Games, Gamification and the Need for Engaging Learners

Games, Gamification and the Need to
Engage Learners

By Karl M. Kapp
Bloomsburg University

Twitter:@kkapp

Google “Kapp Notes”
www.kaplaneduneering.com/kappnotes

2012 New Book:
“The Gamification of Learning and Instruction”

September 2011 Training Quarterly Article
Improving Training: Thinking Like a Game Developer

July 2011 T&D Article
Matching the Right Instruction to the Right Content

Agenda

1 2
How do you apply game-based strategies
What does research say about to the presentation of learning content?
games and game elements for
learning?

3 4
Ten tips for creating e-learning
What are 3 principles for adding games and simulations to change
serious games to learning curriculums? behavior.

10,000 hrs of
Game play 13 hours
of console
games a
87% of 8- to 17- week
year olds
play video games
Digital divisions. Report by the Pew /Internet: Pew Internet & American Life.

at home.
US Department of Commerce

Almost 43% of the
gamers are female
and 26% of those
females are over
18.

Females play 5 hours a week of
console games. They make up the
majority of PC gamers at 63%.

Digital divisions. Report by the Pew /Internet: Pew Internet & American Life.
US Department of Commerce

Percentages of Impact
Type of % Higher
Knowledge/
Retention
Declarative 11%
Procedural 14%
Retention 9%
Sitzmann, T. (2011) A meta-analytic examination of the instructional effectiveness
of computer-based simulation games. Personnel Psychology .Review of 65 studies

Percentages of Impact
It wasn’t the game, it was level
Typegame.
of activity in the
of % Higher
Knowledge/
Retention
Declarative 11%
In other words, the engagement
Procedural of the learner in the game leads
14%
to learning.
Retention 9%
of computer-based simulation games. Personnel Psychology .Review of 65 studies

Do simulation/games have to be entertaining to be
educational?

NO

of computer-based simulation games. Personnel Psychology .

Simulation/games build more confidence for
on the job application of learned knowledge
than classroom instruction.

20% higher
confidence levels.

of computer-based simulation games. Personnel Psychology .

A math facts game deployed on a handled computer
encouraged learners to complete greater number of
problems at an increased level of difficulty.

Learners playing the handheld game completed
nearly 3 times the number of problems in 19 days
and voluntarily increased the level of difficulty.

Lee, J., Luchini, K., Michael, B., Norris, C., & Soloway, E. (2004). More than just fun and games:
Assessing the value of educational video games in the classroom. Paper presented at the CHI '04
Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Vienna, Austria.

..it’s the instructional methods and
not the delivery system that
provides the active ingredients for
learning…in a game/simulation.
--Jeanne Farrington

Engagement

Learning
Game Game
Pedagogy

Adapted from Aldrich, C. Learning by Doing. Pfeiffer, page 80

Instructional games should be embedded
in instructional programs that include
debriefing and feedback.
Engagement

Instructional support to help learners
understand Educational the game increases
how to use
instructionalSimulation
effectiveness of the gaming
Game
experience. Pedagogy

Hays, R. T. (2005). The effectiveness of instructional games: A literature review and
discussion. Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division (No 2005-004).

Aldrich, C. Learning by Doing. Pfeiffer, page 80

Recommendations
1) Provide a context for the learning.

2) Don’t focus on “entertainment.”

3) Carefully craft the simulation/game to provide
opportunities to increase engagement and interactivity
to increase learning.

Use game-based mechanics,
aesthetics and game thinking to
engage people, motivate action,
promote learning, and solve
problems.

Gamification

Four
Elements of
Games that Aid
Learning
1. Avatars
2. Stories & Challenges
3. Levels
4. Feedback

We’ve Always Wanted
Characters

Avatars

Why be a Character at
All?

Research indicates that human
social models influence behavior,
beliefs and attitudes.

Bandura, A. 1986 Social foundations of thought and action: a social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ, USA: Prentice-Hall.

Avatar as Teacher

Research indicates that learners perceive, interact
socially with and are influenced by anthropomorphic
agents (avatars) even when their functionality and
adaptability are limited.

Baylor, A. 2009 Promoting motivation with virtual agents and avatars: R ole of visual presence and appearance. Philosophical
Transactions of the Royal B Society. 364, 3559–3565

An experience as an avatar
can change a person's real
life perceptions. In a study
conducted by Yee and
Bailenson (2006), it was
found that negative
stereotyping of the elderly
was significantly reduced
when participants were
placed in avatars of old
people compared with those
participants placed in avatars
of young people.

Yee, N. & Bailenson, J.N. (2006). Walk A Mile in Digital Shoes: The Impact of Embodied Perspective-Taking on The
Reduction of Negative Stereotyping in Immersive Virtual Environments.. Proceedings of PRESENCE 2006: The 9th Annual
International Workshop on Presence. August 24 – 26, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Who is more likely to run 24 hours later?

A. Person who watched an avatar not like
them running
B. Person who watch an avatar like them
running
C. Person watching an avatar like them
loitering

Within 24 hours of watching an avatar like
themselves run, learners were more likely to
run than watching an avatar not like them or
watching an avatar like them loitering .

Fox, J., Arena, D., & Bailenson, J.N. (2009). Virtual Reality: A survival guide for the social scientist. Journal of Media Psychology, 21 (3), 95-113.

If learners watch an avatar that looks
like them exercising & losing weight,
they will subsequently exercise more in
the real world as compared to a control
group.

Fox, J., Arena, D., & Bailenson, J.N. (2009). Virtual Reality: A survival guide for the social scientist. Journal of Media Psychology, 21 (3), 95-113.

Third Person View

“Seeing oneself as acting in a movie or a play is not
merely fantasy or indulgence; it is fundamental to
how people work out who it is they are, and may
become.” Ben Casey

Carey, B. (2007) This is Your Life (and How You Tell it). The New York Times. And Sestir, M. & Green, M. C. (2010). You
are who you watch: Identification and transportation effects on temporary self-concept. Social Influence, 5, 272-288
and research by Libby, L.K., Shaeffer, E.M., Eibach, R.P., & Slemmer, J.A. ( 2007) Picture yourself at the polls: Visual
perspective in mental imagery affects self-perception and behavior. Psychological Science. Vol. 18: 199-203.

Recommendations
• Use avatars to model desired behavior.

• Allow/encourage learners to craft avatars that look like
themselves for maximum learning impact.

• Use two avatars in e-learning instead of one. One to
provide knowledge, and one to provide motivation.

• Create the third-person perspective to allow learners to
observe desired behavior.

Provide a challenge

Jones, B., Valdez, G., Norakowski, J., & Rasmussen, C. (1994). Designing learning and technology
for educational reform. North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. [Online]. Available:
http://www.ncrtec.org/capacity/profile/profwww.htm and Schlechty, P. C. (1997). Inventing
better schools: An action plan for educational reform. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass

Re-design the Instruction to
Start with a Challenge

Researchers have found that the Yep, People tend to remember facts
human brain has a natural affinity for more accurately if they encounter
narrative construction. them in a story rather than in a list.

And they rate legal arguments as more
convincing when built into narrative
tales rather than on legal precedent.

Carey, B. (2007) this is Your Life (and How You Tell it). The New York Times. Melanie
Green http://www.unc.edu/~mcgreen/research.html

Story Elements
1.Characters

2. Plot (something has to happen).
3. Tension

4. Resolution
5. Conclusion

Games, Gamification and the Need for Engaging Learners

Recommendations
• Embed facts to be learned in the context of stories.

• Start the learning process by providing a challenge to
the learner.

• Provide a progression from simple to more difficult
tasks.

• Use stories that are related to the context of the
desired learning outcome.

Scaffolding: Process of controlling
the task elements that initially are
beyond the learner’s capacity.

Guided Practice. Step-by-step
instructions and then fading of
instruction

Once that task is accomplished, the
learner is then led to accomplish
another goal which builds upon the
previous.

Level One: Talking with the
receptionist.

Level Two: Talking with the nurse
gatekeeper.

Level Three: Talking with the
physician.

Recommendations
• Provide different entry points into the
instruction.

• Provide different learner experiences within
the same e-learning module.

• Consider “leveling up” learner challenges.

Games like The Sims provide feedback on
many dimensions which provide
opportunities to consider tradeoffs and
higher level cognitive thinking.

Leaderboards provide
opportunities for players to
receive feedback about their
performance as compared to
others.

Recommendations
• Provide authentic and realistic feedback.

• Feedback should be continuous through out
the learning.

• Feedback should be instructional and provide
knowledge of learner’s performance.

• Allow learners to create their own social
“leaderboard” of friends.

Fostering Pro-Social
Behavior

Greitemeyer, T. & Osswald, S. (2010) Effective of Prosocial games on prosocial behavior.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Vol. 98 . No. 2., 211-221.

Inventory Observation

Kapp, K. & O’Driscoll T. ( 2010) Learning in 3D: Adding a new dimension to enterrpise
learning and collaboration. Pfeffier. PP.416.

Learners journey through a
series of activities designed
to synthesize conceptual
learning.

Learning changes from being Disembodied and
Transactional to Embodied, Relational and Experiential.

Summary

1 2
Apply stories, avatars, feedback and
Games/Simulations are effective levels as effective game elements to
for learning because of learner learning.
engagement.

3 4
Four motivational aspects of games
Provide support materials as part of that improve learning recall
curriculum, “fun” doesn’t need and application are: interactivity,
to be the goal. context, challenge, and story.

Questions/More Information
• http://www.kaplaneduneering.com/kappnotes/
– Recommended books
– Samples and Examples
• Learning in 3D
– www.learningin3d.info
• Gadgets, Games and Gizmos for Learning
– www.gadgetsgamesandgizmos.com

• Email: kkapp@bloomu.edu
• Email: karlkapp@gmail.com

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