Rethinking science learning through digital games and simulations: Genres, examples, and evidence

Abstract

Science education in the classroom has traditionally focused on facts and rote learning. This is largely a legacy of behavioristic approaches to teaching and models of instruction that focus on the atomistic components and "building blocks" of a discipline rather than engaging students in the actual practices or processes of the discipline (i.e., harnessing those building blocks in service of a larger goal or purpose) with the assumption that these atomistic building blocks must be mastered before proceeding to overarching processes. Students in classrooms traditionally memorize equations and the names of chemicals and bones in the absence of using that knowledge to explore natural phenomena or engage in the processes of science. This view of science learning has been reinforced and entrenched by the behavioristic orientation of the assessments generally employed to assess students’ abilities and learning. These assessments have persisted due in part to the absence of other forms of assessment that match their economic and pragmatic ease of implementation