Reflections on Serious Games

Abstract

This chapter comments on the contributions in this edited volume and identifi es some challenges for future research on serious games. The contributors used rigorous experimental methods to systematically assess the impact of many components of serious games on learning and motivation. The games are serious because there is alignment with relevant instructional content in educational curri- cula and there is an assessment of associated knowledge, skills, and strategies. The chapters report learning gains for the games compared to comparison conditions, as well as the added value of several game features, such as multimedia, realism, chal- lenge, adaptivity, feedback, interactivity, modeling, collaboration, competition, refl ection, fantasy, narrative, and so on. These features are highly correlated in most games so it is diffi cult to assign credit to particular features when they are imple- mented in conjunction with many other features. Additional challenges emerge when the games target deep learning of diffi cult material: (1) game features imposing extraneous cognitive load on working memory, (2) incompatibilities in the timing of feedback to optimize deep learning versus motivation, and (3) control struggles between the game agenda and students’ self-regulated learning. It is argued that researchers could be more involved in the building of games under the guidance of scientifi c principles even though there are diffi culties in the design process and in attempts to scale up researcher-designed serious games. The chapter ends with a quandary in assessing psychological constructs in serious games that are adaptive to the learner