The Use of Computer Games in Education

Simulation & gaming, 2002

2006

British Journal of Educational Technology, 2007

For some time now, computer games have played an important role in both children and adults' leisure activities. While there has been much written on the negative aspects of computer games, it has also been recognised that they have potential advantages and benefits. There is no doubt that computer games are highly engaging and incorporate features that are extremely compelling. It is these highly engaging features of computer games that have attracted the interests of educationalists. The use of games-based learning has been growing for many years now; however, within software engineering, there is still a dearth of empirical evidence to support this approach. In this paper, we examine the literature on the use of computer games to teach software engineering concepts and describe a computer game we have been developing to teach these concepts.

International Journal of Virtual and Personal Learning Environments, 2010

A highly important part of software engineering education is requirements collection and analysis, one of the initial stages of the Software Development Lifecycle. No other conceptual work is as difficult to rectify at a later stage or as damaging to the overall system if performed incorrectly. As software engineering is a field with a reputation for producing graduate engineers who are ill-prepared for real-life software engineering contexts, this paper suggests that traditional educational techniques (e.g. role-play, live-through case studies and paper-based case studies) are insufficient in themselves. In an attempt to address this problem we have developed a games-based learning application to teach requirements collection and analysis at the tertiary education level. One of the main problems with games-based learning is that there is a distinct lack of empirical evidence supporting the approach. This paper will describe the evaluation of the requirements collection and analysis...

Computer Game Studies, 2013

2022

Gamification has gained popularity in the last years, it is used in primary and secondary schools, as well as in companies and universities . Along with this growth in popularity the number of available computer tools that facilitate the implementation of quizzes, competitions, simulations, WebQuests etc. has also grown.

Games-based learning …, 2009

thoroughly engage in learning through meaningful activities defined in the game context as opposed to . the.related.terms.and.scope,.current.approaches,

Case Studies and Lessons Learned, 2010

This chapter presents a synthesis of the literature (1998-2008) on the efficacy of games and simulations for learning. Based on definitions and sets of essential attributes for games and for simulations, the authors examine the contributions of each to knowledge structuring and the development of problem solving skills. Noting that games and simulations have positive learning outcomes in various situations, the authors present variables to measure the knowledge and skills developed by learners who use games and simulations. This work is intended to contribute to the development of an analytical framework for future studies on the efficacy of games and simulations for learning.

Graduate Skills and Game-Based Learning, 2019

The previous chapter presented interviews with participants in a study designed to explore whether playing selected video games might help develop in students a range of useful skills and competencies, also known as graduate attributes. In this chapter, the implications of the interview data are considered. Each attribute is examined in turn and the chapter concludes with a brief overview of the skills and experience that students suggest they developed in addition to the stated graduate attributes. Ancillary benefits such as stress relief are also discussed. These empirical observations support ideas presented by scholars such as James Paul Gee and suggest further connections between game-based learning and established theory. It is important to note, however, that these interview data refer to the circumstances under which specific games were played: the participants make multiple references to the effects of being asked to play games with people other than their existing friends. Several of the attributes discussed here appear to be influenced by the fact that students played with strangers from differing cultural backgrounds and with varying gaming experience. Regardless, these interviews reveal the factors that may be at play in a game-based intervention intended to develop graduate attributes.

Video game use in education has focused on the application of games within the existing education system and on their inherent potential for producing learning (Gee 2003). However, research has revealed a fundamental mismatch between the goals of games and the object of school-based learning . As a result, efforts to integrate games into the curriculum have frequently fallen flat despite the best intentions of teachers and the gaming industry. Such efforts have failed either because games designed to educate do not engage their intended audience, or because truly engaging games do not provide enough educational value.