Real-life room-escape games are ludic activities in which participants enter a room in order to get out of it only after solving some riddles. In this paper, we explain a Room Escape teaching experience developed in the Engineering School at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. The goal of this activity is to increase student's motivation and to…

Attentiveness to and transparency about the methodological implications of the level of analysis selected for peace and conflict exercises constitute essential elements of good game design. The article explores the impact of level of analysis choices in the context of two key portions of exercises, scenario construction and role specification. It…

The importance of active learning in the classroom has been well established in the field of Economic education. This paper examines the connection between active learning and performance outcomes in an Economics 101 course. Students participated in single play simultaneous move game with a clear dominant strategy, modeled after the Prisoner's…

Targeted as a highly desired skill for contemporary work and life, problem solving is central to game-based learning research. In this study, middle grade students achieved significant learning gains from gameplay interactions that required solving a science mystery based on microbiology content. Student trace data results indicated that effective…

A brief history of the use of games and simulations as educational tools is followed by illustrations of academic games and an analysis of their effectiveness. (JD)

Discussion of the difference between an educational simulation and other interactive learning events highlights the effects terminology can have on both facilitators and participants. Five common mistakes made in running simulations are identified, and gaming terminology used in Britain and in the United States is discussed. (three references)…

This discussion of the use of games and simulations in instruction includes a number of examples of activities that can be used in the community college classroom. Section I assesses the value of games and simulations as an approach to learning; defines games, simulations, and non-simulation games; considers the advantages and disadvantages of the…

This discussion of games--particularly computerized games--and their potential in schools addresses several topics: what games are, types of games (free-form, rigid-form, or open-form) and their educational applications, the role of games in learning, student participation in adapting existing games for computer presentation, and special classroom…

An assessment of educational game playing in the classroom is presented. The assessment is based mainly on observations and reports of the game Empire (Educational Services Incorporated). In separate sections of the report, the author considers arrangements for game playing, the motivational appeal of educational games, and how and what children…

Among various possible pedagogical approaches which favor the integration of an environmental dimension into educational processes, gaming and simulation seem particularly suitable to environmental education. Environmental games and simulations reproduce in a simplified and didactical manner the complex nature of concrete environmental problems.…

The author explores the utility of educational games in elementary and secondary social studies classes. Separate sections of the paper discuss types of games, similarities among formal games and social studies topics, educational game design, and examples, advantages, and limitations of educational games. Game playing in society is described as…

This study investigated the development and evaluation of a computer-augmented science learning game model, through the implementation of a specific game derived from the game model. Formative evaluation strategies were synthesized from two existing evaluation procedures and were tested and applied to the learning resource under development. As a…

The game of Sprouts is explained, and some elementary graph theory notions and techniques of game analysis are introduced. (DT)

Papers read by three German educationalists at a workshop on "Education between Quality and Equity" are included in this document. The first, by Han Leo Reimann, is entitled "Simulated Reality: The Instructional Objectives within the Framework of Pedagogical Paper Plays." This paper describes a gaming method of simulating…

In an experiment conducted under classroom conditions with 8th grade students, the simulation game "Democracy" was shown to be effective at teaching that "log-rolling" is an acceptable part of the legislative process. Two aspects of the game--role identification and game structure--were shown to contribute independently to its effectiveness.…