The periodic table of elements via an XNA-powered serious game

Abstract

This publication concentrates on the production of a serious game on Microsoft's XNA Studio, which illustrates both the potential of a cost-efficient, off-the-shelf development platform itself for programmers of a medium skillset (such as for example educators) but also the possibilities of designing to completion a fully functional game that can be used as part of secondary education chemistry curriculums in order to teach the important topic of the periodic table of elements. Additionally, a 15-subject pilot evaluation study of the game (titled Elemental) is included, which displays initial evidence that there can be educational benefits for the experiment participants exposed to the work. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.