Lars Doucet
ABSTRACT
In the paper we describe the design and development of a video game about sustainable energy use that effectively unites fun with learning. We also present results from an initial study of the educational impact of the game. Many educational games do not properly translate knowledge, facts, and lessons into the language of games. This results in games that are often neither engaging nor educational. Our approach differs by using game mechanics to express the educational content. The design combines the fantasy elements and game play conventions of the real-time strategy (RTS) genre with numbers, resources and situations based on research about real-world energy production and use. The result is a game in which the player learns about energy use simply by trying to overcome the game's challenges. We demonstrate that effective and engaging learning games can be developed as long as sound game design principles are used. Results from a combined quantitative/qualitative study show that players enjoyed the game, learned new things and became more interested in the topic of energy use. This paper will highlight key aspects of the design that we believe contributed towards making the game fun as well as educational. The game also presents a model for translating real-world topics into game mechanics using the language of procedural rhetoric. The real world is ripe with problems and situations that could inspire interesting game mechanics and provide new creative ideas for educational and traditional game designers.
Supplemental Material
- Abt, C. 1970. Serious Games. Viking Press, New York, NY.Google Scholar
- Adams, E., 1998. Designer's Notebook: Bad Game Designer, No Twinkie! http://gamasutra.com/view/feature/3260/designers_notebook_bad_game_.php. Accessed on December 21, 2009.Google Scholar
- Alcoa Inc., 2009. http://alcoa.com. Accessed on November 25, 2009.Google Scholar
- Bogost, I. 2007. Persuasive games: The expressive power of videogames. The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Bogost, I. 2008. The rhetoric of video games. In The Ecology of Games: Connecting Youth, Games and Learning, K. Salen, Ed., The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning. The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 117--140.Google Scholar
- Bogost, I., 2009. Persuasive Games: The Proceduralist Style. http://gamasutra.com/view/feature/3909/persuasive_games_the_.php. Accessed on July 2, 2009.Google Scholar
- Broehl, J., 2006. A new chapter begins for concentrated solar power. http://renewableenergyworld.com/rea//news/article/2006/02/a-new-chapter-begins-for-concentrated-solar-power-43336. Accessed on November 25, 2009.Google Scholar
- Cielo Wind Power, 2009. Completed developments. http://cielowind.com/projects/completed-development. Accessed on November 25, 2009.Google Scholar
- Davidson & Associates, 1994. Math Blaster Episode I: In Search of Spot. Torrance, California.Google Scholar
- Energy Information Administration, 2009. Electric Power Annual. http://eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epa/epa_sum.html. Accessed on November 20, 2009.Google Scholar
- Frasca, G., 2003. September 12th. http://newsgaming.com/games/index12.htm. Accessed on January 9, 2009.Google Scholar
- Gee, J. 2003. What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. Palgrave MacMillan. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Gee, J., 2006. What's wrong with serious games? Panel Discussion, Serious Games Summit at GDC 2006. As quoted in http://news.cnet.com/Whats-wrong-with-serious-games/2100-1043_3-6052346.html.Google Scholar
- Geothermal Energy Association. 2005. Factors affecting cost of geothermal power development. Research report, U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
- ImpactGames, 2007. PeaceMaker. http://www.peacemaker.com.Google Scholar
- International Center on Nonviolent Conflict, and York Zimmerman, Inc., 2006. A Force More Powerful -- the Game of Nonviolent Strategy. http://www.afmpgame.com.Google Scholar
- Jenkins, H., and Hinrichs, R., 2003. Games to Teach Project. http://icampus.mit.edu/projects/GamesToTeach.shtml. Accessed on December 21, 2009.Google Scholar
- Jonassen, D. 1992. Cognitive flexibility theory and its implications for designing CBI. In Instructional models in computer-based learning environments, S. Dijkstra, H. P. M. Krammer, and J. J. G. van Merrienboer, Eds. Spinger-Verlag, Berlin, 385--403.Google Scholar
- Koster, R. 2005. A Theory of Fun for Game Design. Paraglyph Press, Scottsdale, AZ. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Lazzaro, N., 2004. Why we play games: 4 keys to more emotion. Game Developer's Conference 2004.Google Scholar
- Lower Colorado River Authority, 2009. http://lcra.org. Accessed on November 25, 2009.Google Scholar
- Persuasive Games, 2009. Debt Ski. http://persuasivegames.com/games/game.aspx?game=debtski. Accessed on January 9, 2009.Google Scholar
- Pimentel, D., and Patzek, T. 2005. Ethanol Production Using Corn, Switchgrass and Wood; Biodiesel Production Using Soybean and Sunflower. Natural Resources Research 14.1, 65.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Public Citizen Inc., 2005. American Electric Power Sued for Thousands of Federal, State Air Pollution Violations at Texas SWEPCO PLANT. http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/pressroomredirect.cfm?ID=1895. Accessed on November 25, 2009.Google Scholar
- Ryan, R. M., Rigby, C. S., and Przybylski, A. 2006. The motivational pull of video games: A self-determination theory approach. Motivation and Emotion 30, 4, 347--363.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Spiro, R., and Jehng, J. 1990. Cognitive flexibility and hypertext: Theory and technology for the nonlinear and multidimensional traversal of complex subject matter. In Cognition, education, and multimedia: Exploring ideas in high technology, D. Nix and R. Spiro, Eds. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, NJ, 163--205.Google Scholar
- Spiro, R., Coulson, R., Feltovich, P., and Anderson, D. 1988. Cognitive flexibility theory: Advanced knowledge acquisition in ill-structured domains. In Tenth annual conference of the Cognitive Science Society, V. Patel, Ed. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, NJ, 375--383.Google Scholar
- Swain, C. 2007. Designing games to effect social change. In Situated Play: Proceedings of the 2007 Digital Games Research Association Conference, B. Akira, Ed. The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, September, 805--809.Google Scholar
- Swain, C., 2007. The ReDistricting Game. http://www.redistrictinggame.org.Google Scholar
- Thomas, J., 2007. North america's largest solar-electric plant switched on. http://www.metaefficient.com/news/north-americas-largest-solar-electric-plant-in-switched-on.html. Accessed on November 25, 2009.Google Scholar
- Van Eck, R. 2006. Digital Game-Based Learning: It's Not Just the Digital Natives Who Are Restless. EDUCAUSE Review 41, 2, 16--30.Google Scholar
- World Nuclear Association, 2009. The economics of nuclear power. http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf02.html. Accessed on December 31, 2009.Google Scholar
- Xcel Energy, 2009. http://xcelenergy.com. Accessed on November 25, 2009.Google Scholar
Index Terms
- Designing entertaining educational games using procedural rhetoric: a case study
Recommendations
A methodology for assessing the effectiveness of serious games and for inferring player learning outcomes
Although serious games are proven to serve as educational tools in many educational domains, there is a lack of reliable, automated and repeatable methodologies that measure their effectiveness: what do players know after playing serious games? Do they ...
Designing game idea generation games
Future Play '08: Proceedings of the 2008 Conference on Future Play: Research, Play, ShareThis paper introduces idea generation games designed for the use of game designers. Three games designed especially for generating new game ideas were developed in the GameSpace project that studies methods for design and evaluation of casual mobile ...
Engaging Users with Educational Games: The Case of Phishing
CHI EA '19: Extended Abstracts of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing SystemsPhishing continues to be a difficult problem for individuals and organisations. Educational games and simulations have been increasingly acknowledged as versatile and powerful teaching tools, yet little work has examined how to engage users with these ...
Comments