Abstract

Practice Marketing is a serious game designed to teach the introductory principles of marketing to college students. The game was built for McGraw-Hill Higher Education to serve as a learning tool that would support multiple introductory curricula and textbooks. Practice Marketing is the first in a line of games envisioned by McGraw-Hill for multiple higher education subjects that will provide a consistent user experience, look and feel, and common elements. In this chapter, we introduce the design and development process we followed in creating Practice Marketing and summarize some of the lessons we learned in our effort.

Introduction

At Muzzy Lane, we believe that well-designed games offer a compelling medium to give students the means and the vehicle to personally interact with educational content. By designing games in which the core game mechanic reinforces the key learning objectives, as well as by using feedback systems that correlate to valid assessment metrics, serious game developers can provide a better alternative to current methods of instruction. And we know that today’s students – from kindergarten to grad school – are willing to spend hours and hours in front of a console or a computer when they’re playing games they find engaging.

Abstract

Under the Virtual Environments for Ship and Shore Experiential Learning (VESSEL) project, we developed the VESSEL Damage Control Trainer (DCT) to help address a key training need at the U.S. Navy Recruit Training Command. Using an agile development methodology and a multidisciplinary team of instructional, gaming, story, and assessment experts, we created a highly successful training game. Our goal was to bridge the gap between the classroom-based instruction recruits received during their boot camp and their final hands-on capstone assessment event. We designed DCT with a focus on using a scaffolded guided practice instructional approach with a relevant story and authentic game elements and interactions. Our team used regular playtesting as well as empirical validation studies to guide the evolution of our design. We introduce our team and development methods and describe some of the key design decisions we made. We discuss some of the lessons we learned and provide some of our recommendations for you to consider in your efforts to create effective learning games.

Abstract

Practice Marketing is a multiplayer business strategy game that teaches introductory marketing principles to university students. Built by Muzzy Lane Software and distributed by McGraw-Hill Education, the game allows the learner to explore the “4 Ps,” or the four foundational factors of marketing: Product, Price, Placement, and Promotion. Over multiple turns in the game, players research the preferences of potential buyers, design a product to sell, analyze how their products and those of competitors compare, and make decisions on how to improve their sales for the next turns. We introduce the core game elements of Practice Marketing, including the game structure, assessment and feedback elements, learner interaction methods, and the elements of immersion. We present an analysis of the design and discuss how the game’s elements allow its learning objectives to be met.

Context

Practice Marketing by Muzzy Lane Software is a 3-D, turn-based multiplayer business strategy game. It is built on Muzzy Lane’s Sandstone platform for 3-D browser-based games. The game is available through McGraw-Hill Education as part of a series of educational learning games (McGraw-Hill Education, n.d .). The intended users of the game are university students who are taking a course in, or interested in learning about, introductory marketing principles. To that end, the game provides a business simulation that allows the learner to explore the “4 Ps” or the four foundational factors of marketing: Product, Price, Placement, and Promotion. The game teaches learners that the key to marketing success is to have a strategically aligned marketing plan based on a thorough understanding of the different possible options for each of the 4 Ps and their potential impact on business outcomes. After playing the game, learners should have a better understanding of the 4 Ps of marketing and how they interrelate.

Abstract

During a 2010 Ted conference, Ali Carr-Chellman offered this criticism of our industry: “Most of the educational games that are out there today are really flash-cards. They are glorified drill-and-practice. They don’t have the depth and rich narrative that really engaging video games have” (Carr-Chellman, 2010). She concluded with this challenge: “We need to design better games.” This chapter addresses her challenge.

Introduction

We already know that games can be used to teach many things. Sailors in the U.S. Navy play the Damage Control Trainer as part of their boot camp training. Marines use games and virtual environments to train convoy operations (Hussain et al., 2009). In health care, you see games used to improve physical fitness, aid diabetics, and improve the lives of asthmatics (Baranowski et al., 2008). But what makes these games work?

In this chapter, we will explore l ow, motivation, and fun. We will dissect how the entertainment industry creates really engaging videogames. We will unravel the science of why people become engaged and learn guidelines that promote flow. We will explore how motivation works and what fun really means. Throughout this chapter, we will highlight some of the best examples and most effective techniques. By the end, you will know how to use l ow, motivation, and fun to design better games.

Abstract

The Procurement Fraud Indicators game is a Web-delivered, Flash®-based 2-D environment for training Department of Defense acquisition professionals on researching and identifying fraud in realistic scenarios. It is intended to provide the practical exercise for application of concepts and knowledge learned during a preceding two-hour online learning module. This practical exercise requires the player to gather information, develop a theory of potential fraud, select appropriate questions for suspected perpetrators, and classify any fraud found. The game employs relatively low technology and highly accessible methods but is effective in meeting its objectives.

Introduction

High-bandwidth, highly realistic 3-D immersive environments are not absolutely necessary for creating effective serious games. What is necessary are purposefully designed learning experiences with clearly dei ned learning objectives.

Even though it is decidedly low technology, Procurement Fraud Indicators (PFI) is a well-designed serious game that includes assigned problems and employs basic feedback for performance. The game is focused within a framework of purposeful design and assessment (Serious Games Showcase and Challenge, 2011).

Abstract

Quest Atlantis (QA) is an educational virtual world environment that provides a rich capability for students to undertake quests to solve challenging and interesting real-world problems. QA provides a toolkit for teachers to manage the experiences of their students. We describe our efforts to develop, deploy, and maintain in-class, after school, and summer camp programs based on Quest Atlantis. We introduce the methods we used to train teachers to use QA and discuss some of the issues we encountered when starting out and the solutions we developed. We describe how students have used QA to learn while also performing socially aware activities, and discuss some of our impressions on how students who normally do not perform well in class respond well to learning within Quest Atlantis. Virtual worlds for learning offer many benefits for augmenting our school education programs, and we summarize some of our recommendations for how to make use of this valuable technology.

The design and development of learning games is a field of endeavor that crosses the boundaries of several disciplines. A successful computer game for learning (a.k.a. training game, educational game, serious game, instructional game) must weave together the skills and decision making of instructional system designers, game designers, software developers, story developers, assessment professionals, educational scientists, graphic artists, subject matter experts, instructors, and more. While prior publications have addressed theoretical issues from the perspective of one or two of these fields, and some publications have explored practical design and development issues, none has addressed the central methodological issues of how to produce an effective game with an explicit multidisciplinary approach. This book draws on the expertise and experience of a number of active participants in the field of learning games to provide practical guidelines and recommendations from a multidisciplinary perspective to assist you in your efforts to create effective learning games.

Definition of Learning Games

Before we dive into the issues surrounding the design of learning games, we must clarify what we mean by learning game. The literature reveals no consistent, widely accepted definition of learning games, although they are often classified as a subset of serious games for nonentertainment purposes (Sawyer & Smith, 2008). We prefer to distinguish learning games as having certain characteristics. In this book, we define learning games as games intentionally designed to help the player meet instructional goals while actively interacting with and being engaged and immersed in the experience. The learning game provides an environment in which the player must demonstrate a level of understanding of a body of knowledge or skills (expressed as learning objectives) to achieve game goals by solving challenges posed in the environment (e.g., identifying or resolving problems, completing tasks). The type of learning games we refer to require a significant design effort to achieve the learning goals.

Abstract

As you get started on your project to create a serious game for learning, it is important for you to recognize that you and your team will likely need the skills of several different disciplines to achieve success. Usually, this means that you will be working with colleagues who have been trained in a different field from yours. By better understanding what the key concerns and methods of their disciplines are, you will better understand where your teammates are coming from and the processes they are used to. We introduce the standard methods used in the supporting fields of instructional system design, software development, game design, assessment development, and story creation and discuss some of the main strengths of each area as well as some of the typical challenges that practitioners in each area face.

Introduction

So, you’re thinking of developing a game to help teach some valuable knowledge and/or skills. How do you go about designing and developing your learning game efi ciently? What steps are involved? Who needs to be involved? What are the gotchas to be aware of and how do you address those issues effectively? How do you ensure that your learning game successfully engages your learners while effectively teaching them?