Abstract
We discuss the design, creation and implementation of an instructional game for use in a high school poetry class following a commitment to an educational game design principle of alignment. We studied groups of instructional designers and an interactive fiction computer game they built. The game was implemented in a 9th grade English classroom to see if the designed alignments were realized in the classroom. Results from observations and collected design artifacts suggest the alignment theory created extra challenges and rewards for the game designers. They encountered tensions between creating an exciting game-like atmosphere with inventive programming techniques while remaining loyal to the narrative structure and instructional goals. Game-play transcripts and interviews with middle school participants offered additional insights into the successes and failures of intentional efforts to bring about educational game alignment.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bannan-Ritland, B. (2003). The role of design in research: The integrative learning design framework. Educational Researcher, 32(1), 21–24.
Bannon, L. J., & Bodker, S. (Eds.). (1991). Beyond the interface: Encountering artifacts in use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Barab, S., Thomas, M., Dodge, T., Carteaux, R., & Tuzan, H. (2005). Making learning fun: Quest Atlantis, a game without guns. Educational Technology Research and Development, 53(1), 86–107.
B. E. C. T. A. (2001). Computer games in education project. Computer games in education project. Retrieved July 15, 2005, from http://www.becta.org.uk/research/research.cfm?section=1&id=2826.
Bigelow, B. (1997). On the road to cultural bias: A critique of “The Oregon Trail” CD-ROM. Language Arts, 74(2), 84–93.
Bradley, J. C. (2005, September 28–30). Generating open courseware using podcasting, screencasting, blogs and games. Paper presented at the Instructional Technology Institute: Advancing the Effectiveness and Sustainability of Open Education Conference, Utah State University, Logan, UT.
Brown, A. L. (1992). Design experiments: Theoretical and methodological challenges in creating complex interventions in classroom settings. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 2(2), 141–178.
Brown, J. S., & Duguid, P. (2000). The social life of information. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Clark, D., Nelson, B., Sengupta, P., & D’Angelo, C. (2009, September). Rethinking science learning through digital games and simulations: Genres, examples, and evidence. Presented at the Learning science: Computer games, simulations, and education workshop sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C.
Clarke, J., & Dede, C. (2009). Design for scalability: A case study of the River City curriculum. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 18(4), 353–365.
Crawford, C. (1997). Chapter 2: Why do people play games? In The art of computer game design: Washington State University.
Dalgarno, B., & Lee, M. (2010). What are the learning affordances of 3-D virtual environments? British Journal of Educational Technology, 41(1), 10–32.
DeCastell, S., & Jenson, J. (2003). Serious play. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 35(6), 649–665.
Dede, C. (2004). If design-based research is the answer, what is the question? Journal of the Learning Sciences, 13(1), 105–114.
Dede, C., Ketelhut, D. J., & Nelson, B. C. (2004, April 12–16). Design-based research on gender, class, race, and ethnicity in a multi-user virtual environment. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association (AERA), San Diego, CA.
Deshrill, M. (2004). Interview with Nick Montfort. Retrieved August 16, 2005, from http://www.eboredom.20m.com/features/interviews/montfort1.html.
Dick, W., & Carey, L. (1990). The systematic design of instruction (3rd ed.). Glenview, IL: Scott Foresman.
Dickey, M. D. (2006). Game design narrative for learning: Appropriating adventure game design narrative devices and techniques for the design of interactive learning environments. Educational Technology Research and Development, 54(3), 245–263.
Engestrom, Y. (1990). When is a tool? Multiple meanings of artifacts in human activity. In Learning, working, and imagining: Twelve studies in activity theory (pp. 171–195). Helsinki, Finland: Orienta-Konsultit Oy.
Gibbons, A. S., & Fairweather, G. B. (1998). Chapter 22: Creating simulations. In Computer-based Instruction: Design and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications.
Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, A. L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory. Hawthorne, NY: Aldine.
Granade, S. (2005). Introducing interactive fiction. Retrieved October 15, 2005, from http://brasslantern.org/beginners/introif.html.
Guba, E. G., & Lincoln, Y. S. (1994). Competing paradigms in qualitative research. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Hayes, E. (2002, May 24–26). Find out who you really are: Adult learning in virtual worlds. Paper presented at the Adult Education Research Conference (AERC), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC.
Holland, W., Jenkins, H., & Squire, K. (2003). Chapter 1: Theory by design. In M. J. P. Wolf & B. Perron (Eds.), The video game theory reader (pp. 25–46). New York: Routledge.
Ketelhut, D. (2009, September). Rethinking science learning, a needs assessment. Rethinking science learning through digital games and simulations: Genres, examples, and evidence. Presented at the Learning science: Computer games, simulations, and education workshop sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C.
Kiriemuir, J. (2002). Video gaming, education and digital learning technologies. D-Lib Magazine, 8.
Kirriemuir, J., & McFarlane, A. (2003). Use of computer and video games in the classroom. Paper presented at the DiGRA, Utrecht, Holland.
Klopfer, E., & Squire, K. (2008). Environmental detectives—the development of an augmented reality platform for environmental simulations. Educational Technology Research and Development, 56(2), 203–228. doi:10.1007/s11423-007-9037-6.
Koster, R. (2005). Chapter 3: What games are. In A theory of fun for game design (pp. 34–47). Scottsdale, AZ: Paraglyph Press.
Ladd, B. C. (2006). The Curse of Monkey Island: Holding the attention of students weaned on computer games. Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges, 21(6), 162–174.
Lewis, C., Perry, R., & Murata, A. (2006). How should research contribute to instructional improvement: The case of lesson study. Educational Researcher, 35(3), 3–14.
Masters, E. (1915). Spoon river anthology. New York: Signet Classic Penguin Group.
McMahan, A. (2003). Chapter 3: Immersion, engagement, and presence: A method for analyzing 3-D video games. In M. J. P. Wolf (Ed.), The medium of the video game (pp. 135–158). Austin: University of Texas Press.
Miller, C. H. (2005). Chapter 8: Blending entertainment with other goals. In Digital storytelling: A creator’s guide to interactive entertainment (pp. 159–182). Burlington, MA: Focal Press Elsevier.
Montfort, N. (2003). Toward a theory of interaction fiction. In E. Short (Ed.), IF theory (3.5rd edn). St. Charles, IL: The Interactive Fiction Library.
Oliver, R. (2007). Exploring an inquiry-based learning approach with first-year students in a large undergraduate class. Innovations in Education and Teaching International., 44(1), 3–15.
Oliver, M., & Carr, D. (2009). Learning in virtual worlds: Using Communities of practice to explain how people learn from play. British Journal of Educational Technology, 40(3), 444–457.
Papastergiou, M. (2009). Digital game-based learning in high-school computer science education: Impact on educational effectiveness and student motivation. Computers and Education, 52(1), 1–12.
Paras, B., & Bizzocchi, J. (2005, June 16–20). Game, motivation, and effective learning: An integrated model for educational game design. Paper presented at the Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA): Changing Views––Worlds in Play, Vancouver, BC.
Reeves, T. C., Herrington, J., & Oliver, R. (2005). Design research: A socially responsible approach to instructional technology research in higher education. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 16, 96–115.
Rieber, L. (1996). Seriously considering play: Designing interactive learning environments based on the blending of microworlds, simulations, and games. Educational Technology Research and Development, 44(2), 43–58.
Scoresby, J., Duncan, S. M., & Shelton, B. E. (2006, June 15–16). Voices of Spoon River: Exploring early American poetry through computer gaming. Presented at the Games, Learning, & Society, Madison. WI.
Scoresby, J., & Shelton, B. E. (2007). Linking game play activity and learning objectives through a videogame motivational model. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Conference, 2007, Chicago, IL.
Scoresby, J., & Shelton, B. E. (2010). Visual perspectives within educational computer games: Effects on presence and flow within virtual immersive learning environments. Instructional Science. doi:10.1007/s11251-010-9126-5.
Shelton, B. E. (2007). Designing instructional games for activity-goal alignment. In B. E. Shelton & D. Wiley (Eds.), The design and use of simulation computer games in education (pp. 103–130). Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers.
Shelton, B. E. (2009). Teaching educational design through computer game design: Balancing expectations, abilities and outcomes. In C. Digiano, S. Goldman, & M Chorost (Eds.), Educating learning technology designers: Guiding and inspiring creators of innovative educational tools (pp. 182–202). London, UK: Taylor & Francis.
Short, E. (2001). What’s IF? Retrieved October 15, 2005, from http://emshort.home.mindspring.com/whatsif.html.
Shute, V. J., Ventura, M., Bauer, M. I., & Zapata-Rivera, D. (2009). Melding the power of serious games and embedded assessment to monitor and foster learning: Flow and grow. In U. Ritterfeld, M. Cody, & P. Vorderer (Eds.), Serious games: Mechanisms and effects (pp. 295–321). Mahwah, NJ: Routledge, Taylor and Francis.
Squire, K., Barnett, M., Grant, J. M., & Higginbotham, T. (2004). Electromagnetism supercharged! Learning physics with digital simulation games. Paper presented at the International Conference of the Learning Sciences 2004 (ICLS 04), Santa Monica, CA.
Squire, K., DeVane, B., & Durga, S. (2008). Designing centers of expertise for academic learning through video games. Theory Into Practice, 47(3), 240–251. doi:10.1080/00405840802153973.
Steinkuehler, C. A. (2003, March 25). Videogaming as participation in a discourse. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the American Association for Applied Linguistics.
Tews, R. R. (2001). Chapter 9: Archetypes on acid: Video games and culture. In M. J. P. Wolf (Ed.), The medium of the video game (pp. 169–182). Austin: University of Texas Press.
Vilmi, R., & Malmi, L. (1996). Learning English by creating, writing and playing WWW adventure games. Educational Technology Research and Development, 44(3), 109–118.
Wang, F., & Hannafin, M. J. (2005). Design-based research and technology-enhanced learning environments. Educational Technology Research and Development, 53(4), 5–23.
Wolf, M. J. P. (2001). Chapter 6: Genre and the video game. In M. J. P. Wolf (Ed.), The medium of the video game (pp. 113–134). Austin: University of Texas Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Shelton, B.E., Scoresby, J. Aligning game activity with educational goals: following a constrained design approach to instructional computer games. Education Tech Research Dev 59, 113–138 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-010-9175-0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-010-9175-0