LEARNING VIA GAMES AND SIMULATIONS

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LEARNING VIA GAMES AND SIMULATIONS
Researcher Lauren Milstid, Graduate
Student Instructional Technology Program Chestnut
Hill College
This is an introductory presentation to my
thesis. My study is still in progress and will
be completed in May 2009.
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Introduction
Why do we care about learning through games?

• Technology-based learning is a modern learning
  approach.
• To accommodate the needs of todays learners
• Learners will acquire an educational experience
  filled with value, respect, and enjoyment.

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My studys transformation

• My topic idea has stayed the same, but the road
  to collecting data has been a roller coaster.
• I tried to
• Survey E-learning users
• Interview employees from corporations
• Survey visitors at video game expo
• Interview college students experience with
  Second Life in philosophy course
• Interview or survey Alice users, via the online
  Alice forum

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My studys transformation

• Where did the roller coaster stop?
• I will ask available professors and graduate
  students to experiment with Alice
• I will then conduct interviews based on their
  experience with exploring the Alice software.

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My studys transformation

• What exactly is Alice?
• An innovative 3D programming environment that
  makes it easy to create an animation for telling
  a story, playing an interactive game, or a video
  to share on the web.
• Alice allows students to immediately see how
  their animation programs run, enabling them to
  easily understand the relationship between the
  programming statements and the behavior of
  objects in their animation.
• Descriptions taken from www.alice.org

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My literature review - Part I

• Constructivism
• Constructivism as a learning theory
• Learning is not acquired through structured
  problems and rules, rather the learning is
  obtained by constructing knowledge and making
  inquires.
• Distributed cognition as a framework
• Technology is an involved team member in
  cognition and not just a device that carries out
  information.
• Situated learning and meaning as a model
• Learning that takes place in the same environment
  that it will be applied.

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My literature review - Part I
2 minute video on situated learning
http//www.youtube.com/watch?vBVPayUDJMX4
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My literature review - Part I
Gee (2008) thinks that learning is attained
through games because they allow players to
exercise the following capabilities identifier,
producer, risk taker, discoverer, organizer,
owner, creative problem solver, master (with
practice), and critical thinker.
Lets hear what an expert has to say.
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My literature review - Part I

• Constructivism
• Teaching with new learning approaches
• Instructors must design and establish curriculum
  that helps people learn, which is possible when
  four learning categories are present
• knowledge-centered
• community centered
• assessment centered
• learner centered

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My literature review - Part I

• Constructivism
• Teaching with new learning approaches
• Knowledge centered provide hyperlinked content,
  references, and multiple and ever-present sources
  for acquiring information (Gibson et al., 2007).
• Community centered facilitate collaborative work
  and group learning, as well as provide the tools
  for learners to connect globally with
  international peers (Gibson et al., 2007).
• Assessment centered provide instant feedback.
• Learner centered allow students to choose their
  desired course/scenario as well as decide on the
  proper tools to work with (Gibson et al., 2007).

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My literature review- Part II

• The Power of Games and Simulations How Games
  Teach and Users Learn
• It is not the theme of the game that attracts
  players it the ubiquitous rewards that can be
  attained via a game (Johnson 2006).
• Aldrich (2007) indicates that engaged learners
  become immersed into the games environment
  where they acquire total control and every aspect
  of the game depends on their actions.

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My literature review- Part II

• The Power of Games and Simulations How Games
  Teach and Users Learn
• Van Eck (2007) asserts that interaction is the
  impetus to effective play because players must
  respond and provide input.
• Bogost (2008) points out that we are always
  playing when immersed in a video game however,
  the term play is synonymous with exploring and
  interpreting the meaning of the game.

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My literature review - Part III

• Learning through Quality Game Design A Study in
  E-Learning
• Learning is meaningful, memorable, and
  motivational.
• Prensky (2007) asserts that good games are
  challenging, original, fun, memorable, and make
  the player feel tense and energetic.
• Allen (2003) believes that if learning is neither
  memorable nor meaningful, then a learner will not
  grasp what is trying to be taught.

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My literature review - Part III

• Learning through Quality Game Design A Study in
  E-Learning
• Learning is meaningful, memorable, and
  motivational.
• Gee (2008) affirms that motivation is intrinsic
  within games.
• For example, players become more motivated when
  failure is impossible.
• Allen (2003) concludes that motivation
• Filters out distractions
• Strengthens ability to retain knowledge
• Stores new connections in the long-term memory

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My literature review - Part III
Allen (2003) notes, The purpose of
instructional interactivity is to wrestle our
intellectual laziness to the groundto reawaken
our interest in learning, strengthen our ability
to learn, and provide an optimal environment in
which to learn (p. 93).
Lets hear what an expert has to say.
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My research questions

• What is the experience of learning through games
  and simulations?
• How does good game design affect the users
  quality of learning?
• What happens when learners interact with the 3D
  programming environment known as Alice?
• How may using Alice affect the learners
  learning?
• How may using Alice affect the learners
  motivation?
• How would learners expect to apply what they
  learn from using Alice to future learning
  situations?

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My potential findings

• Participants will acknowledge and understand the
  value and effectiveness of games and simulations
  by
• Discovering more about themselves, as learners
• Being aware of personal learning styles and how
  games accommodate those styles
• Experiencing a high level of motivation
• Understanding how to apply what was learned to
  future scenarios

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References

• Allen, M. W. (2003). Michael Allens guide to
  e-learning. Hoboken, NJ John Wiley Sons.
• Gee, J. P. (2007). What video games have to teach
  us about learning and literacy (revised and
  updated ed.). New York Palgrave Macmillan.
• Gibson, D., Halverson, W., Riedel, E. (2007).
  Online games for 21st century skills. In D.
  Gibson, C. Aldrich, M. Prensky (Eds.), Games
  and simulations in online learning (pp. 175
  187). Hershey, PA Information Science.
• Johnson, S. (2006). Everything bad is good for
  you. New York Penguin Group.
• Salen, K., Bogost, I., Gee, J. P., Ito, M.
  (Eds.). (2008). The ecology of games.
  Cambridge, MA The MIT Press.
• Van Eck, R. (2007). Building artificially
  intelligent learning games. In D. Gibson, C.
  Aldrich, M. Prensky (Eds.), Games and
  simulations in online learning (pp. 271 307).
  Hershey, PA Information Science.

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Final questions

• Any thoughts?
• Any unclear points?