Think Games on the Fly, Not Gamify: Issues in Game-Based Learning Research

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“…The Challenger disaster case study is also often used in traditional engineering ethics instruction during lectures� Some methods used in this teaching format include providing students with "do's and don'ts" lists related to ethical engineering practice, having students use basic scenarios to apply said principles, and the use of case studies where students must analyze and provide an approach for resolving the case (Alfred & Chung, 2012)� The latter is the most effective approach used in classroom lectures (Whitbeck, 1996, as cited in Alfred & Chung, 2012, but Drew (2011) described how engineering courses taught through lectures often fail to interest students, leading to reduced engagement and shallow learning� Therefore, other approaches, like games, have been introduced to increase the usefulness and engagement of engineering ethics instruction� The example above describes Lau et al�'s (2012) study as implementing a "game," but there are additional terms with more distinct meanings used in education� Games, gamification, and game-based learning are terms that are frequently used interchangeably in educational settings� While there is some disagreement on exact definitions, Plass (2017) differentiated between them� Specifically, game-based learning is distinct in that the original learning task is transformed into a game with a design grounded in discipline-specific applications (Plass, 2017)� Bodnar et al� (2016 went into further detail, defining gamification as "the application of game design elements to nongame scenarios" (p�148)� A common and simple form of gamification is the use of points, badges, and leaderboards where participants earn points for completing tasks (Bodnar et al�, 2016)� Further, they continued to explain that game-based learning has many benefits including that it provides immediate feedback, informs participants they are making progress, and motivates them (Bodnar et al�, 2016)� Bodnar et al�'s (2016) systematic review of the games meant to teach undergraduate engineering students, provided support for the conclusion that the implementation of games in undergraduate engineering classrooms improved student learning and attitudes� For this paper, we define game-based learning as it aligns with Plass (2017) and Shaffer et al� (2005) in that an original learning task has been transformed into a game with learning outcomes� In the original lecture-based instruction scenario at the study site, students would engage in discussions of historic engineering and philosophical ethics problems, with the learning task being that they would contribute to the discussion about, and listen to, the problems� For the larger National Science Foundation (NSF) study from which this paper is derived, three games were created to transform the role of the student in different ways, as an individual (1) voting on an ethical response to a problem, (2) choosing a potentially ethically dubious card option due to the nature of the situation, or (3) ordering other engineers' views on ethical responses to issues in the field� All these games stemmed from the same situated engineering ethics problems of the lecture, but had the player take on a role with richer context and details, more agency, and from a different perspective on the ethical problem, leading to the varied learning outcomes from each game� Slota and Young (2014) described the importance of implementing game-based learning beyond simply t...…”

Game-Based Ethical Instruction in Undergraduate Engineering

“…All these games stemmed from the same situated engineering ethics problems of the lecture, but had the player take on a role with richer context and details, more agency, and from a different perspective on the ethical problem, leading to the varied learning outcomes from each game. Slota and Young (2014) described the importance of implementing game-based learning beyond simply taking a lesson and adding game elements like rewards or points. Rather, incorporating principles where games can change to sustain player interest, have game narratives, and include opportunities for players to explore, expand, or build within the game, can result in a more effective game-based learning environment (Slota & Young, 2014).…”

“…Slota and Young (2014) described the importance of implementing game-based learning beyond simply taking a lesson and adding game elements like rewards or points. Rather, incorporating principles where games can change to sustain player interest, have game narratives, and include opportunities for players to explore, expand, or build within the game, can result in a more effective game-based learning environment (Slota & Young, 2014). These game elements lead to more richly situated game-based learning environments, and the need for similarly richly situated assessments of engineering ethics.…”

A New Hope: Negotiating the Integration of Transmedia Storytelling and Literacy Instruction

“…As a well‐known transmedia narrative, Star Wars demonstrates how telling, or the act of sharing nuanced plots, themes, character development, morals, metaphors, and lessons (Young, Slota, Travis, & Choi, ), can promote rich teaching and learning through teacher and student collaboration (Beach, ; Slota & Young, ). Whereas a first‐person narrative book can inform our understanding of Anakin Skywalker's character development, the Jedi martial arts (e.g., lightsaber dueling) might be taught through a motion‐controlled video game on a console, such as Nintendo's Wii.…”