23.5: What Makes A Learning Game Effective?

As with other new learning technologies, it is important to separate hype from reality. Not all game-based learning trials are successful, for reasons related to a game’s design, fit with learning objectives, role within the larger learning context, technology support, and other factors. However, experience and research are developing a growing body of knowledge about features and practices that contribute to game-based learning success.

Game Design

Well-designed learning games aim to achieve engagement levels similar to entertainment games, which keep players involved for many hours of increasingly complex exploration and step-by-step achievement.

Gee (2003, pp. 62–63) argues that “learners must be enticed to try even if afraid, must be enticed to put in lots of effort even if initially not motivated to do so, and must achieve some meaningful success when he or she has expended this effort”. He suggests that good video games do this by incorporating the following principles (pp. 137–138):

Table \(\PageIndex{1}\): Selected Learning Principles in Successful Video Games (Gee, 2003)

Learning Principle	Explanation
Subset principle	Learning even at its start takes place in a (simplified) subset of the real domain.
Incremental principle	Learning situations are ordered in the early stages so that earlier cases lead to generalizations that are fruitful for later cases. Choices in later complex cases are constrained by what the player has found earlier.
Concentrated sample principle	The learner sees and can practise and learn (especially early in the game) many instances of fundamental signs (meanings) and actions.
Bottom-up basic skills principle	Basic skills are discovered bottom up by engaging more and more in the game.
Explicit information on-demand and just-in time	The learner is given explicit information what is needed just at the point where it can best be understood and used in practice.
Discovery principle	Most learning happens through experimentation and discovery rather than through telling.
Transfer principle	Learners are given ample opportunity to practise, as well as support for transferring what they have learned earlier to later problems

The flow concept offers additional game design help. According to Malone (1980), flow happens in activities in which players can increase or decrease the level of challenge to exactly match their skill levels; they can obtain increasingly complex information through a broad range of challenges, some qualitatively different; they have clear performance criteria and feedback so that they can always tell how well or poorly they are doing; and the activity is free from distracting stimuli that might interfere with their involvement. Evaluating games in terms of flow naturally leads us to look for games with:

• multiple challenge levels that adapt as players learn;
• clear goals and easily interpreted, frequent feedback; and
• a variety of game tasks and activities to avoid the boredom we frequently associate with more traditional learning technologies.

Other features that help to make games engaging (Becta, 2001; Dickey, 2005; Fabricatore, 2000; Mitchell & Savill-Smith, 2004; Prensky, 2001a) include:

• dynamic visuals, interaction, rules and goals (although games can be successful without highly complex virtual reality graphics);
• naturally embedded (rather than external) learning content with contextual relevance;
• simple startup and rules to provide early success and minimize frustration;
• game pace and length matched to the target audience;
• opportunities to exercise the arcade game skills of the “gaming generation”;
• opportunities to make many decisions and correct and learn from errors;
• use of first-person point of view, i.e., making the player part of the gaming environment;
• use of narrative (story) to provoke curiosity and give opportunities for creativity, choice and control;
• using physical, temporal, environmental, emotional and ethical dimensions to provide players with a sense of immersion; and
• using compelling characters (or let players create their own) with which players empathize and identify.

Beyond analyzing a game’s features, Prensky (2001a) suggests that observing players can help us identify an engaging game:

• Is the game fun enough that someone who is not in its target audience would want to play and learn from it?
• Do people using it think of themselves as “players” rather than “students’ or trainees”?
• Is the experience addictive? Do users want to play again and again until they win, and possibly after?
• Are the players’ skills in the subject matter and learning content of the game improving at a rapid rate, and getting better the longer he or she plays?
• Does the game encourage reflection about what has been learned?

Fit with Learning Objectives

Games can be used to support a variety of learning objectives. Garris et al. (2006) provide a useful review of possible game learning outcomes.

Table \(\PageIndex{2}\): Game Learning Outcomes (Garris et al., 2006)

Outcome Type	Description
Cognitive
Declarative	Knowledge of the facts and data required for task performance
Procedural	Knowledge about how to perform a task
Strategic	Ability to apply rules and strategies to general or novel cases
Affective	Beliefs or attitudes regarding an object or activity, e.g., feelings of confidence, self-efficacy, attitudes, preferences, and dispositions
Skill-based	Performance of technical or motor skills

Clearly a key question in selecting or designing a game is how well it fits with the objectives you have in mind. Here are some factors to keep in mind when relating a game to your learning objectives:

• Cognitive objectives: Factual knowledge can be readily learned through frame games (e.g., question-and-answer-based Jeopardy, or a Concentration-style matching game) or through solving puzzles (possible with external searching for information) as part of quest games. Simulations or adventure games can require factual knowledge to solve problems or make decisions; procedural and strategic knowledge related to system interactions, as well as problem-solving skills, can also be major simulation game outcomes. In these situations it is important to see that simulation models are realistic and match (or do not conflict with) your objectives in using the game.
• Affective objectives: Games are often promoted as vehicles for changing attitudes and beliefs, e.g., when used to teach the importance of diet management for diabetes. How appropriate are the attitudes and beliefs embedded in a game? How appropriate are the implied social attitudes and beliefs, e.g., about violence, gender, race? What attitudes, beliefs, and actions are rewarded?
• Skill-based objectives: If your objectives include technical or psychomotor skills (e.g., typing, driving, flying, equipment disassembly and repair), it will be important for you to review any evidence available about how well the skills taught in the game transfer to the real world.
• Role within the larger learning context: A game is only one activity in the total learning system. How the game activity is assigned, supported, and debriefed is extremely important in making sure that its full learning potential is realized. Two key ways in which you as an educator can improve the success of your games are through collaboration and reflection.

Finding ways to make game play a collaborative rather than an individual activity adds the impetus of collaborative learning to the activity. In our experience, even simple traditional games such as question-based Tic Tac Toe can become lively shouting matches when teams compete to win. Collaborating on designing a city or roller coaster can lead a group to find and share ideas and knowledge far beyond the capabilities of one individual. Playing an MMOG leads a learner to collaborate spontaneously with others in order to progress in the game (Galarneau, 2005).

Many experts note the importance of reflection— encouraging students to think deeply about, and articulate, the learning that they experience in playing a game. Gee (2003) states the importance of incorporating active and critical thinking about how the learning relates to other semiotic domains. Commercial learning games, particularly for the K–12 age group, are beginning to appear with support materials to help teachers position and facilitate their use and to guide learners in reflecting on what they have learned and how it can be applied outside the game. For an example, see www.gamesparentteachers.com.

Technology Support

As with other learning technologies, technical infrastructure and support can make or break a game-based learning exercise. For an effective experience with your learners, you will need:

• computer and network configurations to support your play plan (individual PCs or handhelds for all, for small groups, or at the front of the classroom; if networked, stable online access with good response times;
• readily available technical support staff if something goes wrong;
• knowledge and experience with the game to answer questions and help learners who run into problems;
• clear navigation and help in the game software; and
• good security (e.g., anti-hacker and privacy guards, particularly when games are used with young children online).

Example \(\PageIndex{1}\)

Effective learning games do not always need long story lines or sophisticated virtual worlds. Education Games Central games (www.savie.qc.ca/carrefourjeux /an/accueil.htm) routinely engage teams of young or older players in spirited competition in many content areas.