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Supporting Learning in Educational Games: Promises and Challenges

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Learning in a Digital World

Part of the book series: Smart Computing and Intelligence ((SMCOMINT))

Abstract

Digital, educational games have many promises (e.g., increasing students’ content knowledge as well as competencies like problem solving, spatial skills, and persistence). However, there are challenges to overcome before using these games more broadly in educational settings. One challenge involves identifying effective, theoretically based learning supports that do not reduce the fun/engagement inherent in gameplay. In our chapter, we focus on the design, development, and testing of various types of embedded learning supports (e.g., animations, worked examples, formulas, interactive definitions, and videos). We contextualize this discussion in terms of our ongoing research with the game Physics Playground, currently being tested with middle- and high school students. We additionally elaborate on some of the challenges that we, as well as other educators and educational game designers, have faced in the design of optimal supports, concluding with ideas for future research.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to express our gratitude to the funding by the US National Science Foundation (NSF #037988) and the US Department of Education (IES #039019) for generously supporting this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Florida State University, Tallahassee, USA

    Valerie Shute, Seyedahmad Rahimi & Xi Lu

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  1. Valerie Shute
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  2. Seyedahmad Rahimi
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  3. Xi Lu
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Correspondence to Valerie Shute .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Carlos III University of Madrid , Leganés, Spain

    Paloma Díaz

  2. Cyprus University of Technology , Lemesos, Cyprus

    Andri Ioannou

  3. Centre for Educational Technology, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India

    Kaushal Kumar Bhagat

  4. University of North Texas , Denton, TX, USA

    J. Michael Spector

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Shute, V., Rahimi, S., Lu, X. (2019). Supporting Learning in Educational Games: Promises and Challenges. In: Díaz, P., Ioannou, A., Bhagat, K., Spector, J. (eds) Learning in a Digital World. Smart Computing and Intelligence. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-8265-9_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-8265-9_4

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