Reaching the Engagement Horizon in Virtual Worlds

Karl Kapp Professor: Bloomsburg University

Author: Gamification of Learning and Instruction

Twitter:@kkapp

Lynda.com Course: Gamification of Learning YouTube Video

Web Site: www.karlkapp.com

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Twitter: @kkapp Web: www.karlkapp.com

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What is “Gamification?”

Structural Gamification is use of game-elements to propel a learner through content with no alteration or changes to the content.

Structural: Points

Badges

Leaderboard

Content Gamification use of game thinking to alter content to make it more game-like but doesn’t turn the content into a game.

Content: Challenge

Story

Characters

Missions

Why might an instructor use games in a virtual world?

Why might an instructor use lectures in a virtual world?

Lectures are NOT effective for fostering higher level thinking?

Gibbs, G., (1981). Twenty Terrible Reasons for Lecturing, SCED Occasional Paper No. 8, Birmingham. http://www.brookes.ac.uk/services/ocsld/resources/20reasons.html and Bligh, D., (1972). What’s the Use of Lectures? Penguin.

Bloom, B. S., (1953). “Thought Processes in Lectures and Discussions.” Journal of General Education Vol. 7. Isaacs, G., (1994). “Lecturing Practices and Note-taking Purposes.” Studies in Higher Education, 19:2.

During lectures

students' thoughts involved attempting to

solve problems, or synthesize or inter-

relate information for 1% of the time.

78% of the lecture is spent in ‘passive thoughts about the subject’ and ‘irrelevant thoughts’.

Lectures are not a very effective way of

teaching… if the aim is to teach thinking,

…or to change

attitudes or other higher aims beyond

the simple transmission of

factual knowledge.

Instruction with learning games yields higher gains in learning and retention

than traditional instruction.

Statistics are from: Sitzmann, T. (2011) A meta-analytic examination of the instructional effectiveness of computer-based simulation games. Personnel Psychology .Review of 65 studies

Confirmed findings (not statistics): Wouters, P., van Nimwegen, C., van Oostendorp, H., & vam der S[el. E.D. (2013), February 4). A Meta-Analysis of the Cognitive and Motivational Effects of Serious Games. Journal of Educational Psychology. Advanced online publication. Doi: 10.1037/a0031311 39 Studies. Review of 39 studies 54% conducted in the last year.

Type of Knowledge/Retention

% Higher

Declarative 11% Procedural 14% Retention 9%

Percentages of Impact Over Traditional Training

Type of Knowledge/Retention

% Higher

Declarative 11% Procedural 14% Retention 9%

Percentages of Impact Over Traditional Training

17% Higher than Lectures

5% Higher than Discussion

Percentages of Impact

Type of Knowledge/Retention

% Higher

Declarative 11% Procedural 14% Retention 9%

It wasn’t the game, it was level of activity in the game.

In other words, the engagement of the learner in the game leads

to learning.

Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics Scott Freemana,1, Sarah L. Eddya, Miles McDonougha, Michelle K. Smithb, Nnadozie Okoroafora, Hannah Jordta, and Mary Pat Wenderotha. PNAS Early Edition (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)

Virtual Worlds are the Ideal Environment for Engagement

Games can promote pro-social behaviors.

First Experiment indicated that playing the game Darfur is Dying resulted in a greater willingness to help the Darfurian people than reading a text conveying same information.

Peng, W., Lee, M., & Heeter. (2010) The effects of a serious game on role taking and willingness to help. Journal of Communications. 60, 723-724. Chapter 5 of “The Gamificaiton of Learning and Instruction.

Second Experiment indicated that playing the game Darfur is Dying resulted in a greater role taking and willingness to help than either game watching or text reading.

Peng, W., Lee, M., & Heeter. (2010) The effects of a serious game on role taking and willingness to help. Journal of Communications. 60, 723-724. Chapter 5 of “The Gamificaiton of Learning and Instruction.

Fostering Pro-Social Behavior

Greitemeyer, T. & Osswald, S. (2010) Effective of Prosocial games on prosocial behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Vol. 98 . No. 2., 211-221.

28% helped to pick up pencils

33% helped to pick up pencils

67% helped to pick up pencils

City Crisis

22% intervened

56% intervened

Games Must be Embedded into the Curriculum to be

Effective for Learning.

Engagement

Pedagogy Game

Educational Simulation

Instructional games should be embedded in instructional programs that include debriefing and feedback.

Instructional support to help learners understand how to use the game increases instructional effectiveness of the gaming experience.

Hays, R. T. (2005). The effectiveness of instructional games: A literature review and discussion. Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division (No 2005-004). Chapter 4 “The Gamification of Learning and Instruction.”

Sitzmann, T. (2011) A meta-analytic examination of the instructional effectiveness of computer-based simulation games. Personnel Psychology .Review of 65 studies

Example

Wouters, P., van Nimwegen, C., van Oostendorp, H., & van der Sek E.D. (2013), February 4). A Meta-Analysis of the Cognitive and Motivational Effects of Serious Games. Journal of Educational Psychology. Advanced online publication. Doi: 10.1037/a0031311 39 Studies.

1. Teach & talk about what will be

learned.

2. Explore Virtual World. 3. Debrief about what was learned.

Games are more effective than traditional instruction when multiple sessions are

involved.

I would argue…Virtual Worlds are also more

effective with multiple sessions.

Conventional instruction for a one-off is better vs. one game session

Multiple game sessions better than multiple conventional sessions

Wouters, P., van Nimwegen, C., van Oostendorp, H., & vam der S[el. E.D. (2013), February 4). A Meta-Analysis of the Cognitive and Motivational Effects of Serious Games. Journal of Educational Psychology. Advanced online publication. Doi: 10.1037/a0031311 39 Studies.

Games are more effective than traditional instruction

when players work in groups.

Wouters, P., van Nimwegen, C., van Oostendorp, H., & vam der S[el. E.D. (2013), February 4). A Meta-Analysis of the Cognitive and Motivational Effects of Serious Games. Journal of Educational Psychology. Advanced online publication. Doi: 10.1037/a0031311 39 Studies.

With serious games, both learners playing individually and those playing in a group learn more than the comparison group, but learners who play serious games in a group learn more

What elements lead to learning in virtual worlds?

Challenge

Jones, B., Valdez, G., Norakowski, J., & Rasmussen, C. (1994). Designing learning and technology for educational reform. North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. [Online]. Available: http://www.ncrtec.org/capacity/profile/profwww.htm and Schlechty, P. C. (1997). Inventing better schools: An action plan for educational reform. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Chapter 2 “The Gamification of Learning and Instruction.”

Third Person View

Carey, B. (2007) This is Your Life (and How You Tell it). The New York Times. And Sestir, M. & Green, M. C. (2010). You are who you watch: Identification and transportation effects on temporary self-concept. Social Influence, 5, 272-288 and research by Libby, L.K., Shaeffer, E.M., Eibach, R.P., & Slemmer, J.A. ( 2007) Picture yourself at the polls: Visual perspective in mental imagery affects self-perception and behavior. Psychological Science. Vol. 18: 199-203.

“Seeing oneself as acting in a movie or a play is not merely fantasy or indulgence; it is fundamental to how people work out who it is they are, and may become.” Ben Casey

Rosenberg, R.S. Baughman, S.L., Bailenson, J.N. (2013) Virtual Superheroes: Using Superpowers in Virtual Reality to Encourage Prosocial Behavior. PLOS One., 8(1), 1-9.

Flying around a virtual world as a superhero made subjects nicer in the real world. physical

world

Characters

Why be a Character at All?

Research indicates that human social models influence behavior,

beliefs and attitudes.

Bandura, A. 1986 Social foundations of thought and action: a social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ, USA: Prentice-Hall.

Avatar as Teacher

Research indicates that learners perceive, interact socially with and are influenced by anthropomorphic

agents (avatars) even when their functionality and adaptability are limited.

Baylor, A. 2009 Promoting motivation with virtual agents and avatars: R ole of visual presence and appearance. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal B Society. 364, 3559–3565

Story

Story

Researchers have found that the human brain has a natural affinity for

narrative construction.

Yep, People tend to remember facts more accurately if they encounter

them in a story rather than in a list.

And they rate legal arguments as more convincing when built into narrative tales rather than on legal precedent.

Carey, B. (2007) this is Your Life (and How You Tell it). The New York Times. Melanie Green http://www.unc.edu/~mcgreen/research.html. Chapter 2 “The Gamification of Learning and Instruction.

1) Create challenges in the virtual world. 2) Use the virtual world environment to tell stories. 3) The avatar is an important element in virtual world learning. 4) The third person perspective in a virtual world is important for learning. 5) Virtual worlds are more effective than traditional instruction when

players work in groups. 6) Virtual worlds are more effective for learning when multiple sessions are

involved. 7) Embed the use of the virtual world as a natural part of the curriculum. 8) Virtual Worlds can influence people to behave in a pro-social manner. 9) Engagement is what leads to learning.

Reaching the Engagement Horizon

Questions And Resources

www.karlkapp.com/kapp-notes

Karl M. Kapp Twitter: @kkapp Email: kkapp@bloomu.edu BLOG: http://karlkapp.com/kapp-notes/

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Questions/More Information

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