%0 Journal Article %1 torres2009using %A Torres, Robert J. %D 2009 %I MIT Press %J International Journal of Learning and Media %K education games haifa-games-course learning %N 2 %T Using Gamestar Mechanic Within a Nodal Learning Ecology to Learn Systems Thinking: A Worked Example %U http://ijlm.net/knowinganddoing/10.1162/ijlm.2009.0016 %V 1 %X We are currently witnessing a foregrounding of complexity as one of the defining characteristics of our new century. Stephen Hawking (2000) has said that we are living in the era of complexity and that complexity itself will form the science of the 21st century. Similarly, Heinz Pagel (1988) has written that those who master this science will form the economic, political, and cultural superpowers of this new century (Rambihar and Rambihar 2009). That we are living in a global era of vastly complex economic, political, and technological change may be in part why “complex” or “systems thinking” has been identified in many a current list as a critical 21st-century skill. Though research has shown that systems thinking is a seemingly difficult skill to attain (Sweeney and Sterman 2007), in recent years game scholars (Gee 2007; Salen 2007; Zimmerman 2007) and science and engineering organizations (Federation of American Scientists 2006) have claimed that video game play and game design may be useful means through which to develop this essential skill. I present here a “worked example” taken from a game design research study conducted in the spring of 2008 using Gamestar Mechanic, an online game intended to help middle and high school students develop basic game design skills. Game design and systems thinking skills, in this study conceptualized as dialogic in nature, were regarded as having the potential to guide learners to understand the dynamic complexity of systems of various types. The overall study focused on testing the viability of Gamestar Mechanic and the learning ecology it instantiated to improve participants’ systems thinking skills. A principal research question that guided the study was: Does a learning ecology generated and mediated by the game design software Gamestar Mechanic improve participants' ability to engage in systems thinking? A second question concerned the question of how: How did participants come to develop systems thinking skills? The worked example is made up of a set of artifacts created by one participant, Tania. The artifacts are examples of work generated as a result of designing games within Gamestar Mechanic.

@article{torres2009using, abstract = {We are currently witnessing a foregrounding of complexity as one of the defining characteristics of our new century. Stephen Hawking (2000) has said that we are living in the era of complexity and that complexity itself will form the science of the 21st century. Similarly, Heinz Pagel (1988) has written that those who master this science will form the economic, political, and cultural superpowers of this new century (Rambihar and Rambihar 2009). That we are living in a global era of vastly complex economic, political, and technological change may be in part why “complex” or “systems thinking” has been identified in many a current list as a critical 21st-century skill. Though research has shown that systems thinking is a seemingly difficult skill to attain (Sweeney and Sterman 2007), in recent years game scholars (Gee 2007; Salen 2007; Zimmerman 2007) and science and engineering organizations (Federation of American Scientists 2006) have claimed that video game play and game design may be useful means through which to develop this essential skill. I present here a “worked example” taken from a game design research study conducted in the spring of 2008 using Gamestar Mechanic, an online game intended to help middle and high school students develop basic game design skills. Game design and systems thinking skills, in this study conceptualized as dialogic in nature, were regarded as having the potential to guide learners to understand the dynamic complexity of systems of various types. The overall study focused on testing the viability of Gamestar Mechanic and the learning ecology it instantiated to improve participants’ systems thinking skills. A principal research question that guided the study was: Does a learning ecology generated and mediated by the game design software Gamestar Mechanic improve participants' ability to engage in systems thinking? A second question concerned the question of how: How did participants come to develop systems thinking skills? The worked example is made up of a set of artifacts created by one participant, Tania. The artifacts are examples of work generated as a result of designing games within Gamestar Mechanic.}, added-at = {2010-09-24T12:44:21.000+0200}, author = {Torres, Robert J.}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/295801600085f5fa29086aac49cbac287/yish}, interhash = {57037223e5a59dddd537025c11610634}, intrahash = {95801600085f5fa29086aac49cbac287}, journal = {International Journal of Learning and Media}, keywords = {education games haifa-games-course learning}, number = 2, publisher = {MIT Press}, timestamp = {2010-09-24T12:44:21.000+0200}, title = {Using Gamestar Mechanic Within a Nodal Learning Ecology to Learn Systems Thinking: A Worked Example}, url = {http://ijlm.net/knowinganddoing/10.1162/ijlm.2009.0016}, volume = 1, year = 2009 }