Sigmund Tobias came to the United States in 1948, after his family had fled to China from the Holocaust in Europe. His Memoir ("Strange Haven: A Jewish Childhood in Wartime Shanghai") describes that part of his life. He settled in New York, where he completed his B.A. and M.S. in School Psychology from the City College of New York, and a…

In the first piece in this series ("Teaching for Engagement: Part 1: Constructivist Principles, Case-Based Teaching, and Active Learning"), William Hunter sought to make the case that a wide range of teaching methods (e.g., case-based teaching, problem-based learning, anchored instruction) that share an intellectual grounding in…

Computer-assisted learning is known to be an effective tool for improving learning in both adults and children. Recent years have seen the emergence of the so-called "serious games (SGs)" that are flooding the educational games market. In this paper, the term "serious games" is used to refer to video games (VGs) intended to serve a useful purpose.…

This response to Rachel Muehrer, Jennifer Jenson, Jeremy Friedberg and Nicole Husain's paper, "Challenges and opportunities: Using a science-based video game in secondary school settings," explores the issues encountered while a science-based video game is introduced in secondary school settings. It highlights the importance of the context, the…

Educational Badges are touted as an alternative assessment that can increase learner motivation. We considered two distinct models for educational badges; merit badges and videogame achievements. To begin unpacking the relationship between badges and motivation, we conducted a study using badges within an intelligent-tutor system for teaching…

In this paper, the collaborative development, instantiation, expansion and re-representation as research instrument of the Game Object Model (GOM) are explored from a Cultural Historical Activity Theory perspective. The aim of the paper is to develop insights into the design, integration, evaluation and use of video games in learning and teaching.…

The progress registered in the use of video games as educational tools has not yet been successfully transferred to the classroom. In an attempt to close this gap, a framework was developed that assists in the design and classroom integration of educational games. The framework addresses both the educational dimension and the ludic dimension. The…

An achievement gap between Anglo and Mexican American students is profound in many school districts. The lack of academic vocabulary that many Mexican American students possess is a major constituent that contributes to this educational gap. Conversely, children who enter school with limited vocabulary find reading, difficult, resist reading,…

Researchers and instructional designers are exploring the possibilities of using video games to support STEM education in the U.S., not only because they are a popular media form among youth, but also because well-designed games often leverage the best features of inquiry learning. Those interested in using games in an educational capacity may…

It is argued that against the background of a neo-managerial and market-driven global education system, the production and use of technology to support teaching and learning perpetuates hegemonic behaviorist values. Activity theory, as a lens, is used to explore the power relations that are integral to the development and use of Reusable Learning…

This Forum paper explores how Matthew Gaydos and Kurt Squire in their manuscript, "CITIZEN SCIENCE: Role Playing Games for Scientific Citizenship," represent issues of games literacy and science literacy. What is the meaning of expertise in the context of games-based learning? An examination of the studies presented suggests that games, like other…

Human factors (HF) is a discipline often drawn upon when there is a need to train people to perform complex, high-stakes tasks and effectively assess their performance. Complex tasks often present unique challenges for training and assessment. HF has developed specialized techniques that have been effective in overcoming several of these…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is a difference between an exergame-based and a traditional balance training program, in undergraduate Physical Education students. Thirty two third-year undergraduate students at the Democritus University of Thrace were randomly divided into two training program groups of 16 students each,…

Multiuser immersive learning scenarios hold strong potential for lifelong learning as they can support the acquisition of higher order skills in an effective, efficient, and attractive way. Existing virtual worlds, game development platforms, and game engines only partly cater for the proliferation of such learning scenarios as they are often…

The serious games community is moving toward research focusing on direct comparisons between learning outcomes of serious games and those of more traditional training methods. Such comparisons are difficult, however, due to the lack of a consistent taxonomy of game attributes for serious games. Without a clear understanding of what truly…