Game mechanics supporting pervasive learning and experience in games, serious games, and interactive & social media

Abstract

This workshop investigates the mechanisms for behaviour change and influence, focusing on the definition of requirements for pervasive gameplay and interaction mechanics, procedures, actions, mechanisms, systems, story, etc.) with the purpose of informing, educating, reflecting and raising awareness. By connecting various experts such as designers, educators, developers, evaluators and researchers from both industry and academia, this workshop aims to enable participants share, discuss and learn about existing relevant mechanisms for pervasive learning in a Serious Game (SG) context. Research in SG, as a whole, faces two main challenges in understanding: the transition between the instructional design and actual game design implementation [1] and documenting an evidence-based mapping of game design patterns onto relevant pedagogical patterns [2]. From a practical perspective, this transition lacks methodology and requires a leap of faith from a prospective customer to the ability of a SG developer to deliver a game that will achieve the desired learning outcomes. This workshop aims to present and apply a preliminary exposition though a purpose-processing methodology to probe, from various SG design aspects, how SG design patterns map with pedagogical practices.