scholarly journals Case Studies in Game-Based Complex Learning

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (12) ◽  
pp. 72
Author(s):  
Josh Aaron Miller ◽  
Seth Cooper
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Computational Thinking ◽  
Game Based Learning ◽  
Complex Learning ◽  
Critical Success ◽  
Teaching Routine ◽  
Complex Cognitive Skills

Despite the prevalence of game-based learning (GBL), most applications of GBL focus on teaching routine skills that are easily teachable, drill-able, and testable. Much less work has examined complex cognitive skills such as computational thinking, and even fewer are projects that have demonstrated commercial or critical success with complex learning in game contexts. Yet, recent successes in the games industry have provided examples of success in game-based complex learning. This article represents a series of case studies on those successes. We interviewed game designers Zach Gage and Jack Schlesinger, creators of Good Sudoku, and Zach Barth, creator of Zachtronics games, using reflexive thematic analysis to thematize findings. We additionally conducted a close play of Duolingo following Bizzocchi and Tanenbaum’s adaptation of close reading. Several insights result from these case studies, including the practice of game design as instructional design, the use of constructionist environments, the tensions between formal education and informal learning, and the importance of entrepreneurialism. Specific recommendations for GBL designers are provided.

Effects of Playing a History-Simulation Game

2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 36-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shiang-Kwei Wang
Keyword(s):  
Test Performance ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Pearson Correlation ◽  
Learning Performance ◽  
Simulation Game ◽  
Chinese History ◽  
Game Based Learning ◽  
History Of ◽  
Game Players

Studies on game-based learning usually investigate at least one of three subjects: the effects of gaming on learning performance, the effects of gaming on cognitive skills and attitudes, and learners’ game-design experiences. Whether gaming relates positively to learning outcomes is still under investigation. This study examines the components contributing to the development of a literate game player and how players could cognitively grasp the design of a game scenario based on real history (namely, the game Romance of the Three Kingdoms). This study surveyed 497 participants in Taiwan on their knowledge of Chinese history (the Three Kingdoms period). The participants constituted two groups: participants who had years of gaming experience and participants who did not. The study examined test performance by using an independent sample t-test and one-way ANOVA and Pearson-correlation methods. The results revealed that the game players were more knowledgeable about the history of the Three Kingdoms period, had greater motivation to learn history, and were more motivated to learn history by playing the game than was the case with the non-game players.

Effects of Playing a History-Simulation Game

2014 ◽  
pp. 97-119
Author(s):  
Shiang-Kwei Wang
Keyword(s):  
Test Performance ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Pearson Correlation ◽  
Learning Performance ◽  
Simulation Game ◽  
Chinese History ◽  
Game Based Learning ◽  
History Of ◽  
Game Players

Studies on game-based learning usually investigate at least one of three subjects: the effects of gaming on learning performance, the effects of gaming on cognitive skills and attitudes, and learners’ game-design experiences. Whether gaming relates positively to learning outcomes is still under investigation. This study examines the components contributing to the development of a literate game player and how players could cognitively grasp the design of a game scenario based on real history (namely, the game Romance of the Three Kingdoms). This study surveyed 497 participants in Taiwan on their knowledge of Chinese history (the Three Kingdoms period). The participants constituted two groups: participants who had years of gaming experience and participants who did not. The study examined test performance by using an independent sample t-test and one-way ANOVA and Pearson-correlation methods. The results revealed that the game players were more knowledgeable about the history of the Three Kingdoms period, had greater motivation to learn history, and were more motivated to learn history by playing the game than was the case with the non-game players.

Cognitive Skills You Need for the 21st Century

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen K. Reed
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Computational Thinking ◽  
World Economic Forum ◽  
Action Categorization ◽  
Visuospatial Reasoning ◽  
The World ◽  
Imperfect Knowledge ◽  
World Economic ◽  
Knowledge Strategies

Cognitive Skills You Need for the 21st Century begins with the Future of Jobs Report 2018 of the World Economic Forum that describes trending skills through the year 2022. To assist with the development of these skills, the book describes techniques that should benefit everyone. The 20 chapters occupy 6 sections on acquiring knowledge (comprehension, action, categorization, abstraction), organizing knowledge (matrices, networks, hierarchies), reasoning (visuospatial reasoning, imperfect knowledge, strategies), problem-solving (problems, design, dynamics), artificial intelligence (data sciences, explainable AI, information sciences, general AI), and education (complex systems, computational thinking, continuing education). Classical research, recent research, personal anecdotes, and a few exercises provide a broad introduction to this critical topic.

scholarly journals Active Learning by Visual Programming: Pedagogical Perspectives of Instructivist and Constructivist Code Teachers and Their Implications on Actual Teaching Strategies and Students’ Programming Artifacts

2021 ◽  
pp. 073563312110177
Author(s):  
Avital Kesler ◽  
Tamar Shamir-Inbal ◽  
Ina Blau
Keyword(s):  
Teaching Strategies ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Computational Thinking ◽  
Visual Programming ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Mixed Method Research ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Optimal Learning ◽  
Formal Curriculum ◽  
Folk Pedagogy

The integration of visual programming in early formal education has been found to promote computational thinking of students. Teachers' intuitive perspectives about optimal learning processes – "folk psychology" – impact their perspectives about teaching "folk pedagogy" and play a significant role in integrating educational technologies, such as visual programming, within the formal curriculum. This study was conducted based on the mixed method research paradigm. First, a folk pedagogy questionnaire was distributed to 89 teachers who integrate differing technologies in their classroom in order to identify the teachers' pedagogical perspectives: constructivist versus instructivist. Then, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 teachers who teach Scratch in order to gain a deeper understanding of their instructivist/constructivist perspectives and actual pedagogical practices and strategies. Finally, we analyzed 96 students' programming artifacts to explore differences, if any, in students' outcomes related to the pedagogical perspectives of their teachers. Findings revealed that pedagogical perspectives are reflected in teaching strategies and assessment practices employed in a visual programming environment. It is promising that teaching visual programming promoted constructivist pedagogy even among instructivist teachers and was consequently reflected in student perspectives and expressed in their programming artifacts. We discuss theoretical and educational implications of these findings.

DEVELOPMENT OF COGNITIVE SKILLS THROUGH COMPUTER EDUCATIONAL GAMES

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Todorka Terzieva
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Educational Games ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Educational Game ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Game Based Learning ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
Subject Areas ◽  
The Relationship

This article presents the results of a study on the possibilities of computer educational games for the development of various cognitive skills for learners. The advantages they offer in the learning process are highlighted. Special emphasis is placed on the relationship between game-based learning and mental development of learners. Examples of game-based learning from leading educational institutions at different stages of the educational process are given. A prototype of an educational game with several interactive puzzles is presented. They are designed to teach students in mathematics and philology (learning a foreign language). The developed prototypes can be used to acquire new knowledge or to assess the acquisition of knowledge and skills in various subject areas.

Training Development for Complex Cognitive Tasks

1987 ◽  
Vol 31 (11) ◽  
pp. 1261-1265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan M. Ryder ◽  
Richard E. Redding ◽  
Peter F. Beckschi
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Task Analysis ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Cognitive Task Analysis ◽  
Instructional Systems ◽  
Training Development ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Training Methodologies ◽  
Complex Cognitive Skills

This study evaluated current training methodologies, particularly Instructional Systems Development (ISD), and recent developments in cognitive science to determine how training procedures should be modified to support training for tasks which require complex cognitive skills. We contend that ISD is still viable if procedures are developed for the training of cognitive skills. An important component of ISD which needs to be modified to support training of cognitive skills is the task analysis. We discuss the need for integrating efficient and cost-effective cognitive task analysis methodologies with traditional analysis methods.

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