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Society | doi:10.1145/1536616.1536624 Leah Hoffmann

Learning Through Games

Electronic games can inspire players to explore new ideas
and concepts. By gaining a better understanding of the dynamic
between player and game, researchers hope to develop more
interesting and effective approaches.

I
t wa s n ’ t u n t i l after he’d
stopped working as a mid-
dle school choir teacher and
joined one of Microsoft’s soft-
ware testing units that Jeremy
Tate first encountered Guitar Hero. A
gaming enthusiast, Tate was quickly
hooked. And as he grew more famil-
iar with the game and observed oth-
ers at play, he noticed how Guitar Hero
helps gamers master challenging mu-
sical concepts, such as phrasing and
rhythm, notions he had struggled to
teach his own students.
“Players are taught instantly, as a
function of the game,” Tate explains.
“Want a better score? Do it right next
time.” He’s now talking to several teach-
ers in his old school district about put-
ting his observations to use and bring- Games like Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock simulate the playing of a real guitar and teach
ing music video games like Guitar Hero, players how to master challenging musical concepts, such as phrasing and rhythm.
Lips, and others into the classroom.
In many ways, of course, it’s not sur- tol, England, made headlines in 2005 lead a civilization from 4,000 B.C. to the
prising that educators could make use for his award-winning use of Myst to present, students are frequently moti-
of an electronic medium teens have improve students’ writing skills. And vated to consult maps, Wikipedia, and
already widely embraced. According to World of Warcraft has been praised by other external resources to get ahead.
a 2008 survey conducted by the Wash- educational researchers at the Univer- “Could there be a better learning
ington, D.C.-based Pew Research Cen- sity of Wisconsin-Madison for its abil- philosophy for the 21st century?” asks
ter, 97% of children between the ages ity to foster abstract thinking among Gee.
of 12 and 17 play computer, Web, por- middle and high school students, who
table, or console games. Among many meet online to share strategies and Games as Interactive Platforms
adults, the popular perception of these ideas about the game. The tricky part, of course, is figur-
games is that they have little redeem- “Games are goal-directed learning ing out why certain games advance
ing value and may harm children by spaces,” says James Gee, a professor of learning. What factors keep students
desensitizing them to violence. Over literacy studies at Arizona State Univer- engaged? What features encourage
the past few years, however, a new body sity who has done extensive work on the them to apply what they’ve learned to
of research has begun to demonstrate subject. According to Gee, games give real problems? Too many titles that
how games can have a positive effect children the tools they need to explore are currently marketed as education-
on youngsters by stimulating their complex systems and experiment with al games, experts say, are little more
imaginations, sparking their curiosity, different possibilities and outcomes. than digital flashcards, presenting
and promoting the exploration of diffi- Rather than simply memorizing figures students with straightforward drills
cult issues and concepts. Off-the-shelf and statistics, children learn to con- in subjects like math and grammar
games like Sim City, Civilization, and structively use facts to solve problems. rather than giving them an interactive
Railroad Tycoon have been successfully In a game whose objective is to design platform through which to explore
Photogra ph by w łodi

used in the classroom to help students and build a city, for example, kids end new ideas and concepts. By gaining
understand complex social, historical, up not only learning about building a more sophisticated understanding
and economic processes. Tim Rylands, codes, but how to put them to use. In of the dynamic between player and
a teacher at a primary school near Bris- Civilization III, a game in which players game, researchers hope they can de-

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velop more interesting and effective to feel an effect. The most recent Taul-
approaches. bee Report indicates an upsurge in in-
To meet those challenges, special- “Games,” says terest and enrollment in the field, and
ized research groups have sprung up James Gee, anecdotal evidence suggests that gam-
at universities across the country. New ing may have played a role as games
York University’s Games for Learn- “are goal-directed and gaming techniques help make
ing Institute (G4LI), for example, of- learning spaces.” core computer science principles more
fers a forum for experts in disciplines accessible to students. The prospect
like computer science, cognition, and of being able to join the still-growing
educational research to collaborate on game development industry has also
experiments and research. Founded attracted new prospects to the field.
in 2008 with funding from Microsoft, As researchers continue to work out
G4LI’s mission is to conduct rigorous Institute and an investigator at G4LI. principles of learning, cognition, and
empirical research into how games It’s therefore important to start with design, they would be well advised to
can support learning. Thus far, work a definite set of ideas and objectives keep an essential principle of the gam-
has focused on science, technology, rather than a structure of play. ing industry in mind: Make it fun. It
engineering, and math topics and on Ian Bogost, a founding partner of At- may not be what most teens think of
middle school, when children typically lanta-based gaming studio Persuasive when they think of school. But as Is-
lose interest in those subjects. Games, concurs. Effective educational bister points out, it’s at the heart of
“We’re moving from individual case games, says Bogost, construct a model why they play games—and is one of the
studies that address the effectiveness of how a particular issue or subject main things that keeps them engaged
of a single game to a more descriptive, works. Players then interact with that and willing to persist in ways that many
qualitative type of research,” says Jan model to understand its contours and teachers only dream of.
Plass, a professor of educational com- reasoning, and can ultimately decide
munication and technology at NYU whether to embrace or reject it. Leah Hoffmann is Brooklyn-based science and technology
writer. Ken Perlin, New York University, contributed to the
and G4LI codirector. “We observe game “It’s through the experience of mak- development of this article.
play, we test things empirically … we’re ing choices that you learn,” he asserts.
© 2009 ACM 0001-0782/09/0800 $10.00
interested in finding patterns.” Plass’s Bogost and his colleagues build
colleagues in the computer science educational games for a diverse set of
department then build mini-games corporate and nonprofit clients. Large
to test effective features—a particular Call for Nominations for
companies want games that give them
incentive system or type of player sup- a more engaging way of training new Cacm general
port, for example—and further refine
their understanding. G4LI researchers
workers, or make themselves more
appealing to younger customers. Po-
election
have also reached out to game develop- litical and nonprofit organizations, The ACM Nominating Committee
ers and educators to analyze their expe- on the other hand, are trying to reach is preparing to nominate
riences. The ultimate goal, says Plass, teens and educate them about prob-
candidates for the officers of
is to develop a comprehensive set of lems like climate change and poverty.
principles and standards that could Persuasive Games has also developed ACM: President, Vice-President,
help people effectively design, build, several issues-based games of its own. Secretary/Treasurer; and two
and use educational games. Unfortunately, Bogost says, it can be Members at Large.
Other game-related research is difficult to identify a market for these
ongoing at University of Wisconsin- projects. (“If it’s online, people expect Suggestions for candidates are
Madison, Massachusetts Institute of it to be free,” he sighs.) solicited. Names should be
Technology, and Indiana University. Integrating games into secondary sent by November 5, 2009 to the
Likewise, Games for Change, a New school classrooms can be challeng- Nominating Committee Chair, c/o
York nonprofit organization that focus- ing. Each district has its own curricu-
Pat Ryan, Chief Operating Officer,
es on social justice issues, provides an lum and objectives. Some teachers are
additional platform for people to share skeptical about gaming’s pedagogical ACM, 2 Penn Plaza, Suite 701,
ideas, resources, and tools. Though value, while others are unfamiliar with New York, NY 10121-0701. With
many findings are preliminary, one the variety of available games. For now, each recommendation please
important theme that’s emerged is researchers say, the easiest way to get include background information
the need for teaching material to be games into the classroom is at a grass- and names of individuals the
integrated into the framework of a roots level, and G4LI and other aca-
Nominating Committee can
game’s design rather than added to it demic institutes are working hard to
later. “You need something that allows foster relationships with local schools. contact for additional information
knowledge to unfold,” says Katherine At the university level, where games if necessary. Stuart Feldman
Isbister, a professor of digital media enjoy more widespread curricular sup- is the Chair of the Nominating
and computer science and engineering port and adoption, computer science Committee.
at New York University’s Polytechnic departments in particular have begun

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