GAMEiT Handbook

THE GAMEiT
HANDBOOK
A framework of game based learning pedagogy

Edited by: Mathias Poulsen and Ebba Køber

The GAMEiT handbook
Published 2011
Oslo, Norway.

This book is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK:
England & Wales License. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-
sa/2.0/uk/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California
94105, USA. The game images in this book is used by permission of the copyright owners and does not
go under the creative commons licence.

List of contributors:
Tove Ingerslev (Project Coordinator), CV2, Denmark
Mathias Poulsen, CV2, Denmark
Christos Gatzidis, The University of Bournemouth, United Kingdom
Dr Laurent Borgmann, University of Applied Sciences, Koblenz, Germany
Marcus Feßler, University of Applied Sciences, Koblenz, Germany
Thomas Berger, Institut inter.research e.V., Germany
Atle Løkken, University of Stavanger, Norway
Petter Mordt, University of Stavanger, Norway
Ebba Køber, NADE (Norwegian Association for Distance and Flexible Education), Norway

The GAMEiT project has been funded with support from the European Commission. The articles in this
book reflect only the views of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use
which may be made of the information contained herein.

www.projectgameit.eu
ISBN-13 978-82-91766-25-6
Illustrations by Zaxis, Petter Mordt
Design by Ebba Køber

Content THE GAMEiT HANDBOOK
Preface 9

Chapter One – Introduction to game based learning 15
Author: Mathias Poulsen
Play Consulting, GameIT College

Chapter Two – Global conflicts 33

Chapter Three – History Lessons via Gaming; A Review of Current
Approaches and the Design of a Case Study using
Rome Total War 45
Author: Christos Christos Gatzidis
Bournemouth University, UK

Chapter Four – Introducing Games with a Purpose to
Online and Blended Learning Environments 63
Authors: Dr. Elmar-Laurent Borgmann,
Thomas Berger,
Marcus Fessler
University of Applied Sciences, Koblenz, Germany

Chapter Five – Learning by producing 87

Chapter Six – The Medication Game – Digital Game Based
Medication Calculation – Development and Design 105
Authors: Petter Mordt1,
Karsten Tillerli1,
Atle Løkken1
& Brynjar Foss2
1
NettOp, Department of E-learning Development,
2
Department of Health Studies,
University of Stavanger

Future Perspectives 125

Preface

By Mathias Poulsen
Play Consulting
GameIT College

Mathias Poulsen

Preface to GAMEiT handbook
Throughout history games have been an integral part of human culture, and many
different types of games have been played for both leisure and more serious purposes,
such as practicing war strategies or learning relevant skills and/or competences.
In more recent time, digital games have effectively permeated most areas of popular
culture and society in general. Digital games are no longer confined to the arcades or the
darkened rooms of teenage boys, but have successfully broken (and continues to break)
new ground, forcing us to keep revising what games are - and can be.

Seeing the overwhelming popularity of games, acknowledging the hours and hours of
hard work and learning unfolding in the virtual worlds all across the globe all the time, it
should come as no surprise, that an increasing number of researchers, game developers
and educators are interested in games. Many a frustrated teacher have undoubtedly
wished for her students to mobilize the same motivation in school as they do when
playing their favorite video games. Others have seen and marveled at the complex
learning processes sparked by a burning desire to perform well in, say, World of Warcraft.

Such is the basic logic behind the eager attempts to include games in education;
“what if we could make educational learning contexts as compelling as do games?”

Despite this seemingly deceptively simple logic and the rapidly growing interest, it would
also seem that we are not yet anywhere near a full-blown understanding or application
of games in education. On the contrary, the uptake of games and game based learning
in schools is rather slow and facing many obstacles on its way. Only few teachers have
yet applied games in their teaching, and those who do are rarely given the resources to
pay any attention to the enormous importance of sharing their valuable experiences.
As an immediate consequence, those who considers taking the first steps may feel all
alone and without substantial backing from likeminded practitioners. In addition, there is
the more trivial (yet important) obstacles related to ICT and technology in general, such
as an uncertainty or intimidation on part of the teachers, lack of resources (sufficiently
powerful computers, relevant software/games etc.) and - most consequential, perhaps -
the lack of time to explore these new teaching methods.

These observations constitute the point of departure of the GAMEiT Project, and thus
also this handbook, clearly expressed by our mission statement:

“We aim to identify, collect, test and distribute good practice in game based learning.
Our project will result in a game based learning pedagogy”.

10

GAMEiT handbook Preface

By gathering together different partners with very different backgrounds, we intended
to not only fulfill our mission statement, but to do so while also showing the enormous
diversity and multitude of different approaches to game based learning. If you should
take only one lesson away from this handbook, let it be the one, that there is no one right
way to practice game based learning - but rather a wide array of right ways. Games have
the potential to contribute to learning and education in a multitude of ways, many of
which we may have not even seen yet.

Throughout the book, we make an effort to clearly illustrate how games or elements
of games can be included in educational practice, and to what end. In the following, we
briefly introduce each of the chapters in the handbook, but we strongly recommend
reading the entire book, as each chapter provides each own perspective on game based
learning.

Overview of handbook
Introduction to the field
In this first chapter, we set out to provide an overview of the different ways of perceiving
and approaching game based learning. This overview is primarily based on the large and
constantly growing body of research, but interpreted to shed light on the implications for
educational practice. We introduce some of the basic principles underlying game based
learning, and we establish a typology of game based learning.

Exploring conflicts
When thinking about “game based learning”, it is not uncommon to instantly start
considering the genre of games specifically developed for learning purposes, often
labelled “serious games” or “learning games”. These games are developed with
education in mind, and the content of the games are thus most often quite closely linked
to curricular demands.

A Case Study using Rome Total War
In this chapter we present an argument for the use of gaming for educators to
communicate information and knowledge better to a pupil audience in a history-based
curriculum. This includes a run-through of important previous approaches, a detailed
explanation of the methodology used in an envisaged pilot study, expected results and,
finally, a set of recommendations/suggestions for future implementations of similar
approaches in a classroom in other settings such as, for example, HE.”

Introducing Games with a Purpose to Online and Blended Learning Environments
In this chapter we experiment with a simple, low-threshold, and low-budget version of
“Games with a purpose”. We report about a pilot study, which compares the modified
learning activities with the original versions of the respective regular courses.

11

Mathias Poulsen

Learning by producing
In our definition of game based learning, we include the complex learning sparked
by not only playing games, but also by developing them. Despite the importance of
developing games to more fully understand games, this chapter is focusing on the array
of important, broader and generic competences related to moving from an idea phase
through to selling a final product - generally known as entrepreneurship.

The Medication Game
Medication calculation is a critical topic in nurse education. Due to its importance, various
learning strategies have been developed to improve the students medication calculation
skills. We developed “The Medication Game” to drill basic mathematics, medical units
and medication calculation to improve not only mathematical skills, but also learning
motivation as well as confidence among nurse students.

12

Chapter One

Introduction to
game based learning

Author:
Mathias Poulsen
Play Consulting
GameIT College

Mathias Poulsen Introduction to game based learning

Content – this chapter

Definition and relationships

Game literacy

Game based learning

Principles of game based learning

Games are about solving problems

Actions in context

Games provide frequent feedback

Good games create optimal challenges

Games create a safe zone

Typology of games

Dedicated learning games

Commercial titles

Game-like scenarios

Developing games

Designing the learning context

References

16

GAMEiT handbook Chapter 1

Definitions and relationships
Play is an integral part of any culture, and is often seen as integral to learning as well.
As such, it should come as no surprise that “game based learning” has become talk of
the town in recent years. The field has undergone rapid developments lately, and we are
currently seeing journals, conferences, projects, books, articles, videos, discussions, best-
practices, teaching materials and games emerging all across the spectrum.
As an immediate consequence, it may prove a fairly daunting and intimidating task
figuring out where to begin and how to best approach this field hailed by many as
the savior of contemporary education. Having made an effort of mapping the many
ways in which games can be appropriated for learning purposes, we dedicate this
introductory chapter to providing an overview of the fundamental components of game
based learning. By doing so, we simultaneously aim to point towards the borders and
boundaries, attempting to adjust expectations and show what games can and cannot do.
Definition and relationships

Before we embark on our endeavor to illustrate concrete ways in which game based
learning may potentially enrich and strengthen learning and education, it is necessary
to establish some common ground. First of all it is important to understand, that when
people are talking about “games in education”, they are often talking about a wide array
of things, and frequently misunderstandings spring from not appropriately making
explicit our individual preconceptions. You may think one thing, whereas my ideas may
be pointing in another direction altogether, thus rendering our conversation nigh on
impossible. This is often overlooked, however, as there seems to be some implicit, yet
erroneous, understanding that “games in education” is a relatively homogenous field,
where the number of approaches is limited.

We may appropriately draw an analogy to a somewhat more familiar medium,
namely books. Try for a moment to reflect upon the various ways in which you have
implemented or could imagine implementing books as a resource for learning. In all
likelihood you are not just thinking about one particular scenario, but a variety of such.
Having had relatively unhindered access to books for centuries, we neither question
books as a medium suited for learning nor try to frame books within one particular mode
of use. We know “books” to be a very diverse phenomenon and we see books as a rich
medium fulfilling a wide variety of purposes and even today imaginative educators are
coming up with new and creative ways of using books.

We encourage you to think about games in education along similar lines.
In education, it is thus possible to include games in a multitude of different ways, not all
of which is considered game based learning, neither in general nor in the framework
of this book. It is beyond the scope of this project to extensively map the various

17


approaches to games in education, but in the following paragraph we will clarify two
major distinctions: Game literacy and game based learning, respectively.

Game literacy
Game literacy finds its origins within the traditional perception of literacy, which has later
been expanded to include such areas as media and digital literacy (Buckingham, 2007).
Being digitally literate is becoming ever more important as society is increasingly relying
on digital media. Digital literacy begins with, but is not limited to, the ability to navigate
and use digital media. For a number of years, this was seen as the primary area of focus,

Functional skills -
the ability to play

Information literacy -
Development of video games
the ability to nd and evaluate
information

Game literacy Analytical and re ective
Entrepreneurship
at competences

GameIT College

Creativity and innovation Communicative competence

Cooperative skills

Figure 1 - Game literacy at GameIT College

18


and most talk about ICT in education was thus preoccupied with a basic functional
approach. Recently it has been widely recognized, that building upon such functional
skills, developing critical analytical and reflective competences is even more crucial
(Hague & Payton, 2010). The demand is widely acknowledged among researchers,
decision- and policymakers, nationally as well as internationally (see (Reding, 2009). As
an addition to media and digital literacy, the notion of game literacy is now becoming
consolidated as its own field within both research and practice. Several researchers
and theorists have been exploring game literacy in recent years, among them José
P. Zagal (Zagal, 2010), David Buckingham (Buckingham & Burn, 2007), Katie Salen
(Salen, 2007), Kurt Squire (Squire, 2008) and Eriz Zimmerman (Zimmerman, 2007).
As video games occupy a prominent position in our culture today, it is impossible to
ignore the importance of understanding video games. Game literacy encompasses the
understanding of games in “isolation”, deciphering what makes a game a game, as well
as in a broader cultural context.

Even though game literacy or understanding games is important in its own right, it also
functions as a vital prerequisite for game based learning. It is only through continuously
inquiring and exploring the nature and characteristics of game we can hope to develop a
clearer perception of exactly how games can be brought to facilitate learning:

Media should not be regarded merely as teaching aids or tools for learning. Education
about the media should be seen as an indispensable prerequisite for education with or
through the media. Likewise, if we want to use computer games or the internet or other
digital media to teach, we need to equip students to understand and to critique these
media: we cannot regard them simply as neutral means of delivering information, and
we should not use them in a merely functional or instrumental way (Buckingham & Burn,
2007).

Game based learning
Whereas the question of game literacy is concerned with the understanding of games
and their context, applying games in the perspective of game based learning is less
interested in the game itself, and more in the game as facilitator of learning. As
described by one of the prominent researchers in the field, James Paul Gee, games are
essentially learning machines (Gee, 2004). You can hardly play a game without learning
something, and most games create a safe space, where you learn what is needed in
order to solve the problems and challenges brought by the game. Some even argue,
that it is exactly learning to master the game that creates the immersion of the player
(Koster, 2005). This is probably also the realization, that inspired people to develop
game based learning in the first place; if kids are willingly working quite hard to learn

19


what is required to solve relatively complex problems in games, why should we not
harness this effort for educational purposes?

Game based learning is thus the act of appropriating games or game mechanics,
recreating the scenario-based, problem-oriented learning processes found in games in
order to fulfill specific learning purposes.

By adopting this relatively broad and flexible definition, we allow ourselves a diverse
approach to exploring and implementing game based learning, hereby also mirroring our
claim that “games in education” represents a diverse range of scenarios.
Even though we are dedicating the remainder of this handbook to the field of game
based learning, we maintain that the two approaches are often closely intertwined and
overlapping, as illustrated by the model below.

GAME
GAME BASED
LITERACY LEARNING

Principles of game based learning
In order to more fully grasp the potential of game based learning, we need to decipher
the nature of games, deconstructing them and critically examining their inner
components and mechanics. When we and others maintain the claim that games can
be considered a valuable contribution to education, we do so because of the specific
characteristics of games. Many commentators, researchers as well as practitioners, often
choose to downplay the “games” part of game based learning to avoid the negative
cultural connotations of games being – at best – stupid entertainment.
We recommend going in the opposite direction, acknowledging that games are
interesting for learning purposes exactly because they are games. A good game creates
a space for learning, and this potential is of particular interest when attempting to
appropriate game based learning.
How is it, then, that games supposedly provide us with these “learning spaces”?
This question we cannot answer in full, but limit our attempt to showing in the following
paragraphs what we consider to be the central principles of game based learning,
namely:

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• Solving problems
• Action in context “A game is nothing but a set of
• Receiving feedback problems to solve”
• Optimal challenge (Gee in (Corbett, 2010)
• Safe zones

Games are about solving problems
“A game is nothing but a set of problems to solve” (Gee in (Corbett, 2010)
As James Paul Gee points out, at their very core games are about solving problems.
The nature of these problems are as diverse as the often colourful imagination of game

“Unlike the simple one or two variable experiments characteristic of science
classrooms, MMOGs offer multivariate problems of real complexity and of genuine
social import to those solving them” (Steinkuehler & Chmiel, 2006).

designers, but whatever the shape and colour of these problems (challenges, puzzles),
they are the only thing standing between the player and the goal of the game. More
precisely – are there no challenges, there is no game (for a more elaborate discussion
of this issue, see (Koster, 2005)). What is especially interesting in relation to game
based learning, of course, is that the player must learn what is required to overcome
these problems and eventually beat the game. If you play Starcraft II, you must be
able to assess the attributes of all the different units in the game in order to adjust
your strategies to those of your adversaries. This is very complex problem solving
at a frenetic pace, and you must gradually become better to succeed. When millions
of deeply involved players embark on adventurous quests in World of Warcraft, they
simultaneously engage in a very complex learning system. Most challenges in WoW
are so demanding, that they require not only massive collaboration, but also an almost
scientific approach to solving problems (Steinkuehler & Duncan, 2008). In contrast to all
too many educational courses and projects, problem solving in games are not considered
something trivial or of no importance; on the contrary, as much research goes to show:

Actions in context
Even though many in-game challenges might be captivating all by themselves, the
context is most often what really imbues problem solving in games with meaning.
If we step back for a while, we are probably all aware that most things cannot be
understood without being embedded in proper context, and misunderstandings are thus

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prone to surface, when, for instance, quotes are used “out of context”. This somehow
seems to be forgotten or neglected in many educational settings, where knowledge,

“These rich virtual worlds are what make video games such powerful contexts for
learning. In game worlds, learning no longer means confronting words and symbols
that are separated from the things those words and symbols refer to. [...] In virtual
worlds, learners experience the concrete realities that words and symbols describe.
Through these and similar experiences in multiple contexts, learners can understand
complex concepts without losing the connection between abstract ideas and the real
problems they can be used to solve. In other words, the virtual worlds of games are
powerful because they make it possible to develop situated understanding.”
(Shaffer, Squire, Halverson, & Gee, 2005)

facts, skills etc. are effectively separated from their proper contexts. When we teach
mathematics, chemistry, language or social sciences, we often do so in a more or less
intentional isolation from where those subjects are applied outside of school. This
approach has been heavily criticized by learning practitioners and theorists alike during
recent years (Wenger, 1998) (for further discussion, see (Poulsen, 2011)). The problem
arises because of the gap between abstract phenomena and the actual concrete
application of said phenomena. In short, learning is immensely difficult if the learner is
unable to see the purpose and possible uses of what is to be learned.

Games work differently. Not only do games present the player with challenges, they
frame these challenges within a particular context, where solving the problems suddenly
makes terrific sense. The context may consist of a variety of elements, of which the
concrete fictional world of the game and the social neighborhood circumscribing the
game are notable ones. Often we take on specific roles in a game (warrior, city planner,
journalist, detective etc.) and acting as these characters, we solve whatever challenges
we are confronted with in the game world:

This is a central principle when using games like Global Conflicts: Palestine to explore
the complexity of the Israeli-Palestinian conflicts. The topic and the player actions are
set in a concrete context, where it makes sense to the player, why game characters act
in certain ways, how different issues are related etc. (see the following chapter on the
Global Conflicts games series).

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Games provide frequent feedback
Learning can be hard – painstakingly hard – if you have no idea how you are doing. Often
students are, if not left alone with problems, then feeling frustration caused by a lack of
feedback. In many cases there is a more or less outspoken mismatch between the need
of feedback felt by students, and the resources teachers have for providing this feedback.
At the same time, good games are fabulous at exactly this. When we encounter and
solve problems within games, we regularly receive feedback measuring and evaluating
our effort. Whether we are fighting perseverant enemies in outer space, building a
civilization, developing new species, designing a particularly appealing home, embarking
on fantastic adventures or matching diamonds, we are almost always well aware of
our own progress. This feedback may be in the form of written messages, dialogue,
cutscenes, points, health meters, sounds, vibration (in controllers/handheld devices)
– and so on. These bits and pieces allow us to constantly gauge our performance and
readjust accordingly.

Prerequisites of ow: Prerequisites of ow:

A challenging activity The merging of action and
Clear goals awareness
Clear feedback Concentration
The paradox of having control The loss of self-consciousness
in an uncertain situation The transformation of time

Good games create optimal challenges
A prominent strand of learning theory is particularly concerned with the relationship
between the learner and the learning goals, e.g. Vygotsky’s zone of proximal
development (Vygotsky, 1978, s. 86). These principles are developed even further
by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s famous theory on “flow” (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990). In
short, the premise described by Csikszentmihalyi is, that people are having “optimal
experiences” when the challenges they encounter is closely matched with their skills and
competences. The flow state is generally considered very attractive in education, as the
conditions for learning seems to be eminent when one is “in flow”.

What is of particular interest here, is that games and game designers are quite adept at
creating these “optimal experiences”. This is described in detail by game designers and
game theorists Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman, who also makes a distinction between

23


the prerequisites and the consequences of flow (Salen & Zimmerman, 2003):

As Raph Koster further argues, playing games is satisfying because of a feeling of
mastery, which is obviously closely linked to flow:

Summing up, games are about solving problems within concrete contexts which
provide the player with optimal challenge without the risks of solving said problems in
the real world.

Fun from games arises out of mastery. It arises out of comprehension. It is the act of
solving puzzles that makes games fun (Koster, 2005, s. 40) These principles are seen as
central to learning with games, and James Paul Gee refers to games as operating within
the learners’ “regime of competence”, where “the game often operates within, but at
the outer edge of, the learner’s resources, so that at many points the game is felt as
challenging but not “undoable”” (Gee, 2007, s. 67) Linked with the previous principles, we
see that games are about solving problems within concrete contexts which provide the
player with optimal challenge.

Games create a safe zone
Among humans and animals alike, playing is a form of “legitimate peripheral
participation” (Lave & Wenger, 1991), whereby we learn to participate in society through
the act of “playing to participate”. Hereby is hinted at the concept of the “magic circle”,
first introduced by Dutch historian Johan Huizinga in his seminal work on the role of
play in human culture, “Homo Ludens” (Huizinga, 1938). Huizinga argued that play is
circumscribed by a magic circle, which excludes play from the regular rules of society.
This is not to say, that games have no consequences – if that was the case, all talk about
game based learning would obviously be futile. As pointed out by game researcher
Jesper Juul (Juul, 2005), there are consequences of playing a game, but they are
negotiable and not equal to doing the same outside the game. Games provide us with
a safe zone, a playground, where we explore and interact with the world, learning and
solving all kinds of problems without have to constantly fear the consequences of our
actions.

In this handbook, this principle is probably best illustrated in chapter 6, where we
describe “The Pill Game”, which is used to learn how to calculate, adjust and prescribe
the right doses of medicine – without killing any patients.

24


explicit and carefully thought-out educational purpose and are not intended to be played
primarily for amusement (Abt, 1970).

Despite its relatively old age, this definition remains widely used even today, as serious
games are thought of as games with a purpose beyond pure entertainment. Whichever
name we choose for these games, they share some common traits. What is probably
most important is the link between the learning “content” embedded in the game and
the actual process of playing the game:

When you play a learning game you need to make sure that learning and play are
integrated. This means that to succeed in the game you also need to master the learning
goals behind the game (Egenfeldt-Nielsen S. , 2011).

When this integration works well, the game creates a context for exploring, learning and
solving problems more or less directly relevant for particular curricular subjects.
We further explore this approach in the following chapter, where we introduce the
Global Conflicts-games, which is a series of dedicated learning games allowing players to
explore complex conflicts and issues “from the inside”.

Typology of games
Whereas the term “game based learning” may seem relatively new and progressive,
the idea of establishing a link between “playing” and “learning” is very old indeed. Play
is as old – if not older – as humanity itself, and some of our oldest writings from ancient
Greece describe the intimate relationship between playing and learning (Huang & Plass,
2009). Using games as part of training and education is a time-honored practice within
especially military and business, where strategy games, combat games and business
simulators have been widely applied (Egenfeldt-Nielsen S. , 2005, p. 32 ff). In the 1980’s
the term edutainment was made popular, and many relatively simple training games
were introduced as educational tools. These remain a component of education today,
though less popular and primarily limited to drill-and-practice exercises, e.g. teaching
simple mathematics and fundamental grammar. In recent years, researchers and game
developers alike have been working to raise the bar, and implement game based learning
in more diverse ways, aiming for more complex learning scenarios.
In the following four subparagraphs, we will describe these four different interpretations
of the game in game based learning:
• Dedicated learning games
• Commercial entertainment titles
• Game-like scenarios
• Developing games

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Many people would probably be quick to define game based learning as something along
the lines of “using learning games in class”, which would be a completely valid perception
(if a bit limited, as we shall show in proceeding paragraphs). Where edutainment was the
predominant breed of learning games in the 80’s and 90’s, researchers and developers
are now increasingly talking about serious games as games with a purpose beyond pure
entertainment. This change of words can mostly be attributed to a growing criticism
of edutainment, which has been said to consist of earnest aesthetic, derivative game
play and poor production values (Jenkins, Squire, & Tan, 2004). What this boils down to,
is that many edutainment titles are simply neither good games, nor good educational
material. Serious games has thus been suggested and widely adopted as a substitute,
where more focus is put on creating a healthy relationship between game and learning.
The term is far from new, as Clark Abt defined it back in 1970:

We are concerned with serious games in the sense that these games have an explicit and
carefully thought-out educational purpose and are not intended to be played primarily
for amusement (Abt, 1970).

Despite its relatively old age, this definition remains widely used even today, as serious
games are thought of as games with a purpose beyond pure entertainment. Whichever
name we choose for these games, they share some common traits. What is probably
most important is the link between the learning “content” embedded in the game and
the actual process of playing the game:

When you play a learning game you need to make sure that learning and play are
integrated. This means that to succeed in the game you also need to master the learning
goals behind the game (Egenfeldt-Nielsen S. , 2011).

When this integration works well, the game creates a context for exploring, learning and
solving problems more or less directly relevant for particular curricular subjects.

We further explore this approach in the following chapter 2, where we introduce the
Global Conflicts-games, which is a series of dedicated learning games allowing players to
explore complex conflicts and issues “from the inside”.

Commercial titles
If you ask Wikipedia, “Game based learning is a branch of serious games that deals with
applications that have defined learning outcomes” (Wikipedia). We disagree with this
definition, as we argue that game based learning cannot be limited to edutainment,

26


serious games or dedicated learning games in general. Applying games developed
specifically for learning purposes does have obvious advantages in some cases, e.g.
the content of the game may closely match curriculum goals, but these advantages
does not rule out other types of games. In most cases, entertainment games targeting
the commercial consumer markets are actually better learning machines, but the
content is not intentionally matching educational goals. These games are often referred
to as “Commercial-off-the-shelf” games (abbreviated “COTS”. For a more elaborate
introduction to COTS games in education, see (Sandford, Ulicsak, Facer, & Rudd, 2006)).
The overall principles with COTS games resemble those of dedicated learning games;
the desired goal is for the players (=students) to engage with the game in such way to
explore or solve relevant problems. As there is no explicit or pre-designed link between
the game and curricular goals, it becomes even more important to pay careful attention
to the educational context, in which the game is situated (see Designing the learning
context).

In chapter 3, we outline this approach, using the commercial entertainment title “Rome:
Total War” as an example of applying that particular game when teaching history.

Game-like scenarios
In the two preceding paragraphs, we have described the use of concrete digital games
in supporting students’ learning. By doing so, we are probably well aligned with the most
widespread interpretation of game based learning. We are convinced, however, that
game based learning extends well beyond the use of concrete games, be they digital
or not. Inspired by and drawing upon the learning principles of games, it is possible to
design game-like scenarios without actually using any one particular game. One of the
most thorough analyses of the value of games’ characteristics in a learning perspective
was done by James Paul Gee, who states that “the theory of learning in good video
games is close to [...] the best theories of learning in cognitive science” (Gee, 2007). With
this in mind, games themselves can be considered mere frameworks, within which the
player is constrained by a number of rules (implicitly or explicitly), is tasked with certain
challenges and selects certain strategies in order to overcome these challenges. As a
method to increase emotional involvement with the game, it is common to create a role
for the player and situate the “character” in a concrete fictional world.

We are well aware, that this line of thinking shares several traits with the currently very
hyped phenomenon “gamification”, which is popularly considered to be the application
of the “basic elements that make games fun and engaging to things that typically
aren’t considered a game” (Gamify.com). We are consciously not using the term, as it
is currently very much associated with a rather simple perception of both games and

27


learning, yet the overall idea that learning processes and projects can be designed as if
they were games is considered a valuable one.

Developing games
Even though making games may first and foremost be relegated to the domain of
game literacy, the complex process of developing a game may in a certain sense be
considered a valuable contribution within game based learning as well.

This can be considered from at least two highly interrelated perspectives:
To develop games can be a relatively complex process involving a wide array of skills
and competencies, many of which are also highly relevant outside the realm of game
development. Planning, developing, documenting and selling/communicating a game
is indeed an entrepreneurial process drawing upon some of the most valued skills in
society today (communication, creativity, collaboration, innovation etc.).

When searching for relevant learning games to support this or that subject matter, say
mathematics or physics, oftentimes one comes to realize, that there is no such game
readily available. Whereas the easiest solution would thus be to denounce the possibility
of doing game based learning, another solution would be to allow for your students to
develop those games themselves. Thereby a layer is added to the learning potentials
described above, as this approach also requires an understanding of the subject matter
to be included in the game.

This approach is described in the chapters 5 and 6, with chapter 5 elaborating on the
former of the two above perspectives, and chapter 6 focusing on the latter.

Designing the learning context
In a sense, the frequent discussions about game based learning may sometimes lead
us astray, blurring our vision and tempting us to expect more than games will ever
be able to deliver. Games are no silver bullet (Squire, 2005), and will never be able
to revolutionize education all by themselves. Games are not the best teachers, even
though the most optimistic commentators may like to describe them as such. They are
rather to be understood as teaching tools , which is pointing directly to the invaluable
importance of the teacher in any game based learning project:

Viewing games as ‘teaching tools’ is a useful distinction because it highlights the key
role that teachers play in defining the purposes for their classroom use, in planning
activities, and in providing curricular context. Games are, in this sense, used as part of
planned learning experiences rather than for their own sake or for flimsily conceived

28


incentivisation purposes (Williamson, 2009, s. 31).

This is also why Danish researcher Thorkild Hanghøj is keen to shift the focus from game
based learning to game based teaching, indicating that it is not just about learning with
games, but also teaching with games (Hanghøj, 2010).
Teachers have a pivotal purpose in the design process (Sorensen & Ó Murchú, 2004) also
in terms of ensuring the connection between in-game experiences and the overall out-
of-game learning situation. Furthermore, it quickly becomes evident that the dialectic
between playing and thus experiencing “in-game” and working with subjects from the
game “out-of-game” created a valuable synergy strengthening the overall learning
experience (Henriksen, 2006).

The teacher thus undoubtedly remains the cornerstone of successful game based
learning, but this does not mean, that nothing changes in the classroom. On the contrary,
many teachers experience quite radical changes. The students are often relatively adept
at playing the games, yet the act of playing rarely automatically leads to higher levels of
reflection, which is critical to harness the full potential of game based learning. Drawing
on experience, knowledge and the broader perspective, the teacher collaborates with
students in order to broaden the scope and frame the actions and decisions from the
game within a larger picture.

29


References
Abt, C. C. (1970). Serious Games. New York: The Viking Press.

Buckingham, D. (2007). Digital Media Literacies: rethinking media education in the age of
the Internet. Research in Comparative and International Education , 2 (1), pp. 43-55.

Buckingham, D., & Burn, A. (2007). Game Literacy in Theory and Practice. Journal of
Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia , pp. 323-349.

Corbett, S. (2010, September 15). Learning by Playing: Video Games in the Classroom.
New York, USA.

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow - The Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York:
Harper Perennial.

Egenfeldt-Nielsen, S. (2005). Beyond Edutainment: Exploring the Educational Potential of
Computer Games. Copenhagen: IT-University of Copenhagen.

Egenfeldt-Nielsen, S. (2010). The Challenges to Diffusion of Educational Computer
Games. European Conference on Games Based Learning. Copenhagen.

Egenfeldt-Nielsen, S. (2011, February). What Makes a Good Learning Game? Going beyond
edutainment. Retrieved from eLearn Magazine: http://www.elearnmag.org/subpage.cfm?
section=articles&article=153-1

Felicia, P. (2009). Digital games in schools: A handbook for teachers. Brussels: European
Schoolnet.

Gamify.com. (n.d.). What is Gamification? Retrieved from The Gamification Encyclopedia :
http://gamification.org/wiki/Gamification

Gatzidis, C., & Poulsen, M. (2010). Understanding the Game: An Examination of
Ludoliteracy. 4th European Conference on Games-Based Learning. Copenhagen.

Gee, J. P. (2004, April). Learning by design: Games as learning machines. Interactive
Educational Multimedia , pp. 15-23.

Gee, J. P. (2007). What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy. New
York: Palgrave MacMillan.

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Hague, C., & Payton, S. (2010). Digital Literacy across the Curriculum handbook.
Futurelab.
Hanghøj, T. (2010). Gaming, Schooling and Knowing. European Conference on Games
Based Learning. Copenhagen: http://www.academic-conferences.org/pdfs/ECGBL_
Keynote_Hanghoj.pdf.

Henriksen, T. D. (2006). Dimensions in Educational Game-Design. Nordic Playground
event.
Huang, T.-T., & Plass, J. L. (2009). History of Play in Education. New York: Institute for
Games for Learning.

Huizinga, J. (1938). Homo Ludens.
Jenkins, H., Squire, K., & Tan, P. (2004). “You Can’t Bring That Game to School”. In B.
Laurel,

Design research.
Juul, J. (2005). Half-Real. MIT Press.
Koster, R. (2005). A Theory of Fun in Game Design. Scottsdale, USA: Paraglyph Press.

Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated Learning. Cambridge University Press.

Reding, V. (2009). Commission recommendation on media literacy in the digital
environment for a more competitive audiovisual and content industry and an inclusive
knowledge society. Retrieved from epractice.eu: http://www.epractice.eu/files/
Commission%20Recommendation%20on%20Media%20Literacy.pdf

Salen, K. (2007). Gaming Literacies: A Game Design Study in Action. Journal of
Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia , pp. 301-322.

Sandford, R., Ulicsak, M., Facer, K., & Rudd, T. (2006). Teaching with Games: Using
commercial off-the-shelf computer games in formal education. Futurelab.

Shaffer, D. W. (2006). How Computer Games Help Children Learn. New York: Palgrave
MacMillan.

Squire, K. (2005). Changing the Game: What Happens When Video Games Enter the
Classroom? Innovate: Journal of Online Education .

Squire, K. (2008). Video-Game Literacy: A Literacy of Expertise. In Handbook of Research

31

Chapter two

Global conflicts

Author:
Mathias Poulsen
Play Consulting
GameIT College

Mathias Poulsen

Global Conflicts
When deciding to include games in education, the first choice is frequently to look for
dedicated learning games. These are called many different things, but the core idea
remains the same; games developed for specific learning purposes, and thus designed to
support learning within one or more subjects.
Unfortunately, channeling the potential promised by good video games into a game
designed specifically for learning purposes is no easy process, and all too often the
balance shifts from the game towards explicit learning content. Despite these difficult
challenges, a growing number of good learning games have been developed, and we find
reason to be optimistic about the future of this field.

In the light of these reflections, we have selected as the first of our selected case
studies the experiences we have with the Global Conflicts-series from Serious Games
Interactive (go to http://www.globalconflicts.eu/ for more information). The first game
released was “Global Conflicts: Palestine”, which featured a series of missions, where
you were assigned the role of journalist arriving in Jerusalem. This was followed by
Global Conflicts: Latin America, in which you travel around Latin America, before Global
Conflicts: Child Soldiers and Global Conflicts: Sweatshops let players uncover and
influence other grave, contemporary issues:

“The series allows students to explore and learn about different conflicts throughout
the world and the underlying themes of democracy, human rights, globalization,
terrorism, climate and poverty”

In these games, you thus take on the role of a journalist (or a representative for the
InternationalCriminal Court in later games) travelling around the world to uncover
complex and often dramatic situations, issues and - surprisingly enough - conflicts.
By actively exploring the virtual universe, talking to a range of persons with different
interests and motivations, and trying to find the illusive truth, players weigh their options
and usually feel more emotionally attached to the outcomes. Whereas reading about
these issues may prove not only boring, but also irrelevant and too far removed from
the lives of the students, talking to “real” people with real problems helps build a bridge,
drawing the students closer.

What’s to learn?
As the games will be brought into a larger educational context, it is also possible to
approach the games from a number of angles, which again leads to the possibility of
covering several subjects:

34


• Language - the games are available in several languages, and can thus be
brought in to different language subjects. When using the game in Denmark,
it has primarily been played in Danish, which beyond reading and writing also
includes several dimensions mentioned below such as media literacy, analysis and
reflection etc. It would make perfect sense, though, e.g. playing Latin America in
Spanish.
• Social sciences - all missions are situated in the framework of society, and thus
supports an understanding of how societies around the world are structured, how
macro- and microlevels interact, how human rights are enacted (or not) etc.
• Economy - several economical phenomena like “outsourcing” and the cost of
labor are included as central topics in the game.
• History - every issue of conflict is historically rooted in one way or another, and
the game also aims to account for this, and to provide a deeper understanding of
these underlying circumstances.
• Geography - visiting conflicts around the world, geography is explicitly an inherent
parameter to consider and examine.

35

Mathias Poulsen

• Religion - when exploring the roots of conflicts in the games, religion sometimes plays
a pivotal role (most prominently in GC:Palestine), and in these situations it is thus
not possible to reach any proper conclusions without relating to the way religion is
interpreted by the different parties.

In addition, we see many different generic skills and competences brought into play:

• Collaboration - students are encouraged to play in pairs, but also (more informally)
participate in a larger community of practice, which almost always unfolds in the
classroom. It may seem chaotic, when students are talking across the classroom, yet
often they merely share experiences from within the game, and are perhaps even
engaging in problem solving and discussions.
• Communication - the course is aimed at showing the meaning of communication and
dialogue, and students are applying different forms of communication both inside and
outside of the game.
• Media literacy - media often play a part in conflicts around the world, and this a topic
to consider in several missions, not least when the player herself is acting as journalist,
interacting and influencing surroundings and broader society.
• Analysis & reflection - both on a concrete and on a meta-reflective level, the course
encourages students to be analytical and reflective towards whatever information
they encounter in and around the game and towards their own decisions, actions, and
learning outcomes.
• Empathy & seeing different perspectives - a major learning potential of digital games
is exactly the possibility of seeing and exploring different perspectives on important

36


topics. When talking to the virtual characters representing actual people, the
conflicting opinions and world views are not only understood more clearly, but they
also resonate with students’ own world - “it’s almost like talking to real people”.
• Empowerment & self efficacy - the game encourages a view of the world, where
the individual effort matters, and where it is thus possible for each person to make
an actual difference. This is supported by the fact that the player can influence the
outcomes, and is thus imbued with the feeling, that not only is it possible for someone
to change the world - it is possible for them to do so.

Considerations for teachers
When games are introduced in the classroom, it may challenge existing teaching
conventions and relations. These changes may seem daunting or even intimidating
to the teacher, but they are not to be feared. On the contrary, those challenges ought
rather be embraced and supported, as they in most cases point towards better ways of
facilitating learning.

First off, many teachers are reluctant to risk shifting “the balance of power” in the
classroom. One such shift is frequently associated with the arrival of computers, digital
media and video games in school. Inspired by popular commentators like Marc Prensky
and others, it has been (too) common practice to almost automatically assume, that each
and every child in today’s so-called “digital society” are able and competent media users
- consumers as well as producers. Quite often this leads to the conclusion, that children
and youth are better off without us. Children do probably posses a certain youthful
curiosity, allowing them to jump unafraid into the digital media landscape, but this in
itself does not make them competent. When moving from simply using digital media and

37

Mathias Poulsen

on to higher taxonomical levels of reflection and inquiry most students are however in
need of guidance and support.
Secondly, it may seem a bit blurry what exactly to do, when students are playing games.
Knowing that most students are relatively proficient with regard to using new technology
and not least games, teachers may fear becoming obsolete. Just as many students are
not automatically perceiving the depth, complexity and meaning of digital media, they

are often having a hard time understanding perspective and context to issues depicted.
If students are just allowed to play on their own, they will rarely be able – or willing
– to critically examine all available information, just as they would rarely situate that
information in a larger context, thus not seeing the big perspective. Luckily, this is what
most teachers are very good at, and it therefore makes perfect sense to consider this
course a collaborative project, where teachers and students contribute with what each
part does best.

Finally, we still often meet the widespread perception, that games are merely for
entertainment - with students as well as with teachers. Several teachers have pointed
exactly to the importance of “framing the game”, so students are fully aware that
educational goals are still in effect.

Design the context
We have already stressed, that games should not be thought of as silver bullets, but
merely as teaching tools; albeit teaching tools with their own set of affordances. Games
are able to convey knowledge and insights in a way, which is different from other media

38


by way of their interactive nature.

To harness the full potential of game based learning, it is incredibly important to look
further than just the game. Even though the Global Conflicts games are dedicated
learning games, they are merely “one part of the puzzle”. Any attempt to practice game
based learning focusing solely on the game itself will rarely be particularly successful,
as it is the entire context that makes for a valuable learning experience. Whenever we
talk about fulfilling this or that learning goal, it only makes sense when considering the
game in context, including other relevant tools and media. Do not expect any one game
to cover every relevant aspect of a topic, but make an attempt to let games do what they
do best, while drawing on e.g. written texts for further background, news clips for more
recent material etc.,

A course overview
We really encourage you to tailor any course specifically to the level and requirements of
your students, and thus need to emphasize, that there is no one “right way” to go about
this. The following suggestion is inspired by several different courses, where the Global
Conflicts games have been included, and where the outcome has generally been quite
satisfying:

• Introduction to the course
• Discussion of topic and prior knowledge
• Playsession
• News clip and discussion
• Playsession 2
• Student research
• Article/blogpost
• Presentation
• Concluding discussion

39

Mathias Poulsen

1. Introduction to the course
We may someday reach upon a situation, where games are seamlessly integrated with
any educational toolbox, but we are not there yet. Many students are found to be skeptic
regarding the seriousness and learning potential of games, and they are thus reluctant
to perceive games as legitimate teaching tools. This should be proactively countered by
illustrating how the game is but one component in larger educational framework, where
an array of tools (books, online articles, social media, news clips, movies etc.) are used in
dynamic interplay with the game.

2. Discussion of topic and prior knowledge
Upon the initial introduction, it is often recommendable to continue with a general
discussion of the topic to get students focused and to establish a common frame of
reference. This discussion also serves the purpose of directing the attention towards
the topic, inspiring students to start thinking about what they already know. Depending
on the scope of the course, it can be feasible to make short written assignments, where
students summarize their current view of the selected issue(s).

3. Playsession
At this time, the students are tasked with playing one or two missions in the game.
They are not “just” playing, however. They are working and they are seeing from the
perspective of “real” journalists, being critical in their inquiry, taking notes and preparing
for future journalistic work – outside the game.

40


While students are playing, the teacher(s) involved should act as “consultants”, observing
the groups while playing, and intervening with questions and comments whenever
relevant. If, for example, students are in doubt regarding specific a specific term/
phenomenon, if they’re superficially racing through the game or if they seem confused, a
brief teacher intervention often proves to be the best way to help students engage more
appropriately with the game.

4. News clip and discussion
One way to attempt to bridge the gap between the virtual game world and the
surrounding world, is by including contemporary news clips, which serve to put the
game in to a larger perspective. This could be clips directly related to the events in the
game, e.g. the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, illegal immigration to USA, outsourcing in Latin
America, sweatshops or child soldiers, but it may also very well be related issues from
other parts of the world.

5. Playsession 2
After having discussed the first few levels and the selected news clip, students are
playing another one or two levels.

6. Student research
Playing the game is but one way to explore the topics of the game, and it is important for
youth to explore and understand how journalists are doing research on various subject
matters.

7. Article/blogpost/video material
Having played, watched additional journalistic material and conducted a more thorough
research process, students should be ready to take another step towards fully taking on
the role of professional journalists. One way of doing so, would be to create a journalistic
coverage of a chosen issue from the game. A traditional approach would be writing an
article, which by all means remains a worthwhile effort. It could be just as interesting,
though, to write blogposts, initiate discussions on Twitter, or to do a video feature to be
used in, say, a news show or as a background story.

8. Presentation
Upon having played the game, having done proper research and having created a
“journalistic product”, we use the opportunity to work with another dimension of
students’ communicational skills - presenting to an audience. The most obvious and
frequently applied method would probably be to make students present to their
classmates, yet the experience becomes more authentic and challenging, if the

41

Mathias Poulsen

classroom is left behind. This does not have to require immense preparation; just by
presenting to, for instance, another class, perhaps to younger students, the entire

experience and the learning outcome changes significantly. Another option could be to
make video recordings of the presentations for a YouTube-channel, a blog, the school
website or something similar.

9. Concluding discussion
As deeper learning hinges on the ability to reflect upon what you have learned, we
always finish with a two-part discussion addressing two different dimensions of the
course. With the first part springing directly from the core subject touched upon by the
game and the overall context, we strive to cover the central topics, summarizing the
content. What happened, which incidents were the most striking/touching/thought-
provoking, and how does those different experiences relate to the nearer life and society
of the students?

In continuation of the subject discussion, we usually take it a step further, moving on
to a more meta-reflective discussion on the specific methods and tools applied, and,
eventually, to the students’ own assessment of their learning outcomes. This phase may
seem to be of particular interest at a time, when none of us are yet fully evolved in using
games as “teaching tools” and thus need to examine and re-examine the consequences
of applying games. Sensible as it may sound, such an assertion would downplay the
never-ceasing importance of reflecting on the way we work and learn. It is our opinion,
that this process should never be left out of education.

Perspectives
It is clear, that the Global Conflict games are by no means perfect, and many

42


improvements could thus be thought of. They are visually a bit dull and not quite cutting
edge. This, however, is only marginally important, as graphics are not what makes a good
game. Some commentators, both developers, researchers and practitioners, tend to
assume that learning games must visually resemble COTS titles as closely as possible in
order to convince students to play them. We disagree with this assertion (to an extent,
at least), as the basic premise is skewed. Games are not primarily relevant in education
because of high tech graphics, but because they allow students to explore and play with

situations and problems in relevant contexts. Additionally, the advanced COTS titles are
not the alternative to learning games; books and other less interactive media are.
More importantly, though, this particular example of learning games are not as good
and dynamic as the best of games. For one thing, they require quite a lot of reading,
which to an extent weakens the idea of the game as an alternative to reading altogether.
Despite the intent of Serious Games Interactive to create serious games, which are able
to commercially compete with entertainment games, it would probably not be unfair to
say, that this is not entirely the case...yet. We would like to see learning games learn even
more from all the fantastic entertainment games out there, because only by doing so,
can we realistically hope for learning games to radically improve.

Despite these drawbacks, we have experienced very valuable situations and courses,
where specific games from the series have contributed to students better understanding
complex topics. It simply becomes much easier to relate to e.g. human conditions in
societies much different than our own, when you are able to explore those destinies in a
simulated concrete environment.

In conclusion, we certainly recommend keeping an eye on both the work of Serious
Games Interactive, but also, and more importantly, the field of learning games in general.
A growing number of developers, projects and institutions are working to raise the bar
and improving the way learning games facilitate learning.

43

Chapter three

History Lessons via Gaming;
A Review of Current Approaches
and the Design of a Case Study
using Rome Total War
Author: Christos Gatzidis
Bournemouth University, UK
cgatzidis@bournemouth.ac.uk

Christos Gatzidis

1. Abstract
Game-based learning pedagogy in education has today a considerable number of
advocates but, despite the wealth of academic literature in the subject, remains for
a variety of reasons a medium largely unexplored in real-world educational settings.
This chapter aims to present a convincing argument for the use of gaming, and in
particular that of the strategic genre, for educators to communicate information and
knowledge better to a pupil audience. Previous approaches are provided with a focus
on some of the most significant and notable efforts in the area. Moreover, there is a
detailed explanation of the methodology used in an envisaged pilot study for this and
also the expected results. Finally, a set of recommendations are presented, as well
as a number of suggestions for future implementations of similar approaches in a
classroom. It is hoped that, via this work, an educator can gain both the confidence
but also the inspiration in using, without the need of additional development, a specific
style of off-the-shelf commercial gaming title to further enhance history-oriented
teaching curriculums.

2. Background Research
The creation of educational experiences, which are both beneficial to the learner in
terms of enriching knowledge but can also be very memorable, has been made more
possible the last few years due to advancing technology plus the introduction of novel
methodologies. One such approach, championed by many as driving pedagogy today,
is that of game-based learning, which can offer benefits such as the sharpening of
problem-solving skills, incidental learning, use of an already familiar medium, sustaining
motivation in learners, overcoming cultural and social boundaries, providing an enjoyable
learning experience and reducing tutorial times for institutions (amongst many others).
However, studies of application for the medium for certain parts of the curriculum have
been very sparse. This is for a variety of reasons, not least because of the inherent
idiosyncrasies certain fields have in organization and delivery.

As with other disciplines such as physics [1], [2], mathematics [3], [4], [5], [6], biology [7]
and geography [8] (to name but a few), there have already been numerous approaches
in the practicality of the use of, or exploring the use of, history-oriented game-based
learning. It has to be noted however that these approaches are less in quantity than the
ones for more traditional, science-oriented subjects. This section details and outlines
some of the most significant ones and strongly encourages the reader to further
investigate these.

To begin with, there have been arguments from quite a while ago in research suggesting
that simulations (a distant relative of gaming) can be very conducive in teaching
historical subjects. Lee [9] for example conducted an experiment with the focus firmly

46


on establishing the effectiveness of simulations in teaching. The subject chosen was
labor conditions in the beginning of the 19th century (with peripheral and associated
concepts being unions, working conditions and collective bargaining) and, via the use
of simulation-based teaching, it was demonstrated that the acquiring of information
was not affected in a negative way (when compared to a traditional teaching delivery
approach) but also that in terms of preference and enjoyment the simulation approach
was favoured over the standard one. This is just but one example of how simulations
have been typically called on in the literature in order to explore history teaching and/or
other curriculum subjects.

One of the most influential, widely known and perhaps more substantiated (via empirical
studies) and successful approaches in this field has been the work of Squire [10]. This
research effort is one that can be wholeheartedly recommended to the reader of this
handbook chapter, as it is one of the better structured and specific examples of the sheer
potential game-based learning has to offer in teaching history.

Via the use of an off-the-shelf game (FIRAXIS’ Civilization III, shown in Figure 1), Squire
presented three case studies which, apart from history-based learning, also indirectly
facilitate politics and geography-oriented learning as well. While all studies present
significant mileage to be had in the usage of a game such as Civilization (which has
currently reached its fifth iteration since this work first emerged it has to be noted), they
outline many difficulties of applying this approach to a live teaching situation (which
explains in many ways the greater number of science-based oriented methodologies
using gaming listed and referred to earlier in this section).

Figure 1. screenshot from
Civilization III, “Screenshot
(C) Take-Two Interactive
Software, Inc. 1987-2011.”

47

Christos Gatzidis

Direct (and indirect) follow-ups to this work include the ones by Squire and Durga
[11], Squire et al [12], Squire [13], Squire [14] and Squire [15]. Out of these, it is perhaps
worthwhile singleing out this one [15], as it contains a detailed, multi-faceted experiment/
case study this researcher conducted with another FIRAXIS-created game, Pirates!
(shown in Figure 2), which is again strategy-oriented and also very heavy on historical
(and also geographical) content.

Amongst many other topics covered in this study (conducted in a live classroom) were
Carribean maps, a background on the origins of pirates and piracy in general, the
differences between the colonizational patterns of the variety of nationalities included in
the game (in the game you can play as English, French, Spanish or Dutch for example),
the accuracy of depiction of subjects such as swordfighting etc.

Figure 2. screenshot from Pirates!,
“Screenshot (C) Take-Two Interactive
Software, Inc. 1987-2011.”

Another very popular and particularly well-cited approach standing next to the previous
body of work in the area is the one by Egenfeldt-Nielsen [16]. This work, other than a
lengthy background and discussion in the theoretical foundation of game-based learning,
focuses on a case study, with a sample consisting of 72 high-school pupils, which this
time uses another strategy game with a strong history-oriented focus called Europa
Universalis II (shown in Figure 3). It should be noted that the game, developed by Paradox
Interactive, covers during its gameplay a timeline from 1419 to 1820.

Similarly to the work of Squire, there is for this research too a variety of additional

48


Europa Universalis II

articles peripheral to it, again very much worth investigating such as [17], [18], [19], [20]
and [21]. In [18] and [19] in specific, a continuation of the original Europa Universalis
effort has been attempted via the development this time of a playable prototype called
Global Conflicts: Palestine (shown in Figure 4). Buch and Egenfeldt-Nielsen [19] presented,
using this game which focuses on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, a study with a sample of
51 high school students, taking place over four days.

The subject matter was covered in traditional delivery beforehand and the students were
then allocated to play two missions every day for the duration of the first two days, while
the rest of the time was given to summarising, further individual and group work and
interviews. Both qualitative and quantitative data was collected as part of this, with very
encouraging results emerging for the usage of this approach, this time with the help
of custom-made software rather than off-the-shelf content. It should be noted that the
development of Global Conflicts: Palestine was followed up by a variety of other titles in
different settings, tackling however very similar issues (such as Global Conflicts: Latin
America, Global Conflicts: Sweatshops and others, more information on which can be
found at the portal website of the series [22]).

49

Christos Gatzidis

Figure 4. screenshot from Global Conflicts: Palestine

“this game which focuses on the Palestinian-Israeli
conflict... It should be noted that the development
of Global Conflicts: Palestine was followed up
by a variety of other titles in different settings,
tackling however very similar issues (such as
Global Conflicts: Latin America, Global Conflicts:
Sweatshops and others)”

It should be also mentioned that Egenfeldt-Nielsen is also involved in another, even more
recent, effort to create game-based learning content for history curriculums. This is
Serious Games Interactive’s Playing History [23] (shown in Figure 5), which focuses again
on the creation of a custom-made history-teaching title (using the Unity platform) of a
more episodic nature.

For example, in the first episode of Playing History there is a firm focus on a setting
situated during the 14th century at Florence in Italy, where the player can navigate
around a 3D interactive world and work on a variety of tasks, while at the same time
taking in historical information about a given point of time at a specific location (such as,
for example, the plague and its impact as a disease in Europe at the time, at least on this
specific occasion).

Playing History

50


More contemporary work in this area and subject matter, other than the cornerstone
pivotal approaches of Squire and Egenfeldt-Nielsen and their associates which should
be delved into further by anyone interested in implementing something similar in a
classroom, includes the one by Ardito et al [24], [25] (who employed an approach of
mobile technology usage on archaelogical site(s) in order to enhance historical notion
understanding for classes, shown in Figure 6), Kardan [26] (who describe the potential
of teaching of history, culture and language via the development of game called Ohana,
essentially a single-player role-playing game in the style of World of Warcraft, which
is situated in a village in Hawaii) plus Sarkar and William [27] (who explored history, or
as the work suggests democracy, learning via the development of a game/simulation
including key content such as the US Civil Rights Bill).

Figure 6. screenshot from Ardito et
al’s work on mobile technology use on
archaelogical sites for history learning

3. Methodology and Expected Pilot Results
The game selected for the envisaged/proposed pilot/case study presented in this chapter
is Creative Assembly’s Rome Total War. Released in 2004 [28], the game (shown in Figure
7) addresses the early years of the Roman empire. There are two main elements to the
game, the first taking place on a turn-based campaign map and the second (this time in
real-time) in a battle-mode.

On the campaign map, the player, controlling a Roman family, can make a variety of
infrastructure, population, diplomatic and political decisions (amongst many others),
while on the self-explanatory battle-mode the game is advanced by beating enemies of
different nationalities in the field or during city/town sieges by controlling strategically a
number of different units at his/her disposal.

51

Christos Gatzidis

The game runs on either a campaign mode or in an individual historical battle mode
which covers a number of actual battles where the player can assume control of one
of the sides (prefaced with a fairly detailed historical piece on the background of the
battle). Geographically, the game also covers the typical span of the Roman empire
and its extreme fringes (Europe and North Africa). One of the main reasons the game
was praised (and was particularly impressive at the time of its release) is the fact that
the armies in the battle-mode could go up significantly (in numbers) than what was
customary in an average strategy game at the time, often in the thousands, impacting
the realism of the experience considerably.

Figure 7. screenshot from Rome Total War

52


There are a number of potential ways this particular game can be used in terms of both
adding to and replacing traditional, straightforward, classroom-based Roman history
teaching in a standard curriculum. The benefits of using it can also be numerous and
variable according to the mode selected (campaign/historical battles), the depth and
also the sheer playing time a cohort of students/pupils opt to go for.

First of all, to name but a few of these benefits in specific, the campaign mode, which
when played in full lasts around 270 years in the game, allows control of different
factions (Julii, Bruti and Scippi, there are also some more unlockable ones although
the game needs to be played extensively before these become available to the player)
as mentioned above. These factions have some different task-based characteristics,

53

Christos Gatzidis

characteristics which can aid in the identification of a variety of tribes/nationalities and
their ethnography by a learner.

For example, the Julii faction need to focus on Germania and also the Gauls, while the
Scippi faction focus on the conquer of Carthage. This not only enhances the gameplay
(and replayability of the game) but also ensures that parts of the Roman history dealing
with the expansion of its empire can be taught via exposure to the game.

Another very important element of Roman history that can be taught via Rome Total
War is the importance, operation and inner-workings of the senate. A key element to
the game, but also to the function of Rome itself, the senate in the game is responsible
for ordering the faction controlled by the player to attack a city or work out more
diplomatically-oriented tasks, such as for example forging alliances. For someone
learning Roman history, the essence of what a senate was about and what purpose
it served in those times is crucial and the game more than provides for that. The
interactivity which applies to this part of the game (i.e. senate orders can be ignored
for example) is also worth pointing out, as this is again something which can be used to
teach history and consequences of actions/reactions to central Roman command.

Secondly, as again mentioned above, the game offers immediate and rife for historical
learning and debate battle action via the historical battle mode. This covers the following
events/battles; the battles of Lake Trasimene, Raphia, Telamon, River Trebia, Asculum,
Carrhae, Cynoscephalae and Teutoburg Forest and also the sieges of Sparta and
Gergovia. While naturally enough there is a strong focus on battle action in the normal
campaign mode too, out of which historical information/learning such as differentiated
troop units across nationalities, engagement tactics, contemporary weaponry and others
can be derived, the historical battle mode can offer more engagement with a specific
event(s).

It can also offer exposure to specific timeline events. For example, isolating one of
the historical battles above, the battle of the River Trebia is placed at 218 BC with the
background focus firmly on a battle where the Romans suffered a significant defeat.
This involved an Carthaginian ambush and also a timed attack using a specific unit
(such as the elephant unit) in a designated way after Roman troops crossed an icy
river in response to a taunt move. It should be noted that the player (and/or learner)
during this mode does not necessarily take the side of the Romans (for example, in the
aforementioned battle the player controls Carthaginian troops by playing the role of
Hannibal Barca).
The historical battles offer a unique way for an educator to focus the interactive

54


attention of a learner in one particular (historical) event by removing more mundane
or redundant information which could obstruct the teaching. If nothing else, games like
Rome Total War could do with more examples like these.

4. Recommendations
The recommendation(s) for implementation in this section of the chapter are elicited
not just by the expected findings of the proposed/suggested case study described in the
previous section but also according to findings of other researchers that have conducted
work in the area, as can be found in the Background Research section.

One possible way to add this to a classroom setting would be by using this to enhance
traditional-style teaching. While there could potentially be a future view towards moving
to using interactive-only content for teaching (such as Rome Total War), in the opinion
of the author off-the-shelf video games created with the purpose to entertain need to
supplement normal teaching delivery and not sideline it completely, as their original goal
was never really to be used exclusively for education.

The case study is envisaged to take place as a one-day seminar (or broken over
individual sessions over one week) in front of a small to medium class (12 students or so).
This also needs to be a class with a rudimentary understanding of the basics of Roman
history (i.e. exposed to traditional teaching of the subject). The instructor or educator/
teacher (it could be the same person delivering the traditional teaching of the subject,
subject of course to suitable expertise in video games/Rome Total War) could begin by
offering a short introduction to games development and also serious games/game-based
learning. The students could also be prompted to answer a simple question; have they
ever attempted the reverse of what these sessions are doing, i.e. have they ever played
a game which sparked them off to look up academic information about a subject on the
Internet, in a documentary or in a book? As the answer to this is likely to be positive, it
could be an ideal start to the day with the students (and potentially the teacher) realising
the benefits to using a strategy game to teach history.

This would be followed by some play-time of Rome Total War. This would be, to begin
with, in the campaign-mode with the exposure time varying, depending on whether the
one-day or over-a-week model is followed. The game is to be played individually. It is
unlikely that the students would make significant progress (the game is designed to be
of epic proportions) but they would be encouraged to make the most of it by exploring
different choices/options and functionalities provided to them during this.

Following the conclusion of play-time, there would be a discussion session focusing on

55

Christos Gatzidis

their experience with the game. More specifically, the students would be asked to discuss
their impressions of a variety of issues found in the game such as the geography of
Europe (and Africa), Roman factions and families, the hierarchical social structure for
Roman citizens, the different nationalities/tribes found in the game, their understanding
of diplomatic functions, their understanding of the religious functions in Rome and
the importance attached to those, their understanding of senate central command,
organisation of troop units and their equipment, architectural styles, city structures and
many others.

The second part of the course, intended to last as long as the first (i.e. campaign mode),
would focus on the historical battle mode. This time the students will be encouraged
to first focus on the information offered by the game on the battle/siege itself and
then elect a team-leader who will control the game with the rest of the group also fully
participating in the decision-making. After play-time a similar approach to the one
above will be followed for a discussion, this time however with a stronger emphasis on
the details of the event, ranging from the year it took place, the surrounding contextual
history, the military tactics deployed and the eventual outcome.

Finally, it would be of interest to conclude the day or sessions (depending again on
delivery mode) by discussing what the students thought of historical accuracy in the
game overall. This could include a prompt for them to identify and discuss any specific
points where they might have spotted inaccuracies themselves (see next section for
more information and alternatives on this) and could be very beneficial in order to assess
and also enhance their critical awareness and abilities.

5. Conclusion
While the projected results and emerging recommendations from the proposed pilot
study presented in this chapter are of interest, the author intends to conduct the
experiment with a considerably larger and more ambitious scope, length of duration but
also collection of quantitative data too for higher education students in the near future.

The population sample used for this aforementioned experiment is also intended to be
considerably larger than what is envisaged and discussed above in Section 4. There are
a variety reasons as to why teaching history with a game like Rome Total War could be
particularly intriguing and even yield different results or lead to different discussions in
this situation/setting; Rome Total War has, particularly because of its great and sustained
popularity as a strategy game, yielded criticism for lack of historical accuracy in a variety
of smaller details.

56


While this is outside of the scope of this chapter, a more detailed discussion of this issue
can be found here [29]. As a result of that, modded (i.e. modified) efforts have emerged
attempting to address these inaccuracies and anachronisms (with the most high-profile
of which being Europa Barbarorum [30] and Rome Total Realism [31]), so, for example,
in a future, more expansive, case study it would be ideal to combine and contrast
traditional delivery, an off-the-shelf game (Rome Total War) and a mod such as the
aforementioned ones, all in a higher-education, University setting.

Official extensions/expansions of the game also exist, which could in turn provide
alternative platforms for ‘attacking’ additional educational content such as Rome Total
War: Barbarian Invasion [32] and Rome Total War: Alexander [33], still without needing
bespoke extra software. The first of these tackles historical content dealing with the
decline of the Roman empire and also includes factions such as Huns, Saxons, Franks
and Goths, while the latter addresses, as is evident by the name, Macedonia and Persian
empire-related content. The play modes are similar to the original game (and additional
historical battles are also included).

Finally, an alternative approach that has also been contemplated is to go in the opposite
direction and pick a historically-oriented strategy game that is more simplified and less
elaborate (such as Cinemaware’s Defender of The Crown [34], shown in Figure 8, set
in the United Kingdom of the Middle Ages with a strong emphasis on the Saxon versus
Norman struggle, albeit with a rather loose historical accuracy evident) to address its
introduction in, this time, (early) primary education. In fact, the original version of this
has been made available for free by the developer and runs online on a minimum spec
machine, which makes this scenario even more feasible.

Figure 8. screenshot
from Defender of The
Crown,
“Defender of the Crown”
and Cinemaware are reg-
istered trademarks of
Cinemaware.

Screenshot
(C) 2011 Cinemaware.
All rights reserved.”

57

Christos Gatzidis

6. Acknowledgements
The author of this chapter would like to thank the fellow partners of the EU Leonardo
Transfer of Innovation GameiT project (for more information please visit http://pro-
jectgameit.eu/) for the input and advice on the research presented here, as well as the
European Union itself for funding it.

Moreover, the developers and researchers that granted permission for images of their
work to be used in this handbook chapter are thanked, as it was crucial to be able to
visually showcase these examples. Sid Meier’s Civilization III and Sid Meier’s Pirates!
images courtesy of Firaxis Games, Inc., 2K Games, Inc. and Take-Two Interactive Software,
Inc. Take-Two Interactive Software, 2K Games, Civilization and Pirates! are trademarks of
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries.

Additionally, fellow colleagues at Bournemouth University, UK are thanked for their
support throughout the work as are, of course, all educators that offered invaluable
advice/assistance as without them it would have been impossible to ever contemplate
the potential exposure of the game and/or approach to live subjects.

58


7. References
1. K. Squire, M. Barnett, J. M. Grant and T. Higginbotham, “Electromagnetism
Supercharged! Learning physics with digital simulation games”, Proceedings of the
Sixth International Conference of the Learning Sciences, 2004, pp. 513-520.

2. J. Birchall and C. Gatzidis, “Elemental: An insight into the development and evaluation
of a secondary education chemistry game using XNA”, Proceedings of the Third IEEE
International Conference in Games and Virtual Worlds for Serious Applications, IEEE
Computer Society, Athens, Greece, 4-6 May, 2011, pp. 32-39.

3. G. Lopez-Moreto and G. Lopez, “Computer support for learning mathematics: A
learning environment based on recreational learning objects”, Computers And
Education, Vol. 48, 2007, pp. 618-641.

4. F. Ke and B. Grabowski, “Game playing for math learning: cooperative or not?”, British
Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 38, 2007, pp. 249- 259.

5. R. S. Baker, M. P. J. Habgood, S. Ainsworth and A. T. Corbett, “Modeling the Acquisition
of Fluent Skill in Educational Action Games”, Proceedings of User Modeling 2007,
2007, pp. 17-26.

6. M. P. J. Habgood, “The Effective Integration of Digital Games and Learning Content”,
PhD dissertation, 2007.

7. C. Dede, J. Clarke, D. Ketelhut, B. Nelson and C. Bowman, “Fostering motivation,
learning, and transfer in multi-user virtual environments”, Proceedings of the Annual
Conference of American Educational Research Association (AERA), Montreal, Canada,
2005.

8. P. C. Adams, “Teaching and Learning with SimCity 2000”, Journal of Geography, Vol.
97, 1998, pp. 47-55.

9. J. L. Lee, “Effectiveness of the use of simulations in a social studies classroom”, ERIC
Documents, 1994.

10. K. Squire, “Replaying History: Learning World History through playing Civilization”,
PhD dissertation, 2004.

11. K. Squire and S. Durga, “Productive gaming: The case for historiographic game play”,
In R. Ferdig (Ed.) The handbook of educational gaming, Hershey, PA, 2009.

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Christos Gatzidis

12. K. D. Squire, B. DeVane and S. Durga, “Designing centers of expertise for academic
learning through video games”, Theory Into Practice, Vol. 47, 2008.

13. K. D. Squire, “From content to context: Video games as designed experiences”,
Educational Researcher, Vol. 35, 2006, pp. 19-29.

14. K. Squire, “Video games in education”, International Journal of Intelligent Simulations
and Gaming, 2003.

15. K. D. Squire, “Toward a theory of games literacy”, Telemedium, Vol. 52, 2005, pp. 9-15.

16. S. Egenfeldt-Nielsen, “Beyond Edutainment: The Educational Potential of Computer
Games”, Continuum Press, 2007.

17. S. Egenfeldt-Nielsen, “Overview of research on the educational use of video games,
Digital Kompetanse, 2006.

18. S. Egenfeldt-Nielsen, “Case study of Global Conflicts”, Proceedings of Games@IULM
conference, Milan, Italy, 2006.

19. T. Buch and S. Egenfeldt-Nielsen, “The Learning Effects of Global Conflicts”,
Proceedings of Media@Terra conference, Athens, Greece, 2007.

20. S. Egenfeldt-Nielsen, “Can Education and Psychology Join Forces. The Clash of Benign
and Malign Learning from Computer Games”, Nordicom Review, 2005, pp. 103-107.

21. S. Egenfeldt-Nielsen and J. H. Smith, “Playing With Fire - How do Computer Games
influence the Player?”, NORDICOM, 2004.

22. Serious Game Interactive’s Global Conflicts Portal, http://www.globalconflicts.eu/, last
accessed May 2011.

23. Serious Game Interactive’s Playing History, http://www.playinghistory.eu/pressroom/
press-room, last accessed May 2011.

24. C. Ardito and R. Lanzilotti, ““Isn’t this archaeological site exciting!”: a mobile system
enhancing school trips”, Proceedings of AVI 2008, 2008, pp. 488-489.

60


25. C. Ardito, M. F. Costabile, R. Lanzilotti and T. Pederson, “Making dead history come
alive through mobile game-play”, Proceedings of CHI Extended Abstracts 2007, 2007,
pp. 2249-2254.

26. K. Kardan, “Computer role-playing games as a vehicle for teaching history, culture,
and language”, Proceedings of the 2006 ACM SIGGRAPH Symposium on Videogames,
2006, pp. 91-93.

27. M. S. Sarkar and J. H. William, “Digital democracy: creating an online democracy
education simulation in a software engineering class”, Proceedings of ACM Southeast
Regional Conference 2010, 2010.

28. SEGA’s Rome Total War, http://www.totalwar.com/rome, last accessed May 2011.

29. All Empires Online History Community’s Historical Accuracy of Rome: Total War,
http://www.allempires.com/article/index.php?q=Historical_Accuracy_of_Rome_Total_
War, last accessed May 2011.

30. Europa Barbarorum, http://rtw.heavengames.com/rtw/mods/portal/eb/index.shtml,
last accessed May 2011.

31. Rome Total War Realism, http://www.rometotalrealism.org/index-2.html, last accessed
May 2011.

32. Gamespot’s Rome Total War: Barbarian Invasion expansion pack review,
http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/rometotalwarexpansion/review.
html?tag=summary%3Bread-review, last accessed May 2011.

33. Gamespot’s Rome Total War: Alexander expansion pack review, http://uk.gamespot.
com/pc/strategy/rometotalwaralexander/review.html, last accessed May 2011.

34. Cinemaware’s Defender of The Crown, http://www.cinemaware.com/dotcremaster_
main.asp, last accessed May 2011.

61

Chapter four

Introducing Games with a
Purpose to Online and Blended
Learning Environments

Authors:
Dr. Elmar-Laurent Borgmann,
Thomas Berger,
Marcus Fessler

Dr. Elmar-Laurent Borgmann, Thomas Berger, Marcus Fessler

Background and aims of the pilot study
When teachers and trainers consider integrating Game based learning (GBL) in their
courses one of the first practical decisions they need to take is whether to use existing
“off-the-shelf” computer games or whether to invent and produce games which are
then tailored to their specific pre-defined learning outcomes. While the first option
forces the trainer/teacher to design his or her training concept around the existing
games, which can be difficult if the game content does not match the desired learning
outcomes, customized games often require much higher budgets which are often
out of reach for trainers and teachers. The starting point for our pilot study is a third
option where game based learning is introduced into an existing on-line or blended
learning unit in order to enhance learner motivation through variety of learning styles.
Game based elements can be introduced in the area of games (game mechanics) such
as competition/comparing yourself with other players (learners) of the course and/or
in the narrative of the framework story that the learning takes place in. GBL potentially
promises higher motivation and intensive interaction with learning materials, higher
duration of interaction with learning material, higher learner satisfaction, and better
results of learners in tests, exams etc.

We experimented with a simple, low-threshold, and low-budget version of “Games
with a purpose” (GWAP) where the game content consists of small scale activities
which can easily be implemented on-line with little effort by most teachers who use
new media. So in the blended and online courses the “purpose” would be “learning”.
As a consequence, the GWAP concept has been used as the guiding principle in
order to further develop collaborative online-learning activities in the area of
Intercultural Communication. One specific activity was systematically integrated and
tested in the existing on-line intercultural training course “Hands-on learning!”1 and
also in a blended learning module integrated in the regular module “Intercultural
Communication” at the University of Applied Sciences Koblenz. In both settings (100%
online vs. blended learning) learning activities with and without the “games with a
purpose” components were piloted allowing us to compare the modified learning
activity with the original versions of the respective regular courses.

1 See: http://www.practical-preparation.de, 04.07.2011

64


The Games with a purpose (GWAP) concept
2.1 Definition
“Games With a Purpose” (GWAP) are described as combining “behavior, preferences, or
ideas of a group of people to create novel insights” (Segaran 2007; Rafelsberger & Schar
2009). The term “GWAP” was invented by Lenore Blum a professor of the Carnegie
Mellon University, and was first published on her blog2.
The idea behind GWAP was to create games where the gaming actions are used for a
special purpose. GWAPs are “designed to encourage people to provide the information
needed in the database” (Pearl 2010) and can be classified in the area of serious games.
An example for this concept is the ESP-Game.

2.2 Example: The ESP Game3
The problem-solving task behind this game is to label images and graphics with
meaningful text, a rather complex task for computers, even in the age of image
recognition; the ESP-Game is the first realization of the GWAP approach (Ahn 2006).
GWAPs is based into the human computation (Ahn 2007) concept which is an approach
for using human processing power to solve problems that computers cannot yet solve.
In this game, the same image is presented to two players. Then, both players individually
enter words or phrases which describe the image. The individual player does not know
what the other player is typing, but if both type exactly the same text, this coincidence of
a word or phrase appears to be a good indication for labeling that image. The players will
receive a next image to continue playing. The players’ goal is to label the largest number
of images in a predefined time, getting points every time they coincide in their answers.
The ESP Game was licensed by Google as “Google Image Labeler” and has been used to
generate a database of images labels. When users search an image in the Google site,
they type a name or label. The Google search engine uses the labels database generated
by the ESP Game to improve the search results. More than 200 thousand players have
already contributed with more than 50 million labels in the ESP Game (Ahn & Dabbish
2008). In addition to this game, other games have been proposed, such as Verbosity
(Ahn et al 2006b) and Peekaboom (Ahn et al 2006a).

2.3 The concept
Luis von Ahn (Ahn 2008) has proposed three models for the development of GWAPs
which can be used by the creation of new games:
• output-agreement,
• inversion-problem games and
• input agreement games.
All three versions have in common that the partners are randomly and anonymously
selected.
2 See: http://blog.gwap.com/2008/05/hellow-world.html, 09.06.2011
3 See: http://www.espgame.org/gwap/ , 26.04.2010

65


Output-agreement games:
The two participants receive the same input for each game, e.g. an image, a described
situation etc. Their task is to produce a meaningful output on the basis of the given input.
The aim is to produce matching outputs (for this they earn points), but the players
cannot communicate with or see each other and they also cannot see the other person’s
outputs. It is not necessary to give the answers synchronously; it is also possible to
play this game asynchronously. There are no real winners or losers in the games; the
motivation is to be high on the ranking list. (Ahn 2008)
Example for an input agreement game: Two players are shown a pair of images and are
asked to vote for the picture their partner will prefer. (Ahn 2009) The described ESP
Game based in the output-agreement model.
The FH Koblenz project team decided to use this approach as the base for the game-
based-learning elements in their pilot studies.

Inversion-problem games:
Players are exchanging the roles of “describer” and “guesser” each round. The describer
receives an input, e.g. an image (from the platform) and generates an output. This output
is send to the guesser, who should reproduce the original input. If this is successful, both
earn points. (Ahn 2008)
An example for an inversion-based game is Verbosity4. Two real players are playing, one
is the “describer” and one is the “guesser”. The describer gets a word which needs to be
guessed by the other partner. The describer can reshape the term and the guesser needs
to write the right word down. In the next round the roles are inversed.

Input-agreement games:
In each round both players receive an input, which can either be the same for both or
different. The task for the players is to generate outputs, based on the respective inputs.
These outputs are then visible for both. On the basis of the visible outputs, the players
must deduce, whether the inputs were the same or different. They earn points if the
determine correctly whether they had the same inputs or not. (Ahn 2008)
An example for an input-agreement game is TagATune5. Two real players listen to a
song and write down keywords, the keywords are visible for each partner and every
participant needs to decide if both listen to the same or to different songs.

Learning activity template
3.1 Background
A standardized description of a learning activity can help to update it with game based
(GWAP) elements. Templates such as the “VITAE learning activity plan template” (Fessler

4 See: http://www.gwap.com/gwap/gamesPreview/verbosity/, 9.6.2011
5 See: http://www.gwap.com/gwap/gamesPreview/tagatune/, 9.6.2011

66


2009, pg. 88ff) allow identifying the potentials and requirements of integration of game
based elements.

3.2 About this template
While the VITAE template allows describing general learning activities in a standardized
and structured way it does not cater for the integration of game elements (GWAP) yet.
For this purpose the triangular relationship between
• Skills and Competences a learner will gain when undergoing a certain
learning activity
• Knowledge and Contents a learner will absorb during the learning activity
• Game elements/mechanics which constitute the playful nature of the learning
activity is used as reference point for the new version of the VITAE learning activity
template.
The following triangle is based on the figure concerning “Technology enhanced learning”
(Göbel 2009 pg.: 2).

Skills
/Competences

Knowledge
/
Contents
Gaming

/
Game
Mechanics

The resulting template is illustrated in the table below:

Dimensions of game-based-learning or –training

Knowledge / Content

Skills and Competences

Gaming / Game mechanics

Description of the activity:

Short Title of the activity

67


General Topic of the GBL activity

Learning Scenario

Learning or Training outcome

Step-by-Step description of the
activity
(role of the trainer / moderator /
coach)

Optional

Technical Requirements

Pilot study FH Koblenz
The following chapter describes results of two pilot runs carried out to evaluate the
game (GWAP) based version of an existing learning activity in our example in the area of
Intercultural Communication. It provides an example for a low-budget, mini-game version
of implementing GBL in adult, vocational and higher education.

4.1 Chosen learning activity
The following learning activity was identified as a potential candidate for a game based
update/transformation (see table below):


Short Title of the activity Nonverbal Intercultural Communication (NIC)

General Topic of the GBL activity Handling Nonverbal Communication successfully in
the context of an internship abroad

Learning Scenario You have started your internship abroad and you
need to master new challenges which can be
strongly influenced by intercultural aspects.

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Learning or Training outcome Participants recognize the importance of
nonverbal communication in an inter-cultural
business context. They train their intercultural
competencies

Step-by-Step description of the You are subscribed to an online intercultural
activity (role of the trainer / awareness course in the digital platform Moodle
moderator / coach) where this module about Nonverbal Communication
is introduced through five videos from different
countries (e.g. Sweden and Kenya) in which speakers
explain the importance and mechanics of nonverbal
communication in their own languages (mostly
unknown to you). As you do not understand the
language you cannot rely on getting information
through that channel and you are forced to start
looking out for nonverbal signals in the picture.

In the next video you watch two ladies planning their
holidays together in the English language. You need
to answer the following questions:
• What is the role-play about?
• What could be the actual fact behind the
discussion?
• How many different aspects of nonverbal
communication could you identify in the role-
play?
• What happens to the role-play, if you turn off the
sound and only have the picture?

Optional:

Technical Requirements Participants must have online access to the internet.
They need to have a Flash plug-in to view the video
clips used in the activity

The learning activity was selected, because:
• The act of observing (as part of NIC) can be easily linked to GWAP input/output
streams of information (such as output agreement)

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• Observing is a repetitive activity and as such a good candidate for playful action
• Observing/NIC requires effort and concentration – hereby allowing for competitive
comparison – another key element of games (see also Chaffinn 2010 pg.2)
• NIC provides room for creativity, story-telling, fantasy as important elements of
gaming
• The content and material (pictures, videos) already exist or are easy to use/modify

The game element “competitive comparison“ is the main key to updating and modifying
a simple observation activity in a playful manner. A virtual person (“avatar”) that
proposes standard answers to observation questions was introduced to provide a
reference which the learners (”players”) can compare themselves with. So the learner
does not play with another learner but competes with this virtual person that enters
into a playful experience of success and achievement. The virtual person also serves as
a metaphor for a more playful narrative of the learning activity. The learner is asked to
play with “Marcus the former course participant”. So the metaphor is that the learner
competes with a (virtual) person who was a student on a previous course. The game-
enhanced updated description of the learning activity is illustrated in the table below.

4.2 Game based update of an existing learning activity

Dimensions of game-based-learning or –training

Knowledge / Content Categories of Nonverbal Intercultural
Communication, definitions, indicators, examples

Skills and Competences Recognizing Nonverbal Intercultural
Communication (NIC). Distinguishing between
simple
observation and interpretation of NIC. Developing
NIC observation skills

Gaming / Game mechanics Competitive Comparison of results with other
learners and a virtual character (inspired by
“Games with a purpose“)


Short Title of the activity Nonverbal Intercultural Communication

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General Topic of the GBL activity Handling Nonverbal Communication successfully in
the context of an internship abroad

Learning Scenario You have started your internship abroad and you
need to master new challenges which can be
strongly influenced by intercultural aspects. You
pick up a number of nonverbal signals which can
be misunderstood, e.g. symbols / icons or gestures.

Learning or Training outcome Participants recognize the importance of
nonverbal communication in an intercultural
business context. They train their intercultural
competencies. They learn to observe closely
without jumping to conclusions and without
directly going into interpretation and are made
aware of the risks of quick interpretation and
judgment in intercultural contexts.

Below you can find some screenshots of the nonverbal-communication module,
including the game-based-learning activity.

Image above: Screenshot from the online-activity, introduction

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Image above: Screenshot from the online-activity, task for the participants

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Images above: Screenshot from the online-activity, part of the game-based-learning activity

4.3 Time schedule of the Pilot Study
The pilot study followed the following schedule:

Action Deadline

Conceptual Design 1. July 2010

Implementation 10. July 2010

Pilot run 1 (as a module addition to the took place from 13. -22.09.2010
“Hands-on learning!” 100% online-course)

Evaluation / Result Analysis until 31. August 2010

Revision / Improvement of the course until 30. September 2010

Pilot run 2 (as a blended learning course with 5. October 2010 – 13. December 2010
two groups of students of the FH Koblenz)

Evaluation / Result Analysis until March 2011

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4.4 Evaluation
In order to evaluate the learning experience of students in the different groups open
questions were asked at the end of the learning activity:
1. Please tell us five things you have learned in this module
2. Tell us what you liked most in this module
3. What would you recommend to change if we wanted to improve this module?
In order to interpret the open questions answers were allocated to categories and clus-
tered. The chosen categories cover the wide variety of answers given by students.

4.5 Evaluation of Pilot One
4.5.1 Description of pilot one
The evaluated course module was embedded in an existing, ongoing online-course
administrated by the university for students who spend a period of their studies abroad
(studying or doing an internship). The whole course consists of 10 different modules with
similar workloads. The evaluated module was one out of the ten modules which are of-
fered on the online course.
In order to clearly evaluate the impact of the “games with a purpose” components of
the new module, the participants of the online module were divided in four different test
groups with around 25 participants in each of the groups. Groups 1 and 2 were given
the existing classic online-course module “non-verbal communication” without game
components, which had been used many times before. In contrast, groups 3 and 4 were
given the new game-based learning adaptations of the same module “non-verbal com-
munication”. The duration of all four course module was nine days and they took place in
parallel in order to create comparable conditions which would help in the comparison of
results.

4.5.2 Evaluation process
The evaluation with identical questions was done in all four groups (1 to 4) of the online
course, for the questions, see chapter 4.3.

4.5.3 Database
In groups 1 and 2 with a total of 52 participants, 22 participants gave feedback (42%)
In groups 3 and 4 also with a total of 52 participants, 27 participants gave feedback
(52%)

4.5.4 Question 1: Please tell us five things you have learned in this module
Chosen categories:
• Nothing new
• importance and awareness of nonverbal communication

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Groups 1 and 2

Groups 3 and 4

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There was no huge difference between the answers of groups 1,2 and groups 3,4. The
overwhelming majority of students had the impression that they had gained some new
insights into the importance and awareness of nonverbal communication. However, in
the test groups with game components the percentage of students who thought they
had not learned anything new was about a half of those in the conventional contrast
group (3.7% instead of 9%)

4.5.5 Question 2: Please tell us what you liked most in this module
Chosen categories:
• language clips
• roleplay video
• get to know the impact of nonverbal communication
• videos in general
• game playing against Marcus
• observe the greeting situation
• other

Groups 1 and 2

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Groups 3 and 4

4.5.6 Quantity of communication
The average number of words per participant for description and interpretation in
groups 1 and 2 together was 358 words and the amount in groups 3 and 4 was 416 words.
As the rest of the module was absolutely identical this difference would suggest that the
“games with a purpose” components motivated students to spend more time with the
tasks and compose more complex and more detailed answers.

4.5.7 Discussion of the Results of Questions one and two
The Analysis of the the the answers to question one suggest that the module reached
the intended learning coutcomes. Most of the 10% of learners who stated that they had
learned nothing new in this module specified, however, that they had gained this knowl-
edge and the competencies in question before they even took the course. So they did
not suggest that the module is not worth doing but rather that they had done a similar
course before and had already gained insights into nonverbal intercultural communica-
tion in previous training courses.

The most important factor of a successful online-module is the motivation of the partici-
pants. Motivation in face-to-face sessions can often be estimated relatively accurately by
experienced teachers during the classes, but in online-courses this can be much more
difficult. Factors, which can describe or measure the motivation of online-courses, could
be:
• the active use of the different types of media offered to the participants in the module
and
• the amount of communication the participants initiate with other participants or with
the online teacher

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Offering different digital media for students to get involved in different tasks can have
a positive effect on the level of motivation the participants show during the course. In
the answers to question 2: “Please tell us what you liked most in this module” all types of
tasks were mentioned. This wide distribution shows that we seem to have found a good
mixture of the use of new media. However, one result of 30% for the task “game playing
against Marcus” statistically stands out from all the other tasks. This was the game based
learning component which had been added to the course for groups 3 and 4 as com-
pared to the courses of groups 1 and 2.

The amount and intensity of communication can also be seen as an indicator of the
motivation displayed by of group of online-learners. On the course which involved game-
based learning the level of communication was increased by about 58 words per partici-
pant which means an increase of 16% if we compare the totals of groups 1 and 2 and the
totals of groups 3 and 4.
However, we would see this as a weak indicator, because we have no data of the differ-
ent workloads of the comparison groups. We tried to implement courses with the same
amount of workload, but how much time the participants really needed to fulfill the tasks
was very difficult to measure.

4.5.8 Conclusion
The use of game-based-learning elements in online learning activities seems to have
a positive effect on the motivation of the majority of participants, which in turn leads
to an easier and more involved accomplishment of the desired learning outcomes. The
game-based learning elements do, however, not need to be technically complex or very
sophisticated. The element of competition, even if the “opponent” is a virtual participant,
seems to do the trick and seems to motivate the learners to put in more time and energy
to complete their tasks than they would on a conventional course.
Nevertheless we were particularly interested in students’ suggestions for modification
of the learning materials so that pilot two could already benefit from solving problems
identified in pilot one.

4.5.9 Question 3: What would you recommend us to change if we want to improve
this module next time?
Chosen categories:
• no recommendations
• more theoretical references
• add info to greeting situation (dos and don’ts)
• change situations

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• technical recommendations
• fewer video clips
• add more video clips
• other

Groups 1 and 2

Groups 3 and 4

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4.5.10 Discussion of the results of question 3
Most of the recommendations given by the participants have – as a consequence – al-
ready been implemented in the pilot run two, e.g. the number of language video clips
was reduced for the second test run and some small technical problems were resolved.
Furthermore the second pilot allowed us to test a different learning environment, this
time a blended learning mode.

4.6 Evaluation Results Pilot Run Two
4.6.1 Description of pilot course two
The online game based module was placed in an existing blended learning course at
RheinAhrCampus, FH Koblenz, in order to find out whether the findings above could be
verified with a group of participants who meet once every week but have to fulfill online
assignments in between the face to face meetings.

4.6.2 Evaluation process
The evaluation with the same questions was done in two blended learning groups of the
online course, for the questions, see chapter 4.3.

4.6.3 Database
In groups 1 and 2 with a total of 26 participants together, all participants have given feed-
back at the end of the module. In the blended learning setting it was easier to include all
participants in the evaluation because we had regular face to face meetings once a week.

4.6.4 Question 1: Please tell us five things you have learned in this module

In contrast to the online pilot courses 1 to 4 in the evaluation of the blended learning
courses we observe a bigger variety of responses and the participants thought that they

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had also improved their English skills (as the module was run in English) and their pre-
sentation techniques in this module. There were, however, no participants on the blended
learning courses who thought they had not learned anything new in the module.

4.6.5 Question 2: Please tell us what you liked most in this module
Chosen categories:
• language clips
• roleplay video
• get to know the impact of nonverbal communication
• videos in general
• game playing against Marcus
• observe the greeting situation
• other

Conclusions:
While on the blended learning courses the module with game based components seems
to produce a high learning satisfaction in the participants (nobody said that they had
not learned anything new) only 5% of the participants explicitly linked this satisfaction
to the “game playing against Marcus” component. Like in the conclusions of pilot run
one concerning this question it seems obvious, that the variety of media in itself is the
key to learner satisfaction. 14% of the participants expressed that the “use of different
media” raises their level of motivation, which in turn leads to a higher learning outcome.
However, within the different media categories the contents can make big differences as
in the case for two activities in the same medium video: “language clips” (14%) and “role
play video” (4%).

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4.6.6 Question 3: What would you recommend us to change if we want to improve
this module next time?
• Chosen categories:
• no recommendations
• more theoretical references
• change situations
• technical recommendations
• other
• fewer video clips
• add more video clips
• change tasks
• more GBL elements

Conclusions:
The biggest group of participants (50%) gave no recommendations for change: Most of
the participants where the answer is allocated to the category “no recommendations”
are happy with the course module and saw it as a genuine enrichment of their regular
classroom lectures. Compared to the 100% online-module, in this blended-learning en-
vironment there were no technical recommendations (in contrast to 14% in the online-
module). We assume that all technical problems were solved and technical questions
were answered in the classroom. However, the contents of the tasks were not discussed
in class which was unusual for the participants and perhaps resulted in an issue about
the clarity of task-setting (34%). Some participants on the blended learning course would
have preferred to go through the tasks as a group rather than as an individual.

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5. Conclusion
Game based learning can be implemented on a micro-, low-budget level by looking at
existing learning activities from a different, more game-oriented perspective. Such a
fresh look helps improve learning activities as it helps trainers identify hitherto unex-
ploited potential of the materials. It adds to the variety of learning tasks and diversity of
media used and thus adds to the motivation of students especially in on-line environ-
ments, when interaction of trainers with learners is limited. The template introduced and
the sample application of it as described in this chapter could enable trainers who are in-
terested in a game based update of their existing (online) learning activities, to start right
away. The authors would be grateful if readers shared their experiences in the process
– as the authors are happy to share theirs – so please feel free to get in touch:

Marcus Feßler, fessler@inter-research.de
Thomas Berger, berger@inter-research.de
Laurent Borgmann, borgmann@rheinahrcampus.de

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6. Sources
Chaffinn, A., Barnes, T.,
Lessons from a course on serious games research and prototyping in FDG ‘10:
Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games,
2010

Fessler, M.,
Moderated collaborative online learning - guided course development on the basis of an
e-learning pattern template, in Mentoring For 21st Century Skills
It’s All About The Learning,
University of Salford, UK,
2009

Göbel, S., Rodrigues C., Mehm F., Steinmetz R.
Narrative Game-based Learning Objects for Story-based Digital Educational Games,
in Proceedings of the 1st International Open Workshop on Intelligent Personalization and
Adaptation in Digital Educational Games,
2009

Pearl, L., Steyvers, M.,
Identifying Emotions, Intentions, and Attitudes in Text Using a Game with a Purpose,
in Proceeding CAAGET ‘10 Proceedings of the NAACL HLT 2010
Workshop on Computational Approaches to Analysis and Generation of Emotion in Text,
2010

Rafelsberger, W. and Scharl, A.,
Games with a Purpose for Social Networking Platforms,
in 21st ACM Conference on Hypertext and Hypermedia,
Association for Computing Machinery, Torino, Italy, p.193-197
2009

von Ahn, L.,
Games with a purpose,
IEEE Computer Magazine, 39(6):96-98, 2006.
2006

von Ahn, L., Dabbish, L.,
Designing games with a purpose
in Communications of the ACM, Volume 51 Issue 8,
2008

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von Ahn, L., Law, E.,
Input-Agreement: A New Mechanism for Collecting Data Using Human Computation
Games,
in CHI ‘09 Proceedings of the 27th international conference on Human factors in com-
puting systems,
2009

Further Links:
http://www.gwap.com/
http://www.purposegames.com/
A page where you can create and play online-games (Flash-based), such as:
“Find and click the capitals of Europe on a Map ”

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Chapter five

Play Consulting
GameIT College

Mathias Poulsen Learning by producing

As we mentioned in the introductory chapter, we do not limit our perception of game
based learning to using pre-fabricated, dedicated learning games. On the contrary, we
argue that game based learning ought to be far more inclusive and represent a wider
array of different approaches than has traditionally been the case. One such approach
lies in the process of actually developing video games, which we consider to be an
integral part of our game based learning definition.

The aim of this chapter is to provide an understanding of the link between developing
games and fulfilling relevant learning goals. We do so by first explicitly describing
skills and competences required to successfully develop a game. This is followed by a
complete overview of the entire process from start to finish, where we show how the
actual skills and competencies are put in concrete use.

Throughout the chapter we shall not delve deep into the technical aspects of game
development, as it is beyond the scope of this handbook. In addition, a detailed
technical account would not only run the immediate risk of rapidly becoming
obsolete, but would also indicate that there is one way to go about developing games
in education. This is obviously not the case, and though we will provide some basic
pointers towards concrete tools and services, the process can definitely be tailored in a
variety of ways to meet particular wishes, demands and resources.

As examples and illustrations, we use games developed by students at GameIT College and the game company ClearCut Games
(which also consist of current GameIT students).

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The learning goals
One might appropriately ask if developing games is not only relevant for courses and
educational contexts dedicated to game development? We are fully aware that many
educators would probably not consider it worth the effort, as it in most cases require
some extra work to get started with game development.
Why, then, is it that we would not hesitate to recommend educators across the board to
seriously consider including “game development” in their daily work? What is that can be
gained from such an approach?

Revisiting our initial distinction between “game literacy” and “game based learning”, it
appears to us that we may also look at developing games through this very same lens.

Developing games in education is just one of the latest additions in a longstanding
tradition, where students are taught to produce different kinds of media in order to more
fully grasp the nature of said medium. The obvious and most firmly rooted example
would be writing, which is unanimously considered an indispensable core skill even today.
Over the years the array of media included in schools have been expanded to include all
kinds of written media, auditory and visual media, digital media (e.g. websites) and now
also games (Buckingham & Burn, 2007). The basic premise of working with any of these
Making games thus becomes a cornerstone of working with students’ game literacy
and an elaborate understanding of games. In the face of the media types can be better
understood by the distinction between reading and writing:

“[...] game-playing is like “reading” and game-making is like “writing” in that they must
be introduced to learners hand-in-hand from a young age. One learns to read better
and more critically by learning creative writing and, conversely learns to write better
and more creatively by reading and analyzing the symbolism in books and genres.
It does a disservice to the aim of any literacy education (game literacy included)
to overlook the mutually constitutive relationship between reading and writing“
(Caperton, 2010).

Making games thus becomes a cornerstone of working with students’ game literacy
and an elaborate understanding of games. In the face of the changes happening across
the contemporary cultural landscape, such a more comprehensive and deep literacy of
games is becoming increasingly important.

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This is all very important, but not our primary focus in this project. Rather than
developing games in order to further game literacy, we develop games in order to
further a number of generic, highly valued skills and competencies. Based on both
research and extensive practice experiences, we have identified and exposed a number
of highly relevant skills and competencies related to making games, both inside and
across multiple subjects and disciplines:

• Using digital tools
• Collaboration
• Analysis & reflection
• Creative thinking
• Planning & documentation
• Communicational skills
• Innovation & entrepreneurship

It is important to note, however, that this list is not exhaustive and many other areas
could possibly be covered – all depending on the specific approach chosen.
That developing any kind of digital game requires the use of specific digital tools, which
are in most cases run by a computer, probably seems all self-explanatory. This resonates
perfectly with the rapidly increasing importance of being able to use a wide selection
of digital tools in a variety of settings and creative ways. Few tasks in society today are
carried out without the aid of a more or less diverse set of tools, and this is identified as
one of today’s key competences by OECD.
When working with students, we are frequently stressing, that developing games is in
most cases carried out as an inherently collaborative process, where individuals with
different backgrounds and specialties take on different roles (e.g. game designer, level
designer, 2d/3d artist, programmer, audio designer etc.) and collaborate closely, each
contributing with what they do best. Again, this closely resembles the key competences
pointed out by OECD.

In order to become a good game developer, analytical skills are required to identify
and isolate the core components that make up the game. This must be combined with
strong reflective skills to continually assess and evaluate the project, thereby practicing
“reflection-in-action” and becoming what is labeled the “reflective practitioner” by
Donald Schön.

Most games start with brainstorming sessions to generate a sufficiently strong an idea,
which is revisited and revised in a relatively long iterative process, where students draw
upon and improve their creative skills.

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From the initial planning and scheduling to the ongoing documentation and the final
evaluation, students are using a variety of tools to control the process (e.g. GANTT &
SCRUM).

Most game developers are frequently required to tell other people (e.g. clients,
publishers, a wider audience) about their work, and thus they are required to practice
and improve their communicational skills.

The entire process is as described so far is closely mirroring many contemporary
perceptions of innovation and entrepreneurship, which again is included as central to
many strategies, nationally as well as internationally.

Another take on identifying “knowledge and skills” required to develop games is
formulated by American game designer and theorist, Katie Salen:

“Game design as a domain of professional practice involves a rich array of
knowledge and skills. Knowing how to put together a successful game involves
system-based thinking, iterative critical problem solving, art and aesthetics, writing
and storytelling, interactive design, game logic and rules, and programming skills
[…] And each of these involves a melding of technological, social, communicational,
and artistic concerns, in the framework of a form of scientific thinking in the broad
sense of the term (e.g., hypothesis and theory testing, reflection and revision based
on evidence, etc.)”(Salen 2007, p. 305).

By allowing students to actually design and develop games, it thus becomes possible
to fuse in one creative process a number of highly relevant skills and competencies
– technological, social, communicational, and artistic - which are in great demand in
society today.

In the following, we aim to elaborate on each of the above dimensions illustrated with
experiences from several concrete projects, where students have been developing
games as part of fulfilling curricular goals.

The process
In the following paragraphs we wish to illustrate how an exemplary educational game
development project could be planned and executed. These guidelines are distilled from

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several different projects, and it will probably not always be feasible or even possible to
include all the elements. That is no reason to worry, however, but solely an occasion to
reflect on the desired learning goals and pick the components based on this.

Picking the components or phases is part of the initial planning and coordination, which
is obviously required before including students. As is always the case in education,
planning a project like this is to a large extent about carefully balancing the amount
of scaffolding applied. In our experience, the best results are achieved with a relatively
flexible structure within which students are allowed a high degree of autonomy.

“The Creative Partnerships programme fosters innovative, long-term partnerships
between schools and creative professionals, including artists, performers, architects,
multimedia developers and scientists. These partnerships inspire young people,
teachers and creative professionals to challenge how they work and experiment with
new ideas. Young people develop the skills they need to perform well not only in
exams and extra -curricular activities, but also in the workplace and wider society.”
(read more at http://www.creative-partnerships.com)

Depending on the level and the specific students, the relationship between structure and
autonomy is of course a variable, which can be endlessly fine tuned.

Involve external partner
We have had tremendously positive experiences with including external companies and
organizations in our work. Instead of merely asking students to develop whichever game
they would themselves prefer, we try to allow these external partners to act as customers
with specific needs and wishes. This creates a situation not unlike that of many game
developers working with partners and customers.

The relation to the external partner is in part what creates the context of the overall
project, and this context is experienced as more authentic and ultimately more relevant
by students when compared to “regular” school projects:
“It’s cool that we’re working with a real company. That makes it more like out in real life,
where you won’t just be allowed to be working any game you like, but where you work for
someone. It’s cool to get the feeling, that you are actually doing this for someone else”
(student at GameIT College).

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In addition to creating this “sense of importance”, the wishes expressed by the partner
serve to focus the project, creating a narrower and more precise aim. Instead of having
to start carving out a purpose for the project and defining everything from the bottom,
much is given with the customer’s specification requirement.

We have worked with a number of museums and other tourist organizations, who
generally ask for “increased awareness” and “involvement” among their (potential)
target groups. Those organizations are typically primarily applying relatively traditional
communication channels, but are eager to explore the potential of games. This push
resonates with the conviction, that good games are are able to promote a stronger sense
of engagement and involvement than, say, printed material or static websites.

This choice of partners has mostly been a pragmatic one, and we strongly encourage a
creative approach to this part of the process. Possible partners could be everything from

Fig.1 Assigning tasks and planning process.

museums, libraries, and amusement parks to all kinds of private companies.
In more general terms, we are inspired by many different initiatives, which aim to break
down the longstanding walls between the classroom and surrounding society. One
example is the English project “Creative Partnerships”:

Brief students
When the initial setup with the external partner(s) is in place, it is time to brief the

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students. This is a very important component, as it points the students in a specific
direction. The clearer the brief, the better groundwork is laid for the remainder of the
project.
Just developing any one game is a very imprecise assignment, which is likely to cause
more confusion than actual development. When adding a number of constraints and
demands to the brief, the task becomes much more focused.

Which challenge(s) has the partner identified, and what is required of the students’
games? Which platforms are to be used, how is the target group defined and what are
the success criteria?

This initial session also serves to establish a good relationship between the partner and
the students, and it is a good idea to facilitate discussion, either with all the students or in
teams, clearing up some of the immediate questions and possible misunderstandings.

Plan the process
Immediately after having received the brief, students begin planning the entire process
in accordance with demands, milestones and deadlines provided. To create the needed
overview, some kind of activity plan should be developed, explicitly illustrating how
the separate phases are covered and how to respect the different milestones and final
deadlines.
The importance of project management and planning is often mentioned as one of the
keys to successful game development, as professional developer Derek Paxton argues:
“Good project management definitely makes the difference between a game that
doesn’t hit all of its marks and the one that does” (http://www.rockpapershotgun.
com/2011/06/01/spell-it-out-stardock-on-fallen-enchantress/#more-60875)

Another part of this phase includes the assignment of specific tasks to each of the
individual team members, i.e. who is doing what throughout the course of the project. By
describing and assigning areas of special responsibility, we attempt to ensure a feeling
of ownership over those particular areas. At the same time we encourage the teams to
actively share and discuss their individual work, so every team member is fully aware of
not only their own progress, but also the overall progress of the project.

Planning a large project is difficult, and more often than not it is necessary to continually
revise the plans. This is not considered a problem, but rather the inevitable consequence
of working with agile software development. Not everything can be predicted, and thus
the ability to adapt oneself and the product under development to a changed set of
circumstances is pivotal - in any kind of project.

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Whereas students in many “regular” school projects may have a hard time grasping why
planning is actually very relevant and meaningful, most teams in game development
projects reach upon similar conclusions about the importance of planning:
“Next time we will pay more attention to the planning, so we will not suddenly be
surprised about how little time we have left”.

Understand target audience
Different people have different preferences in many aspects of life, and no matter
whether you are developing physical products, communication campaigns or digital
services – including games – it is considered important to understand your target
audience or end user.

Many game developers have a more or less exact picture in their heads about is going
to play the finished game. Some have an actual persona manifesting the ideal player,
while others target specific segments based on, for example, age groups, gender and a
number of additional demographics.

One point of critique which often surfaces is leveled at game designers who tend to
develop for a mirror image of themselves. We often meet this logic with students, who
would initially prefer to develop games based (solely) on their own preferences. We find
it relevant to challenge this approach, and illuminate how it is possible to understand and
develop for target audiences dissimilar from oneself.

Target audience is 10-18 years of age. The museum would really like to attract more
young people to visit, as they find it to be a big problem, that youth today no next
to nothing about the history of Djursland. Young people are not really interest in
the stories about Djursland and they find them neither exciting nor entertaining.
In addition, this target audience is used to today’s technology, playing small flash-
games on the internet, using Facebook, Messenger etc. We therefore assume, that
they would be curious about trying a computer game and also experiencing history
through the game.

In these projects, however, the target group is in most cases defined by the external
partner along with the initial brief. This leaves the students with a more or less well
defined group, which they should investigate further. Several methods exist, which are
relatively simple and accessible, and students can work with online surveys, focus groups,

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interviews, observation and available third-party research. In one particular project with
Djurslands Museum, students experienced the requested target audience this way:
Ideas

Fig.2 “The english
invation” game from
students at GameIT
College

Many students believe themselves to be immensely creative and good at coming up with
solid and original ideas. This is, more often than not, not exactly the case.
Opposed to the somewhat romantic notion of imaginative inventors and their “heureka-
moments”, ideas very rarely just appear out of the blue. On the contrary, most great
ideas are the result of a prolonged process of brainstorming, revising, discussing, refining
and so on.

We always try to promote this latter approach to ideas, and we encourage students to
stay on their ideas for longer periods of time before finally selecting. When an idea is
chosen as superior in regard to the customer’s brief, students initiate an iterative process
applying different techniques (brainstorm, association, problem trees etc.).
The following is an example of how a team came up with an idea, and then iteratively
elaborated upon this to refine the overall concept of the game:
“We started out with just security cameras to avoid. Then we discussed, if we should
have a guard to walk around, and how he should walk? Should he turn slowly or just turn
around? The idea with both the guard and then laser traps was to slow down the player,
or else he would just rush through the level. The laser traps, which are invisible until you
get very close, makes the players paranoid and forces them to sneak
When generating ideas, we strive to help students focus on the customer’s brief in order
to secure the optimal alignment between the final idea and these requirements (target
audience, specific problems, platforms etc.).

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Consider business models
If we go back a decade or so, most approaches to making money on video games were
pretty similar, and was limited to getting your game to the market either yourself or with
the help of a publisher, and revenue was generated by retail sales of a game in a box.
Today, the picture is much less clear and equivocal, as we see a wide array of different
approaches to making money on video games:
• Physical retail sales (sales from super markets, electronic stores, regular game shops
etc.)
• Digital retail sales (sales from digital distribution platforms like Steam, Direct2Drive
etc.)
• Subscription based (games financed by paid subscriptions, often on a monthly basis).
• Advertisement based (games financed by advertising, in-game, on websites etc.)
• Freemium/Free-to-play (initially free games, yet with the more or less mandatory
opportunity of buying virtual goods & additional services)

Whether working with developing games or any other product or service, it is
recommendable to further the understanding of a business perspective, and how
possible revenue could be generated.

This part may not always be entirely relevant if working with a customer, as they would
in many cases not want to make money directly on the game, but rather on collateral
effects such as increased awareness or solving specific problems.

Create a pitch
When the groups have finally settled on and refined their idea, they should be allowed
to deliver an initial pitch to the customer. This is an attempt to avoid misunderstandings
and undesired detours, but also, and perhaps primarily, to maintain the good relationship
between the students and the partner(s), who are ideally going to meet several times
throughout the project and collaborate relatively extensively.

We use the concept of “elevator pitch”, whereby the teams are to describe the “unique
selling points” of their idea, and provide the customer with an early insight about the
nature of the game.

As an important result of this, students start practicing their communicational skills and
their ability to clearly and precisely describe an idea or a concept in a convincing manner.

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Fig.3 “Creative developement.”
Credit: GameIT College

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Design document
After delivering the initial pitch, students start working on much more elaborate
description and visualization of the game; the game design document. A game design
document (GDD) is traditionally considered a pivotal element in the game development
process. In short, the GDD is the document outlining the major design principles of
the game to align the development team towards the same goal, or as veteran game
designer Brenda Brathwaite explains:
“While there is no set way to write a design document, all design docs have one thing in
common – they tell a programmer or an artist everything they need to know to create
your game” (Brathwaite, 2008).

Despite some recent critique of long and overly comprehensive design documents (see
(Cook, 2011) and (Kelly, 2011)) the practice of using GDD’s remain a widespread one.

Fig.4 Cado by Clearcutgames. Sold for 099€
on Apples App Store.

• In projects like these, GDD’s serve a twofold purpose.
• First off, GGD’s are used as game developers do; to create a common vision for
the team, and move towards a common goal, ideally steering clear of internal
misunderstandings and arguments.
• Secondarily, GDD’s, being a concrete document, function as one of the obvious ways
to document and assess the work of the students as required in most educational
projects.

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Fig.5 ClearCut Games developing Cado (credits: ClearCut Games)

Develop the game
If developing a full-fledged game is considered a high priority, this phase quickly
becomes very comprehensive. It is very important to adjust the expectations and
ambitions of your students, so the challenges remain at the outer edge of their “regime
of competence” without becoming impossible (as described in the introductory chapter).
Many students are eager to build games similar to those they themselves play, but in
most cases such an endeavor would inevitably lead to

Fig.6 Screenshot from Cado

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To maintain a high degree of authenticity and proximity to the actual game development
business, we apply professional tools throughout the development process. At the
moment, this means creating assets with Photoshop and 3D Studio Max, which are all
implemented and turned into an actual game using the Unity3D game engine.
The collaboration in the teams often lead to a certain degree of specialization, where
students assign each other tasks according to their particular interests, thus respecting
and promoting the strengths of the individual.

We have maintained a somewhat close connection with the teams throughout the
process, providing technical assistance and creative sparring when needed. In addition,
we find it important to keep the external partner closely tied to the project, and, if
possible, to facilitate meetings between the partner(s) and the teams one or more times
during actual development.
Info box: Alternatives: depending on the level and students’ technical skills, it may be
appropriate to adjust the level of ambitiousness regarding the tools deployed.

Sell the product
Now, ideally the game is all done, and it is time to convince the customer of the virtues
of the game. The last period of time before deadline is almost certain to have been a
stressed and busy one, and (not unlike real-life game development) many groups are

Fig. 7 - Game developers at GameIT College “selling” their game to the customer, Djurslands Museum
(credits: Haakon Rønnow Petersen)

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probably not as far as they had hoped for. Even so, the deadline is reached, and the
teams must attempt to “sell” their game to the customer (the external partner).
As with all parts of this process, we try to turn this into something more than “just”
another presentation or exam. All too often when students are tasked with doing
presentations in school, they are relatively disinterested, and lack impetus to invest real
effort in it. This, in most cases, strange radically when they are presented with a much
more authentic and meaningful situation, where there is actually something at stake:
“Usually, I am not nervous before an exam, but when it is like this, where we actually
need to sell something, to convince someone to pick us. This gives me a completely
different feeling that we have to succeed in this. When compared to the usual exam, this
is a sales situation and completely different.”

If there is no external partner involved, the act of selling - or at least promoting - the
games developed can be carried out in a different manner. Think about, for instance,
designing a marketing campaign for the game across different media.

Post mortem
In the world of game developers, the post mortem is a very popular way of looking back
and reflecting upon finished projects (i.e. games). This is clearly seen when browsing the
popular game site Gamasutra (http://www.gamasutra.com/features/postmortem/), or
the largest conference for game developers, Game Developers Conference (http://www.
gdcvault.com/free/gdc-11).

The post mortem serves the purpose of facing ones failures or less successful results,
but in a positive and forward looking manner. By explicitly identifying and describing core
components of the process, it becomes easier to improve upon the
Post mortems can be done in numerous ways, yet some pointers exist (see http://www.
gdmag.com/postmort.htm).

When used in education, good post mortems resonate with our desire to evaluate
and reflect upon the process, but in a way more closely resembling the way “real”
professionals work.

Perspectives
It is clear to us that this particular approach to game based learning is a terribly valuable
one, but also one which we have not yet fully explored. Rather, we feel like we have
mostly just scratched the surface. We see a need for more elaborate studies and a wider
array on concrete projects to build much more solid empirical experience.
In a society increasingly interested in innovation and entrepreneurship, allowing students

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to go through the entire pipeline from initial brief to sale, evolution and reflection is
absolutely one feasible way to satisfy this interest.

What is also worth noting, and becoming increasingly clear to us, is that this way of
working shares many characteristics with good games and, more specifically, what David
Williamson Shaffer labels epistemic games (Shaffer, 2006):

“Epistemic games are games that let players learn to work and, thus, to think as
innovative professionals. Epistemic games are games that let students develop the
epistemic frames of innovation. Epistemic games are fun, but they are fun because
they are about innovation and mastery of complex domains. Epistemic games are
about knowledge, but they are about knowledge in action—about making knowledge,
applying knowledge, and sharing knowledge. Epistemic games are rigorous,
motivating, and complex because that’s what characterizes the practices of innovation

Fig.8 David Williamson Shaffer, Epistemic

Inspired by the work of Shaffer and others, we aim to further explore the possibilities of
designing game design courses even more along the lines of the learning space created
by good games.

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Chapter six

The Medication Game
Digital Game Based Medication
Calculation – Development and
Design

Author:
Petter Mordt1,
Karsten Tillerli1,
Atle Løkken1
& Brynjar Foss2

1
NettOp, Department of E-learning Development,
2
Department of Health Studies,
University of Stavanger

Petter Mordt, Karsten Tillerli, Atle Løkken & Brynjar Foss

1.0 Introduction
Medication-related activities are everyday tasks for nurses, and involve a complex
combination of skill and judgement, including; medication administration, medication
safety as well as medication and mathematical calculations (Sulosaari et al., 2011).
Medication errors are frequent, and may be the most common type of medical
error (Barker et al., 2002; Sulosaari et al., 2011). The risk of a patient experiencing a
medication related error and related adverse events seem to be significant (Sulosaari
et al., 2011). Obviously, medication errors can have significant consequences for
hospitalization, duration of stay, additional sickness as well as decreased patient
satisfaction (see (Sulosaari et al., 2011) and references therein).

Medication comes in a variety of forms and it is crucial for nurses to be able to
precisely calculate and convert dosages, and often under pressure to respond quickly.
Although medication calculation and numeracy skills are only one of several steps in
medication-related activities, it is an essential one with potentially critical outcomes
for patients (Brown, 2002). It seem to be common that educational establishments
experience high failure rates on the medication calculation exam, which is a major
cause for concern for the students, the education providers and the health services
alike. This appears to be a global issue in the nursing education sector, suggesting that
perhaps traditional methods of teaching are not adequate or do not translate well for
this aspect of nursing training. A supplementary learning strategy that is increasingly
being considered in higher education is digital game based learning (DGBL). The core
property of a game is learning. The player needs to learn the game to achieve its goal.
Learning can however only be achieved if the player finds the game engaging. If not,
the player will be bored and quit playing. Raph Koster, Chief Creative Officer for Sony
Online Entertainment, explains this as “the theory of fun” for games: “Fun from games
arises out of mastery. It arises out of comprehension. It is the act of solving puzzles
that makes games fun” (Koster, 2005). It is therefore reasonable to explore DGBL
regarding learning resources for medication calculation to increase comprehension
and success rate on the exam. Therefore, to improve the students’ mathematical skills
relevant for medication calculation, but also to improve students self confidence and
enjoyment of learning, we are developing a digital game based solution on the subject,
‘The Medication Game’.

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2.0 Pedagogical background
Medication errors include a wide array of sub-categories including time of medication,
omissions, misreading, misunderstanding, concentration and dose miscalculations
(Barker et al., 2002; Benner et al., 2002; Deans, 2005). Via first hand experiences as well
as experience based on national meetings and international literature, it seems evident
that the numeracy skills of nursing students and nurses are relatively poor (Brown,
2002; Jukes and Gilchrist, 2006; Oldridge et al., 2004), and different teaching strategies
have been used to try to improve the nursing students’ numeracy skills for medication
calculation (Allen and Pappas, 1999; Johnson and Johnson, 2002; Rice and Bell, 2005;
Wright, 2009a, b). Interestingly, repeated mathematical drilling has shown to improve
nursing student ability to solve drug dosage calculations (Adams and Duffield, 1991).
Thus, for health care professionals (including nurses) to be able to handle and administer
medication correctly and safely, mathematical skills are critical (Jukes and Gilchrist,
2006; Oldridge et al., 2004). This is further underlined in the Norwegian curriculum for
nurse education, set by the Ministry of Education and Research, emphasizing that the
nursing students must pass their exam in medication calculation “without errors”.

Among various learning strategies, digital game based learning (DGBL) has over the
past decade clearly introduced itself as a supplement to more traditional didactic
methods. This is among various subjects also seen in health education, and in addition
to increasing knowledge, games also enhance enjoyment during learning and may
improve long-term retention of information (Blakely et al., 2009). Various studies have
characterized the effects of mathematical games, both when it comes to increasing
motivation and enjoyment, but also regarding learning. Even though there seems to be
overall support for the idea that games can improve learning, this is not unambiguous
(Kim and Chang, 2010). Still, games seem to have a great educational potential,
most likely as a supplement to other learning strategies, to improve numerical and
mathematical skills. Firstly, game playing has been shown to be more effective than drills
in promoting mathematical performance, and interestingly, cooperative game playing
seem to be even more effective (Ke and Grabowski, 2007). Secondly, both electronic
learning environments and computer based mathematical drill games seem to positively
affect student attitudes towards mathematics (Ke, 2008; Lopez-Morteo and López,
2007).

All together, based on the challenges of poor numerical skills of nursing students, the
importance of nurses to master mathematics in medication calculation as well as the
great potential of games as supplemental strategy for learning basic mathematics, we
are developing a game that has three main goals, to drill; i) basic mathematics, ii)
medical units and iii) simple medication calculation.

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3.0 Game design
Game design always starts with a basic idea, and one that often is a modification of
an existing concept (Bates, 2004). In addition to a good idea - one must also take a
standpoint about a range of fundamental elements, which will become deciding factors
for how the finished product will be, and thus influencing the ultimate success of the
end result. This applies to any game, regardless of if it is a large scale online role playing
game or a simple browser game.

One of the most important deciding factors one must consider is target audience
(Rollings and Adams, 2003). It is important to realize that it is nearly impossible to make
a game that absolutely everyone will like, therefore as a developer, one must identify
who the game is being made for and thereafter make appropriate decisions considering
the needs and wants of this target group. Other important design and strategy
considerations include challenges and rewards – which will be inherent to the concept
of the game. Without these elements, the probability of the player losing interest and
abandoning playing the game is much higher (Koster, 2005). These are some of the main
focus points for our design and strategy considerations under the development of ‘The
Medication Game’.

3.1 The game platform/software
The front-end of the game is being developed in Adobe® Flash Professional® and
run in Adobe® Flash Player® as a browser based application, rather than standalone
software. For the back-end a Microsoft® server in correlation with Tomcat® and Sun
Java® is being used. Since this game is to be used in the Norwegian education sector
and also store data connected to students, we are implementing an electronic identity
authentication in the game (FEIDE).

3.2 The Target Audience
The target audience for the game is baccalaureate nursing students. The majority
of these students are female. According to the Entertainment Software Association
(Essential facts about the computer and game industry, 2011) this group consists
of individuals who are not typically game players (i.e. people who play computer
games frequently or whom are gaming enthusiasts). In addition, negative attitudes
to computers and computer anxiety is seen among these students (Glaister, 2007).
In contrast to games produced exclusively for their entertainment value, the nursing
students are not going to be playing ‘The Medication Game’ necessarily because they
want to entertain themselves, but because they want to learn or drill something. The
background and motivation is therefore quite different to that of the entertainment
industry. With these factors in mind a game that is not; time consuming, do not need

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special preparation and need no instructions or background reading for the player, i.e.
typical disadvantageous factors of gaming (Blakely et al., 2009), would be beneficial.
In this way, players should be encouraged to open it up and play it anytime they have
a spare moment, or between other activities, and thus any possible irritation about
initializing play would be minimized.

Another area which is important in all gaming experiences and which can greatly affect
the user impression is the graphic design. Our aim is to keep the design of the game as
clear and intuitive as possible (figure 1).

Figure 1: Graphic design. (“Hvilken brøk er størst? Velg riktig alternativ!” – Which fraction is bigger? Make your choice!)

The game should be easy to understand, even for players who have not played a
computer game before. This resonates also in the construction of each task or puzzle in
the game, where almost all assignments can be completed with just one simple click of
the mouse.

3.3 The Concept of the Game
The concept of the game is to make a concise and simple game that nursing students
can use as training or drilling tool in the subject area of medication calculation. The

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game is not intended for teaching the curriculum directly, but rather to train students in
fundamental mathematics and drug calculations. We found there was already a similar
concept in existence, in the game Big Brain Academy®, developed by Nintendo® for the
Nintendo DS™ in 2006, in which players can hone their cognitive skills in different areas
of expertise, including mathematics, memory and logic. We took inspiration from the
basic structure of this existing example, since it is already tried and tested and apparently
successful in its aims.

Figure 2: Game structure. (“Treningsoppgaver” – Training exercises, “Test deg selv” – Test yourself, ”Eksamensoppgaver”
– Exam questions)

The structure of our game is divided into three parts; a training section, a test yourself
section, and a section of exam questions (figure 2).

In the training section the players become acquainted with different types of tasks,
and also have the opportunity to train specifically on areas they might find particularly
difficult. In the self testing section however, the student receives two random tasks
each drawn from of a total of three categories, receiving a collective point score upon
completion. This makes it easy for the students to measure their progress, and compare
results with other students. Students can test themselves as often as they want, however,

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only the highest score from each day is being saved. Thus, progression achieved within
a very limited length of time is not necessarily representative of the player’s actual
improvement in the subject, compared with progression over a longer time frame.
The total amounts of tasks represented in this test are chosen as a direct result of the
observations made regarding the target audience (see chapter 3.2). We don’t want the
test to take too much time, so this section comprises no more than six tasks.

The last part of the game, the exam questions, is conceived to give students examples
of previous exam questions so that they gain some understanding of a real exam. These
questions are not interactive so that the players do not focus too much on this section,
which would undermined the whole point of the game, which is to train on mastering the
basics first, before applying this knowledge to problems as might be represented in an
exam (Wright, 2005).

Figure 3: Task categories. (“Tallforståelse” – Numeracy, “Omregning” – Conversion, “Anvendt legemiddelregning”
- Practical medication calculation)

3.4 The Tasks
The tasks in the game are divided into three categories (figure 3).
These three categories are again split into under categories, so that the players can

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easily identify their weak points within each different type of problem. The first category,
numeracy, trains the player in basic mathematics. The second category, conversion,
deals with conversion between different units. The final category aims to guide the
player from basic numeracy and mathematics towards more practical medication
calculation. This way of organizing the game is in accordance with an effective teaching
strategy in medication calculation consisting of a three stage approach to the subject,
being; mathematical concepts, drug calculation and practicing these in a clinical setting
(Wright, 2005). The part of the game described here thus deals with at least the first two
approaches described in this study.

At least two types of tasks for each different problem area are constructed; a
mathematical and an artistic depiction. According to the multiple intelligence theory all
individuals possess numerous mental representations and intellectual languages, but
differ in the forms of these representations (Veenema and Gardner, 1996). We therefore
use different approaches to the tasks that appeal to different learning styles, hence
varying the way tasks are presented in the game.

Each task is technically built in the same way, whereby the players have 60 seconds
to answer as many problems as they can manage, with a score awarded afterwards. In
other words, there is no maximum limit to total points a player can score, apart from
the physical limitation on how fast one can click. To ensure that the players do not guess
their way to a high score by randomly clicking answers, minus points are awarded for
wrong answers, and total points detracted for a minus score is greater than the points
awarded for a right answer.

The tasks are constructed so that answers can be generated by the game itself, in such a
way that numbers, units and order of possible combinations are randomized. This gives
the game a greater re-playability which is crucial for a training and drill tool. The player
thus receives new challenges by being presented with new problems, even though the
problems themselves are built up in the same way each time.

3.5 The Time Factor
By giving a relative short time limit to solve each task, i.e. 60 seconds, the challenge of
the game increase. Challenge is one important part of game play and can make or break
a game (Rollings and Adams, 2003). In addition, a short time limit forces the player to
make intuitive decisions of what a right answer might be. This point has been named
as a weakness for students in previous exams. Students fail to answer correctly at
times when they instantly should have recognized that the option they were presented
with was wrong. Students also experience stress under a normal exam and the time
limitation may act as an element of added pressure to prepare the students for the

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exam. Furthermore, stressful events, e.g. high workload, are possibly one of the most
important human factors that causes medical errors (Deans, 2005), thus it is imperative
that students also train to handle stressful events.

After testing the prototype game on students,it became clear that for some students the
time pressure disrupted the experience, not necessarily for the sake of the game but for
the sake of their own learning. Therefore players are given a choice between playing with
the one minute time limit, or without. When the players activate the game without time
limitation, they can use as much or as little time they want to complete as many tasks as
they choose. However, in the self test section, the time limit is always fixed to 60 seconds.

3.6 Sound
Sound effects are connected to each task to provide player feedback, most of all when a
player answers a problem. In addition, to help set a certain mood, music for the different
components to the game are included; such as the introduction, menu and the tasks
themselves. In the latter, a motif that heightened the tension by increasing in speed is
used, thus underlining the element of pressure in that part of the game. At the same
time the music is designed not to catch too much attention in order avoid being overly
distracting or irritating. Never the less we placed a sound button in the game for the
players to choose whether or not they want the music on or off. The feedback from the
students about this is divided. Some like to have the sound on, others don’t. The most
important point is that they have the possibility to choose.

3.7 Reward
Rewards are one of the most fundamental aspects of game playing (Salen and
Zimmerman, 2004). Achieving, winning or gaining something one didn’t have before
is what makes the game fun to play and worth spending time on. A game developer
must be aware of which types of reward to be used and at what time it is appropriate.
In ‘The Medication Game’ the basic reward is a point score, awarded at the end of each
training task or self test assignment. The score does not tell more than just how many
points the player has attained, and there is no way of knowing whether the score is good
or bad since the player has no reference. Therefore a visualization of the scores to give
the students an idea how they perform is included in the game. In the training tasks we
use stars, whereby zero stars is the worst, and seven stars the best score a player can
achieve (figure 4 - next page).

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Figure 4: Game rewards. (“Spillet er slutt! Dette gjorde du bra, men klarer du bedre?” – Game over! You did well, but can you do even
better?, ”Din poengsum ble 450” – Your total score was 450, ”Ny rekord” – New personal record!)

The stars also appear during the game playing, so that students can see how they are
doing as they play. In the test yourself section, however, the end score is shown in a
more attractive graph where each category is represented, so students can see how
they perform for each different type of task, i.e. numeracy, conversion and practical
medication calculation (figure 5, next page).

The advantages of using score is that it is easily comparable – both in regards to
individual learning and how each players perform compared to the others. In the training
tasks, the player’s highest score is saved, so that the player has an incentive to play again
and perhaps improve their score. In the self test section of the game, all scoring data are
recorded so that the player’s progressions are logged on a graph giving a representation
of their progress over time.

The element of competition is an important part of game playing, but can be a double
edged sword. On the one hand, for many people, competition can be experienced as a
motivating and including factor. On the other hand, some individuals with already low
confidence may experience competition as threatening (Blakely et al., 2009) and thus

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Figure 5: Score graph. (“Ditt beste resultat hittil er 1523 poeng!” – Your best score so far is 1523 points!, ”Bra” – Good, ”Veldig bra” –
Very good, ”Tallforståelse” – Numeracy, ”Anvendt legemiddelregning” – Practical medication calculation, “Omregning” – Conversion,
“Start ny test” – Take a new test, “Resultater” – Results)

detrimental to their desire to play further, and perhaps mean that they dare not even
try to take part for fear that they will come out worse off than others. Considering this
dichotomy, the scores from the training sections can therefore not be seen or compared
with the other players. On the other hand, the results from the self test section are
logged, by nick names only, directly into a high score rank along with other players
scores. This rank can be viewed by all players, however, only the top 50 scores are
revealed of all players, so as not to be demoralizing for players with lower scores.

4.0 Organisation and process
During our developmental phases of the game we have attained experience valuable
for our further and continuing development of this and possibly other games and, in
addition, experience that might be valuable for others as well. In this section we focus
primarily on organisational challenges faced during development of the game playing
methodology.

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4.1. Project Background & Organisation
Based on the pedagogical background (chapter 2.0) with a focus on game play
methodology, we are developing ‘The Medication Game’ in two phases. In phase one (as
described in chapter 3.0) we specifically address medication calculation related tasks. In
our continuing and second phase of development, we include medication management
tasks as well. As we write, only the first phase of the game is finished.

NettOp, the department for e-learning development at the University of Stavanger (UiS),
is responsible for project management, technical development and graphic design and
illustration. NettOp is a resource centre for the development of digital learning materials,
which has a wide range of expertise including; technical development (programming),
film, graphic design and illustration, pedagogic design and project management.

In our game development, the project group comprises e-learning specialists from
NettOp (UiS) as well as participants from Department of Health Studies (UiS) and
Department of Health and Nursing Sciences at the University of Agder (UiA). In addition
to this core group, certain phases of the project require additional help from academics
from the two involved universities.

The disciplines of medication calculation and management include elements of both
science (mathematics) and nursing. Generally in Norwegian nursing education, lecturers
in this subject are experienced nurses, however, doctors and biologists (as at UiS) also

Project management

Nurses from UiA Biologists from Chief developer
and UiS UiS NettOp, UiS

Graphic designer Software development Technical support
NettOp, UiS NettOp, UiS IT department, UiS

Figure 6: Project organization.

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teach medication calculation. Both nursing specialists and other lecturers are invaluable
when it comes to developing a game in medication calculation and management. Thus,
both of these specialist groups are included in the project group, which comprise
(figure 6):

• Two nurses from UiA and two from UiS.
• Two biologists from UiS.
• Four members of NettOp: two programmers, one graphic designer and a project
manager.

4.2 Challenges
Despite the resounding agreement of all group members that it is high time to explore
new angles of didactic approach for this subject matter, it cannot be denied that the idea
to develop a digital game based solution was first introduced by developers at NettOp.
Taking into account the notion of what a game is (or can be) varied in the beginning
greatly among the project group members, each approaching the task differently.
Interestingly, it seemed to be the nursing specialists who initially had to step out of
their ‘comfort zone’ due to low or lack of experience with DGBL methods and probably
because they had to leave most of the didactic development in the hands of technical
personnel. This created some tension in the early phase of the project. However, the
enthusiasm and commitment in making something new that potentially can improve
exam results was great. Various didactic approaches have been tested to improve the
worldwide problem of high failure rates in medication calculation (Allen and Pappas,
1999; Johnson and Johnson, 2002; Rice and Bell, 2005). Such techniques include more
classroom teaching hours on the subject, one-to-one follow up and more organized
group work and study groups, for example. Our approach is to try something completely
different, and the interest for this approach among both the national and international
nursing community is evident. Both the need and the desire for an alternative learning
method seem apparent.

One example that demonstrates the difference in understanding the concept of a game
was the discussion surrounding the name of the game. The nursing specialists were
occupied with the idea that the name should resonate academically. At least this was the
consensus among the nurses at the time. One of the realists in the group suggested the
name ‘PilleSpillet’ (directly translated ‘the pill game’, in English ‘The Medication Game’),
which was supported by both the developers and the project manager. The nursing
specialists saw the name misleading since the game is not just about pills, but all kinds of
medication. Other project participants were more concerned that the name of the game
should be ‘catchy’, and something that students could easily relate to. ‘PilleSpillet’ was
therefore kept as the title of the game.

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The fact that there is a variable knowledge about gaming across the group makes it
challenging to establish a common ground of terminology and understanding of the
challenges in the developmental work. This revealed itself when we, for example, not
always got concrete answers to specific questions posed to the nursing specialists in
the group. Similarly, some of the tasks that the nursing specialists were to perform
(for example writing text for the different assignments and test questions within the
game) bore signs that there were misunderstandings about the project ‘brief’ and the
premise of the game. Perhaps these misunderstandings could be due to a lack of clear
guidance and explanation about what was required, or maybe that we did not ensure
that all members of the group had full comprehension of e-learning related terminology.
However, we found that the simplest way to solve these problems was to sketch out
visual examples of the game with functioning programmed demo elements. It was
much easier for the project group as a whole to then be able to discuss and follow
developments, and to see a relation between what they had been asked to deliver in plain
text and what the end result would be. This was calming a lot of preliminary concerns,
enlightening participants and enabling them to feel like they could really get a grasp
of the scope of the project and its possibilities. It gave all members of the group a new
perspective on both medication calculation and the principles of DGBL aids.

4.3 Experiences
Upon reflection, it is important that early on in the development phase teams allow
adequate time for discussion (and perhaps hold workshops) about how games function,
to explore the notion of what games can be. This should be seen within a pedagogical
and didactical context, to encourage comprehension of the mechanics of the concept,
and how it can function as an academic tool. Allocating sufficient time to explore what
games are and looking at existing examples is a wise idea, as well as discussing game
related terminology. The aim should be to assure common knowledge regarding DGBL.

Our project is based on the expertise of the project organisation, and their colleagues
at UiS and UiA. Although subject matter specialists hold first hand information on the
nursing students’ problem areas regarding medication calculation, it seems wise to
consult mathematicians with educational research competence to assure the quality of
the mathematical and pedagogical aspects of the game.

The students are not invited to participate directly in the development of the game.
However, they gave input trough questionnaires before the development started, during
pretest and after the first version of the game were finished. Although several inputs
from students trough these questionnaires is implemented in later versions of the game,

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it might be sensible to include students in the whole evolution of the game development
– in the development group.

Creating a game in an educational context can be challenging. To succeed, it is
imperative that the lecturer is able to precisely express the didactic challenges of the
subject matter, and trust the implementation to the game designers and technical
developers. This trust correspondingly implies a responsibility in the hands of the
technical developers not only to understand the subject matter, but in fact also to
empathize with the lecturer. In this respect, the success of the game development
equally relies on the lecturer’s ability to relinquish control and the developers’ capacity
for empathy – two human factors that may not be obvious for the development of a
digital game.

5.0 Summary
Medication-related activities involve various medication competence areas including
medication calculation. However, numeracy skills of nursing students seem to be
relatively poor worldwide, and different methods have been developed to increase
the nurse student numeracy skills for medication calculation. Among various learning
strategies DGBL can be a supplement to more traditional didactic methods. ‘The
Medication Game’ aims to drill basic mathematics, medical units and simple medication
calculation with the goal to improve students’ mathematical skills, learning motivation as
well as confidence.

‘The Medication Game’ is being developed using Adobe® Flash Professional® and run
in Adobe® Flash Player® as a browser based application. The design of the game is
created in a simple, clear and intuitive fashion to attract all students including those
with less or no game experience. The structure of the game is divided into three parts; a
training section, a test yourself section, and a section about exam questions. The training
section is further dealt into three categories; numeracy, conversions and simple practical
medication calculation. Due to these categories and under categories, the players can
easily identify problem areas of particular interests or needs. Game sound, time and
rewards are used to increase the excitement of the game and competition feeling. In
addition, the rewards and score log also gives the students an overview of learning
outcomes and progress.

The game is developed in collaboration between different institutions. Due to be a highly
heterogenic group of persons, with different game and pedagogical experience, one of
the challenges during game development was the common understanding of what the

119


game should become. Therefore it is important to have trust in the game developers
to create the best possible medication game, based on the input from the medication
professionals.
In our next phase - phase two - of the development of this game, we will expand the
game to also include medication management. This part of the game will drill students’
medication administration procedures with the ultimate goal to improve a range of
aspects in students’ medication management skills. The game’s beta version is expected
to be finished in the autumn of 2011, with final completion estimated in spring 2012.

Acknowledgement
‘The Medication Game’ project is financially supported by the Norway Opening
Universities (www.nuv.no). The translation by Joanne Therese Kleppe is highly
appreciated.

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6.0 References
Adams, A., and Duffield, C. (1991). The value of drills in developing and maintaining
numeracy skills in an undergraduate nursing programme. Nurse Education Today 11, 213-
219.

Allen, S., and Pappas, A. (1999). Enhancing math competency of baccalaureate students.
Journal of professional nursing : official journal of the American Association of Colleges
of Nursing 15, 123-129.

Barker, K.N., Flynn, E.A., Pepper, G.A., Bates, D.W., and Mikeal, R.L. (2002). Medication
Errors Observed in 36 Health Care Facilities. Archives of Internal Medicine 162, 1897-1903.

Bates, B. (2004). Game Design, 2 edn (Boston, MA, Thomson Course Technology).

Benner, P., Sheets, V., Uris, P., Malloch, K., Schwed, K., and Jamison, D. (2002). Individual,
practise, and system causes of errors in nursing. Journal of Nursing Administration 32,
509-523.

Blakely, G., Skirton, H., Cooper, S., Allum, P., and Nelmes, P. (2009). Educational gaming in
the health sciences: systematic review. Journal of Advanced Nursing 65, 259-269.

Brown, D.L. (2002). Does 1 + 1 Still Equal 2?: A Study of the Mathematic Competencies of
Associate Degree Nursing Students. Nurse Educator 27, 132-135.

Deans, C. (2005). Medication errors and professional practice of registrered nurses.
Collegian: Journal of the royal college of nursing Australia 12, 29-33.

Glaister, K. (2007). The presence of mathematics and computer anxiety in nursing
students and their effects on medication dosage calculations. Nurse Education Today 27,
341-347

Johnson, S.A.P.R.N., and Johnson, L.J.P. (2002). The 4 Cs: A Model for Teaching Dosage
Calculation. Nurse Educator March/April 27, 79-83.

Jukes, L., and Gilchrist, M. (2006). Concerns about numeracy skills of nursing students.
Nurse Education in Practice 6, 192-198.

Ke, F. (2008). A case study of computer gaming for math: Engaged learning from
gameplay? Computers & Education 51, 1609-1620.

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Ke, F., and Grabowski, B. (2007). Gameplaying for maths learning: cooperative or not?
British Journal of Educational Technology 38, 249-259.

Kim, S., and Chang, M. (2010). Computer games for the math achievement of diverse
students. Educational Technology & Society 13, 224-232
.
Koster, R. (2005). A theory of fun for game design (Scottsdale, AZ, Paraglyph Press).

Lopez-Morteo, G., and López, G. (2007). Computer support for learning mathematics: A
learning environment based on recreational learning objects. Computers & Education 48,
618-641.

Oldridge, G.J., Gray, K.M., McDermott, L.M., and Kirkpatrick, C.M.J. (2004). Pilot study to
determine the ability of health-care professionals to undertake drug dose calculations.
Internal Medicine Journal 34, 316-319.

Rice, J.N., and Bell, M.L. (2005). Using Dimensional Analysis to Improve Drug Dosage
Calculation Ability. Journal of Nursing Education 44, 315.

Rollings, A., and Adams, E. (2003). On Game Design (Indianapolis, IN,
New Riders Publishing).

Salen, K., and Zimmerman, E. (2004). Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals
(Cambridge, MA, Massachusetts Insitiute of Technology Press).

Sulosaari, V., Suhonen, R., and Leino-Kilpi, H. (2011). An integrative review of the literature
on registered nurses’ medication competence. Journal of Clinical Nursing 20, 464-478
.
Veenema, S., and Gardner, H. (1996). Multimedia and multiple intelligences. The American
Prospect November 1, 69-75.

Wright, K. (2005). An exploration into the most effective way to teach drug calculation
skills to nursing students. Nurse Education Today 25, 430-436.

Wright, K. (2009a). Resouces to help solve drug calculation problems. British Journal of
Nursing 18, 878-883.

Wright, K. (2009b). Supporting the development of calculating skills in nurses. British
Journal of Nursing 18, 399-402.

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Future perspectives
Play Consulting
GameIT College

Mathias Poulsen

Future perspectives
We have been very pleased to further explore the field of game based learning
throughout this project, and we hope to contribute to moving the field forward, if only
by the slightest. When looking back at the project in its entirety, we are convinced, that
we have uncovered the ground we set out to do, doing experiments in practice and
gathering these together to form the foundation of a game based learning pedagogy.
Even so, much work remains ahead of us before we can realistically hope for game
based learning to become common everyday practice among educators alongside more
familiar media. As long as this is the case, we are eager to explore feasible approaches in
future projects.

By the time of writing, we have identified four areas of particular interest, which we will
focus on in the time to come:

• Supplementary teacher training
• Game literacy
• Dedicated learning games
• Education as a game

In the following, we will elaborate a bit more on these four dimensions, yet we ought
also underline, that not only are they deeply interrelated, but also depending on other
important areas, which would be outside the scope of this short discussion.
Supplementary teacher training
Whereas game based learning is often preoccupied with the learning of students, we
are very keen to maintain the teacher as pivotal to any real educational change. As
an immediate consequence, we must be willing to re-examine and challenge the ways
in which we support the necessary, constant development of teachers. It is becoming
increasingly clear to us, that just as traditional classroom instructional teaching must be
challenged and supplemented by other, more interactive forms, so do we need to revise
the supplementary training practice. Just offering a seminar or short course simply
isn’t sufficient and clearly not enough to fundamentally change anything. Despite the
divergence in target audience, it seems almost paradoxical to maintain the old ways of
teaching teachers when teaching about new ways of teaching students. How can we
provide a better framework for supporting teachers in their ongoing need to learn and
develop?

Game literacy
As described in the introductory chapter, game based learning is considered one of
two possible approaches to including games in education. The other component, game

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GAMEiT handbook Future Perspectives

literacy, is no less important, however, and should actually be thought of as a prerequisite
of game based learning. If games are to be considered interesting and valuable in
a learning perspective, it should be precisely because they are games. This again
presupposes a more intimate understanding of games, because how could we possibly
harness the learning potential of games, if we do not understand the nature of games?

As we have shown, dedicated learning games are no easy fix and many challenges are
facing this particular approach to game based learning. While the genre may seem like
a low-barrier entry to the field of game based learning due to the relevant content of
dedicated learning games, it can still prove quite a challenge to find games with relevant
content, which are actually also good games. Oftentimes, learning games are more
closely related to text books or quizzes than to the popular commercial titles played by
millions and millions across the world. These socalled “games” are far from harnessing
the full potential of game based learning, and thus more and better learning games are
obviously needed. We would love to work with both identifying the core elements of
good games as a foundation for good learning games (which should first and foremost
be good games), just as we are eager to work with actual development.

Education as a game
Using the somewhat clunky term “gamification”, a large number of game developers,
advertisers, researchers and educators have been recently discussing the potential of
applying game elements in services or contexts, which are not traditionally considered
games. Whereas a disproportionate part of the initial attempts at “gamifying”
have centered on merely adding points and achievements to existing services, we
sincerely believe that there is more to learn from games than just applying these
extrinsic motivators. It is the basic premise of game based learning, that games build
on characteristics, which make them facilitate learning more effectively than most
conventional teaching. The question is - can we “extract” those characteristics and build
an educational framework along the same principles as games? Can we make education
more oriented towards solving concrete, meaningful problems that are at the edge of
students’ regime of competence, allowing a relative autonomy in choice of tools and
approaches and encouraging creative collaboration?

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THE GAMEiT HANDBOOK
A framework of game based learning pedagogy
Throughout history games have been an integral part of human culture, and many
different types of games have been played for both leisure and more serious
purposes, such as practicing management strategies or learning relevant skills and
competences.

In more recent times, digital games have effectively permeated most areas of
popular culture and society in general. Digital games are no longer confined to
arcades or the darkened rooms of teenage boys, but have successfully broken new
ground, forcing us to keep revising what games are – and can be.

Throughout the book, we make an effort to clearly illustrate how games or
elements of games can be included in educational practice, and to what end.

The GAMEiT handbook is one of the outcomes of an EU-project with the following
Mission Statement: “We aim to identify, collect, test, and distribute good practice in
game based learning (GBL). Our project will result in a framework of game based
learning pedagogy.”

Project Website: http://www.projectgameit.eu
Project Partners: CV2 (Denmark), ZAXIS (Denmark), NADE (Norway), University
of Stavanger (Norway), University of Bournemouth (UK), University of Applied
Sciences Koblenz (Germany)

ISBN 978-82-91766-25-6

9 788291 766256

GAMEiT Handbook

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