Jon Aleckson's picture

Screen capture of NCRA scenario

Jon Aleckson 10/31/2012 - 10:36
Michael O Brien's picture
BiblioBouts Logo

 

One of the paradoxes of serious academic research in the digital age is that as information becomes more readily and widely available, it becomes harder for untrained readers to find high-quality, trustworthy information, and to tell the difference between the good and bad. “The Internet” is not an undifferentiated mass of equally good information – you can read about a medical condition on Wikipedia or in the Lancet, but you wouldn’t want to go to a doctor who didn’t understand why one is a better source than the other.

 

What makes a source credible? What makes it scholarly? What’s the difference between citing an article in Sports Illustrated and one in Sports medicine? As some thoughtful teachers of undergraduates are reporting, many students don’t come to college equipped with the ability to make these determinations.

 

A research team at the University of Michigan Institute of Museum and Library Studies has developed a new approach to teaching these skills: an online, social game called BiblioBouts.

Michael O Brien 04/20/2011 - 14:35
Andy Hicken's picture

Egenfeldt-Nielsen, S. (2007). Third generation educational use of computer games. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 16(3), 263-281.

Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen’s article divides game-based learning practice into three periods, offering a manifesto for educational computer games as a mature, independent genre.

Andy Hicken 04/14/2009 - 15:11
Andy Hicken's picture

Reviewed article:

Robertson, J., & Howells, C. (2008). Computer game design: Opportunities for successful learning. Computers & Education, 50(2), 559-578. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2005.11.026

From this article, I gleaned some insight on what adult (university-level) learners are looking for in a game that constitutes part of their professional education: in addition to ease of use and playability, which are essential for almost all gamers, the article suggests that professional learners seek a "meta-educational" explanation of how the game is a worthwhile part of their professional preparation, and remediation that helps them identify exactly what lessons they should draw from the gameplay.

Andy Hicken 03/09/2009 - 10:58
Andy Hicken's picture

Dondlinger, M. J. (2007). Educational video game design: A review of the literature. Journal of Applied Educational Technology, 4(1), 21-31.

Currently accessible at http://www.eduquery.com/jaet/JAET4-1_Dondlinger.pdf .

This article is more than just a categorized bibliography: Dondlinger succinctly pulls out theoretical findings from key sources and highlights areas of scholarly debate (such as sources of motivation in games).

Andy Hicken 02/23/2009 - 11:11
Andy Hicken's picture

This is a list of the ten most-cited articles on game-based learning according to the Web of Knowledge database.

The abstracts you see are also from the database. I've arranged the articles chronologically, from most-recent to least-recent. Where free versions are available online, I've included a link. If you're interested in reading any of the others, you'll either have to pay or go to a university library (either online or in person) to get a copy.

Andy Hicken 01/21/2009 - 13:33
Jon Aleckson's picture

Over on my Web Courseworks blog I've posted some preliminary ideas on a general definition for the term game-based learning. My hope is to get a start on expanding the current Wikipedia entry. It is pithy, and I agree with what it says. But it doesn't reflect the current depth and breadth of thinking on game-based learning.

Jon Aleckson 01/19/2009 - 16:40
Jon Aleckson's picture
a
Changing The Game

CHANGING THE GAME

How Video Games are Transforming the Future of Business

By David Edery and Ethan Mollick.

Book. 219 pages. FT Press, 2008.

Changing the Game not only gives you fun stories to retell at the water cooler. With a little endnote browsing, you can find the academic research, journal articles, and popular magazine stories that substantiate claims you can use for a business case to create a serious game. The point of the game isn't just to have fun; it's to have fun and help your business initiative succeed.

Jon Aleckson 01/14/2009 - 15:10