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- Contributor(s)
- Katrin Becker; D. Michele Jacobsen
- Date issued
- 2007
- Description
- Games literacy for all
- Type
- presentations (communicative events)
- Appears in collection(s)
- Science and Technology
- Contributor(s)
- Katrin Becker; J. R. Parker
- Date issued
- 2007
- Description
- There has been significant recent interest in computer games in University and College curricula as a way to teach early computer science, to attract more students into the program, to teach advanced concepts, and to help lend vocational weight to a curriculum. In this article we discuss several ways that games can contribute to an undergraduate CS program, and illustrate specific ways that the use of games has influenced learning, the students, the faculty, and the institution where these courses have been implemented.
- Type
- presentations (communicative events)
- Appears in collection(s)
- Science and Technology
- Contributor(s)
- Katrin Becker; D. Michele Jacobsen
- Date issued
- 2007
- Type
- presentations (communicative events)
- Appears in collection(s)
- Science and Technology
- Contributor(s)
- Katrin Becker
- Date issued
- 2007
- Description
- Not sure if games are good or bad for us? Not sure how much of what you hear is hype and how much is real? Want to know what it is that has your students so pre-occupied? For many of today’s generation, digital games are replacing television as leisure activity and hype about games for learning in school settings is once again increasing. Digital games have become at least as much a part of our culture as television was to previous generations and so, it behoves us to become familiar with the medium, but where can a novice go to get some experience? Games are no longer trivial so how are we to know where to start?
- Type
- presentations (communicative events)
- Appears in collection(s)
- Science and Technology
- Contributor(s)
- J. R. Parker; Katrin Becker; K. D. Loose
- Date issued
- 2007
- Description
- In the past 3-4 years there has been a significant interest in computer games in University and college curricula, as a way to teach early computer science, to attract more students into the program, and to teach advanced concepts and lend vocational weight to a curriculum. In this article we discuss many ways that games can contribute to an undergraduate CS program, and illustrates specific ways that the use of games has influenced the students, the faculty, and the institution. Our claims are supported by numbers based on actual observation and study. We also show how the inclusion of games can add to research aspects and the reputation of a computer science department.
- Type
- presentations (communicative events)
- Appears in collection(s)
- Science and Technology
- Contributor(s)
- Katrin Becker
- Date issued
- 2007
- Type
- presentations (communicative events)
- Appears in collection(s)
- Science and Technology
- Contributor(s)
- Katrin Becker
- Date issued
- 2007
- Type
- presentations (communicative events)
- 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)
- Becker, Katrin
- Date issued
- 2007
- Description
- Presentation given at The Montreal International Game Summit, Serious Games Canada Symposium, November 27-28, 2007.
- Type
- Presentation
- Appears in collection(s)
- Science and Technology
- Contributor(s)
- Katrin Becker
- Date issued
- 2006
- Type
- presentations (communicative events)
- Appears in collection(s)
- Science and Technology
- Contributor(s)
- J. R. Parker; Katrin Becker
- Date issued
- 2006
- Description
- Games are thought of as a waster of vast amounts of time for students. Homework does not always get done. Why not make the game the homework?
- Type
- presentations (communicative events)
- Appears in collection(s)
- Science and Technology
- Contributor(s)
- Katrin Becker
- Date issued
- 2006
- Type
- presentations (communicative events)
- Appears in collection(s)
- Science and Technology
- Contributor(s)
- Katrin Becker
- Date issued
- 2006
- Type
- presentations (communicative events)
- Appears in collection(s)
- Science and Technology
- Contributor(s)
- Katrin Becker
- Date issued
- 2006
- Description
- An important step towards gaining an understanding of how a particular medium can be used most effectively in education is to study its outstanding examples, regardless of their original purpose. It is assumed that “good” games already embody sound pedagogy in their designs even if that incorporation was not deliberate (Becker, 2006). The work described here will examine commercially and critically successful video games as though they had been designed as learning objects. Through this perspective, it is possible to identify and classify built-in learning objectives and from there to associate the mechanisms and strategies employed to teach them. A significant outcome of this work will...
- Type
- presentations (communicative events)
- 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
- 2006
- Description
- This presentation is intended to fulfill two goals: 1. To show that many commercial games, the successful ones at least, already implement sound pedagogy when it comes to how they get players to learn the game and how they facilitate gameplay. 2. To encourage critical examination of successful video games, to learn how this has been done, so that we may use that information to build engaging educational games.
- Type
- presentations (communicative events)
- Appears in collection(s)
- Science and Technology
- Contributor(s)
- Tracy Lee; Michael S. Quinn; Danah Duke
- Date issued
- 2006
- Description
- Road Watch in the Pass is a citizen-science project that engages local citizens in reporting wildlife observations along a 44-km stretch of Highway 3 through Crowsnest Pass in southwestern Alberta, Canada. The numbers of wildlife vehicle collisions and a recent proposal to expand the highway have raised concerns from both human safety and wildlife conservation perspectives. Through the use of a web-based GIS, interested citizens can contribute information that will be instrumental in making final decisions concerning measures to mitigate the effects of highway expansion. Currently, 58 people have contributed over 713 observations to Road Watch. We performed a preliminary comparison of 11...
- Type
- article
- Appears in collection(s)
- Science and Technology
- Contributor(s)
- Katrin Becker
- Date issued
- 2006
- Description
- Jerome Bruner has helped to shape the notion of constructivism, which is of prime significance when looking at pedagogy in games and much of the learning that occurs in games is constructive. In one of his more recent works, “The Culture of Education” (1996), he discusses the importance of nine tenets to the development and maintenance of culture. Many of these touch on recurring themes in many discussions of games (Beavis, 1999; Kafai, 2001; Wolf & Perron, 2003). Bruner believes that “education is not an island, but part of the continent of culture.” (1996, p11) The same can be said of games. Bruner’s tenets guide such a ‘psycho-cultural’ approach to education and this paper will examine...
- Type
- presentations (communicative events)
- Appears in collection(s)
- Science and Technology