Blog entry by Ken Interactive
“Serious Games” aka “Games-based Learning”, when said out loud, at first instance, sounds like an oxymoron. Can Games be serious? or can Learning be accomplished when it is played as a Game?
Valid questions. Because Games connote a sense of fun and frolic, it is difficult to imagine they could be used in “serious” situations. But in fact research questioning this very possibility proves that learning is better in a variety of ways, compared to traditional methods of instruction, when teaching is infused with games, provided they are designed and applied accurately to each teaching situation.
(I use the term “Games” with reference to Games-based learning, Gamification and Simulation training. Refer blog titled “Gamification, Game based learning and gaming simulation” for details of these terms)
Whether it is an individual taking a course to upskill their capabilities independently or a corporate training session applying games for learning and for assessments introducing games as a learning tool, have similar positive effects.
Research findings
Benefits of using Games over traditional methods
Extensive research stands evidence to the following benefits in using games to teach elearning courses, instructor led sessions and training programs.
(a) More educationally effective: When compared to traditional teacher-student mostly uni-directional learning experiences, a game motivates a learner more because there are goals and victories to be achieved. They play, win and learn for themselves. All the attention is on them. Apart from gratification, this also provide ample incentive to win. Along the way the intended learning is imparted, sometimes unknown to the player.
(b) More motivating: (Pannese & Carlise) conducted several practical experiments on this subject and reported their cases in their questionnaire based academic paper, in 2007. They studied the use of simulation games in situations such as preparing a pharmaceutical agent for an interview with a specialist doctor, for pharma managers to define a communication strategy, training operators at a call center etc. They concluded that, the perception that games are valuable training and education tools, is very high amongst employees. This then provides opportunities for organizations to improve employee morale and increase productivity at the same time, by introducing Games for learning. The logical relationship drawn here is that the higher the morale and shorter the learning curve, the higher the productivity.
(c) More engagement: Being engaged generally indicates a positive influence, an interested attachment to an entity or an activity. In Organizations, aligning themselves to its goals, can be termed engagement. It is not an emotion that can be taught or forced upon. It comes when an activity resonates with one’s personal attitudes and perception of it.
Because the involvement of games is experiential, it can imitate real life without fear of errors and the ability to introduce characters, drama and a storyline draws interest from players. If constructed intelligently, boredom could be eliminated leaving elements of surprise within the gaming framework. Such capabilities make games a natural choice for surreptitiously engaging learners.
(d) Develop a sense of collaboration or competition: Games make us competitive. Even when played alone, we want to outdo our own scores every time we play it. When part of a Training session, apart from this competitiveness it provides an environment to build camaraderie through collaboration and team work to meet a common goal. This improves communication and interpersonal skills.
(e) Repeatability, Retention and Recall
Repeatability is key winner for simulation games in particular. As an example Ken’s simulation game called “Yo Safety”. It is a simulation for driving a car safely. As the learner faces hurdles and makes mistakes, corrective measures are suggested which teach the driver how to drive safely. In this case, the game offers a safe environment to train and build expertise, permits repeated failures and boosts confidence on winning, long before sitting at the wheels of an actual car. Hence dramatic improvements in confidence on the job is inevitable.
A study by University of Colorado, Denver, Professor found positive results in using video games for company training. “Sitzmann spent over a year examining 65 studies and data from 6,476 trainees and discovered those using video games had an 11 percent higher factual knowledge level, a 14 percent higher skill-based knowledge level and a 9 percent higher retention rate than trainees in comparison groups.” (https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101019171854.htm). Significant empirical proof that learning with games is better than conventional methods.
Retention of acquired knowledge and recall for timely application is when a teaching is a resounding success. Because of association with avatars and gaming characters, a defined purpose and sometime unreal experiences, the intensity in the play is high. And we are more likely to remember the imagery in a Game rather than possibly the drudgery of the chore itself.
For example: In a project management game, where the player needs to collect cookies to reach from start to finish of a project, if gobbling up correct cookies such as customer satisfaction, sales closure etc., boosts energy and eating the wrong cookies such as lost customer, damaged products, etc fizzle energy out, the player learns which are good cookies for completing a project.
Challenges
Because of the vastly varying cognitive perceptions to the same game (i.e.) the way I experience a game will be different from the way you do, it becomes mandatory to fully understand the expectations of the players before embedding a game in any entity, for learning.
The risk of losing out on the learning with too much game or too little room for player interaction, resembling a one-sided download of information, can both fail in achieving the ultimate purpose of using games for learning. So how do we resolve this problem?
(a) A thorough Training Needs Analysis can provide a holistic picture of learning needs, identify skill gaps and offer recommendations to smoothen the career path.
(b) Hays, R.T in a study conducted in 2005, suggests three conditions under which Games can be effective learning tools:
(i) Provide good instructions for playing the game, perhaps a tutorial or a video guide. For first time players, he suggests there are training sessions to educate them on the various characters, the objectives of the game, what they should expect to learn, etc.
(ii) Involve learners in developing the game. In contemporary corporate scenarios, this would translate to involving clients from the start of the project, understanding their training needs and tailor-making products to suit them.
(iii) Time duration of the experience should not be more than 45mins at a stretch.
Another hurdle is that the development of games is heavily technology dependent. With rapid changes in technology the challenge of quick adaptation and continuous upgrades can be tricky but cloud based solutions rectify this to an extent.
A third and a long standing issue is the residual cynicism about games being used for anything other than play, viewed like a marketing gimmick. We hope that with continued benefits seen among existing users and more players coming into this field, this challenge will transform into market competition.
References
1) Hays, R. T. (2005). The effectiveness of instructional games: A literature review and discussion (No. NAWCTSD-TR-2005-004). Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Div Orlando Fl.
https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a441935.pdf
2) Serrano, E. L., & Anderson, J. E. (2004). The evaluation of food pyramid games, a bilingual computer nutrition education program for Latino youth. Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences Education, 22(1).
3) Pannese, L., & Carlesi, M. (2007). Games and learning come together to maximise effectiveness: The challenge of bridging the gap. BJET, 38, 438-454.
4) Five reasons you need to be using games for corporate training
https://elearningindustry.com/5-reasons-you-need-to-be-using-games-for-corporate-training
