Key findings

Skills, knowledge, and attitudes can be improved by means of Game-Based
Learning (GBL) given the right environment. Research into using games for
learning to support these claims has been carried out over the past 20 years, but
with very mixed results. However, the choice of game along with the situated
environment and the teachers role as moderator, are vital if the desired learning
outcomes are to be achieved. Video games can supplement traditional learning
but not replace it. But where the majority of today’s teachers are willing to
incorporate GBL into their lesson plans, the knowledge and skill level required to
implement this technology successfully is lacking. For GBL to be included in the
academic curriculum, the issue of teacher support needs to be addressed on a
wide scale.

Over the past decade, teacher’s attitudes towards the utilization of games for
learning have changed. Whereas historically games were not seen to be of value,
academic institutions worldwide are looking towards this technology to advance
learning. Unfortunately, many of today’s students do not see the value of gamebased
learning. The younger student will enjoy the interaction without categorizing
it as learning and the older student will often view games as a non-serious activity
within the classroom.

Summarized results from examples

Where the computer game is used in the classroom for research, it will often be an
educational game specifically developed for the purpose, and often by the
researcher. Where a game is utilized as part of a lesson, it will tend to be a
commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS), and often a recreational game, or a commercial
game that has been modified for the desired learning outcome.

Students today are critical of educational games as the expected quality of a
commercial recreational game is missing. Modifying commercial games has
become popular to avoid this, as has allowing the student to design their own
game – either to concept level or a prototype if resources allow.

As games can extend outside the classroom, they provide an ideal platform for
study aids and to assist with learning impairments. The medical profession has
been quicker on the uptake of this technology than has academia and examples
have been documented in this report.

Issues for using Game-Based Learning

Although video games have been around for nearly 40 years, and GBL has been
researched for over 20 years, the uptake of this technology in the classroom has
been slow. The major barrier has been and still is, a lack of knowledge in how to
use the resource. Teachers are trained in traditional methods that do not include
the use of games in the curriculum. It appears to be researchers and a few
innovative teachers that have successfully embraced GBL, although many others
are willing to do so given the correct resource and assistance to do so.

Studies show that unless the correct game is chosen for the selected topic, and
appropriate moderation and debriefing by the teacher is forthcoming, the desired
learning outcome, be it skill based, knowledge base, or affective, they will not be
achieved.

Other issues for consideration include technical requirements, licensing policies,
sustainability, and more. Video games are an untapped resource in the field of
education and will remain so until adequate teacher resource is provided.

Details of this review

This report summarizes the available literature in the field of game-based learning
and specifically how it relates to teaching in the classroom. A critical analysis of
some of these studies has also been provided in section 1, including a summary of
the methodologies employed. Section 1 also discusses the benefits and perceived
problems associated with video games, with section 2 providing specific examples
of the use of game-based learning within the curriculum.

To conclude, section 3 analyses the characteristics of video games and suggests
how this method of teaching can support the learning process. A complete
reference section is included as well as a glossary of game terminology and some
suggest resources.

Full report:
http://insight.eun.org/shared/data/pdf/final_literature_review_(gis).pdf