Preservice Teachers Consider Game-Based Teaching and Learning

Gaming has become a core activity with children and more teachers are using games for teaching content than they did five years ago. Yet, teachers report that they learn about game titles, impact studies, and facilitation techniques through their own initiatives or from other teachers rather than from their teacher education program. This chapter reports on a combined curricular strategy built on game strategy research that asked teacher candidates (n= 125) to discuss news headlines about games, play educational games, review games, and game research, teach others how to play educational games, and construct games. Findings reveal that candidates saw value in using games in K-12 to teach content, were able to develop assessments based on game content at a novice level, and were able to construct games either alone or in small groups. Educators contemplating gaming as an instructional strategy may be interested in the espoused combination strategy to encourage game adoption in K-12 settings.

The Importance of Teacher Bridging in Game-Based Learning Classrooms

Advances in game-based learning and educational data mining enable novel methods of formative assessment that can reveal implicit understandings that students may demonstrate in games but may not express formally on a test. This chapter explores a framework of bridging in game-based learning classes, where teachers leverage and build upon students' game-based implicit learning experiences to support science classroom learning. Bridging was studied with two physics learning games in about 30 high-school classes per game. Results from both studies show that students in bridging classes performed better on external post-tests, when accounting for pre-test scores, than in classes that only played the game or did not play the game at all. These findings suggest the teachers' role is critical in game-based learning classes. Effective bridging includes providing teachers with common game examples along with actionable discussion points or activities to connect game-based learning with classroom content.

Using Multi-Modal Data to Examine Equity in Activity-Monitor Gaming Within Real-World Communities

It is rare for research on augmented-reality games to examine equity and access as grounded in features of the actual neighborhoods where game play takes place, and in the affordances of communities and their built environments for gamified ambulatory physical activity in the real world. This chapter studies two diverse groups of middle-school youth, situated in urban and suburban areas, who wore activity monitors as they went through daily activities and played an online game that synced with their monitors. The game drew data from the wearable devices so that the more youth engaged in step-countable physical activity in the real world, the more game-world energy they earned. This chapter analyzes the actual communities where our participants' activity and game play was situated. The chapter lays out the multi-modal data sources in that analysis and provides some potential models that can be employed by others in related work. Finally, the chapter closes by articulating some directions and concerns for future research in a gamified physical world.

Engendering Multiliteracies Using Digital Games and Digital Literature

Recent calls for critical education in regards to social and digital media argue for the importance of 21st century media and literacy skills (Butler, 2017; Storksdieck, 2016). These calls join a chorus of academics who have long been calling for the importance of multiliteracy development in education (Cope & Kalantzis, 2000; Lankshear & Knobel, 2011; New London Group, 1996). In searching for texts that may facilitate multiliteracy development, digital games has emerged as an option in formal education, given the complex critical thinking, learning, and literacy practices they can afford (Beavis, O'Mara, & McNeice, 2012; Gee, 2007; Squire, 2008; Steinkhueler, 2010). The chapter explores the multiliterate affordances when using digital literature and digital games at an English language college in Quebec. Results show that the implications of using digital games to engender multiliteracy development are substantive.

Case Study of an Epistemic Mathematics Computer Game

E-Brock Bugs is a serious educational game (SEG) about probability which was created based on Devlin's design principles for games whose players adopt identities of mathematically able persons. This kind of games in which “players think and act like real world professionals” has been called epistemic. This chapter presents an empirical study of 16-year-old students' (n=61) experience playing E-Brock Bugs as part of their mathematics data management course. Results suggest that most students engaged in the game's mathematics and experienced a mathematical in-game identity. No gender difference was observed, but the students' self-identified mathematical capability (which was not correlated with their mathematics grades) seems to differentiate the extent to which they experience a mathematical in-game identity. E-Brock Bugs contributes to validate Devlin's game design approach to epistemic mathematics SEGs.

Promoting Spoken Interaction and Student Engagement With Board Games in a Language Teaching Context

This article provides information on an action research project in a low-level EFL setting in Japan. The project aims were to 1) foster spoken communication skills and 2) help students engage with their own learning. The project investigated the applicability of board games as a mediating tool for authentic communication as part of a wider TBLT approach to language development. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from 115 first- and second-year Japanese university students via teacher observations, informal discussions during class time, and a questionnaire at the end of a seven-week intervention. Responses to the questionnaire indicated that the framework was perceived to be valuable in both fostering communicative skills and improving student engagement. Methodological improvements were also suggested. Implications applicable to teachers working in similar contexts are discussed, as well as possible improvements for future implementations.

Entertainment and Physical Activities

It is possible to observe that gameplays are a big success in many different places. From arcade games to the most recent games, users have been trying different games to entertain and lately exergames are supporting users to enhance physical activities level in their daily basis. This chapter analyzes how players of Pokémon GO are producing new connections for social benefits and an active lifestyle meanwhile or after using the game. This study involved 176 players in the cities of Pelotas and João Pessoa (Brazil). As a result, it was evident that users had changed many habits, specially regarding physical activity gains, such as running, walking, or cycling more frequently, and many of players were getting into an active lifestyle, practicing exercises with friends and family. Authors conclude that Pokémon GO is a successful mobile-based gameplays that can be used to promote a healthier lifestyle with a new way of interaction, changing lifestyles with a big potential to be used to motivate people to be more active and healthy.

Massively Multiplayer Online Games as Spaces for Metacognition and Self-Regulated Learning

Metacognition, or the ability to be consciously and intentionally aware of one's thinking and the ways in which one's thinking impacts one's learning, has been shown in the research to be a critical component of learners' abilities to learn effectively. One area of research on metacognition has focused on the role of metacognition in video games, specifically in massively multiplayer online games, known as MMOs. Through examples of metacognition in a popular video game such as World of Warcraft or in Adventure Academy, a new educational MMO for children ages 8–13 years old, this chapter highlights the ways in which MMOs can act as spaces that support the development of metacognitive behaviors through the components of planning, monitoring, control, and evaluation, toward improving learning overall.

Achievement Unlocked?

Even though game-based learning is trending both in research and in practice, there is still a limited understanding about the relationships between teachers' and students' perceptions of academic achievement, levels of learning engagement, and challenges implementing this pedagogical approach in a PK-12 setting. Data used for this research project were extracted from responses to an annual online survey administered to teachers and students at middle schools and high schools in a Midwest state in America. The authors' results indicate that teachers and students agree that students were more engaged in class learning activities if they were managed like games, and GBL helped improve student academic performances. Finally, “Insufficient time” was the most common barrier to the teachers' effort of implementing GBL in their classrooms.

Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Game Creation by Youth for Media and Information Literacy

This chapter presents findings of GamiLearning (2015-2018) research project aimed to promote critical and participative dimensions of Media and Information Literacy (MIL) in youth through the creation of digital games. Students aged 9 to 14 years old from Portugal and Austin, Texas, participated in the study that included an intervention at schools, based on a constructivist approach. Fieldwork was conducted in three schools in Portugal and one school in the USA. A MIL questionnaire was designed and administered before and after the project's intervention. Preliminary findings from the four schools indicate statistically significant differences between pre and post questionnaires. The MIL questionnaire was validated for students in the 2nd and 3rd cycles of Basic Education in Portugal. The Exploratory Factorial Analysis indicate three subscales: Media Creation, Interaction, and Information Management. Results from the intervention group in Portugal indicate statistically significant differences in Media Creation and Interaction when compared to the control group.