Topic 7: Digital Games and Design

There is something about games that makes gamers coming back to play for more. It would be powerful if education is gamified – students would keep coming back to learn for more. The game itself, however, should not be stand-alone activities or be substituted with lessons (Mayer, 2016). Instead, elements of games should be integrated into conventional learning activities.

Teaching to the test is an issue where students learn facts to pass tests but cannot apply their knowledge in other domains (Gee, 2005). Digital Games (DG) for educational purposes are an exciting alternative that allow transfer of knowledge from games to other contexts (Mayer, 2019).

The affordance of DG is that the challenges in games are ‘pleasantly frustrating’ and within students’ ‘regime of competence’ since difficult challenges are still doable (Gee, 2005). This is because failure in games is without real-life consequences. Students are thereby encouraged to take risks and explore. Whereas, schools often confine space for risk and failure (Gee, 2005).

Learning process is differentiated as games connect words to situated meanings and experiences, such as actions, images, or dialogues for better comprehension (Gee, 2005). Mayer (2019) defines this as ‘multimedia learning scenarios’ where instructional materials integrate words and graphics that lead to long-term comprehension.

All games have strengths and weaknesses, so teachers need to efficiently discern which ones are effective for game-based pedagogy. Some non-educational games benefit students because they could be replete with problem-solving situations or provide useful knowledge (Gee, 2005). The research by Mayer (2019) shows that people who played Tetris for 6 hours or more benefited in mental rotation tests of 2D shapes.

_{Tetris played by Hanah Park}

Students can learn about subject-specific content from off-the-shelf games. For example, fractions can be introduced to Year 7 students with Flipping pancakes. Certain games are designed to improve cognitive skills (Mayer, 2019).

^{Learning fractions with Flipping Pancakes played by Hanah Park}

DG already encourage students to explore and think laterally (Gee, 2005). Imagine how much more benefits would stem from students being designers of games.

Deep learning occurs when students become self-regulated learners who gain ownership and take responsibility for their cognitive processing during gameplay (Mayer, 2019).

Creativity comes from innovating novel ideas. Students as designers of games can apply their existing knowledge during their design process, which encourages creative thinking and critical thinking (Khairulamin et al., 2018). Students will not only play, but also build games that generate an open mind (Khairulamin et al., 2018).

^{Playing multiplication game I created on Scratch. Or click here to play.}

^{I relied on a tutorial to design this multiplication game on Scratch. Students also require guidance on basic coding skills before creating their own. (Screenshot of coding by Hanah Park)}

Educational DG must be curriculum-aligned and used to supplement learning activities, not supplant (Mayer, 2016). Excessive time investment, in comparison to what we achieve in return, must be avoided (Moore-Russo, 2018).

---

References

Gee, J. P. (2005). Good video games and good learning. Phi Kappa Phi forum, 85(2), 33-37.

Khairulamin, A., Ibharim, M., Farhana, L. (2018). Creativity of student as a game designer: An exploratory study. The International Journal of Multimedia and Its Applications, 10(6), 105-115. doi: 10.5121/ijma.2018.10609

Mayer, R. E. (2016). What should be the role of computer games in education? Policy Insights from the Behavioural and Brain Sciences, 3(1), 20-26. doi:10.1177/2372732215621311

Mayer, R. E. (2019). Computer games in education. Annual Review of Psychology, 70(1), 531-549. doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-010418-102744

Advertisement