game elements: pedagogy game elements: learner specifics game elements: representation game...

GAME ELEMENTS: Pedagogy

GAME ELEMENTS: Learner Specifics

GAME ELEMENTS: Representation

GAME ELEMENTS: Context

Game-based learning framework

User behavior

Player feedback

User learning

User engagement

Instructionaldesign

Learning objectives

Clear player goals

Learning content

System feedback

Debriefing

Learning Instruction Assessment

van Staalduinen, J. P., & de Freitas, S. (2011). A Game-Based Learning Framework: Linking Game Design and Learning. Learning to play: exploring the future of education with video games, 53, 29.

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Learning objectives

User behavior

Player feedback

User learning

User engagement

Instructionaldesign

Learning objectives

Clear player goals

Learning content

System feedback

Debriefing



Learning objectives state what an educator wants the learner to learn.

Five categories of learning in and around games:

1. Things we can learn in the game, as deliberately designed by game’s creators.

2. Things we must learn in a game (to successfully finish the game); a subset of the first category.

3. Collateral learning; other things we can learn—these are not necessarily designed into the game.

4. Things we actually did learn.

5. Cheats; deliberate design elements on the part of the designers, but not really considered part of the normal gameplay.





Clear player goals

User behavior

Player feedback

User learning

User engagement

Instructionaldesign

Learning objectives

Clear player goals

Learning content

System feedback

Debriefing



Goals in the game do not necessarily equate to the learning

objectives and are therefore mentioned separately.

Win-criteria for a game do not necessarily equate with the

things players are supposed to learn through playing the

game.





Learning content

User behavior

Player feedback

User learning

User engagement

Instructionaldesign

Learning objectives

Clear player goals

Learning content

System feedback

Debriefing



Successful pairing of instructional content with appropriate

game features results in recurring and self-motivated

gameplay. This continual process eventually leads to specific

learning outcomes, often reinforced by debriefing and a

blended approach.





Context

User behavior

Player feedback

User learning

User engagement

Instructionaldesign

Learning objectives

Clear player goals

Learning content

System feedback

Debriefing



Fantasy The make-believe aspects of the game; environment, scenarios (narrative), the role(s) of the player, nonplayer characters (game agents) that can be interacted with. “Exogenous fantasy is a direct overlay on learning content. It is dependent upon the skill, but the skill does not depend on the fantasy. Endogenous fantasy is related to learning content. It is an essential relationship between the learned skill and the fantasy context (engaging and educational).” (Habgood et al., 2005)

Goals/Objectives Goals and objectives describe the game’s win conditions. In this capacity they provide motivation for actions within the game. The game’s objectives can either be absolute (unchanging) or subject to change, depending on specific circumstances, scenarios, and player actions.

Language/ Communication

Specific lingual or communication rules of the game.

Mystery The gap between available information and unknown information. Mystery provides puzzlement and complexity, triggers curiosity, and is enhanced by surprise and unpredictability (random elements).

Pieces or Players The game pieces (objects) or people that are included in the game scenario. This includes game items, player characters (avatars), and real-life human participants.

Player Composition The organization of players in a game; individual, as a team, multiple individuals (multiplayer), or multiple teams.

Rules Rules constitute the inner, formal structure of games. Rules impose limits on player action. The rules also set up potential actions, actions that are meaningful inside the game, but meaningless outside. Rules specify limitations and affordances. Rules establish criteria for how to win.

Theme The setting or context of the game. A game is a thematically driven experience.





Learner Specifics

User behavior

Player feedback

User learning

User engagement

Instructionaldesign

Learning objectives

Clear player goals

Learning content

System feedback

Debriefing



Challenge The amount of difficulty and probability of obtaining goals a player has within the game. A challenging game possesses multiple clearly specified goals, progressive difficulty, and informational ambiguity. Challenge adds fun and competition by creating barriers between current state andgoal state. Combined with feedback, it provides a systematic balance of difficulty that changes as the learner progresses.

Conflict Solvable problems that the player is confronted with within the game and that usually drive the game’s plot or in-game action by providing interaction. Conflict can be provided by the game itself (e.g., puzzles), by autonomous game agents (e.g., enemies), and by other players.

Progress The measure of how the player progresses in achieving the goals (win conditions) of the game.





Representation

User behavior

Player feedback

User learning

User engagement

Instructionaldesign

Learning objectives

Clear player goals

Learning content

System feedback

Debriefing



Action-Domain Link

The story of the game consists of situations where the learner needs to apply the knowledge he gains from playing the game. This includes a close enough link to reality so that learners easily see how to apply knowledge to the real world.

Control The player’s possibilities for active and direct manipulation of specific aspects of the game. In order to exert control, the learner needs to be active in making decisions in the story. Abundant learner control gives the player a sense of unrestricted options.

Interaction (Equipment)

“The adaptability and manipulability of a game. The game changes in response to player’s actions.” (Wilson et al., 2009)

Interaction (Interpersonal)

“Face-to-face interaction, relationships between players in real space and time. It provides an opportunity for achievements to be acknowledged by others, and challenges become meaningful, which induces involvement.” (Wilson et al., 2009)

Interaction (Social)

“Interpersonal activity that is mediated by technology, which encourages entertaining communal gatherings by producing a sense of belonging.” (Wilson et al., 2009)

Location The physical or virtual environment in which the game takes place; thus linked to ‘fantasy’. Location influences rules and solution parameters.

Problem-Learner Link

The way in which the game’s location, theme and story relate to the learner’s interests. It makes the game relevant to the player.

Representation The player’s perception of the game’s reality, as the game allows. A more narrow scope of representation provides a player with focus; a broader scope of representation provides a player with distractions.

Sensory Stimuli The game’s presentation stimulates players’ senses and tap into the players’ emotions, allowing for a (temporary) acceptance of the game’s reality (fantasy, location, theme) bythe player.





Pedagogy

User behavior

Player feedback

User learning

User engagement

Instructionaldesign

Learning objectives

Clear player goals

Learning content

System feedback

Debriefing



Adaptation The level of difficulty of the game gradually increases, or adjusts to the skill level of the player.

Assessment/Feedback

The measurement of achievement within the game (e.g., scoring). The game gives the learner feedback on the outcomes of his actions. This provides users with opportunities to learn from previous actions. Scoring also compares performance among competing players.

Debriefing/Evaluation

To utilize opportunities for learning, an evaluative session (the debriefing) is held after the game. In the evaluation, the players and the facilitator/teacher talk about the experiences and outcomes of the game. The individual player can be evaluated, the players can be evaluated as a team, or they can be evaluated both as a team and as individual players.

Instructions/Help/Hints

Helpful comments, tutorials, and other hints the game provides in order to get a player started quickly, to get him/her out of a difficult situation, or to get him/her quickly acquainted with newly introduced aspects of a game.

Safety The lack of real-world consequences that actions within the game have; the only consequence is a possible loss of dignity when losing. This provides players with a safe way to experience the reality, as presented in the game. It allows for risk-taking and experimentation, thus providing players with more learning opportunities.





User learning

User behavior

Player feedback

User learning

User engagement

Instructionaldesign

Learning objectives

Clear player goals

Learning content

System feedback

Debriefing



Attention needs to be paid to the game learning cycle, which consists of

user behavior, user feedback, user engagement, and user learning. The

instructional design needs to be such that user actions are given sufficient

feedback to trigger engagement, leading to learning.





User behavior

User behavior

Player feedback

User learning

User engagement

Instructionaldesign

Learning objectives

Clear player goals

Learning content

System feedback

Debriefing



Attention needs to be paid to the game learning cycle, which consists of user

behavior, user feedback, user engagement, and user learning. The instructional

design needs to be such that user actions are given sufficient feedback to trigger

engagement, leading to learning.

An example of user behavior would be time on task. The amount of time a user

spends engaged in a particular task.





Player feedback

User behavior

Player feedback

User learning

User engagement

Instructionaldesign

Learning objectives

Clear player goals

Learning content

System feedback

Debriefing



The measurement of achievement, progress, and score of the player within

a game. The game gives the learner feedback on the outcomes of his

actions (Salen & Zimmerman, 2004; Juul, 2005; Wilson et al., 2009).

The reflective observation of feedback leads to the construction of

schemata and enables the player to discover new and better solutions to

his problems





User engagement

User behavior

Player feedback

User learning

User engagement

Instructionaldesign

Learning objectives

Clear player goals

Learning content

System feedback

Debriefing



Games are designed to generate a positive affect in players and are most successful and engaging, thus intrinsically motivating, when they facilitate the flow experience (Gee, 2003; Salen & Zimmerman, 2004; Kiili, 2005; Schell, 2008).

Flow describes a state of complete absorption or engagement in an activity and refers to the optimal experience (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975; 1990). During optimal experience, a person is in a psychological state where he or she is so involved with the goal-driven activity that nothing else seems to matter.

Diffi

culty

F L O WBoredom

Anxiety

Player Ability





Debriefing

User behavior

Player feedback

User learning

User engagement

Instructionaldesign

Learning objectives

Clear player goals

Learning content

System feedback

Debriefing



To utilize opportunities for learning, an evaluative session (the debriefing)

is held after the game. In the evaluation, the players and the

facilitator/teacher talk about the experiences and outcomes of the game.

The individual player can be evaluated, the players can be evaluated as a

team, or they can be evaluated both as a team and as individual players.





System feedback

User behavior

Player feedback

User learning

User engagement

Instructionaldesign

Learning objectives

Clear player goals

Learning content

System feedback

Debriefing



The measurement of achievement, progress, and score of the player within a game.

The game gives the learner feedback on the outcomes of his actions (Salen &

Zimmerman, 2004; Juul, 2005; Wilson et al., 2009).

The reflective observation of feedback leads to the construction of schemata and

enables the player to discover new and better solutions to his problems

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