Applying a Developmental Lens to Educational Game Designs for Preschoolers

Preschool-aged learners process information differently from older individuals, making it critical to design digital educational games that are tailored to capitalize on young children's learning capabilities. This in-depth literature synthesis connects features of digital educational game design - including visuals, feedback, scaffolding challenge, rewards, and physical interactions to how young children learn. Preschoolers' interests and abilities (e.g., limited attention-span, early reading skills, etc.) are different than older users. As such, developmental science should be used to guide the design of educational games from aesthetic decisions that capture preschoolers' initial interest (e.g., meaningful characters) to carefully select end-of-game rewards (e.g., leveling up). This article connects learning and developmental science research to the design of digital educational games, offering insights into how best to design games for young users and how to select developmentally appropriate games for children.

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A Design of Educational Game to Prevent Cyber-Bullying among Teenagers and An Analysis of Its Effect (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.13692 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Hyung Yoon

Keyword(s):

Game Design ◽

Quantitative Research ◽

Educational Games ◽

Educational Game ◽

Quantitative Research Methods ◽

Prevention Education ◽

Future Design ◽

Sensitive Topics ◽

Mode Of Development

UNSTRUCTURED This paper is a case study on the design of an educational game for the prevention of cyberbullying and an analysis of its educational effect. I selected a game titled “Angry Daddy,” which was developed based on the request of Korean government authority and analyzed the mode of development of the game and its educational effect. For this research, both qualitative and quantitative research methods were used. Moreover, advice regarding the game design was obtained from many experts belonging to various fields. Based on the analysis of the game design and its educational effect, it was confirmed that the following factors are important to design an educational game meant for the prevention of cyberbullying and to enhance its educational effect: First, cooperation between content experts and game development experts is essential to develop an educational game. Second, it should be verified whether the contents and the format of the game are appropriate by analyzing the play test results of the target audience. Third, it is essential to prepare a manual to guide teachers to apply the game to the field. Fourth, it was confirmed that educating students on sensitive topics like cyberbullying is very effective when educational games that make them feel and experience the outcomes of bullying are utilized. This research is expected to be helpful for future design of educational games and the research and development of the format of cyberbullying prevention education.

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Emotional Agents in Educational Game Design

International Journal of Game-Based Learning ◽

10.4018/ijgbl.2021100104 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

pp. 72-89

Author(s):

Mirela Gutica ◽

Stephen Petrina

Keyword(s):

Game Design ◽

Educational Games ◽

Learning Technologies ◽

Educational Game ◽

Emotional Engagement ◽

Emotional States ◽

Post Test ◽

Quasi Experimental ◽

Students Attitudes ◽

Emotional Agents

Evaluating the subjective playing experience and engagement in learning is important in the design of advanced learning technologies (ALTs) that respond to the learners' cognitive and emotional states. This article addresses students' attitudes toward an educational game, Heroes of Math Island, and their responses to the emotional agent, an animated monkey. Fifteen students (seven boys and eight girls) from grades six and seven participated in this quasi-experimental study (pretest, intervention, post-test, followed by post-questionnaire and interview). This research presents a detailed analysis of students' subjective reactions with respect to Heroes of Math Island and to the underlying mathematics content, their learning gains and emotions triggered during gameplay, and design issues resulting from the evaluation of the game and of its emotional agent. The findings from this study inform how ALTs and educational games can be designed in order to be effective and provide emotional engagement, enjoyment, and learning.

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A Psycho-Pedagogical Framework for Multi-Adaptive Educational Games

International Journal of Game-Based Learning ◽

10.4018/ijgbl.2011010104 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 45-58 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Michael D. Kickmeier-Rust ◽

Elke Mattheiss ◽

Christina Steiner ◽

Dietrich Albert

Keyword(s):

Game Design ◽

Educational Games ◽

Educational Game ◽

Key Factors ◽

Embedded Assessment ◽

Non Invasive ◽

Motivational States ◽

Individual Support ◽

Learning Game ◽

The Individual

One of the trump cards of digital educational games is their enormous intrinsic motivational potential. Although learning game design is often understood on a one-fits-all level, the actual motivational strength of an educational game strongly depends on the individual learners, their very specific goals, preferences, abilities, strength and weakness, personality, and experiences with gaming. Considering motivation being a fragile and constantly changing state, it is important to continuously assess learning and gaming processes and the oscillations of motivation and immersion within a game. With this premise in mind, the authors developed a psycho-pedagogical approach to a non-invasive embedded assessment of motivational states and learning progress, feeding into a dynamic, ontology-driven learner (and gamer) model. To evaluate the approach, the demonstrator games were subject to intensive quantitative and qualitative experimental research. Results show that a meaningful personalization and an individual support are key factors of the success of learning games.

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Designing Educational Games

Gamification for Human Factors Integration - Advances in Human and Social Aspects of Technology ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-5071-8.ch011 ◽

2014 ◽

pp. 181-198 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Stephen Tang ◽

Martin Hanneghan

Keyword(s):

Game Design ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Educational Games ◽

Educational Game ◽

Game Based Learning ◽

Computing Technology ◽

Learning Tool ◽

Educational Content ◽

Constructive Learning ◽

Informal Approach

Play has been an informal approach to teach young ones the skills of survival for centuries. With advancements in computing technology, many researchers believe that computer games1 can be used as a viable teaching and learning tool to enhance a student’s learning. It is important that the educational content of these games is well designed with meaningful game-play based on pedagogically sound theories to ensure constructive learning. This chapter features theoretical aspects of game design from a pedagogical perspective. It serves as a useful guide for educational game designers to design better educational games for use in game-based learning. The chapter provides a brief overview of educational games and game-based learning before highlighting theories of learning that are relevant to educational games. Selected theories of learning are then integrated into conventional game design practices to produce a set of guidelines for educational games design.

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An Overview of Accessibility and Usability of Educational Games

Assistive Technologies ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-4422-9.ch005 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 63-101

Author(s):

Marion A. Hersh ◽

Barbara Leporini

Keyword(s):

Learning Environments ◽

Game Design ◽

Educational Games ◽

Virtual Learning Environments ◽

Educational Game ◽

Mobile Games ◽

Games Studies ◽

Educational Computer ◽

Computer Based ◽

Guidelines And Recommendations

This chapter presents an overview of accessibility and usability for educational computer-based games and the first survey of the accessibility and usability of digital educational games. The overview includes a discussion of accessibility and usability, both in general and in the specific context of educational games, as well as a brief presentation of issues relating to game design, including of mobile games. Since there are no previous studies of the accessibility and usability of educational computer-based games, studies of the accessibility and usability of the related areas of virtual learning environments, digital games for entertainment and PDF documents, are also presented. The overview of accessibility and usability and the results of the survey are used to draw up a structured list of 62 guidelines and recommendations, organised into three categories at the first level and ten at the second level. These guidelines and recommendations are illustrated by an example of their application to a fictitious new educational game.

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Designing Educational Games

Gamification ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-8200-9.ch028 ◽

2015 ◽

pp. 576-594 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Stephen Tang ◽

Martin Hanneghan

Keyword(s):

Game Design ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Educational Games ◽

Educational Game ◽

Game Based Learning ◽

Computing Technology ◽

Learning Tool ◽

Educational Content ◽

Constructive Learning ◽

Informal Approach

Play has been an informal approach to teach young ones the skills of survival for centuries. With advancements in computing technology, many researchers believe that computer games1 can be used as a viable teaching and learning tool to enhance a student's learning. It is important that the educational content of these games is well designed with meaningful game-play based on pedagogically sound theories to ensure constructive learning. This chapter features theoretical aspects of game design from a pedagogical perspective. It serves as a useful guide for educational game designers to design better educational games for use in game-based learning. The chapter provides a brief overview of educational games and game-based learning before highlighting theories of learning that are relevant to educational games. Selected theories of learning are then integrated into conventional game design practices to produce a set of guidelines for educational games design.

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A Psycho-Pedagogical Framework for Multi-Adaptive Educational Games

Developments in Current Game-Based Learning Design and Deployment ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-1864-0.ch008 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 103-117 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Michael D. Kickmeier-Rust ◽

Elke Mattheiss ◽

Christina Steiner ◽

Dietrich Albert

Keyword(s):

Game Design ◽

Educational Games ◽

Educational Game ◽

Key Factors ◽

Embedded Assessment ◽

Non Invasive ◽

Motivational States ◽

Individual Support ◽

Learning Game ◽

The Individual

One of the trump cards of digital educational games is their enormous intrinsic motivational potential. Although learning game design is often understood on a one-fits-all level, the actual motivational strength of an educational game strongly depends on the individual learners, their very specific goals, preferences, abilities, strength and weakness, personality, and experiences with gaming. Considering motivation being a fragile and constantly changing state, it is important to continuously assess learning and gaming processes and the oscillations of motivation and immersion within a game. With this premise in mind, the authors developed a psycho-pedagogical approach to a non-invasive embedded assessment of motivational states and learning progress, feeding into a dynamic, ontology-driven learner (and gamer) model. To evaluate the approach, the demonstrator games were subject to intensive quantitative and qualitative experimental research. Results show that a meaningful personalization and an individual support are key factors of the success of learning games.

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Play Styles and Learning

Handbook of Research on Effective Electronic Gaming in Education ◽

10.4018/978-1-59904-808-6.ch047 ◽

2009 ◽

pp. 826-846 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Carrie Heeter

Keyword(s):

Learning Styles ◽

Game Design ◽

Educational Games ◽

Educational Game ◽

Achievement Orientation ◽

Applied Study ◽

Individual Traits ◽

Play Styles ◽

The Impact ◽

Classroom Use

This chapter reviews player types found in commercial MMOs and educational games and a palette of play styles and learning is proposed from which game designers and educators can more easily imagine (or perhaps “paint”) their target audience. Two studies show how the palette might be applied. Study 1 examines the impact of different in-game reward schemas on player types. Study 2 compares classroom play with one child per computer versus paired play of the same educational game. Educational game design and the way a teacher structures in-class educational game play both influence emergent play and learning. Player archetypes (more commonly called player types) help game designers imagine the needs and interests of potential players. Considering learner types would be similarly useful. Learning styles relevant to educational game design and classroom use are described, including intrinsic and extrinsic achievement orientation, motivation, individual traits, and competition and other social factors.

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Designing a Programming Game to Improve Children’s Procedural Abstraction Skills in Scratch

Journal of Educational Computing Research ◽

10.1177/0735633120932871 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 58 (7) ◽

pp. 1372-1411 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Simon P. Rose ◽

M. P. Jacob Habgood ◽

Tim Jay

Keyword(s):

Computer Science ◽

Digital Literacy ◽

Game Design ◽

Educational Games ◽

Compulsory Education ◽

Educational Game ◽

Code Smells ◽

Programming Tools ◽

Block Based ◽

Procedural Abstraction

The recent shift in compulsory education from ICT-focused computing curricula to informatics, digital literacy and computer science, has resulted in children being taught computing using block-based programming tools such as Scratch, with teaching that is often limited by school resources and teacher expertise. Even without these limitations, Scratch users often produce code with ‘code smells’ such as duplicate blocks and long scripts which impact how they understand and debug projects. These code smells can be removed using procedural abstraction, an important concept in computer science rarely taught to this age group. This article describes the design of a novel educational block-based programming game, Pirate Plunder, which concentrates on how procedural abstraction is introduced and reinforced. The article then reports an extended evaluation to measure the game’s efficacy with children aged 10 and 11, finding that children who played the game were then able to use procedural abstraction in Scratch. The article then uses game analytics to explore why the game was effective and gives three recommendations for educational game design based on this research: using learning trajectories and restrictive success conditions to introduce complex content, increasing learner investment through customisable avatars and suggestions for improving the evaluations of educational games.

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