In the ninth chapter of Understanding Video Games, entitled Serious Games – When Entertainment is Not Enough, the authors move to broader questions about the phenomenon which is the success of video games as a medium. In particular, the concern in this chapter is exactly what players glean from video games, beyond mere entertainment. It must be asked how ‘mere entertainment’ is defined, as any piece of media carries inherent social codes and ideas. What is defined, is the notion of serious games as video games produced, marketed, and used for purposes other than pure entertainment, such as edutainment, advertisement, health, or political games. Given this definition, the authors do recognize that any game may be considered ‘serious’, but that designation is dependent on actual use and player perception. I am unsure what is meant by ‘actual use’ as the authors do not elaborate further, and all previous discussion of the use of video games is to engage with them through play. It is also made clear that the research of serious games is of a cross-disciplinary nature, encompassing psychology, literacy and learning principles, socio-cultural theory, and the education discipline.
Definitions of two phrases used in relation to serious games are offered next. The first term is ‘advertainment’, which is defined as a fusion of advertisement and entertainment, used for marketing purposes. This fusion may be accomplished through the themes of the games themselves, or through simple product placement in game worlds. Either way, the goal is to encourage active participation which, in turn, increases exposure to the advertised brand. The other phrase is ‘political games’, which are described as games actively trying to push a political agenda. The authors state that political gaming has made a resurgence since 9/11, and that there is significant overlap with the concept of newsgaming, which tries to illustrate current events through video game experiences. It could also be argued that political gaming never actually ebbed, but that post-9/11 political games have simply become more overt.
Most of the chapter, however, concerns itself with games used for educational purposes. To this end, the discussion starts off with a look at ‘traditional’ (read: non-electronic) games used for educational purposes, from 1959’s Inter-Nation Simulation onward. It is noted that extensive research into the use of these educational games was conducted, with the conclusion that the games are a viable alternative to traditional learning. Furthermore, the potential is present in these games for better retention of knowledge over time. What is not discussed is that, if children enjoy the game, it is likely that they will willingly memorize and internalize the rules, much like more popular board games, such as Monopoly or Scrabble. On that note, the studies did discover that teacher-led debriefing after playing one of these games is important, as students may make incorrect assumptions based on in-game experiences. The problems inherent in the use of these traditional games in a classroom setting are also touched upon. Classroom size, available time during the school day/week, and a lack of teacher experience and/or openness to alternative teaching methods are all factors working against these traditional educational games.
Because of these factors, and due to the rise of computers in schools, electronic games have by and large taken the place of these traditional games as educational tools. This new position has given rise to a distinct genre of video game: edutainment software. The definition offered for this genre seems too broad, as the authors categorize it as any educational computer game, along with the use of computer games for education. The issue with this definition is that, as with the concept of serious games, any game may be considered educational, depending on the nature of the perceived education being imparted. For example, it could be argued that the Grand Theft Auto series, or any open world game, teaches map-reading and extrapolation abilities; or that the Assassin’s Creed series offers the chance to explore historically accurate locations in a way that actual modern-day trips could never hope to do; or that the Portal games are highly engaging physics simulators.
The authors do offer three categories of educational-use video games, to try to delineate this issue. The categories are
- Edutainment – Consisting of commercial educational software designed to teach specific skills under the veneer of playing a video game (eg. Mathblaster).
- Commercial Entertainment Software – traditional commercial video games used for educational purposes, but without carrying the stigma attached to edutainment software (eg. SimCity)
- Research-Based Edutainment – Unlike regular commercial edutainment, this software results from extensive research, providing new approaches and strong documentation for learning outcomes (eg. The Oregon Trail)
Of these three, the commercial edutainment category is the most visible example of video games used for education. This category is not without problems, though. First and foremost, is the fact that much of this software adheres to the behaviourist model first attempted in the 1970s and 1980s. Under this model, the game sections of the software are treated as a reward for completing the learning sections, rather than creating a meaningful integration of the learning and game experiences. The other, more insidious, problem with much edutainment software is that it is commercial software which is more concerned with moving units than either educating or entertaining. As a result, much of this software is marketed to parents, often with an appealing license, such as Mario or Disney characters, and is, at best, rudimentary and quickly slapped together.
The authors are even able to go so far as to outline the formula used for commercial edutainment games. That formula consists of the following:
- Little intrinsic motivation – the software offers rewards, rather than the satisfaction that comes about from mastery of the game mechanics/lesson principles.
- No integrated learning experience – learning and gameplay are clearly divided experiences, with little to no crossover.
- Drill-and-practice learning – the experience is designed to encourage rote memorization over concept comprehension, offering little explanation for the reasons behind the learning tasks set forth for the user.
- Simple gameplay – the game sections are similar to early arcade games, such as Pac-Man or Space Invaders, or a simplified point-and-click adventure game.
- No teacher presence – the assumption inherent in the software is that students will learn the intended content and skills through use of the software alone, requiring no debriefing afterwards.
The problems with this formula have been recognized, and the ‘instructive approach’ to edutainment has slowly emerged. This approach combines behaviourist and cognitive theories to arrive at the notion of ‘exercise and effect’ (repetition and reward), which integrates the complexities perceived by cognitive theory. As a result of this synthesis, movements like Thomas Malone’s drive to integrate education with gameplay to establish the intrinsic motivation lacking in commercial edutainment titles have arisen. Malone offers several ways to encourage this intrinsic motivation, such as establishing and enforcing the fantasy of the game, encouraging control and curiosity, and offering sufficient challenge.
Another, recent, approach to educational games is the constructivist stance. This approach encourages player freedom and the process of constructing knowledge in a personally meaningful way. These notions lead to open-ended ‘microworlds’ which offer a simulation of a system, such as urban planning for a city or a heavily physics-based environment, inviting the player to explore and experiment with the simulation at will. Another way in which this approach has attempted to teach outside knowledge is through the game design process, itself. As students create their own games, the information necessary to make these games is integrated in a meaningful way. Evidence that this approach works can be seen in the success of Dr. Nichole Pinkard’s programs involving junior high and high school students engaging with game design, social, and other digital media. Having personally had a chance to speak with her, it is clear that her programs encourage not only personal intrinsic motivation via creativity, but also group motivation through the use of social media.
Further to this, the authors present James Paul Gee’s five main interest areas in regard to video games (any video game) used for educational purposes. These interest areas are:
- Semiotic domains – Video games are a realm of signs and symbols. These signs and symbols may also act to direct the player to other realms, such as science or history (see my earlier mentions of Portal and Assassin’s Creed).
- Learning and identity – Video games are good at establishing agency and identification, encouraging a sense of control, but also identification with others. This idea is interesting, as it implies that player-avatars may, and in fact should, have strong personalities as a way of encouraging this identification with others, in contrast to the attitudes to this subject discussed in chapter 8.
- Situated meaning and learning – The player is immersed within the game world, and is thus able to learn about and understand it from the inside. This immersion allows for a larger context perspective of a given topic.
- Telling and doing – As video games are virtual worlds with concrete and meaningful audiovisual environments, correlation between information learned in the game world and the same information in the real world becomes easier.
- Cultural models – game content, as with any other media, represents particular ways of seeing the world.
The authors also present some problems associated with this concept. The main issue to be explored is that of playing versus learning, wherein the rules and goals of the game contradict and, more immediately, supersede the learning experience. This problem is most clearly endemic of edutainment titles which divide game and learning sequences, and the more the two are integrated in meaningful ways, the less this problem is a concern.
The problem of player expectation is also of concern. Students may be unsure whether to approach a game as play or as a learning experience when presented in a school environment. This problem is the result of a lack of direct educational interventions, such as post-game debriefings. As a result, this situation may cause either blind belief in everything presented in the game, or else complete denial and rejection of any new information on the part of the student-player. Further to this issue, if the student is unaware that the game is supposed to be a learning experience, there is the potential for an inability to transfer knowledge learned in the game to other contexts. A problem also arises in the practice of studying the effectiveness of video games as educational tools. Many studies are focused merely on whether video games can teach, rather than how much they do teach comparative to traditional educational methods. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that it is hard to measure learning outcome of video games, especially given the wide range of topics and knowledge contained in the breadth of games available.
In the closing discussion, it is acknowledged that studies have proven that, if nothing else, gameplay does improve cognitive skills, such as hand-eye co-ordination, spatial relations, and problem solving ability. Given this evidence, the concern mentioned earlier of an inability to transfer knowledge learned in-game is called into doubt, as these skills are improved almost without the player’s knowledge. The issue of video games being widely accepted as useful educational tools is far from resolved, even five years after the book’s publication, but initiatives such as Dr. Pinkard’s are moving acceptance forward.
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