Interactive technologies provide today's youth a low stakes sandbox to collect experiences (Gee, 2004) and try tasks and identities (Gee, 1991) that push the boundaries of "known" and open up the world of possibility. Pairing affordances of video games with the possible selves framework (Markus & Nurius, 1986), research involved…

Stroke is the main cause of long term disability worldwide. Of those surviving, more than half will fail to regain functional usage of their impaired upper limb. Typically stroke upper limb rehabilitation exercises consist of repeated movements, which when tracked can form the basis of inputs to games. This paper discusses two systems utilizing…

This work is about analyzing games as models of systems. The goal is to understand the techniques that have been used by game designers in the past, and to compare them to the study of mathematical game theory. Through the study of a system or concept a model often emerges that can effectively educate students about making intelligent decisions…

A changing mindset combined with changing technology is driving the use of games and simulations. People are becoming more open to using games and simulations for learning, and, at the same time, the technologies are making the development of games and simulations easier and faster than a mere five years ago. Together, the changing mindset and the…

The draw of simulations is that by replicating a simplified version of reality they can illustrate the repercussions that individual choices create. Students can play the role of a judge, an ambassador, or a parliamentarian and can experience first hand how their decisions play out. As a discipline, we assume that such practices are an improvement…

This issue of S&G is devoted to people--to the gamers who have made and are making the exciting discipline of simulation gaming possible. All disciplines that hope for a bright future must record their origins and development. This is particularity the case for a field as fuzzy and interdisciplinary as simulation/gaming. The symposium dedicated to…

Card tricks based on mathematical principles can be a great way to get students interested in exploring some important mathematical ideas. In this article, the author discusses a simple spreadsheet implementation that shows students why the card trick works and allows them to explore several variations. As an added bonus, students are introduced…

When kids play video games, they want to perfect their skills, advance to the next level, and become a master. It is the kind of focus that many teachers would love to see in their classrooms. From elementary through high school, computer games are being woven into the curriculum to engage students in new ways. However, many schools lack the…

This article is written as a tribute to R. Garry Shirts who through his exemplary authorship and publication of gamed simulations was designated "Defender of the Playful". Garry Shirts was the master of creating the "Aha! Moment" in learning through "deep play". Among the many gamed simulations he designed, the…

Playing mathematical games enables middle school students to engage their minds while discovering and using meaningful strategies. Blokus[R] is one such game. While playing, students exercise spatial awareness, analyze attributes of two-dimensional shapes, compare patterns, and use logic--all of which encompass NCTM's Content Standards. Students…

Simulation games have a long history in education and are well suited to learning about negotiation, power, relationships and uncertain outcomes. This paper reflects on the experience of using a semester-long simulation game to introduce postgraduate students to development policy. It focuses on three issues identified in the literature--realism,…

This work starts with a brief overview of education in developing countries, to contextualise the use of the guidelines. Although this document is intended to be a practical tool, it is necessary to include some theoretical analysis of the concept of online assessment. This is given in Sections 3 and 4, together with the identification and…

Operation ARIES! is an Intelligent Tutoring System that is designed to teach scientific methodology in a game-like atmosphere. A fundamental goal of this serious game is to engage students during learning through natural language tutorial conversations. A tight integration of cognition, discourse, motivation, and affect is desired to meet this…

Learning opportunities offered by digital games have become an important research topic in recent years. Language learning is one of the areas in which games could prosper but the question then is whether these should be specialized language-learning games or commercial off-the-shelf games for entertainment. The goal of this paper is to compare…

The present study reports the basic characteristics of a game-like application entitled "Playing with Words-PwW". PwW is a single-user application where a word must be guessed given an anagram of that word. Anagrams are presented from a predefined word list and users can repeatedly try to guess the word, from which the anagram is…