A multidisciplinary approach to designing immersive gameplay elements for learning standard-based educational content

Abstract

Immersive, educational games may increase engagement and offer new affordances in assessment. Many aspects of instruction may be amenable to gameplay - but the degree of success often depends on student (and instructor) engagement. Commercial games tend to have vibrant engagement from school-aged children, but when transformed for instructional purposes, often break critical immersive gameplay elements or the established protocols of instruction. Moreover, educational game design is limited by the relevance these games have toward existing content standards and the degree to which core gameplay remains intact when educational elements are added. To this end, we present a methodology, called DeCoAD - Decomposition, Connection, and Activity Design, for learning scientists and game developers to design and evaluate immersive game mechanics for specific content standards. The three phases of the methodology guide collaborators in (1) decomposing a learning standard and an existing commercial video game into their basic elements, and (2) identifying the game's potential capabilities to facilitate learning opportunities related to the learning standard. Furthermore, we provide examples from our ongoing experience in creating educational game mechanics for Minecraft, with evaluation from an advisory panel of critical stakeholders.