Student Engagement while Creating Serious Educational Games in Collaborative Learning Environments: Implications for STEM Interest

Situated in the video game design literature to foster problem-based learning, this chapter illustrates the application of educational theories to create Serious Educational Games (SEGs). SEGs present a learning condition where students can be engaged in standard-based STEM concepts and incorporate these concepts into a fun, interactive challenge where the goal is to solve a problem. This chapter explores a theoretical research investigation of such a learning environment. Students researched standard-based STEM concepts then used design techniques (i.e., story creation, flow chart, decision trees, and storyboarding techniques) and proprietary software to develop their own SEGs. This work sheds light on the process and encourages others to partake in creating similar learning environments, while providing insight into how to design for sustainability.

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‘It was fun’: Exploring the pedagogical value of collaborative educational games

Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice ◽

10.53761/1.17.3.4 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (3) ◽

pp. 37-52

Author(s):

Adeline Cooney ◽

◽

Eamon Darcy ◽

Keyword(s):

Collaborative Learning ◽

Learning Environments ◽

Educational Games ◽

Descriptive Study ◽

Computer Supported Collaborative Learning ◽

Pedagogical Tools ◽

Face To Face ◽

Team Working ◽

Qualitative Descriptive ◽

Teaching Team

This qualitative descriptive study explored the value of games as pedagogical tools to teach team working and foster collaborative learning in a higher education classroom. Groups of three or four students (n = 181) were asked to participate in a simple low-tech serious game which required them to solve a puzzle. The puzzle simulated ‘good’ teamwork practices. Subsequently, participants were asked to complete an open-ended qualitative questionnaire about their experiences. The game was found to enhance learners’ understanding of the attributes of effective team working. It was concluded that teambased collaborative games have value in experientially ‘teaching’ team working skills. Moreover, simple low-tech games were found to have good capacity for generating high-quality collaborative learning experiences. In this context it is argued that simple low-tech games should not be forgotten in the rush to develop computer-supported collaborative learning environments. Not least because they generate opportunities for face-to-face interaction.

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Collaborative Learning and Game Mastering in Multiplayer Games

Serious Games and Virtual Worlds in Education, Professional Development, and Healthcare ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-3673-6.ch006 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 85-104 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Johannes Konert ◽

Viktor Wendel ◽

Kristina Richter ◽

Stefan Göbel

Keyword(s):

Collaborative Learning ◽

Learning Environments ◽

Serious Games ◽

Best Practice ◽

Educational Games ◽

Instructional Support ◽

Individual Feedback ◽

Learning Scenarios ◽

Theoretical Foundations

The purpose of the chapter is to provide a state of the art survey addressing research and development aspects for the control of multiplayer Serious Games for collaborative learning scenarios. Hereby, several facets of multiplayer scenarios are addressed: synchronous and asynchronous gameplay and the role of an instructor as Game Master, supervisor, and provider of individual feedback as well as individual feedback among learners in the process of continuous adaptation of the on-going gameplay. Existing approaches and best-practice examples focus on digital educational games for pupils and collaborative learning environments for students. The theoretical foundations of instructional support as well as the implications and technical approaches are discussed. They include some aspects of authoring Serious Games (as already covered in chapter “Authoring Serious Games”).

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Serious Educational Games (SEGs) and Student Learning and Engagement with Scientific Concepts

Cases on Inquiry through Instructional Technology in Math and Science - Advances in Educational Technologies and Instructional Design ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-0068-3.ch017 ◽

2012 ◽

pp. 464-486

Author(s):

Shawn Holmes ◽

Brandi Thurmond ◽

Leonard A. Annetta ◽

Matthew Sears

Keyword(s):

Learning Environments ◽

Video Game ◽

Game Design ◽

Educational Games ◽

Theoretical Research ◽

Learning Condition ◽

Design For Sustainability ◽

Video Game Design ◽

Serious Educational Games ◽

Insight Into

Situated in the video game design literature to foster problem-based learning, this chapter illustrates the application of educational theories to create Serious Educational Games (SEGs). SEGs present a learning condition where students can be engaged in standard-based STEM concepts and incorporate these concepts into a fun, interactive challenge where the goal is to solve a problem. This chapter explores a theoretical research investigation of such a learning environment. Students researched standard-based STEM concepts then used design techniques (i.e., story creation, flow chart, decision trees, and storyboarding techniques) and proprietary software to develop their own SEGs. This work sheds light on the process and encourages others to partake in creating similar learning environments, while providing insight into how to design for sustainability.

Download Full-text