houston, astd: what research tells us about games, gamification and learning
DESCRIPTION
his decidedly unacademic presentation provides a broad scientific overview of what we know from research about the effectiveness today’s technology for changing learner behaviors through games. We will discuss the use of 3D avatars to change learner behaviors; we will consider how playing a video game changes a person’s behavior and how storytelling helps learners memorize facts. We’ll answer questions like: Are two avatars better in an e-learning module than one? Does the appearance of an avatar impact the person when they’ve finished working with the avatar? Do serious games have to be entertaining to be educational? This engaging, exciting session shows you how to use the existing research literature in your own design and delivery of online learning. You will be provided with tips and techniques for matching research findings to your own e-learning design. We’ll move the concepts from research-to-practice. Discover how research-based practices really fit in with today's fast-paced need for quick, effective instruction online instruction.TRANSCRIPT
What Research Tells us About Games, Gamification and Learning
Twitter:@kkapp
By Karl M. Kapp Bloomsburg University April 25, 2012
Google “Kapp Notes”
www.kaplaneduneering.com/kappnotes Blog Book Tour
Learning Circuits Blog
2012 New Book: “The Gamification of Learning and Instruction”
September 2011 Training Quarterly Article Improving Training: Thinking Like a Game Developer
July 2011 T&D Article Matching the Right Instruction to the Right Content
Based on the Book.
1
Agenda
What does research say about
games and game elements for
learning?
How do you apply game-based strategies
to the presentation of learning content?
2
3 What are 3 principles for adding
serious games to learning curriculums?
4 Ten tips for creating e-learning
games and simulations to change
behavior.
10,000 hrs of Game play
13 hours of console games a
week
Digital divisions. Report by the Pew /Internet: Pew Internet & American Life. US Department of Commerce
87% of 8- to 17-
year olds play video games
at home.
Females play 5 hours a week of console games. They make up the majority of PC gamers at 63%.
Almost 43% of the gamers are female and 26% of those females are over
18.
Digital divisions. Report by the Pew /Internet: Pew Internet & American Life. US Department of Commerce
What Research Says about
Games for Learning
Type of Knowledge/Retention
% Higher
Declarative 11%
Procedural 14%
Retention 9%
Percentages of Impact
Sitzmann, T. (2011) A meta-analytic examination of the instructional effectiveness of computer-based simulation games. Personnel Psychology .Review of 65 studies
Type of Knowledge/Retention
% Higher
Declarative 11%
Procedural 14%
Retention 9%
Percentages of Impact
Sitzmann, T. (2011) A meta-analytic examination of the instructional effectiveness of computer-based simulation games. Personnel Psychology .Review of 65 studies
It wasn’t the game, it was level of activity in the game.
In other words, the engagement of the learner in the game leads
to learning.
Do simulation/games have to be entertaining to be educational?
NO
Sitzmann, T. (2011) A meta-analytic examination of the instructional effectiveness of computer-based simulation games. Personnel Psychology .
Sitzmann, T. (2011) A meta-analytic examination of the instructional effectiveness of computer-based simulation games. Personnel Psychology .
20% higher confidence levels.
Simulation/games build more confidence for on the job application of learned knowledge
than classroom instruction.
A math facts game deployed on a handled computer encouraged learners to complete greater number of
problems at an increased level of difficulty.
Learners playing the handheld game completed nearly 3 times the number of problems in 19 days
and voluntarily increased the level of difficulty.
Lee, J., Luchini, K., Michael, B., Norris, C., & Soloway, E. (2004). More than just fun and games: Assessing the value of educational video games in the classroom. Paper presented at the CHI '04 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Vienna, Austria.
..it’s the instructional methods and not the delivery system that provides the active ingredients for learning…in a game/simulation. --Jeanne Farrington
Engagement
Pedagogy Game
Learning Game
Adapted from Aldrich, C. Learning by Doing. Pfeiffer, page 80
Engagement
Pedagogy Game
Educational Simulation
Aldrich, C. Learning by Doing. Pfeiffer, page 80
Instructional games should be embedded in instructional programs that include debriefing and feedback.
Instructional support to help learners understand how to use the game increases instructional effectiveness of the gaming experience.
Hays, R. T. (2005). The effectiveness of instructional games: A literature review and discussion. Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division (No 2005-004).
Recommendations
1) Provide a context for the learning.
2) Don’t focus on “entertainment.”
3) Carefully craft the simulation/game to provide opportunities to increase engagement and interactivity to increase learning.
Use game-based mechanics, aesthetics and game thinking to engage people, motivate action,
promote learning, and solve problems.
Gamification
Four Elements of
Games that Aid Learning
1. Avatars 2. Stories & Challenges 3. Levels 4. Feedback
We’ve Always Wanted Characters
Avatars
Why be a Character at All?
Research indicates that human social models influence behavior,
beliefs and attitudes.
Bandura, A. 1986 Social foundations of thought and action: a social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ, USA: Prentice-Hall.
Avatar as Teacher
Research indicates that learners perceive, interact socially with and are influenced by anthropomorphic
agents (avatars) even when their functionality and adaptability are limited.
Baylor, A. 2009 Promoting motivation with virtual agents and avatars: R ole of visual presence and appearance. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal B Society. 364, 3559–3565
An experience as an avatar can change a person's real life perceptions. In a study conducted by Yee and Bailenson (2006), it was found that negative stereotyping of the elderly was significantly reduced when participants were placed in avatars of old people compared with those participants placed in avatars of young people.
Yee, N. & Bailenson, J.N. (2006). Walk A Mile in Digital Shoes: The Impact of Embodied Perspective-Taking on The Reduction of Negative Stereotyping in Immersive Virtual Environments.. Proceedings of PRESENCE 2006: The 9th Annual International Workshop on Presence. August 24 – 26, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Who is more likely to run 24 hours later? A. Person who watched an avatar not like
them running B. Person who watch an avatar like them
running C. Person watching an avatar like them
loitering
Within 24 hours of watching an avatar like themselves run, learners were more likely to run than watching an avatar not like them or
watching an avatar like them loitering .
Fox, J., Arena, D., & Bailenson, J.N. (2009). Virtual Reality: A survival guide for the social scientist. Journal of Media Psychology, 21 (3), 95-113.
If learners watch an avatar that looks like them exercising & losing weight,
they will subsequently exercise more in the real world as compared to a control
group.
Fox, J., Arena, D., & Bailenson, J.N. (2009). Virtual Reality: A survival guide for the social scientist. Journal of Media Psychology, 21 (3), 95-113.
Mentor
Motivator
Expert
Are two avatars better than one?
Mentor
Motivator
Expert
Yes, two avatars are better than one.
Baylor, A. L. & Kim, Y. (2005). Simulating instructional roles through pedagogical agents. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, 15(1), 95-115.
http://www.codebaby.com/showcase/elearning-showcase/
First Person View
Third Person View
Carey, B. (2007) This is Your Life (and How You Tell it). The New York Times. And Sestir, M. & Green, M. C. (2010). You are who you watch: Identification and transportation effects on temporary self-concept. Social Influence, 5, 272-288 and research by Libby, L.K., Shaeffer, E.M., Eibach, R.P., & Slemmer, J.A. ( 2007) Picture yourself at the polls: Visual perspective in mental imagery affects self-perception and behavior. Psychological Science. Vol. 18: 199-203.
“Seeing oneself as acting in a movie or a play is not merely fantasy or indulgence; it is fundamental to how people work out who it is they are, and may become.” Ben Casey
Recommendations
• Use avatars to model desired behavior. • Allow/encourage learners to craft avatars that look like
themselves for maximum learning impact.
• Use two avatars in e-learning instead of one. One to provide knowledge, and one to provide motivation.
• Create the third-person perspective to allow learners to observe desired behavior.
Stories & Challenges
Provide a challenge
Jones, B., Valdez, G., Norakowski, J., & Rasmussen, C. (1994). Designing learning and technology for educational reform. North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. [Online]. Available: http://www.ncrtec.org/capacity/profile/profwww.htm and Schlechty, P. C. (1997). Inventing better schools: An action plan for educational reform. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass
Re-design the Instruction to Start with a Challenge
Researchers have found that the human brain has a natural affinity for
narrative construction.
Yep, People tend to remember facts more accurately if they encounter
them in a story rather than in a list.
And they rate legal arguments as more convincing when built into narrative tales rather than on legal precedent.
Carey, B. (2007) this is Your Life (and How You Tell it). The New York Times. Melanie Green http://www.unc.edu/~mcgreen/research.html
1. Characters
Story Elements
5. Conclusion
2. Plot (something has to happen).
3. Tension
4. Resolution
NikePlus Stats for Karl
Challenge and Consolidation– Good games offer players a set
of challenging problems and then let them solve these problems
until they have virtually routinized or automated their solutions.
Games then throw a new class of problem at the players requiring
them to rethink their now, taken-for-granted mastery, learn
something new, and integrate this new learning into their old
mastery.
James Paul Gee,
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Recommendations
• Embed facts to be learned in the context of stories.
• Start the learning process by providing a challenge to the learner.
• Provide a progression from simple to more difficult tasks.
• Use stories that are related to the context of the desired learning outcome.
Levels
Scaffolding: Process of controlling the task elements that initially are
beyond the learner’s capacity.
Guided Practice. Step-by-step instructions and then fading of
instruction
Once that task is accomplished, the learner is then led to accomplish
another goal which builds upon the previous.
Level One: Talking with the receptionist.
Level Two: Talking with the nurse gatekeeper.
Level Three: Talking with the physician.
Level One: Demonstration
Level Two: Guided Practice
Level Three: Performance Assessment
Recommendations
• Provide different entry points into the instruction.
• Provide different learner experiences within the same e-learning module.
• Consider “leveling up” learner challenges.
Feedback
Games like The Sims provide feedback on many dimensions which provide
opportunities to consider tradeoffs and higher level cognitive thinking.
Leaderboards provide opportunities for players to
receive feedback about their performance as compared to
others.
Recommendations
• Provide authentic and realistic feedback.
• Feedback should be continuous through out the learning.
• Feedback should be instructional and provide
knowledge of learner’s performance.
• Allow learners to create their own social “leaderboard” of friends.
Putting It All Together
Fostering Pro-Social Behavior
Greitemeyer, T. & Osswald, S. (2010) Effective of Prosocial games on prosocial behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Vol. 98 . No. 2., 211-221.
28% helped to pick up pencils
33% helped to pick up pencils
67% helped to pick up pencils
22% intervened
56% intervened
Learned Procedure
1
Summary
Games/Simulations are effective
for learning because of learner
engagement.
Apply stories, avatars, feedback and
levels as effective game elements to
learning.
2
3 Provide support materials as part of
curriculum, “fun” doesn’t need
to be the goal.
4 Four motivational aspects of games
that improve learning recall
and application are: interactivity,
context, challenge, and story.
Go ahead…jump in!
Questions/More Information • http://www.kaplaneduneering.com/kappnotes/
– Recommended books
– Samples and Examples
• Email: [email protected]
• Email: [email protected]
• Twitter: @kkapp
• Pinterest: Gamification Happenings
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/gamificationLI
“The Gamification of Learning and Instruction”