Game-Based Learning and Training (cont.) - Ontario Tech U › kapralos › csci5530 › lectures › csci55… · creates digital game based learning (serious games) Overview (6):

CSCI 5530: Serious Games Development (Simulations and Serious Games)

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Winter 2012

Bill Kapralos

CSCI 5530, Winter 2012 Bill Kapralos

Winter 2012

Game-Based Learning and Training (cont.)

Friday, February 3 2012

Bill Kapralos

Overview (1):Before We Begin

Administrative details

Brief review from last week

Why Game-Based Learning Works

Overview

Something to consider

What Players Learning by Playing Video

Games

Overview

Five levels of learning in games

Administrative Details (1):No Lecture Next Week (Feb 10)

I will be at the Medicine Meets Virtual Reality

Conference → the following week I will provide an

overview of the MMVR conference

I will probably assign some papers from MMVR for

those doing presentations

“Mid-Term” Projects

Some notes/comments


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Bill Kapralos

As an Aside

Why Game-Based Learning Works

Overview (1):Today’s Education

The process of learning is rarely the motivating or

engaging factor

There are situations where millennials are

interested and are eager to remain engaged in the

learning process → not the “norm”

Their motivation to put in the effort needed to learn

typically comes from punishment and reward

In contrast, game playing → main reason people

play games is because they are engaging →

computer and video games are possibly the most

engaging pastime in history of mankind!


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Bill Kapralos

Overview (2):Today’s Education (cont.)

Video games bring together motivating elements not

found together in any other medium

They are a form of fun → provide enjoyment and

pleasure

They are a form of play → provide intense and

passionate involvement

They have rules → provide structure

They have goals → provide motivation

They are interactive → provide the “doing”

They are adaptive → give us flow


Video games bring together motivating elements not

found together in any other medium (cont.)

They have outcomes and feedback → provides us

with learning

They have win states → provides ego gratification

They have conflict, competition, challenge, and

opposition → provide us with adrenaline

They have problem solving → sparks our creativity

They have interaction → give us social groups

The have characters and story → gives us emotion


Given these factors, combining games and learning

can potentially add enormously to the motivation of

students to learn what they may not be otherwise

motivated to learn → increases their engagement in

the learning process

Strong engagement has been associated with

academic achievement

Fun in learning process creates relaxation →

enables learner to put effort without resentment

Play → we already saw the biological importance

of play in all species!


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Winter 2012

Bill Kapralos


Games engage and motivate us through their goals

and our struggle to achieve them through the

decisions we make and feedback we get from them

Through the opponents and challenges we have to

overcome, and through the emotions and

connections with others we feel when playing

This is what keeps gamers glued to their

computers and consoles for countless hours

Consciously combining the engaging power of video

games with a set of interactive learning processes

creates digital game based learning (serious games)


So basically, serious games and digital game based

learning are the solution and its just a matter of putting

everything in a game ? Not so easy!

Key is to manage how the game and the instruction

are put together into a whole package → this is not

easy and has been done poorly in the past

Even if a “perfect” serious game was developed →

how is the game incorporated into the learning

process/curriculum ?

Typically, the game itself is designed to be part of

the curriculum, not the entire curriculum!


Even if a “perfect” serious game was developed →

how is the game incorporated into the learning

process/curriculum ? (cont.)

Of course, the content within the game must be

well matched to the learner → if this is not the

case, little, if any, learning will take place

regardless the learning method


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Bill Kapralos


Although there may be some debate as to how

effective they actually are, there is plenty of evidence

indicating that games can be effective learning tools

How effective really does depend on the design of

the game → it is very easy to put together a game

that is “educational” but putting together an

effective educational game is not easy

The design process is often down-played and

typically shortcuts are taken!

Something to Consider (1):Should Learning be Fun ?

Not everyone agrees!

“People must not do things for fun. We are not here

for fun. There is no reference to fun in any act of

Parliament” → A. P. Herbert

“I may be old-fashioned but learning is hard work”

→ Clifford Stoll “High Tech Heretic” (1999)

“Education is the hardest work most of us will ever

do” → Yale Professor David Gelertner

Something to Consider (2):Should Learning be Fun ? (cont.)

Game based learning does not dispute this

What is does take issue with in “hard work” is not

the “hard” part → no one disputes the effort and

energy involved in learning and all of the good

games are hard to master

Change is in the “work” part → learning does not

feel like work when you are having fun (“hard fun”

according MIT Media Lab or “stealth learning” from

Doug Crockford of LucasArts)

“People rarely succeed unless they have fun in

what they are doing” → Dale Carnegie (“motivator”)


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Winter 2012

Bill Kapralos

Something to Consider (3):Not Everyone “Gets it”

Despite its growing popularity and presence in a wide

variety of educational/training settings, many

managers and leaders in the education world still do

not fully accept its premise and utility

Many of these people are strong believers in

“traditional” education/learning → essentially, 19th

century method of rote learning, telling, testing, etc.

Because digital technology is such a discontinuity

→ much of the data collected and the theories

formulated in the past about how people think and

learn no longer apply

Something to Consider (4):Not Everyone “Gets it” (cont.)

Because of this discontinuity, our entire learning

system which worked well for hundreds of years, is

breaking down

The “stuff” to be learned can no longer be just

“told” to today’s learners → “stuff” must be learned

by them, through questions, discovery,

construction, interaction, and fun

Does the above sound familiar?

Something to Consider (5):Effectiveness

So all this “buzz” about gaming etc. but how effective

is game-based learning ?

Many criticize today’s learning games → and there

is much to criticize!

But if some of the existing games don’t produce

learning it is not because they are games or

because the concept of game-based learning is

faulty → due only to poor design of these games


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Winter 2012

Bill Kapralos

Something to Consider (6):Effectiveness (cont.)

Measuring “true learning” is very difficult

The real measure of learning is behaviour change

→ would this individual, when faced with identical

or similar problem in the future, do something

different (mentally or physically) than before

But we can never know this until it happens hence

the “test” → a series of questions, problems, and

hypotheticals that let learner demonstrate what

they have learned

What we want to know is → are test scores the

same as other methods of learning ?

Something to Consider (7):Effectiveness (cont.)

There have only been a few “head to head”

comparisons between game-based learning and

alternatives conducted in this way

So far, these studies indicate that “learning games”

that are designed properly do produce learning,

and lots of it while engaging players (Prensky)

Something to Consider (8):Effectiveness – An Example

Plato Learning

Measured that a typical 9am – 3pm elementary

school day includes only about 3 hours of

instruction time (recess, lunch ,etc.)

Developed Playstation games for curriculum

reinforcement in K-8 school → if they could get

kids to play their games for 6 hours over the

weekend, and games are 50% educational, they

would effectively add 1 day to their school week

and this would lead to higher test scores…


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Winter 2012

Bill Kapralos

Something to Consider (9):Effectiveness – An Example (cont.)

Plato Learning (cont.)

Conducted studies with over 400 individual school

districts and performed a meta analysis

Found increases in vocabulary and language arts

of 24% and 25% respectively over control groups

Found increases of 51% and 30% in math

procedures and algorithms scores respectively

Something to Consider (10):Effectiveness – Another Example

Click Health

Developed games for kids to self-manage their

health issues (diabetes, etc.)

Conducted clinical trials → funded by the National

institutes of Health

Found that in case of diabetes, the kids that played

their games (in contrast to a control group that

played a pinball game), showed measurable gains in

self-efficacy, communication with parents, and

diabetes self-care

Urgent doctor visits dropped 77% in treatment group

Something to Consider (11):Effectiveness – Another Example (cont.)

Click Health (cont.)

Packy and Marlon → video game for the Super

Nintendo Entertainment System released in 1995.

Designed to improve self-care behavior in children

with juvenile diabetes


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Winter 2012

Bill Kapralos

Something to Consider (12):James Paul Gee

Video

What Players Learnby Playing Video Games

Overview (1):Video Game Learning

Many opinions have been expressed

Video games are mindless → kids don’t learn

anything beyond hand-eye coordination from the

thousands of hours spent playing games

Kids learn about the game only → but nothing

about real life from these games

Violent video games “teach kids how to kill”

Above opinions are not correct

Whenever one plays a game (video game or

otherwise), and whatever game one plays, learning

happens constantly whether player is aware of it


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Winter 2012

Bill Kapralos

Overview (2):Video Game Learning (cont.)

Not just learning about the game

Also learning about life → one of the positive

consequences of all game playing

Learning takes place every time one plays, in every

game, continuously and simultaneously on several

levels → players do not have to be paying

conscious attention to the learning either

Five levels of learning

“How”, “What”, “Why”, “Where”, “When”

Five Levels of Learning in Games (1):Level 1: Learning How

Learning how to do something → as one plays the

game, one learns gradually or quickly, the moves of

the game (move the avatar, defeat the enemy, etc.)

Additional non-conscious message that one also

learns → one has control of what goes on within the

screen unlike TV/movies

What implications does this have for the real-world ?

Pure fantasy games → the explicit “how to do it”

may be useless in the school yard or workplace →

but learning how to “flip” Tetris pieces may enhance

their mental spatial processing abilities…

Five Levels of Learning in Games (2):Level 1: Learning How (cont.)

The more a game simulates anything in real-world, the

more one learns about how to do things in that world

Of course, one cannot learn to do everything →

there are kinesthetic cues, for example, that you

need to learn in a real airplane simulator or on a

real horse but what you can learn is huge and is an

area still very under-explored

Also important to note that gamers choose their games

because they are interested in learning various things


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Winter 2012

Bill Kapralos


Not only do players learn how to do things but they are

constantly practising these things over and over

Learning is internalized & becomes “second nature”

Of course, keep in mind that just because someone

learns to do something, doesn’t mean one has learned

when or whether one should do it

The “How” level extends deeper to more transferable

learning by enhancing non-game-specific skills

“Heavy” game players learn how to parallel process

and multi-task → have to in order to succeed


The “How” level extends deeper (cont.)

Through practise in games they get better at

integrating these perspectives simultaneously into a

single world view

Learn hot to incorporate peripheral information → a

skill shown to be enhanced by video game playing

How do we know the learning at the “How” level

actually takes place ?

We can observe it → people who practise

something over and over, learn it and get it better

and this is common knowledge


Something to consider

Designers of serious games/simulations pride

themselves on how these games are becoming

more and more realistic and “lifelike”

One may not be able to learn to do anything → e.g.,

kinesthetic cues you need to learn in a real airplane

simulator but what you can learn how to do is large

and still vastly under-explored

Can you learn to monitor and use the control and

gauges of a real-life plane or train? Learn your way

around a real-world oil platform? YES!


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Winter 2012

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Something to consider → what, at the “How” level

does a kid learn about real life from playing Pokeman?

They learn how to use/manage a large database of

information → this is learned subconsciously and

without them thinking of it at all in those terms

A socially useful type of learning that could easily

be applied to other large bodies of information e.g.,

real plants and animals, and geographic data if the

context were as compelling

Five Levels of Learning in Games (7):Level 2: Learning What

Players learn about “what” to do in any particular game

and “what not to do” → they learn the rules

The rules of any game teach you what is possible

and/or doable in the game

The process of game playing can be viewed as

learning to understand the “rules code”

In non-video games, players learn the rules before

they start playing → not the case in video games

where rules are built into the programming and

players learn the rules as they play by trial and error

Five Levels of Learning in Games (8):Level 2: Learning What (cont.)

What do video game rules teach kids about real life ?

They make a player, regardless of their age, reflect,

at least subconsciously, and compare the game to

what they already know about life

Players are constantly comparing the rules of

whatever game they are playing to what they have

learned elsewhere about life

When there is a conflict → players ask themselves

“is this a dumb rule?”

Players constantly ask themselves → “are game

rules fair, accurate, etc. in terms of what I know?”


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Winter 2012

Bill Kapralos


The more the rules do reflect the real world that

players know → the more they believe the game

reflects reality and vice versa

How do we know that these comparisons do occur ?

Games with wildly unfair or inaccurate rules get

quickly identified by players as “bogus” and don’t

get played much

Game designers spend much time adjusting rules

of the game to make them seem reasonable →

balancing the game


Direct examination of game rules is a component of

“metagaming” → thinking outside the game

Includes thinking about what rule changes will

make the game better and then implementing those

changes → video game designers and players are

always trying to tweak rules to improve the game

Also learn about breaking the rules

Even from a very young game players → learn to

shout “you can’t do that!”, “that’s not fair!”…

Five Levels of Learning in Games (11):Level 3: Learning Why

Players learn why they do something → they learn the

strategy of a game as they play it

Successful players learn that in some games and

situations to succeed they need to attack openly but

in others they do so stealthily, in some they need to

horde and be selfish yet in others they need to

cooperate, etc. etc. → many real-life lessons!

Game strategy and tactics are loaded with such

learning about real life → like the rules, strategy in

games must be life-like for game to make sense even

if game is fantasy-based


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Five Levels of Learning in Games (12):Level 3: Learning Why (cont.)

Recall military and their embrace of games

For millennia, militaries have been aware that

strategy can be learned by playing games → they

have adopted video games (serious games) to their

own learning needs far ahead of the curve

All branches of the (US) military use video games

for learning at all levels from recruit to commander

→ use a combination of off-the shelf games,

specially modified games, games specifically

commissioned for their purposes

Five Levels of Learning in Games (13):Level 3: Learning Why (cont.)

Many other deeper lessons learned from video games

than that previously described

Cause and effect

Long-term winning versus short-term gains

Order form seeming chaos

Second-order consequences

Complex system behaviors

Counterintuitive results

The value of persistence

Five Levels of Learning in Games (14):Level 4: Learning Where

The “context” level, as in learning about where you are

Encompasses a huge amount of cultural learning

that goes on in video games → psychologists tell us

that games are one means through which kids learn

to understand their world

Player learns about the game world and the values

it represents → acquire cultural metaphors and

images to use in describing the real world

It is on this level that players learn ideas → both

consciously and unconsciously as they play their

game


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Winter 2012

Bill Kapralos

Five Levels of Learning in Games (15):Level 4: Learning Where (cont.)

Video games reflect the big cultural ideas or myths

Right vs. wrong, good vs. evil, victory vs. defeat etc.

Players learn to handle myth, lore, danger, betrayal,

the fact there is always someone bigger and more

powerful than you are, and the existential

inevitability that eventually you will die even if you

“kill the bad guys and rescue the girl”

Players learn to handle cultural relativity and deal

with different people and roles

Players learn to identify with the game characters

and with the cultures they inhabit


Do kids really learn these things ?

Players (kids) use video games as a filter through

which to understand their lives → not different from

past where hero and filter for interpreting life may

have come from a story (e.g., comic book heroes)

but the big difference between games and stories is

that kids learn that they have control over this life


Immersion → one of the most effective game

techniques for transmitting the “Where”

The more one feels they are “in” a culture, the

more one learns from it → especially non-

consciously

Video games are becoming more and more

immersive, in part thanks to technological

advancements (e.g., think of the Microsoft Kinect)

→ think of the learning opportunities this provides

us with!


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Immersion → some interesting questions/issues

To what degree does immersion affect learning → it

does affect learning but can we quantify this ?

Immersion is not only related to the fidelity of the

graphics, audio cues etc. → a big part of immersion

relates to game-play and engagement

Immersion and its effect on learning → plenty to be

investigated here…

Five Levels of Learning in Games (19):Level 5: Learning When and Whether

The “ultimate” level of learning → deepest, most

interesting learning that occurs in video games

Involves the non-conscious emotional messages →

the “subtext”

Players learn to make value-based and moral

decisions → decisions about whether something is

right or wrong

Most problematic and controversial learning level

Five Levels of Learning in Games (20):Level 5: Learning When and Whether (cont.)

Mechanisms for creating the learning at this level

range from extremely simple to the most complex

Simplest level → learning comes through game’s

amplification of certain factors (through repetition

and other means) and reduction of others

More complex levels → comes through the use of

allegory and symbols, and through the manipulation

of images, situations, sounds, music, and other

emotion-producing effects and combination of

effects (like in movies/films)


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Winter 2012

Bill Kapralos


But can’t this cause problems ?

Hard to argue that combination of “amplification”

and “emotional” cues in certain games doesn’t lead

players to learn that the answer to “is it ok to kill the

character in the game context is “yes”

Are they also learning about this in real life and do

they generalize these messages to the actual world

they live in? → According to Prensky, No!

As with rules, players are constantly cross-checking

automatically and non-consciously with whatever

else they know or have heard for consistency


Messages that are consistent get accepted and

messages in conflict get further examination

A game that encourages killing could encourage a

player to kill in real life → but the message “do not

kill” is a large part of our cultural context causing us

to “think twice” before killing in real life

Comparison of “when/whether” learning in the

game with “when/whether” learning in the rest of

life is why shooting games can help kids learn how

to aim without their learning how to kill

Five Levels of Learning in Games (23):Is “Video Game Learning” Positive or

Negative ?

The major concerns of those who think the learning is

negative are as follows:

How level → teaching players to do inappropriate

things

What level → rules of game are too restrictive and

games don’t leave enough room for imagination

Why level → strategies for winning many of the

games contain too much violence, too many

“cheats”, and other undesirable elements


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Winter 2012

Bill Kapralos


Negative ? (cont.)

The major concerns of those who think the learning is

negative are as follows: (cont.)

Where level → players are being socialized to be

loners, misogynists, and social deviants

Whether level → players are learning to be amoral

killers

Are these concerns valid ?

What do you think ?

How about games being “defusers” ?


Negative ? (cont.)

Video games are becoming less restrictive

More open to players’ imaginations and

personalities and other open-ended toy-like

elements that lets players to exercise their own

imaginations and tell their own stories

Newer games have multiple winning strategies

Proliferation of internet is bringing social orientation

that games always had, back again

Video game players are changing → female, elderly

Critics keep focusing on negative (ignore positive)

As an Aside (1):Aside from the Learning…

Video games have been used to boost interest in

science careers

US National Science Foundation has a number of

programs that use games and game design to

increase student interest in science, technology,

engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects in

traditionally underserved communities


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Bill Kapralos

As an Aside (3):Aside from the Learning… (cont.)

Video games have been used to boost interest in

science careers (cont.)

According to ITIF → US federal government,

foundations and/or corporations should sponsor

creation of national science videogames, (similar to

“America’s Army” for recruiting purposes)

“High scorers” in these videogames and those who

comment intelligently on associated forums could

be added to the “America’s High School STEM

Talent” database → a national teaching tool and a

recruiting tool

Documents

Game-Based Learning and Training (cont.) - Ontario Tech U › kapralos › csci5530 › lectures › csci55… · creates digital game based learning (serious games) Overview (6):