Digiplay Initiative

New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:

Serious games use instructional and video game elements for nonentertainment purposes. Serious games attempt to create instructionally sound and relevant learning experiences for a wide variety of audiences and industries. The author contends that for serious games to be effective, instructional designers and video game designers need to understand how the game characteristics, competition and goals, rules, challenges, choices, and fantasy, used in both edutainment and serious games, can influence motivation and facilitate learning.

New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:

The purpose of this study is to present an overview of the current writings and research in the field of educational complex games and simulations and their use in the classroom. In addition, it will look at the complex gaming software currently being used and/or developed to help meet the learning needs of the digital age student. It will consider the implications of using games in the classroom and make recommendations for future research.

New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:

This paper reviews proposed benefits of using games as cognitive tools, and discusses the complexities of assessing those benefits. Use of educational games to supplement traditional classroom lectures is purported by some researchers to increase interest, motivation, and retention, as well as to improve higher order thinking and reasoning skills. Assessment of the effectiveness of games as cognitive tools is a complex issue, and several variables, such as learner differences, assessment methods, and implicit knowledge, must be considered.

New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:

Empirical research on the effects of computer games and simulations, and their value in attaining instructional objectives, are reviewed, as are studies concerning the transfer of capabilities acquired from games and simulations to ‘real world’ tasks. Results suggest that games and simulations improve a variety of cognitive capabilities. Furthermore, there is evidence for positive transfer from activities required by games and simulations to real world task performance. This transfer appears to depend much more on similarities between cognitive and attention processes than on physical similarities. Attitudes to games were found to be positive. However, the findings suggest that hostility and aggression tend to increase as a result of exposure to games, and school grades may suffer as a result of excessive game playing. Recommendations for the development of games, limits to the generality of findings, concerns about research on games, and recommendations for further research are discussed.

New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:

Exploring games and education is inherently controversial. It is hard to understand something without direct experience. Yet that is how many approach games in education.

New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:

Numerous short articles on Games and SImulations in education:

The games people play 3
Showcasing – games and simulation
They’re manikins – not mannequins 4
The virtual stock market game 5
First steps in using high fidelilty Human Patient Simulators 6
Return on investment? 7
Steelmaking simulations @steeluniversity.org 8
Self-organizing communities for knowledge production 10
Online games and simulations as aids to learning ethos, challenges and evaluation 12
THEATRON 14
Low cost, low tech web-based simulations 15

Research – games and simulation
How can e-learning games and simulations compete in the market place? 16
SimAcademy 17
Computer games: the most powerful learning technology of our age? 18
A quick look at Quandary 19
Commercial games in the classroom 20
Research into computer games and learning: a brief overview 22

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