. Inspired by this need, the researcher designed this study (a) to test the effectiveness of an instructional digital game, “Kes Sesi,” designed to teach letter recognition skills and (b) to briefly present its instructional development process, which was based on the ADDIE model. This was a quasi‐experimental study with two treatment groups and a control group involving 87 kindergarteners. Treatment groups played the game for 12–6 weeks for learning, 6 weeks for practice. The control group continued with its regular class activities. One treatment group played the game based on predefined sound categorization, the other without any categorization. A test on children's sound recognition abilities was administered three times as a pretest, a midtest, and a posttest. The treatment groups performed significantly better than the control group. The game enhanced the kindergarteners' ability to practice uncategorized content while it enhanced their ability to learn categorized content. The results are promising in that Kes Sesi can be useful in self‐supported learning contexts with little adult input and with minimum outside interference.     

Game immersion experience: its hierarchical structure and impact on game‐based science learning

Many studies have shown the positive impact of serious educational games (SEGs) on learning outcomes. However, there still exists insufficient research that delves into the impact of immersive experience in the process of gaming on SEG‐based science learning. The dual purpose of this study was to further explore this impact. One purpose was to develop and validate an innovative measurement, the Game Immersion Questionnaire (GIQ), and to further verify the hierarchical structure of game immersion by construct validity approaches, including exploratory factor analysis (EFA) (n = 257) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) (n = 1044). The second purpose was to investigate the impact of game immersion on science learning through SEG play (n = 260). Overall, the results supported the internal structure of the GIQ with good reliability and validity, and the inter factor bivariate correlations for each construct indicated a high internal consistency. Players did learn from playing an SEG, and game immersion experience did lead to higher gaming performance. Moreover, players' gaming performance plays a role in mediating the effect of immersion on science learning outcomes through SEG play. However, as players became more emotionally and subjectively attached to the game, the science learning outcomes were not definitively reliable.     

Implicit learning as a design strategy for learning games: Alert Hockey

Concussion education and prevention for youth hockey players has been an issue of recent concern amongst sport medicine practitioners and hockey’s administrative bodies. This article details the assessment of a sports-action hockey video game that aims to reduce the aggressive and negligent behaviours that can lead to concussions. The game, termed Alert Hockey, was designed to modify game playing behaviour by embedding an implicit teaching mechanism within the gameplay. In Alert Hockey, participants were expected to learn by simply playing to win, in contrast to playing to learn. We studied learning in an experimental simulated environment where the possibility to win the game was exaggerated as a consequence of desirable safety behaviours (positive learning group) and effectively reduced as a consequence of undesirable (negative learning group) behaviour. The positive learning group significantly improved their mean score on a composite behavioural indicator compared with no significant change amongst control group participants. The results demonstrate that implicit learning embedded in a sports-action game can lead to changes in game-play behaviour.     

Customization in educational computer games and its effect on learning: Experimental study with primary school children

The instructional effects of customization features in child learning games have rarely been examined. This value-added study addresses the existing gap with regards to user-initiated cosmetic customization of environment elements (i.e., non-avatar customization). Participants (N = 143; M_age = 9.41) studied a biological topic for about 20 min: either using the experimental version of a learning game with customization features, or from a control version without them. Null results were found as concerns between-group differences: both for motivation-related variables and learning outcome measures. These findings indicate that user-initiated cosmetic customization features can be omitted by game designers, especially in settings where children are assigned specific instructional materials from which to study.     

When and why is perceived congruity important for in-game advertising in fantasy games?

The present study investigates how the perceived congruity (the perceived level of fit between the execution of the in-game ad and the game environment) of in-game advertising (IGA) in fantasy games affects both players' attitude towards the IGA and their play intention of the fantasy game in which it is embedded, and how these effects are moderated by perceived IGA interactivity. An experimental study with actual fantasy game players (N = 619) following a 2 (Congruent IGA − Incongruent IGA) × 2 (Interactive IGA – Non-interactive IGA) between-subjects design was conducted. The results indicate that the perceived congruity of IGA reduces the perceived intrusiveness of the IGA and positively contributes to the perceived realism of the fantasy game. Intrusiveness and realism, in turn, influence players’ attitude towards the IGA and their play intention of the fantasy game. Whilst the positive effect of perceived congruity through intrusiveness is reinforced by the perceived interactivity of the IGA, the effect of perceived congruity through realism is attenuated by perceived interactivity.     

Serious games and learning effectiveness: The case of It’s a Deal!

Although the value of serious games in education is undeniable and the potential benefits of using video games as ideal companions to classroom instruction is unquestionable, there is still little consensus on the game features supporting learning effectiveness, the process by which games engage learners, and the types of learning outcomes that can be achieved through game play. Our aim in this discussion is precisely to advance in this direction by providing evidence of some of the factors influencing the learning effectiveness of a serious game called It’s a Deal! This serious game was created for the purpose of teaching intercultural business communication between Spaniards and Britons in business settings in which English is used as the lingua franca. This paper hypothesizes that the immersive, all-embracing and interactive learning environment provided by the video game to its users may contribute to develop and enhance their intercultural communicative competence. The study attempts to answer three main research questions: (a) after playing It’s a Deal!, did the students sampled improve their intercultural awareness, intercultural knowledge and intercultural communicative competence in business English? (b) If they improved their intercultural learning, what are the factors influencing such improvement? And (c) if they did not improve their intercultural learning, what are the factors influencing such failure? The game participants who volunteered to take part in the study were all students of English Studies at the University of Alicante in the academic year 2010-2011. One hundred and six students completed both the pre-test and the post-test questionnaires, and played It’s a Deal! A sample of fifty students was selected randomly for the empirical study. The results obtained in the tests performed were compared and contrasted intra-group, both qualitatively and quantitatively, for the purpose of finding any statistically significant difference that may confirm whether or not there was an improvement in the students’ intercultural communicative competence in business English as a result of the implementation of the It’s a Deal! serious game. Findings of this study demonstrate that the video game is an effective learning tool for the teaching of intercultural communication between Spaniards and Britons in business settings in which English is used as the lingua franca. In particular, whereas the game had a small learning effect on intercultural awareness and a medium learning effect on intercultural knowledge, it had a large learning effect on intercultural communicative competence. The study also documents correlating factors that make serious games effective, since it shows that the learning effectiveness of It’s a Deal! stems from the correct balance of the different dimensions involved in the creation of serious games, specifically instructional content, game dimensions, game cycle, debriefing, perceived educational value, transfer of learnt skills and intrinsic motivation.     

The influence of the level of free-choice learning activities on the use of an educational computer game

Employing a mixed-method explorative approach, this study examined the in situ use of and opinions about an educational computer game for learning English introduced in three schools offering different levels of freedom to choose school activities. The results indicated that the general behaviour of the children with the game was very different for each of the schools while there were no significant differences in subjective opinions or previous computer game experience as measured with a questionnaire. The gaming records and interviews informed that children do enjoy playing the game in comparison with other formal learning activities, but appreciate it less as a leisure-time activity. Furthermore it appears that children used to teacher-initiated activities tend to depend on their teacher’s directions for how and when to play. The study highlights the level of choice as one of the important aspects to consider when introducing a game in the classroom. The study also points out some suggestions for the design of educational games, such as providing communication possibilities between players and integrating fast-paced motor-skill based games with learning content in a meaningful way.     

EXPERIMENTS WITH ONLINE REINFORCEMENT LEARNING IN REAL-TIME STRATEGY GAMES

Real-time strategy (RTS) games provide a challenging platform to implement online reinforcement learning (RL) techniques in a real application. Computer, as one game player, monitors opponents’ (human or other computers) strategies and then updates its own policy using RL methods. In this article, we first examine the suitability of applying the online RL in various computer games. Reinforcement learning application depends on both RL complexity and the game features. We then propose a multi-layer framework for implementing online RL in an RTS game. The framework significantly reduces RL computational complexity by decomposing the state space in a hierarchical manner. We implement an RTS game—Tank General—and perform a thorough test on the proposed framework. We consider three typical profiles of RTS game players and compare two basic RL techniques applied in the game. The results show the effectiveness of our proposed framework and shed light on relevant issues in using online RL in RTS games.     

Fuzzy signaling game of deception between ant-inspired deceptive robots with interactive learning

In this study the robotic deception phenomenon is raised in the framework of a signaling game which utilizes fuzzy logic and game theory along with inspirations from nature. Accomplishing the fuzzy signaling strategy set for deceptive players serves as a great part of our contribution and on this aim, hierarchical fuzzy inference systems support receiver’s actions and sender’s ant-inspired deceptive signals (track and pheromone). In addition, special deceptive robots and visually-supported experimental environment are also provided. The fuzzy behavior of robots defines the strategy type of players. The final result of deception process depends on this strategy type which leads to proposing a payoff matrix in which each cell of mutual costs is defined with special supporting logic related to our deception game with pursuit–evasion applications. Furthermore, motivated by animal signaling, through applying mixed strategies on deceiver’s honesty level and rival’s trust level, the corresponding learning dynamics are investigated and the conceptual discussion put forward serves as a proof to the smart human-like behavior that occurs between the robots: the interactive learning. Simulation results show that robots are capable of interactive learning within deceptive interaction and finally change their strategies to adopt themselves to new situation occurred due to opponent’s strategy change. Because of repetitive change in strategies as a result of learning, the conditions of a persistent deception without breakdown holds for this game where deceiver can frequently benefit from deception without leaving rival to lose its trust totally. The change in strategy will happen after a short time needed to learn the new situation. In rival’s learning process, this short time, which we call the ignorance time, exactly is the period that deceiver can benefit from deception while its evil intends are still concealed. Moreover, in this study an algorithm is given for the proposed signaling game of deception and an illustrative experiment in the introduced experimental environment demonstrates the process of a successful deception. The paper also gives solution to the proposed game by analyzing mixed Nash equilibrium which turns out to be the interior center fixed point of the learning dynamics.     

Teacher regulation of cognitive activities during student collaboration: Effects of learning analytics

By collaboratively solving a task, students are challenged to share ideas, express their thoughts, and engage in discussion. Collaborating groups of students may encounter problems concerning cognitive activities (such as a misunderstanding of the task material). If these problems are not addressed and resolved in time, the collaborative process is hindered. The teacher plays an important role in monitoring and solving the occurrence of problems. To provide adaptive support, teachers continuously have to be aware of students' activities in order to identify relevant events, including those that require intervention. Because the amount of available information is high, teachers may be supported by learning analytics. The present experimental study (n = 40) explored the effect of two learning analytics tools (the Concept Trail and Progress Statistics) that give information about students' cognitive activities. The results showed that when teachers had access to learning analytics, they were not better at detecting problematic groups, but they did offer more support in general, and more specifically targeted groups that experienced problems. This could indicate that learning analytics increase teachers' confidence to act, which in turn means students could benefit more from the teacher's presence.     

A multilevel analysis of the effects of external rewards on elementary students' motivation,engagement and learning in an educational game

This study investigated the effects of external rewards on fifth graders' motivation, engagement and learning while playing an educational game. We were interested in exploring whether the feedback-rich environment of the game could mitigate the predicted negative effects of external rewards. Data of students' engagement and learning were collected and analyzed at multiple levels. A quasi-experimental design was used to examine the effect of external rewards in one group (n = 50) compared to a control group without such rewards (n = 56). According to the results, the external rewards did not undermine students' motivation (e.g., at proximal and distal levels), however they did not foster disciplinary engagement. On the other hand, students in the reward condition showed significantly larger gains in conceptual understanding (proximal) and non-significantly larger gains in achievement (distal). These results suggest that the predicted negative consequences of external rewards may be addressed in this new generation of learning environments. Future research and contributions of the study are provided.