Design Journal notes 09252010-09292010
Learning from Educational Games
Ferdig (Ed.), Handbook of Research on Effective Electronic Gaming in Education, 989–1009. New York: IGI Global.
This article highlights a number of my design passions – and will be important moving towards dissertation decisions. The article stresses the importance of conceptual play spaces over game vs. simulation through two primary examples:
Black Rhino in Tanzania and Anytown
Quest Atlantis
“While it is possible to develop game rules or even a rich narrative, and while it is possible to design a space to support academic learning or even legitimate participation, it is quite challenging to develop a conceptual play space that both fosters Gee’s notion of empathetic embodiment and supports the learning of discipline-relevant practices. The goal of this manuscript is to both communicate the value of such curriculum and to provide an illuminative
set of cases such that others might create their own conceptual play spaces.
Abstract
In this chapter we provide a framework for designing play spaces to support learning academic content. Reflecting on our four years of design experience around developing conceptual play spaces, we provide guidelines for educators to think through what it would mean to design a game for supporting learning. Conceptual play is a state of engagement that involves (a) projection into the role of a character who, (b) engaged in a partly fictional problem context, (c) must apply conceptual understandings to make sense of and, ultimately, transform the context. We provide four elements that one must balance when designing a conceptual play space to support the learning of disciplinary content; more specifically, ensuring the learning of academic content and supporting legitimate participation while, concurrently ensuring interaction with gaming rules and engagement with the framing narratives through which the play takes on meaning. Our goal is to communicate the potential value of play spaces and to provide an illuminative set of cases for others.
Gee, J.P. (2006). Learning and Games. In K. Salen (Ed.), The Ecology of Games, pp. 21–40. Cambridge, MIT Press.
This, as Barab will be an important article approaching my dissertation decisions, as I have written “YES!” in the margins on my print out. I must make sure to check on a game Okami regarding applications to teaching aspects of Jewish Civilization:
“One can take note here as well of the beautiful video game Okami that models, in a myriad of ways, Japanese spiritual, cultural, and historical perspectives on the relationship between drawing (e.g., in writing in characters) and the world (31).”
In this article, Gee points out a number of important intersections between good learning and good games/Games (capital G for the larger social system) – from motivational aspects, emotional connections to memory and problem solving to connections between World of Warcraft demonstrating cross functional teams and”distributed intelligence” – crowd sourcing. Tool usage, immediate in-game feedback (transforming “failure” signals from punishment to motivation). I have noted the connections also to NLP techniches such as the failure to feedback transformation. This provides a scholarly/academic approach to such ideas. Experience is at the core of this article – Gee discusses how experience and situated learning and problems provide more ideal learning environments to cognition – learner’s investment in the problem solving is key. Gee also touches on scaffolding concepts, though he doesn’t use that word here. I noticed connections to D and D – such as cross functional teaming – I am interested in the pursuits of the Gifted and Talented in the 1970s and 80s as they apply to the techniques we now champion in gaming – is the primary force in being able to make this shift the ubiquitous nature of digital gaming paired with support from foundations such as ADM and MacArthur? Regardless, it seems we now seek to bring all learners into the imaginative landscape –here I hope to find my dissertation work…
Squire, K. (2008). Open-Ended Video Games: A Model for Developing Learning for the Interactive Age. In K. Salen (Ed.), The Ecology of Games, pp. 167–198. Cambridge, MIT Press.
Analysis of studies of Civ III and Grand Theft Auto: SA for the purpose of understanding open sandbox games—two key quotes:
“The idea is to develop worlds that are worth understanding, which support multiple readings mediated by interpretive communities of practice, developing multiple compelling trajectories through the space, and supporting students in identifying new kinds of experiences in which to take part (see figure 1). As educators, we can nurture, develop, and extend students’ participation within the game environment beyond the specific context of play. (192-193).”
“Part of what makes open-ended games intriguing for educators is their ability to nurture, sustain, and develop participants’ interests for years (much like a spiraling curriculum might). At the time of this writing, we see participants periodically “checking out” and coming back to our program, as they develop new academic interests. Monroe, for example, renewed his interest in Civilization III while reading about European colonization in school. (193)”
This article is important for historical reconstructions – raises issues of ideology that are built into game mechanics. Design issue: how to provide ideology (in my research case, positive, ethical, Jewish) into game mechanics
Rieber, L.R. (2005). Multimedia Learnign in Games, Simulations, and Microworlds. In Mayer, R.E. (Ed.), Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning, pp. 549–567. New York: Cambridge.
Reviewing and critiquing scientific eveidence and research methods regarding using games, simulations, and microworlds as multimedia learning tools. Makes distinction between explanation and experience for design opportunities in interactive media. Finds that there is strong evidence in simulations research regarding feedback in the interface.
Some conclusions: informational support needed for hypothesis creation post-simulation – benefit of simulations that grow in difficulty and complexity. Microworlds – for exploring complex systems. Recommends mixed methods when studying interactive media. Regarding cognitive theory: worth exploring dual coding and mental models theoretical framework is particularly useful for explaning learning in simulations and microworlds. Experience and timing of explanations is key – short explanations and during the simulation.
Review
Kirriemuir, J. & McFarlane, A. (2004). Literature review in games and learning. FutureLab Report.
Kirriemuir, J. & McFarlane, A. (2004). Literature review in games and learning. FutureLab Report.
Provides a wide swath of research through 2004 – pointing out the various challenges and potential opportunties – interesting to note that Zimmerman, Salen, Squire and Jenkins have yet to appear on the radar of Futurelab at this moment in time – Here are raised the concerns regarding violence, attention, lost-time as well as opportunties for fun to flow shifting, engagement at a deep level and a variety of used skills. I find this piece most interesting in terms of historiography of the emerging field/discipline.
Drawing on the Civ III research that we’ve seen in the other study and a program using Mad City Myster, a mobile based game, Squire argues for the future of education through gaming using ethnographic/qualitative interviews. He stresses the aspects of simulation – seen as possibility spaces and cultures of participation. Visual culture and media worlds are suggested as the oncoming if not present vernacular. The possibilities of shifting media consumers to producers (though, I think, Jenkins has shown that this has already happened – Jenkins does ask for guidance from educators here) is mentioned as well as development of expertise. The primary benefit of this article is the writing on Mad City Mystery absent from the other Squire reading this week.
Steinkuehler, C. A. (2006). Massively multiplayer online videogaming as participation in a Discourse. Mind, Culture & Activity, 13(1), 38-52.
A functional linguistics approach to unpacking the meaning/power in MMOGs
Steinhuehler’s page gives her perspective as “from a learning sciences & new literacy studies perspective.” Here she uses “cognitive ethnographies” (what course can I take here? Goldman?) Later she states: The analysis presented here is based on functional linguistics (Halliday, 1978) and big-D Discourse analysis—“the analysis of language as it is used to enact activities, perspectives, and identities”
(Gee, 1999, pp. 4–5). (42)”
“Briefly, such analyses focus on the collocational patterns of linguistic
cues such as word choice, foregrounding/backgrounding syntactic and prosodic markers, cohesion
devices, discourse organization, contextualization signals, and thematic organization used in
spoken or written utterances to invite particular interpretive practices. Configurations of such devices
signal how the language of the particular utterance is being used to construe various aspects
of reality such as which aspects of the (virtual) material world are relevant and in what way, the
implied identity of the speaker/writer and who the audience is construed to be, and what specific
social activities the speaker and his or her interlocutors are taken to be engaged in (Gee, 1999).” (42)
She seems to be a direct protégé of Gee – curious that her PhD was done at Madison and now she is part of the faculty. My impression was that was uncommon in academia – though perhaps less so at Madison and MIT due to the small pool of specialize professors? The article features Gee’s Discourse Theory, and applies it to Lineage:
“Through participation in a Discourse community, an individual comes to understand the
world (and themselves) from the perspective of that community. Thus, semantic interpretation is taken as part of what people do in the lived-in world; it arises through interaction with social and material resources in the context of a community with its own participant structures, values,
and goals (40).”
I am left asking what is the larger environmental benefit of the parsing of argot? Is it “Robust online communities are… complex social spaces of affiliations and disaffiliation” (50) How can the parsing be deployed politically, economically? She argues: “such communities are indeed rich spaces for social interaction and enculturation, requiring complex cognitive and cultural knowledge and skills, how is it that they are so often dismissed if not vilified by the media? (50)s Here is the hook – validation of the community through the argot into the complexity of knowledge and skills. Very very interesting.
Would like to follow up with Dr. Plass on this approach and determine others at NYU with similar methodologies.
Game:
Plants versus Zombies
Remarkably designed – highly engaging, highly “addictive” – two of my gamer friends turned me onto this game which pits you as a homeowner planting a garden of friendly and not-so-friendly combat flowers and plants to stave off invading zombie forces. Stimulating sound and graphics – cute plants, creepy zombies that murmur: “Brains… brains” as they approach to eat your plants and destroy your house. Most interesting is the aspect of reinforcement here, which matches the change in failure signals that Jim Gee points out in this week’s articles – failure is a signal to try harder. What is most interesting here is that during the sample – the game provides 60 minutes of free game play before charging $19.95 – I can only speak to the free part of the game, which I immediately used up – there was never a “die” state – but there is the constant threat of “dying” – so I never received a full “failure” signal from the game – only the fear of a failure signal and the excitement and sense of empowerment in avoiding fail signals. The closest that the zombies ever got to my house was that a couple reached the lawnmowers – the safeguard last defense line. But they never got to my house – this I believe was incredibly compelling/could induce addictive behavior – regular reinforcement while withholding “punishment” signals, but hovering just over them. The actions of the zombies eating up plants was punishment enough – they never needed to reach my house. From a Skinerian perspective, this is very interesting – how to modulate the threat of punishment or use minipunishment but allow the player to keep larger punishment at bay in order to spiral them deeper into game play. Could be a highly useful design tool in educational gaming.
For fun aspect and extra-game culture: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0N1_0SUGlDQ
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