Video Games for Learning: Design considerations and its application in the video game “The Time Invaders”

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nuria Medina Medina ◽  
Patricia Paderewski ◽  
Francisco Luis Gutiérrez Vela
Author(s):  
Beatriz Cabellos ◽  
Daniel L. Sánchez ◽  
Juan-Ignacio Pozo

AbstractOne of the factors associated with the educational use of video games is the conception that teachers and students have about their educative usefulness. However, there are no studies that identify what aspects are considered more effective to learn with video games and what kind of learning is more accessible using them. This study aims at identifying pre-service teachers’ conceptions regarding video game use for learning and specifically to know what aspects and learning they consider are more feasible. Likewise, we analyzed the pedagogical training effect of these conceptions for three groups of university students: primary pre-service teachers (who received general pedagogical training), secondary pre-service teachers (who received pedagogical training in only one area of knowledge) and other university students without pedagogical training. We applied a questionnaire to a sample of 422 university students. This questionnaire had two dimensions that differentiated between the pragmatic and epistemic uses of video games for learning and three dimensions about the different verbal, procedural and attitudinal learning which can be achieved with them. The results showed wide acceptance of video games as a learning resource in university students, but in particular secondary pre-service teachers pointed out higher possibilities of achieving learning with video games than primary pre-service teachers. On the other hand, university students pointed out more learning when video games were used in an epistemic way. In addition, they considered video games favor more verbal and procedural learnings than attitudinal ones. In conclusion, despite the positive conceptions of the students about learning with video games, we observed a less positive pattern in pre-service teachers with general pedagogical training. These results suggest that video game incorporation in schools is not being carried out fruitfully by education faculties. Therefore, we advocated for 21st-century training that optimized new conceptions and uses of video games.


Author(s):  
Benjamin Gallegos ◽  
Michelle T. Kepple ◽  
Caitlyn A. Bukaty

Video gaming in the classroom offers students and educators the opportunity to conceptualize learning in new ways and address 21st century skills. This construct appears in research-based literature by leading trans-disciplinary experts in the field of special education and video gaming. Empirical research has established the application of video games as leaning tools in schools, and the benefits of video games for students with disabilities (Ke & Abras, 2013). This chapter focuses on the benefits and use of educational video game based learning for students with disabilities. The authors discuss (1) current barriers hindering widespread adoption of video games for learning and assessment, (2) characteristics of video games being used for learning and assessment, (3) how gameplay data represents academic achievement for grading, and (4) the types of assessments available and considerations for implementation. Finally, the authors explore avenues to prepare educators to use video gaming for learning and assessment in classrooms for students with disabilities.


2016 ◽  
pp. 1689-1717
Author(s):  
Benjamin Gallegos ◽  
Michelle T. Kepple ◽  
Caitlyn A. Bukaty

Video gaming in the classroom offers students and educators the opportunity to conceptualize learning in new ways and address 21st century skills. This construct appears in research-based literature by leading trans-disciplinary experts in the field of special education and video gaming. Empirical research has established the application of video games as leaning tools in schools, and the benefits of video games for students with disabilities (Ke & Abras, 2013). This chapter focuses on the benefits and use of educational video game based learning for students with disabilities. The authors discuss (1) current barriers hindering widespread adoption of video games for learning and assessment, (2) characteristics of video games being used for learning and assessment, (3) how gameplay data represents academic achievement for grading, and (4) the types of assessments available and considerations for implementation. Finally, the authors explore avenues to prepare educators to use video gaming for learning and assessment in classrooms for students with disabilities.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
William R. Watson ◽  
Jun Fang

Video games and problem-based learning (PBL) are both significant trends in progressive approaches to education. The literature demonstrates a fit between the two approaches, indicating they may be mutually beneficial. With limited literature on implementing games in the classroom, and a growing body of researchers highlighting the importance of the teacher in mediating game use and maximizing the effectiveness of games for learning, guidance is needed on the role teachers can play in utilizing games in structured environments. PBL has a richer literature base on its effective use, and with its similarities to game-based learning, can inform the effective use of games. In order to assist educators in integrating video games into their curriculum, a video game implementation framework based on PBL principles was developed. The efficacy of utilizing video games for learning in formal and structured learning environments may be improved by integrating PBL guidelines as a framework.


2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-70
Author(s):  
Petr Květon ◽  
Martin Jelínek

Abstract. This study tests two competing hypotheses, one based on the general aggression model (GAM), the other on the self-determination theory (SDT). GAM suggests that the crucial factor in video games leading to increased aggressiveness is their violent content; SDT contends that gaming is associated with aggression because of the frustration of basic psychological needs. We used a 2×2 between-subject experimental design with a sample of 128 undergraduates. We assigned each participant randomly to one experimental condition defined by a particular video game, using four mobile video games differing in the degree of violence and in the level of their frustration-invoking gameplay. Aggressiveness was measured using the implicit association test (IAT), administered before and after the playing of a video game. We found no evidence of an association between implicit aggressiveness and violent content or frustrating gameplay.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Zendle

Loot boxes are items in video games that may be paid for with real-world money, but which contain randomised contents. There is a reliable correlation between loot box spending and problem gambling severity: The more money gamers spend on loot boxes, the more severe their problem gambling tends to be. However, it is unclear whether this link represents a case in which loot box spending causes problem gambling; a case in which the gambling-like nature of loot boxes cause problem gamblers to spend more money; or whether it simply represents a case in which there is a general dysregulation in in-game spending amongst problem gamblers, nonspecific to loot boxes.The multiplayer video game Heroes of the Storm recently removed loot boxes. In order to better understand links between loot boxes and problem gambling, we conducted an analysis of players of Heroes of the Storm (n=112) both before and after the removal of loot boxes.There were a complex pattern of results. In general, when loot boxes were removed from Heroes of the Storm, problem gamblers appeared to spend significantly less money in-game in contrast to other groups. These results suggest that the presence of loot boxes in a game may lead to problem gamblers spending more money in-game. It therefore seems possible that links between loot box spending and problem gambling are not due to a general dysregulation in in-game spending amongst problem gamblers, but rather are to do with specific features of loot boxes themselves.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Zendle

A variety of practices have recently emerged which are related to both video games and gambling. Most prominent of these are loot boxes. However, a broad range of other activities have recently emerged which are also related to both gambling and video games: esports betting, real-money video gaming, token wagering, social casino play, and watching videos of both loot box opening and gambling on game streaming services like Twitch.Whilst a nascent body of research has established the robust existence of a relationship between loot box spending and both problem gambling and disordered gaming, little research exists which examines whether similar links may exist for the diverse practices outlined above. Furthermore, no research has thus far attempted to estimate the prevalence of these activities.A large-scale survey of a representative sample of UK adults (n=1081) was therefore conducted in order to investigate these issues. Engagement in all measured forms of gambling-like video game practices were significantly associated with both problem gambling and disordered gaming. An aggregate measure of engagement was associated with both these outcomes to a clinically significant degree (r=0.23 and r=0.43). Engagement in gambling-like video game practices appeared widespread, with a 95% confidence interval estimating that 16.3% – 20.9% of the population engaged in these activities at least once in the last year. Engagement in these practices was highly inter-correlated: Individuals who engaged in one practice were likely to engage in several more.Overall, these results suggest that the potential effects of the blurring of lines between video games and gambling should not primarily be understood to be due to the presence of loot boxes in video games. They suggest the existence of a convergent ecosystem of gambling-like video game practices, whose causal relationships with problem gambling and disordered gaming are currently unclear but must urgently be investigated.


Author(s):  
Kevin Veale

Affective materiality is a tool for exploring how engaging with textual structures shapes the affective experience of a story. The experience of video games is distinctive because their modes of engagement can lead to players feeling responsible for the decisions they make within the diegetic space of the game and its contextual storyworld. Night in the Woods and Undertale both use the perception of responsibility found in video game modes of engagement as an active storytelling tool, but apply it in different ways. Despite the differences in their contextual application, both games use affective materiality to encourage players to reflect on the consequences of their decisions in multiple arenas: within the context of the game, their engagement with other games and their engagement with the wider world. In doing so, both games apply storytelling techniques that distinguish playing video games from the experience of other media forms and encourage an empathetic engagement with fictional storyworlds.


2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 742-762
Author(s):  
Michael Ryan Skolnik ◽  
Steven Conway

Alongside their material dimensions, video game arcades were simultaneously metaphysical spaces where participants negotiated social and cultural convention, thus contributing to identity formation and performance within game culture. While physical arcade spaces have receded in number, the metaphysical elements of the arcades persist. We examine the historical conditions around the establishment of so-called arcade culture, taking into account the history of public entertainment spaces, such as pool halls, coin-operated entertainment technologies, video games, and the demographic and economic conditions during the arcade’s peak popularity, which are historically connected to the advent of bachelor subculture. Drawing on these complementary histories, we examine the social and historical movement of arcades and arcade culture, focusing upon the Street Fighter series and the fighting game community (FGC). Through this case study, we argue that moral panics concerning arcades, processes of cultural norm selection, technological shifts, and the demographic peculiarities of arcade culture all contributed to its current decline and discuss how they affect the contemporary FGC.


2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 106-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johnny Hartz Søraker

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the ethical implications of video game companies employing psychologists and using psychological research in game design. Design/methodology/approach The author first argues that exploiting psychology in video games may be more ethically problematic than familiar application domains like advertising, gambling and political rhetoric. Then an overview of the effects particular types of game design may have on user behavior is provided, taking into account various findings and phenomena from behavioral psychology and behavioral economics. Findings Finally, the author concludes that the corresponding ethical problems cannot – and should not – be addressed by means of regulation or rating systems. The author argues instead that a more promising countermeasure lies in using the same psychological research to educate gamers (children in particular) and thereby increase their capacity for meta-cognition. Originality/value The importance of this lies in the tremendous effect these behavior-modifying technologies may have upon our self-determination, well-being and social relations, as well as corresponding implications for the society.


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