Synopses & Reviews
Serious Games provides a thorough exploration of the claim that playing games can provide learning that is deep, sustained and transferable to the real world. Serious games is defined herein as any form of interactive computer-based game software for one or multiple players to be used on any platform and that has been developed to provide more than entertainment to players. With this volume, the editors address the gap in exisiting scholarship on gaming, providing an academic overview on the mechanisms and effects of serious games. Contributors investigate the psychological mechanisms that take place not only during gaming, but also in game selection, persistent play, and gaming impact.
The work in this collection focuses on the desirable outcomes of digital game play. The editors distinguish between three possible effects -- learning, development, and change -- covering a broad range of serious games potential impact. Contributions from internationally recognized scholars focus on five objectives:
- Define the area of serious games
- Elaborate on the underlying theories that explain suggested psychological mechanisms elicited through serious game play, addressing cognitive, affective and social processes
- Summarize the empirical evidence on the effectiveness of serious games,
- Introduce innovative research methods as a response to methodological challenges imposed through interactive media
- Discuss the possibilities and limitations of selected applications for educational purposes.
Anchored primarily in social science research, the reader will be introduced to approaches that focus on the gaming process and the users experiences. Additional perspectives will be provided in the concluding chapters, written from non-social science approaches by experts in academic game design and representatives of the gaming industry. The editors acknowledge the necessity for a broader interdisciplinary study of the phenomena and work to overcome the methodological divide in games research to look ahead to a more integrated and interdisciplinary study of digital games.
This timely and singular volume will appeal to scholars, researchers, and graduate students working in media entertainment and game studies in the areas of education, media, communication, and psychology.
Synopsis
The central purpose of this book is to examine critically the claim that playing games can provide learning that is deep, sustained and transferable to the real world.
Synopsis
The central purpose of this book is to examine critically the claim that playing games can provide learning that is deep, sustained and transferable to the real world. The book will include internationally recognized social science scholars and will focus on five goals: (1) define the area of serious games, (2) elaborate and discuss the underlying theories that explain suggested psychological mechanisms elicited through serious game play, addressing cognitive, affective and social processes respectively, (3) summarize and discuss the empirical evidence on the effectiveness of serious games, (4) introduce innovative research methods as a response to the specific methodological challenges imposed through interactive media in creating individualized content, measurement of exposure, multitasking, deeper learning, and transfer from the virtual into the real, and (5) discuss the possibilities and limitations of selected applications for educational purposes.
The book is designed to focus exclusively on the desirable outcomes of digital game play. The editors distinguish between 3 possible effects: learning, development, and change. Learning is defined as the intentional acquisition of skills or knowledge through deliberate practice and training and has therefore a pedagogical focus. With development we emphasize the rather incidental psychological impact of game play on processes of human development such as identity or attitude formation or emotional regulation that may be facilitated or initiated through game play. Finally, change addresses the aspect of social intervention, for example political or health behavior. Although not completely distinct, focusing on these 3 dimensions shall ensure covering a broad range of serious games' possible impact.
The volume will appeal to scholars, researchers, and graduate students working in media entertainment and game studies in the areas of education, media, communication, and psychology.