KSP684 - Applying Pedagogy during Game Development to Enhance Game-Based Learning

Abstract:

• “Serious games” are becoming more and more common for use in education.
• Advances in video game design outpace research on their effectiveness and their design
• Very little is known about how to optimize the game design process or game-based learning.
• Educators and instructional designers leading the design process would likely result in neither fun nor engaging games.  They would focus on educational objectives.
• Traditional teaching practices and learning requirements would be forced into the game
• Entertaining game designers would fail to incorporate pedagogical principles.
• Games shouldn’t distract players with high-end graphics and animations or competing, scoring, and winning.

Applying Pedagogy during Game Development to Enhance Game-based Learning

• Levels of Design & Application
• Four levels must be applied to instructional games
• Instruction must be viewed as a series of events that facilitate learning and achievement of specified learning and performance goals.
• Instructional units should contain a complete set of instructional events. Can be divided into lessons.  Hierarchy of Course:

• Instructional strategy should be grounded in research and theory.  Use of 5E instructional model can help:
• Engage: assess learners’ prior knowledge and helps them become engaged in a new concept by reading a vignette, posting a question, doing a demonstration that has a non-intuitive result, showing a video clip, or conducting some other short activity that promotes curiosity and elicits prior knowledge
• Explore: Learners work in collaborative teams to complete activities that help them use prior knowledge to generate ideas, explore questions, and possibilities, and design and conduct a preliminary inquiry.
• Explain: Learners should have the opportunity to explain their current understanding of the main concept.  They may explain their understanding of the concept by making presentations, sharing ideas with one another, reviewing current scientific explanations and comparing these to their own understandings, and/or listening to an explanation from the teacher that guides them toward a more in-depth understanding.
• Elaborate: Learners elaborate their understanding of the concept by conducting additional activities.  They may revisit an earlier activity, project, or idea and build on it, or conduct an activity that requires an application of the concept.  The focus in this stage is on adding breadth and depth to current understanding.
• Evaluate: The evaluation phase helps both learner and instructors assess how well the learner understand the concept and whether they have met the learning outcomes. There should be opportunities for self assessment as well as formal assessment.

Level Descriptions:

• Level 1:
• Game designed to facilitate one specific instructional event within an instructional unit.
• Examples:
• Recall factual content
• Promote active involvement and discussion
• Evaluate acquisition of concepts
• Events must be planned for learner to explore, explain, and elaborate - can be prior to or after game.
• Level 2:
• Game addresses 2 or more events from instructional unit.
• May present learners with a scenario to engage their interest AND ask them to explore related concepts through a series of readings and activities.  
• Feedback and assessments can occur before or after gameplay.
• Level 3:
• Incorporates ALL activities and events necessary to achieve a specified set of goals and objectives.
• Game is designed to engage learners, facilitate exploration, solicit explanations and elaborations, and evaluate learning.
• Level 4:
• One game played throughout the entire course.  
• Ties together all units, lessons, and events.
• Level 5 - Not a typical level but could be developed to encompass all course certificates, degrees, or training materials. Not very likely to happen.

Distinctions between levels are important because processes and resources necessary to apply what we know about teaching and learning. (pedagogy) to design an instruction game.