Signaling in Disciplinarily-Integrated Games: Challenges in Integrating Proven Cognitive Scaffolds Within Game Mechanics to Promote Representational Competence

Virk, Satyugjit; Clark, Douglas B.

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-89680-9_5

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 30 publications

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“…For example, line emission spectra (see Figure 1) are used to determine the presence of compounds in celestial bodies in astronomy or to determine the identity of gases in chemistry. Hence, an important goal of educational video games is to immerse students in disciplinary practices with visual representations (Habgood and Ainsworth, 2011;Virk et al, 2015;Virk and Clark, 2019). The present studies focus on those visual representations within games that serve as disciplinary tools (e.g., line emission spectra), as opposed to visual representations that purely serve to engage students with the game environment (e.g., a spaceship) or to navigate the game (e.g., a map of the environment).…”

Section: Visual Representations In Educational Video Gamesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of representational competencies for students’ learning from an educational video game for astronomy

Herder

Rau

2022

Front. Educ.

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Educational video games can engage students in authentic STEM practices, which often involve visual representations. In particular, because most interactions within video games are mediated through visual representations, video games provide opportunities for students to experience disciplinary practices with visual representations. Prior research on learning with visual representations in non-game contexts suggests that visual representations may confuse students if they lack prerequisite representational-competencies. However, it is unclear how this research applies to game environments. To address this gap, we investigated the role of representational-competencies for students’ learning from video games. We first conducted a single-case study of a high-performing undergraduate student playing an astronomy game as an assignment in an astronomy course. We found that this student had difficulties making sense of the visual representations in the game. We interpret these difficulties as indicating a lack of representational-competencies. Further, these difficulties seemed to lead to the student’s inability to relate the game experiences to the content covered in his astronomy course. A second study investigated whether interventions that have proven successful in structured learning environments to support representational-competencies would enhance students’ learning from visual representations in the video game. We randomly assigned 45 students enrolled in an undergraduate course to two conditions. Students either received representational-competency support while playing the astronomy game or they did not receive this support. Results showed no effects of representational-competency supports. This suggests that instructional designs that are effective for representational-competency supports in structured learning environments may not be effective for educational video games. We discuss implications for future research, for designers of educational games, and for educators.

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Section: Visual Representations In Educational Video Gamesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of representational competencies for students’ learning from an educational video game for astronomy

Herder

Rau

2022

Front. Educ.

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Expertise as Sensorimotor Tuning: Perceptual Navigation Patterns Mark Representational Competence in Science

Pande

Chandrasekharan

2021

Res Sci Educ

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Signaling in Disciplinarily-Integrated Games: Challenges in Integrating Proven Cognitive Scaffolds Within Game Mechanics to Promote Representational Competence

Cited by 2 publications

References 30 publications

The role of representational competencies for students’ learning from an educational video game for astronomy

The role of representational competencies for students’ learning from an educational video game for astronomy

Expertise as Sensorimotor Tuning: Perceptual Navigation Patterns Mark Representational Competence in Science

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