houston, astd: what research tells us about games, gamification and learning

What Research Tells us About Games, Gamification and Learning

Twitter:@kkapp

By Karl M. Kapp Bloomsburg University April 25, 2012

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www.kaplaneduneering.com/kappnotes Blog Book Tour

Learning Circuits Blog

2012 New Book: “The Gamification of Learning and Instruction”

September 2011 Training Quarterly Article Improving Training: Thinking Like a Game Developer

July 2011 T&D Article Matching the Right Instruction to the Right Content

Based on the Book.

1

Agenda

What does research say about

games and game elements for

learning?

How do you apply game-based strategies

to the presentation of learning content?

2

3 What are 3 principles for adding

serious games to learning curriculums?

4 Ten tips for creating e-learning

games and simulations to change

behavior.

10,000 hrs of Game play

13 hours of console games a

week

Digital divisions. Report by the Pew /Internet: Pew Internet & American Life. US Department of Commerce

87% of 8- to 17-

year olds play video games

at home.

Females play 5 hours a week of console games. They make up the majority of PC gamers at 63%.

Almost 43% of the gamers are female and 26% of those females are over

18.

Digital divisions. Report by the Pew /Internet: Pew Internet & American Life. US Department of Commerce

What Research Says about

Games for Learning

Type of Knowledge/Retention

% Higher

Declarative 11%

Procedural 14%

Retention 9%

Percentages of Impact

Sitzmann, T. (2011) A meta-analytic examination of the instructional effectiveness of computer-based simulation games. Personnel Psychology .Review of 65 studies

Type of Knowledge/Retention

% Higher

Declarative 11%

Procedural 14%

Retention 9%

Percentages of Impact

Sitzmann, T. (2011) A meta-analytic examination of the instructional effectiveness of computer-based simulation games. Personnel Psychology .Review of 65 studies

It wasn’t the game, it was level of activity in the game.

In other words, the engagement of the learner in the game leads

to learning.

Do simulation/games have to be entertaining to be educational?

NO

Sitzmann, T. (2011) A meta-analytic examination of the instructional effectiveness of computer-based simulation games. Personnel Psychology .

Sitzmann, T. (2011) A meta-analytic examination of the instructional effectiveness of computer-based simulation games. Personnel Psychology .

20% higher confidence levels.

Simulation/games build more confidence for on the job application of learned knowledge

than classroom instruction.

A math facts game deployed on a handled computer encouraged learners to complete greater number of

problems at an increased level of difficulty.

Learners playing the handheld game completed nearly 3 times the number of problems in 19 days

and voluntarily increased the level of difficulty.

Lee, J., Luchini, K., Michael, B., Norris, C., & Soloway, E. (2004). More than just fun and games: Assessing the value of educational video games in the classroom. Paper presented at the CHI '04 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Vienna, Austria.

..it’s the instructional methods and not the delivery system that provides the active ingredients for learning…in a game/simulation. --Jeanne Farrington

Engagement

Pedagogy Game

Learning Game

Adapted from Aldrich, C. Learning by Doing. Pfeiffer, page 80

Engagement

Pedagogy Game

Educational Simulation

Aldrich, C. Learning by Doing. Pfeiffer, page 80

Instructional games should be embedded in instructional programs that include debriefing and feedback.

Instructional support to help learners understand how to use the game increases instructional effectiveness of the gaming experience.

Hays, R. T. (2005). The effectiveness of instructional games: A literature review and discussion. Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division (No 2005-004).

Recommendations

1) Provide a context for the learning.

2) Don’t focus on “entertainment.”

3) Carefully craft the simulation/game to provide opportunities to increase engagement and interactivity to increase learning.

Use game-based mechanics, aesthetics and game thinking to engage people, motivate action,

promote learning, and solve problems.

Gamification

Four Elements of

Games that Aid Learning

1. Avatars 2. Stories & Challenges 3. Levels 4. Feedback

We’ve Always Wanted Characters

Avatars

Why be a Character at All?

Research indicates that human social models influence behavior,

beliefs and attitudes.

Bandura, A. 1986 Social foundations of thought and action: a social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ, USA: Prentice-Hall.

Avatar as Teacher

Research indicates that learners perceive, interact socially with and are influenced by anthropomorphic

agents (avatars) even when their functionality and adaptability are limited.

Baylor, A. 2009 Promoting motivation with virtual agents and avatars: R ole of visual presence and appearance. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal B Society. 364, 3559–3565

An experience as an avatar can change a person's real life perceptions. In a study conducted by Yee and Bailenson (2006), it was found that negative stereotyping of the elderly was significantly reduced when participants were placed in avatars of old people compared with those participants placed in avatars of young people.

Yee, N. & Bailenson, J.N. (2006). Walk A Mile in Digital Shoes: The Impact of Embodied Perspective-Taking on The Reduction of Negative Stereotyping in Immersive Virtual Environments.. Proceedings of PRESENCE 2006: The 9th Annual International Workshop on Presence. August 24 – 26, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Who is more likely to run 24 hours later? A. Person who watched an avatar not like

them running B. Person who watch an avatar like them

running C. Person watching an avatar like them

loitering

Within 24 hours of watching an avatar like themselves run, learners were more likely to run than watching an avatar not like them or

watching an avatar like them loitering .

Fox, J., Arena, D., & Bailenson, J.N. (2009). Virtual Reality: A survival guide for the social scientist. Journal of Media Psychology, 21 (3), 95-113.

If learners watch an avatar that looks like them exercising & losing weight,

they will subsequently exercise more in the real world as compared to a control

group.

Fox, J., Arena, D., & Bailenson, J.N. (2009). Virtual Reality: A survival guide for the social scientist. Journal of Media Psychology, 21 (3), 95-113.

Mentor

Motivator

Expert

Are two avatars better than one?

Mentor

Motivator

Expert

Yes, two avatars are better than one.

Baylor, A. L. & Kim, Y. (2005). Simulating instructional roles through pedagogical agents. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, 15(1), 95-115.

http://www.codebaby.com/showcase/elearning-showcase/

First Person View

Third Person View

Carey, B. (2007) This is Your Life (and How You Tell it). The New York Times. And Sestir, M. & Green, M. C. (2010). You are who you watch: Identification and transportation effects on temporary self-concept. Social Influence, 5, 272-288 and research by Libby, L.K., Shaeffer, E.M., Eibach, R.P., & Slemmer, J.A. ( 2007) Picture yourself at the polls: Visual perspective in mental imagery affects self-perception and behavior. Psychological Science. Vol. 18: 199-203.

“Seeing oneself as acting in a movie or a play is not merely fantasy or indulgence; it is fundamental to how people work out who it is they are, and may become.” Ben Casey

Recommendations

• Use avatars to model desired behavior. • Allow/encourage learners to craft avatars that look like

themselves for maximum learning impact.

• Use two avatars in e-learning instead of one. One to provide knowledge, and one to provide motivation.

• Create the third-person perspective to allow learners to observe desired behavior.

Stories & Challenges

Provide a challenge

Jones, B., Valdez, G., Norakowski, J., & Rasmussen, C. (1994). Designing learning and technology for educational reform. North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. [Online]. Available: http://www.ncrtec.org/capacity/profile/profwww.htm and Schlechty, P. C. (1997). Inventing better schools: An action plan for educational reform. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass

Re-design the Instruction to Start with a Challenge

Researchers have found that the human brain has a natural affinity for

narrative construction.

Yep, People tend to remember facts more accurately if they encounter

them in a story rather than in a list.

And they rate legal arguments as more convincing when built into narrative tales rather than on legal precedent.

Carey, B. (2007) this is Your Life (and How You Tell it). The New York Times. Melanie Green http://www.unc.edu/~mcgreen/research.html

1. Characters

Story Elements

5. Conclusion

2. Plot (something has to happen).

3. Tension

4. Resolution

NikePlus Stats for Karl

Challenge and Consolidation– Good games offer players a set

of challenging problems and then let them solve these problems

until they have virtually routinized or automated their solutions.

Games then throw a new class of problem at the players requiring

them to rethink their now, taken-for-granted mastery, learn

something new, and integrate this new learning into their old

mastery.

James Paul Gee,

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Recommendations

• Embed facts to be learned in the context of stories.

• Start the learning process by providing a challenge to the learner.

• Provide a progression from simple to more difficult tasks.

• Use stories that are related to the context of the desired learning outcome.

Levels

Scaffolding: Process of controlling the task elements that initially are

beyond the learner’s capacity.

Guided Practice. Step-by-step instructions and then fading of

instruction

Once that task is accomplished, the learner is then led to accomplish

another goal which builds upon the previous.

Level One: Talking with the receptionist.

Level Two: Talking with the nurse gatekeeper.

Level Three: Talking with the physician.

Level One: Demonstration

Level Two: Guided Practice

Level Three: Performance Assessment

Recommendations

• Provide different entry points into the instruction.

• Provide different learner experiences within the same e-learning module.

• Consider “leveling up” learner challenges.

Feedback

Games like The Sims provide feedback on many dimensions which provide

opportunities to consider tradeoffs and higher level cognitive thinking.

Leaderboards provide opportunities for players to

receive feedback about their performance as compared to

others.

Recommendations

• Provide authentic and realistic feedback.

• Feedback should be continuous through out the learning.

• Feedback should be instructional and provide

knowledge of learner’s performance.

• Allow learners to create their own social “leaderboard” of friends.

Putting It All Together

Fostering Pro-Social Behavior

Greitemeyer, T. & Osswald, S. (2010) Effective of Prosocial games on prosocial behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Vol. 98 . No. 2., 211-221.

28% helped to pick up pencils

33% helped to pick up pencils

67% helped to pick up pencils

22% intervened

56% intervened

Learned Procedure

1

Summary

Games/Simulations are effective

for learning because of learner

engagement.

Apply stories, avatars, feedback and

levels as effective game elements to

learning.

2

3 Provide support materials as part of

curriculum, “fun” doesn’t need

to be the goal.

4 Four motivational aspects of games

that improve learning recall

and application are: interactivity,

context, challenge, and story.

Go ahead…jump in!

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“The Gamification of Learning and Instruction”