Abstract
The idea of Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) is being investigated for more than twenty years. Since a few years, game-based approaches like video games for learning (Serious Games) offer new fields of application. The combination of game-based learning concepts and collaborative learning may enable new, game-based application areas of CSCL, like collaborative multiplayer Serious Games. Designing such games, however, is very challenging as it requires to take into account traditional single player game design concepts, concepts for multiplayer game design, and concepts for Serious Game design simultaneously. Only very few examples of such games exist today. In this paper we describe an approach for the design of game-based collaborative learning scenarios using multiplayer Serious Games. Our approach aims at combining design concepts from the fields of collaborative learning and (multiplayer) game design. Our approach takes into account the requirements of traditional single player games (fun, narration, immersion, graphics, sound), challenges of multiplayer games (concurrent gaming, interaction) and Serious Game design (seamless inclusion of learning content, adaptation and personalization). Furthermore, requirements of collaborative learning are considered, like group goals, positive interdependence, and individual accountability. Our design concept was used to create a collaborative 3D multiplayer game fostering collaborative behavior as a foundation for game-based collaborative learning in small teams. We performed a user study with eight gaming sessions and a total of 23 participants. Results showed that the game enables a collaborative gameplay and fosters collaborative behavior. This may allow us to use a game-based CSCL approach to combine the advantages of game-based learning with those of collaborative learning in future.
Notes
References
Baker, M., & Lund, K. (1997). Promoting reflective interactions in a computer-supported collaborative learning environment. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 13, 175–193.
Crawford, C. (1984). The art of computer game design. Osborne: McGraw-Hill.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1991). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York, NY: Harper Perennial.
Delwiche, A. (2006). Massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) in the new media classroom. Educational Technology & Society, 9(3), 160–172.
Dillenbourg, P. (1999). What do you mean by collaborative learning? In Dillenbourg, P. (Ed.), Collaborative-learning: Cognitive and Computational Approaches (pp. 1–19). Oxford: Elsevier.
Gee, J.P. (2003). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. Computers in Entertainment (CIE), 1, 20. doi:10.1145/950566.950595.
Haake, J., Schwabe, G., Wessner, M. (2004). CSCL-Kompendium: Lehr-und Handbuch zum computerunterstützten kooperativen Lernen. Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag.
Hämäläinen, R., Manninen, T., Järvelä, S., Häkkinen, P. (2006). Learning to collaborate: designing collaboration in a 3-D game environment. The Internet and Higher Education, 9(1), 47–61. doi:10.1016/j.iheduc.2005.12.004. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6W4X-4JCBRN2-2/2/e1a9109d41615f5bc4320121e3a7dfd7.
Harteveld, C. (2011). Triadic game design. New York: Springer-Verlag Inc.
Johnson, D., & Johnson, R. (1994). Learning together and alone, cooperative, competitive, and individualistic learning. Needham Heights, MA: Prentice-Hall.
Kelly, H., Howell, K., Glinert, E., Holding, L., Swain, C., Burrowbridge, A., Roper, M. (2007). How to build serious games. Communications of the ACM, 50(7), 44–49. doi:10.1145/1272516.1272538.
Kiili, K. (2005). Digital game-based learning: towards an experiential gaming model. The Internet and Higher Education, 8(1), 13–24.
Larusson, J., & Alterman, R. (2009). Wikis to support the “collaborative” part of collaborative learning. International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, 4(4), 371–402.
Manninen, T., & Korva, T. (2005). Designing puzzles for collaborative gaming experience–CASE: eScape. In Castell, S., & Jennifer, J. (Eds.), Selected papers of the Digital Interactive Games Research Associations 2nd internationalconference (DiGRA 205), Digital Interactive Games Research Association (pp. 233–247). Vancouver, Canada.
Mitchell, A., Savill-Smith, C., Britain, G. (2004). The use of computer and video games for learning: A review of the literature. Learning and Skills Development Agency London.
Nacke, L. (2009). Affective ludology: Scientific measurement of user experience in interactive entertainment. PhD thesis, Blekinge Institute of Technology, Karlskrona, Sweden. (ISBN) 978-91-7295-169-3.
Nelson, B., & Ketelhut, D. (2008). Exploring embedded guidance and self-efficacy in educational multi-user virtual environments. International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, 3, 413–427. doi:10.1007/s11412-008-9049-1.
Onrubia, J., & Engel, A. (2009). Strategies for collaborative writing and phases of knowledge construction in CSCL environments. Computers & Education, 53(4), 1256–1265.
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital game-based learning. New York: McGraw Hill.
Przybylski, A., Ryan, R., Rigby, C. (2009). The motivating role of violence in video games. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 35, 243–259.
Rauterberg, G. (2002). Determinantes for collaboration in networked multi-user games. In Entertainment Computing: Technologies and Applications.
Roschelle, J., & Teasley, S. (1995). The construction of shared knowledge in collaborative problem solving. In O’Malley, C. (Ed.), Computer-supported Collaborative Learning (pp. 69–97). Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
Said, N. (2004). An engaging multimedia design model. In Proceedings of the 2004 conference on Interaction design and children: Building a community (pp. 169–172). New York: ACM.
Salen, K., & Zimmerman, E. (2004). Rules of play: Game design fundamentals. Cambridge: The MIT Press.
Sandford, R., & Williamson, B. (2005). Games and learning. A handbook Bristol. UK: FutureLab.
Squire, K. (2003). Video games in education. International Journal of Intelligent Simulations and Gaming, 2(1), 49–62.
Stahl, G., Koschmann, T., Suthers, D. (2006). Cambridge handbook of the learning sciences. In Computer-supported Collaborative Learning: An Historical Perspective (pp. 409–426).
Van Eck, R. (2006). Digital game-based learning: It’s not just the digital natives who are restless. Educause Review, 41(2), 16.
Voulgari, I., & Komis, V. (2008). Massively multi-user online games: The emergence of effective collaborative activities for learning. In DIGITEL ’08: Proceedings of the 2008 2nd IEEE International Conference on Digital Game and Intelligent Toy Enhanced Learning (pp. 132–134). Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE Computer Society. doi:10.1109/DIGITEL.2008.20.
Wendel, V., Babarinow, M., Hörl, T., Kolmogorov, S., Göbel, S., Steinmetz, R. (2010). Woodment: Webbased collaborative multiplayer serious games, 1st edn. In Transactions on Edutainment IV, Lecture Notes in Computer Science (Vol. 6250, pp. 68–78). New York: Springer.
Wendel, V., Göbel, S., Steinmetz, R. (2011). Seamless learning in serious games—how to improve seamless learning-content integration in serious games. In Proceedings of the CSEDU 2011, SciTePress—Science and Technology Publications (Vol. 1, pp. 219–224). URL ftp://ftp.kom.tu-darmstadt.de/papers/WGS11-1.pdf.
Zagal, J.P., Rick, J., Hsi, I. (2006). Collaborative games: lessons learned from board games. Simulation and Gaming, 37(1), 24–40. doi:10.1177/1046878105282279.
Zea, N.P., Sánchez, J.L.G., Gutiérrez, F.L., Cabrera, M.J., Paderewski, P. (2009). Design of educational multiplayer videogames: a vision from collaborative learning. Advances in Engineering Software, 40(12), 1251–1260. doi:10.1016/j.advengsoft.2009.01.023.
Zyda, M. (2007). Creating a Science of Games. Communications of the ACM, 50(7), 26.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wendel, V., Gutjahr, M., Göbel, S. et al. Designing collaborative multiplayer serious games. Educ Inf Technol 18, 287–308 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-012-9244-6
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-012-9244-6