Engineering is the application of math and science. To apply information you have to learn about it. So, by showing the reason to understand the information, the student is motivated to learn the information. Those game mechanics are the heart of learning in games. So, why hasn't this happened?
Some Problems
Part of the problem in using games in education is that the teachers and educators need critical thinking and problem solving skills. Those skills are not taught well in the system currently used that was also used to teach current teachers. So, the teachers have a problem with their old system.
Part of the problem is the current entertainment game market, which is not conducive to true learning games. Though the mechanics are showing potential, and have for a while, they have not been used properly. It's not about selling games, making money or even fun for the learning games, but rather enjoyable play where learning is critical to succeeding. More than that the game environment needs to be conducive to the learning the material that the game mechanics use. So, the game industry has a problem with their old system.
Part of the problem are the consumers who the majority of seem to want pure entertainment rather than demanding with their purchases games that are fun and help them improve. Game players have to push the people behind the games in ways the market respects for serious changes to occur. One way is with the purchases made. The other I know of is creating the solution on your own.
Back to the Basics
Games are interactive computer models. So, taking a few basic facts and running with them could give the inspiration needed to do the so-called impossible, create a great learning game without sacrificing gameplay or learning. Fact One, people like experimenting with and observing how complicated models react to stimulus. Fact Two, Games are interactive computer models. Fact Three, players have to learn how the model behaves to reliably get it to do what they want it to do. Fact Four, goals are in both games and learning.
Sandbox games are some of the best ways to show how things work. All you really need to to give the ability to play and goals to achieve. In fact, the ability to experiment is the great part of these games. A myriad of choices and meaningful results allows the player to feel rewarded for the time spent experimenting. It gets to the point in some games that people will test actions on NPCs just to see how they react and do many other non-gameplay oriented actions for the sake of fun. These actions come out of the freedom and rewards to experiment.
Moving Forward
Some would say that teaching game design is possibly the best option, I don't agree. Making games is indeed a great way to learn, but can be too time consuming. Instead, I would suggest the sandbox games as the best path. The reasons are simple.
Experimenting - the heart of the scientific method
Designing - critical thinking and making things work
Educational Game Mechanics
That last one is the true key to learning while playing. These are mechanics that require learning the curriculum to properly interact with. A good example is game physics. Understanding gravity, momentum, inertia and other properties of moving objects are not totally required, but they allow for a more complete mastery of the mechanics. While you may not know what's making the thing behave like that, you learn how it does behave. That's learning physics through experience without the vocabulary and jargon.
During these play sessions the player can observe the relations they learn about and should have access to the appropriate information to aid them in improving, because traditional gameplay is not the goal. In this way the information has value, the player has motivation and the situation allows for repeated practice applying the information. However the information should be given in a way that doesn't trivialize the gameplay.
Teaching In-game
The way I think would work best is to help players with their "skills" and not so much with their challenges. Know your tools and be observant, then you can see more possibilities to obtain success. Set the player/learner up with the tools, a good understanding of their tools and a good understanding of the problem they face and you have done all the teaching you need.
Before people go ballistic on me, think about what I've already said. There has to be good gameplay. Making sure the difficulty is right for the player is a part of that. Hints, help and other such mechanics are a standard part of games that doesn't need to be added. Teach about the tools, set the situation to guide their experiences and you have something that is beautiful to educators, game professionals and players/learners.
The Drawback
With any system there are ways to game the system, so the other half of this is the player's approach to the content. I for one am willing to spend hours reading material if it helps me understand something I seek to understand. That is because of how I approach the materials. Playing by the rules is another result of how you approach the the materials. Cheating when the true goal is to improve doesn't do you much good. That's like getting into the higher level of difficulty without the ability to compete at that level when you want to compete.
So, true learning games should be games that are fun, but have the curriculum content as a part of the mechanics. It's possible that this will be a new direction for standard games, as this can increase the gameplay potential of a game. Maybe that will be the topic of a later post, how making games good for learning could improve their quality as games.
Have fun, spread the word and tell me what you think,
Igen Oukan
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