From the Edification of Video Games to the Gamification of Instruction

May 11th, 2017 at 1:28 am

Educational games is a topic we cover in several different courses. This is because using games in a classroom setting is one of the more publicized (and controversial) technologies introduced into the classroom in recent years.
Some of you may not have yet taken EDF 6284 – Instructional Design. It is in this course where we delve with a little more detail into video game design as it relates to designing instruction with regards to their interactive design aspects and what we refer to ‘gamification’ of instruction. In order to ‘level the playing field’ (sorry for the pun), we present a review/synopsis of that course here. By clicking the far right tab (Review: Educational Value of Video games) we present the gist of the module from EDF 6284.

If you feel you need a review, go ahead and click the plus sign to open up the tabs. SOME of the premises of our discussions on ‘gamification’ in this course are based on your general understanding of the design of video games and reason why they have been less successfully adopted by teachers. It is not the design of the games that has failed educators.. it appears that it is a lack of an instructional design focus on the part of game designers. In some cases designers who create off the shelf games tend to be smug about it … to the point that they feel they know more about teaching and learning than do their educator counterparts. But game designers have figured out motivation and engagement through their knowledge of narrative fantasy and player interaction (i.e., game play) techniques. Nevertheless I challenge you to find a variety of standalone video games that actually teach academic content.

To repeat: video games do offer plenty of opportunities for educators to integrate terrific motivational, gameplay, and interactive techniques into their classrooms. Thus the ‘teachable moment’ presented this module.

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Classical Theories of Play

We cannot begin any discussion of gamification and games in education without first taking a short look at play theory, as one certainly needs to evaluate the efficacy of all of this in terms of what has been shown to work in informal learning environments. Most theorists (except for Piaget, who believe that informal play does not necessarily equate to learning (because cognitive development requires both assimilation and adaptation, while play is assimilation without accommodation (look this up if you are unfamiliar with the terms)), there are some good readings out there to help you assimilate some of this:

Ok… if you haven’t taken Instructional Design or need a refresher, click the plus sign below to open up a new dialog box

Gamification Refresher

What is Gamification*?

Proponents of game design are fully aware (sometimes in a fanatical way) about the ways in which games promote learning (if not content… at least gameplay mechanics).
That is why you do not see too many manuals out on how to play specific games. By their nature, those nicely designed create learning situations where player/learners are naturally motivated to learn. That’s just it!!! If only we could all innately ‘know’ how to create learning situations where all our students are happy to engage. It is all about the interface and interaction… So, if it is true that good game design automatically implies good learning, then it follows that we should be able to extract valuable information on learning/interaction design to be useful for our classrooms… thus, the concept of GAMIFICATION.

The definition of the term gamification is found in its obvious root: –a game.
Salen and Zimmerman define a game as:

“a system in which players engage in an artificial conflict (i.e. challenge), defined by rules, that results in a quantifiable outcome.”

If you read the articles above you should see the common themes that relate to the teaching and motivation masters (rules (events) and challenge (the ‘C’ in the ARCS Motivation Model).

Koster, in his seminal work The Theory of Fun also adds the words ‘interactivity’ and ‘feedback’, which lead to an emotional reaction (a la Brenda Laurel’s ideas on suspending one’s disbelief), and a conceptualization of an abstract version of a larger system (i.e., Computers as Theatre).

Most people believe that the definition of a game rests on the concept of ‘fun’. But we should now begin to realize that it is much larger than that.

Let’s see if Wikipedia can be of any help to us (note the underlined words and their relationship to the concept of ‘interactivity’ we are building here):

Gamification is the use of game design techniques, game thinking and game mechanics to enhance non-game contexts. Typically gamification applies to non-game applications and processes, in order to encourage people to adopt them, or to influence how they are used. Gamification works by making technology more engaging, by encouraging users to engage in desired behaviors, by showing a path to mastery and autonomy, by helping to solve problems and not being a distraction, and by taking advantage of humans’ psychological predisposition to engage in gaming .

Accordingly, Kapp* arrives at his definition:

Gamification is using game-based mechanics of playing a game include levels, earning badges, point systems, scores, and time constraints.

A user interface and the look and feel of the experience and thinking about everyday experiences and converting them into an activity that has the elements of competition, cooperation, exploration, and storytelling.

Motivating them into action is a process that energizes and gives direction or meaning to behavior.

to promote learning, and

Problem solving. The cooperative nature of games can focus on more than one person to solve a problem… the competitive nature encourages many to do their best to accomplish a goal.

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What Gamification is not

While games and gamification share many of the following concepts, gamification is NOT any one of these alone taken singularly:

  • Badges, Points or Rewards – These are important but one of the lesser useful elements of games. Gamification focuses more on engagement, storytelling, visualization of characters, and problem-solving.
  • Trivialization of Learning – If they indeed are designed to properly teach academic content (see the RETAIN Model in the Review section) then they certainly do not cheapen the experience or dilute it. Fun does not mean trivial or not important or authentic.
  • New – Games (especially war games ) have been around since the 7th century.
  • Perfect for every situation – this goes without saying?
  • Easy to create – ditto?
  • Easily understandable and universally adopted by teachers – Ditto again, if you have read the above articles about making games educational. (Again, the review module delves deeper into this).

* Source: Kapp, K.M. (2012).The gamification of learning and instruction: Game-based methods and strategies for training and education. San Francisco, Pfeiffer.


The following presentation is an excerpt from an open source, freely accessible courseware found at the UCIrvine Extension site, is probably one of the best summaries of gamification we could find. It runs about 35 minutes. The module, while free, does have a sort commercial in it for the UCIrvine online courses, but we have kept that part to a minimum and cropped the whole intro at the front…. as you review this material understand that our perspective, remember that our perspective is interactive design.. which is a part of overall instructional design. So, when you look at all of this try to keep the focus on designing interactive environments and what this all means to that process. In EDF 6282 (Instructional Design, we again look at games but from a more holistic vantage point.

Review: Adding Educational Value to Video Games (from EDF 6284)

Do Video Games Work?

You may or may not be aware but some people are adamant that video games will revolutionize and reshape the classroom like no previous advancement. But many do not agree. In order to tap into this debate, I offer you links to a few discussions:

Those who differ on this perspective do so mainly because there has been little research done to show that games actually teach something. A review of the literature reveals that very few have figured out what it is about games that work to be sure that all the teaching elements are there. We do have some insight to this, as we have been doing research in the area. In a review that we completed recently, we discovered a few areas that games seem to be lacking. The following are a few articles we published on the subject. One It of them covers many of the things that most folks simply ignore when they consider using games in their classrooms.

In the first article we developed the rationale behind a rubric to validate the educational soundness of games.

In the second article we discuss video games from the perspective as to why teachers have sometimes been shown to be reluctant to adopt games in the classroom.

  1. Taking educational games seriously: using the RETAIN model to design endogenous fantasy into standalone educational games(pdf)
  2. Factors Affecting Adoption of Video Games in the Classroom (pdf)

Key Takeaways

Your takeaways from this lesson should include:

  • The definition of what a 'game' is/not.
  • Gamification is the application of game-based mechanics, aesthetics, etc with the idea to motivate and engage to promote learning (motivation is a key principle in interactive design)
  • Gamification is adding fun to the learning experience without trivializing it (affect on interactive interface design?)
  • While these concepts are valuable, not all teachers are ready to automatically adopt games or the concept of gamification.. they must be taught to learn these concepts (how do you design an activity/lesson/interface that encourages engagement?)
  • While all games teach SOMETHING, it may not be what the teacher or instructor intended. Games need to be evaluated and assessed to be sure they match the lesson goals set forth
  • Game designers can learn from educators. In turn, educators can be informed by game design... but this symbiosis is not automatic or always apparent.
  • Based on the review of the module on the educational value of video games, you should understand at least why teachers do not tend to adopt games (at least on a standalone basis), and/or what need to be added to games to make them more educational (at least from the perspective of teaching academic CONTENT).

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The concept of gamification is picking up steam, especially with interaction design folks. IN fact, there is an article on their site that demonstrates how gamification and interactive design go hand in hand. Remember, when we talk about gamification we are also talking about lessons with games integrated and those that utilize aspects of gamification but do not actually have a game embedded.

 

  • Here is a great Poster you can use that summarizes this entire lesson

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Do This

dothis

There is no assignment associated with this set of readings. They are being offered simply to ‘level the playing field’ in case you did not take the instructional design course.

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