The effective integration of digital games and learning content
(2007)Abstract
This thesis is concerned with how the coveted user-engagement of digital games
can be usefully harnessed for educational goals. Educational software has
traditionally used gaming elements as a separate reward for completing learning
content. The early ‘edutainment’ sector became synonymous with this cursory
“chocolate-covered broccoli” approach (Bruckman, 1999): tagging games on to
learning content in order to make it more palatable. However, such methods have
often proved ineffective (Kerawalla & Crook, 2005; Trushell, Burrell, & Maitland,
2001) and have been criticised for combining the worst elements of both games
and education (Papert, 1998) as well as for following extrinsically motivating
design models (Lepper, 1985; Parker & Lepper, 1992).
This thesis provides a theoretical and empirical exploration of game designs that
follow a more integrated approach. Five studies are described which detail the
development and evaluation of a new theory for creating intrinsic integration
based on integrating learning content with the game mechanics of a game. This
includes the development of Zombie Division: a game that teaches mathematics
to children through swordplay with skeletal opponents. Two experimental studies
examine the motivational differences between integrated and non-integrated
versions of Zombie Division by measuring time-on-task. Two more examine the
educational effectiveness of integrated and non-integrated versions by measuring
learning gains for a fixed amount of time-on-task. Statistically significant results
are found which suggest that the integrated version is motivationally and
educationally more effective than the extrinsic equivalent. Full results and
implications are discussed.