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Contributor(s): J. R. Parker; Ryan Heavy Head; Katrin Becker
Date issued: 2005
Description: Aboriginal languages all over the world are threatened with extinction. Aboriginal youth from Canada to New Zealand are not becoming fluent in their language and culture, and the number of fluent speakers is declining severely. The use of computer games in general, and portable platforms in particular, is proposed here as a partial solution to the problem.
Type: conference publication
Appears in collection(s): Science and Technology

Contributor(s): Katrin Becker
Date issued: 2005
Description: Through the combined efforts of many dedicated researchers across the globe, the “message” of the value of games for learning is starting to be heard in formal education, but there remains considerable resistance. One way to help overcome this resistance and influence the acceptance and integration of games as educational technology is through the connection of existing game design with scholarly and widely accepted pedagogy. This paper outlines the theories of Robert Gagné, and Howard Gardner to demonstrate how good games, even purely commercial ones, already embody the fundamental elements of these learning and instructional theories. In this way, it can be shown that good games...
Type: conference publication
Appears in collection(s): Science and Technology

Contributor(s): Katrin Becker
Date issued: 2006
Description: Books, film, television, and indeed every other medium that came before them has been used and sometimes studied as media for the delivery of instruction. Outstanding examples of each medium have been applied to educative purposes with enduring results. Digital games are now also receiving attention in this context. A first step to gaining an understanding for just how a particular medium can be used in education is to study the outstanding examples, regardless of their original purpose. This chapter examines numerous well-known and commercially successful games through the lens of several known and accepted learning theories and styles, using the premise that “good” games already embody...
Type: book chapter
Appears in collection(s): Science and Technology

Contributor(s): Katrin Becker
Date issued: 2007
Description: no additional resource requirements. A key feature of this approach is a mechanism that allows for a thorough assessment of students’ work, while still permitting what is typically classified as failure with respect to the production of research results. A brief review of some of the literature along with its benefits and concerns is presented first, followed by an outline of a model for implementing a student-centered research project that can be offered within the context of most traditional courses, at no extra costs in terms of manpower or funds. The focus of this approach is on helping students
Type: presentations (communicative events)
Appears in collection(s): Science and Technology

Contributor(s): Katrin Becker
Date issued: 2007
Description: One way to understand how a particular medium can be used effectively in education is to study its outstanding examples, regardless of their original purpose. The argument can be made that many of the most successful commercial games already embody sound pedagogy in their designs even if that incorporation was not deliberate. The following paper will examine two games: one a commercial and critical success and the other designed deliberately as an educational game. The analysis seeks to answer the two questions: What do players need to learn in order to win the game?, and How does the game support that learning? A comparative analysis of both games reveals that although they are very...
Type: presentations (communicative events)
Appears in collection(s): Science and Technology

Contributor(s): Katrin Becker
Date issued: 2007
Description: The author designed and taught the first course on digital game based learning at the author’s institution which was also one of the first of its kind in North America. The course has been taught twice: once in the spring of 2005 and again in the summer of 2006. The design of the course is outlined and participant reaction is profiled. Topics discussed in the class included violence in games, up-to-date research on gaming and gamers, and how games might be used effectively in classroom settings. Also included in the paper are comments on some of the games that were examined, as well as the nature of the projects completed by the participants. Key elements crucial for teacher preparation...
Type: presentations (communicative events)
Appears in collection(s): Science and Technology

Contributor(s): Katrin Becker; J. R. Parker
Date issued: 2008
Description: Before researchers can perform studies using commercial games, they must choose which game or games to study. The manner in which that choice is made and justified is the focus of this paper.
Type: book chapter
Appears in collection(s): Science and Technology

Contributor(s): Katrin Becker
Date issued: 2008
Description: This work sought to help inform the design of educational digital games by the studying the design of successful commercial videogames. The main thesis question was: How does a commercially and critically successful modern video game support the learning that players must accomplish in order to succeed in the game (i.e. get to the end or win)? This work takes a two-pronged approach to supporting the main argument, which is that the reason we can learn about designing educational games by studying commercial games is that people already learn from games and the best ones are already quite effective at teaching players what they need to learn in order to succeed in the game. The first part...
Type: thesis
Appears in collection(s): Science and Technology