Running head: WEBIBLIOGRAPHY ON GAME-BASED LEARNING

Webibliography on Game-Based Learning

Leslie Pierce
Liberty University
EDUC 639

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2
References

Chee, Y.S., Mehrotra, S., & Liu, Q. (2013). Effective game-based citizenship education in the
age of new media. Electronic Journal of e-Learning, 11(1).
The advancement of technology in the 21st century provides educators with numerous
ways to meet the needs of their students through digital media. Game-based learning is
one way to use technology to provide opportunities that support the collaborative learning
and 21st century skills needed by students. In this article, the effectiveness of game-based
learning is observed through the implementation of the Statecraft X game learning
program. This program was created to foster a deeper understanding of citizenship
education where students learn more than just about citizenship but they are able to
reflect upon their own understanding.
In this study, the Statecraft X curriculum was implemented on a Social Studies class
consisting of 42 15-year olds in Singapore (Chee, Mehrotra, & Liu, 2013). At the end of
the program the students understanding of governance and citizenship were measured
through a reflective essay. These essays were compared against those written by a control
group of students who learned the information through traditional teaching methods.
These essays were evaluated through a rubric which included the areas: multiple
viewpoints, proposed solutions, disposition of active citizen, and persuasiveness (Chee,
et. al., 2013, p. 25). The students who participated in the game-based learning platform,
Statecraft X, out-performed the students of the control group. It is concluded that gamebased learning should be included in the curriculum to better meet the social needs and
values of 21st century learners.

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Chee, Mehrotra, and Liu (2013) conducted a thorough assessment of the game-based
curriculum, Statecraft X, on Social Studies education. They explained how the correct
implementation of a game-based curriculum would require teachers to become facilitators
who create a meaningful classroom experience for students. These classrooms will
become student-centered where the learners are doing the talking and collaborating as
opposed to having the educator teach directly to the students. Teachers need to
receive
from

training to use the new technologies so that they can begin to change their mindset
didactic teaching to facilitating critical thinking and dialog among the students.
This study did not discuss how students with special needs are affected by game-based
learning. It would be interesting to see if the group that participated in the Statecraft X
curriculum contained special needs students and whether the program had the same affect
on them.

Collins, A. & Halverston, R. (2009). Rethinking education in the age of technology: The digital
revolution and schooling in America. New York: Teachers College Press.
Collins and Halverston discuss the ways in which technology has affected our daily lives
and the world around us. They stress that educators need to incorporate technology in the
classroom in order to keep schools up to pace with the constantly evolving digital world.
The authors outline the pros and cons of incorporating technology into the classroom
while discussing how education has progressed over time.

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In particular, the second chapter describes the opinions of technology enthusiasts. Collins
and Halverston explain that they feel that there is a gap between use of technology in
work and school that is expanding. According to enthusiasts, if schools do not close this
gap by incorporating more technology in the classrooms, students will not be properly
prepared for work in the 21st century world. This chapter also discusses the Knowledge
Revolution that has taken place where learning by computers is more about
empowering

peoples mind rather than their bodies.

In juxtaposition, chapter 3 focuses on the opinions of technology skeptics who question

the importance and possibility of incorporating technology in schools. One argument
used by skeptics is the possibility of supplying technology for all students to use at school
and at home due to lack of funds. This use of technology would also require tech support
supplied by teachers who may not be well-versed in technology themselves. Skeptics also
argue that technology would cause problems with classroom management, remove
authority from the teachers, and in most cases the technology would not be used in
effective ways to allow students to construct their own understanding.
The authors of this book do a good job outlining the arguments between enthusiasts and
skeptics when it comes to using technology in the classroom. Although they bring up
good points for each side it would have been helpful to provide a middle-ground
argument. With both enthusiasts and skeptics providing strong arguments in the debate
over technology in schools, it would have been interesting to see how these two theories
could be combined. It would have been intriguing to see how schools would benefit from
adventurous implementation of technology while keeping many of their traditional ways.

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In order for schools to become more technology based it would seem that the slow
incorporation of technology in traditional schools would be a natural transition.
Aside from the authors describing two polarizing arguments they do a good job of
describing how technology provides individuals opportunities to learn at their own pace.
They discuss how schools in the United States are full of learners from diverse ethnic
backgrounds and technology can be diversified to meet their learning needs. However, it
would have been helpful if they described how students with special needs can
benefit

from educational technology.

Dvorkovaya, M.V. & Kurenkova, E.A. (2015). The significance of an educational game in
teaching politology. International Education Studies, 8(8).
This article describes how the educational game, Political Regime as a Political System
Existence Form Education Game provided positive results in a classroom where students
were learning about the political system of Russia. The game required students to
participate in problem-solving activities that reflected real-life scenarios similar to those
one might face when participating in the Russian political system. In order for
interactive games like these to work, teachers must set clear goals for the lesson, prepare
the teaching supplies, and also create independent learning spaces of the students. This
interactive game was tested for 2 years in 3 groups containing 7 students each
(Dvorkovaya & Kurenkova, 2015). Feedback was received from the students on what
emotions they experienced during the game. Then the students were asked a series

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of

questions about the game which were analyzed by the teachers in order to assess the
effectiveness of the teaching methods.
The results from the study showed that 30% of students who participated in this
interactive game received passing scores on the assessment. The article concluded that
educational games foster opportunities to provide effective learning spaces for students to
maximize their creative potential. Because the game itself required extensive preparation
by the teacher it was suggested that it would be helpful to incorporate other traditional
forms of learning like lectures and essays.
While this study described how teachers can incorporate games into their traditional
classrooms, it did not given adequate quantitative feedback on the effectiveness of the
game on the learners. It did not compare results of these students who learned through the
game to others who learned through traditional methods nor did it survey a wide variety
of students. It did not provide information on the types of learners: ethnicity, age, specials
needs, etc.
Also, the study did more explaining about the concept of using game-based learning and
less about this particular study itself. It would have been interesting to see more on the
reactions of the students and whether or not they preferred this interactive lesson over
traditional lessons. It is also still unclear how much technology was actually incorporated
into the interactive lesson.

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Kun-Hsien, L., Shi-Jer, L., Huei-Yin, T., & Ru-Chu, S. (2012). The effects of applying gamebased learning to webcam motion sensor games for autistic students' sensory integration
training. The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 11(4)
Students with autism face major obstacles with action and sensory integration. This study
was conducted to observe the effects of applying game-based learning to webcam motion
sensor games which would be used for autistic students sensory integration training. The
research of this experiment was conducted through a quasi-experimental case-study. In
this study, 3 autistic students from southern Taiwan between the ages of 6 and 10 were
observed. (Kun-Hsien, Shi-Jer, Huei-Yin, & Ru-Chu, 2012). Webcams were used to
monitor internet games which engaged the students in motion sensor games. The motion
sensor games allowed researchers to collect data through physiological monitoring,
interviews, and interaction (Kun-Hsien, et al., 2012). The results of the study showed that
game-based learning had significant effect on the motivation of the learner during
instruction. It was also shown that the use of webcam motion sensor games can increase
the participation of the student by blurring the boundaries of the virtual and physical
worlds, lowering the students need for abstract thinking (Kun-Hsien, et al., 2012).
Overall, the use of webcams applied to game-based learning proved to be significantly
beneficial for autistic students.
This article thoroughly explained a way to utilize technology to benefit students with
special needs. The quasi-experimental case study selected a specific group of
special

needs students and used technology to meet the unique needs of the learner. This

study showed the significant impact technology can have on individual learners if implemented
correctly. There are numerous ways to incorporate technology in classrooms but when it

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is correctly used to target the specific needs of individuals it is amazing the impact it can
have on student motivation and participation. This study is encouraging for educators to
persevere in testing and searching for the right technologies for their students. The
possibilities for what technology can do to benefit students are limitless.

Plass, J.L., Homer, B.D., & Kinzer, C.K. (2015). Foundations of game-based learning.
Educational Psychologist, 50(4), 258-283.
This article explains that game-based learning should incorporate multiple views of
learning and principles of game design. The authors define game-based learning as a type
of game play with defined learning outcomes (Plass, Homer, & Kinzer, 2015). They
continue to discuss how play is beneficial for cognitive development. The authors discuss
cognitive development, motivation, affective, and socio-cultural perspectives concluding
that they are all necessary to consider in the design of a game for learning. According to
Plass, et al., (2015), by combining these perspectives, games for learning will be able to
reach students on these different levels creating more engagement by the students.
This article demonstrated an understanding of how games can reach learners on different
levels. However, the article itself did not provide specific ways to incorporate games in
the classroom nor did it provide insight on how to select the most appropriate game for
learners. While the information gave good insight into theories, it does little to aid
educators in creating games for their own classrooms. This article is beneficial for
educators by outlining the defining principles for game-based learning.
educators are familiar with these theories, they can then search for appropriate

Once

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technologies for their classrooms with these principles in mind. Also, the article touched
lightly on the use of digital games in the classroom. With the advancement of technology
and this article being written within the past two years, it would have been appropriate for
the authors to devote part of their research on digital game use.