Topic outline

•  
   

  Serious Games and Simulations: Theories and Applications
  
  

  Prof. Dr. Kürşat Çağıltay Thursday 13:40-16:30 CEIT Seminar Room TA: Kadir Yücel KAYA Contact: 312 210 7519

  • News forum
  • Syllabus File
  • Please Read - Submitting your reflections Page
  • Guidelines for Reflective Journals File
  • APA Academic Writing Guide File
  • Digiplay in Endnote Format File
  • Serious Games Classification URL
  • Final Assignment
  • Plagiarism Test URL
  • MIT - Games to teach Folder
  • Educational Game Examples File
• 1
  
  

  Pre-week: Critical Reading and Writing

  Reflection Question(s)

  1- At the end of page 418, Khoo (2012) stated :
  "...video games can also be equally good teachers of prosocial behaviours, and
  as such, they do have a role in character education and in promoting moral values. These arguments are based on the premise that the transfer of learning from the virtual game environment to the real world is possible."
  
  Based on this statement, critique the article (max 1 page).
  (please use the techniques from Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum book)

  2- Write 3 questions/comments you want to discuss in the class (20 pts)

  • Readings

  • Behrens, L. & Rosen, L. J. (2010). Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum (CH1-2). NY: Longman. File
  • Behrens, L. & Rosen, L. J. (2010). Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum (CH3-4). NY: Longman. File
  • Behrens, L. & Rosen, L. J. (2010). Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum (CH5). NY: Longman. File
  • Khoo, A. (2012). Video games as moral educators? Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 32(4), 416-429. File
  • Pre-week Assignment Upload

  
  
• 2
  
  
  History of the Games
  
  Reflection Question(s)
  
  1 - Please read the related papers/watch the video and prepare a timeline of computer games. In this timeline, plase state the period, available technologies, names of the games and critical issues. Among those critical issues, pick one of them (whichever you find interesting one) and write your thoughts about it in more details.
  

  2- Write 3 questions/comments you want to discuss in the class (20 pts)

  • 
    Readings
    
    
  • Rabin, S. (2010). A Brief History of Video Games. Introduction to Game Development. Charles River Media Inc. File
  • Yilmaz, E., Cagiltay, K. (2005). History Of Digital Games in Turkey. Authors & Digital Games Research association DIGRA. File
  • Duke, R. (1974). Gaming: The Future's Language. SAGE Publications. (Skim Through) File
  • Trends in Video Games and Gaming (2011), ITU-T Technology Watch Report. File
  • Simulations and Games Overwiew Map (GIF format) File
  • The Video Game Revolution (Video) URL
  • Reflection 1 Assignment

  
  
• 3
  
  

  Philosophy of the Games

  Reflection Question(s)

  1- What are the similarities and differences of both authors (Huizinga and Roger Caillois)? Do they agree with each other or not? Why?
  2- According to your view, what are missing in both authors views?
  3 - Do these two views of game&play cover today high tech computer games? If yes, Why? If not, why and how can we modify the view?
  4 -Write 3 questions/comments you want to discuss in the class (20 pts)
  
  
  

  • Readings
    
    
  • Huizinga, J. (1955). Homo Ludens A Study of the Play-Element in Culture. Beacon Press. Boston, USA - Chapter 1 (Eng) File
  • Huizinga, J. (1955). Homo Ludens A Study of the Play-Element in Culture. Beacon Press. Boston, USA Chapter 1 (Tr) File
  • Huizinga, J. (1955). Homo Ludens A Study of the Play-Element in Culture. Beacon Press. Boston, USA Chapter 12 (Eng) File
  • Huizinga, J. (1955). Homo Ludens A Study of the Play-Element in Culture. Beacon Press. Boston, USA Chapter 12 (Tr) File
  • Caillois, R. (1958). Les, jeux et les hommes (Man, play, and games). Librairie Gallimard, Paris. Chapter1 File
  • Caillois, R. (1958). Les, jeux et les hommes (Man, play, and games). Librairie Gallimard, Paris. Chapter 2 File
  • And, M. (2003). Oyun ve Bügü. İstanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları. File
  • Reflection 2 Upload Assignment
  • 
    Optional
  • Jarvinen, A. (2007): Games without Frontiers, Theories and Methods for Game Studies and Design. PhD Thesis, University of Tampere, Finland. File
  • Djaouti, D., Alvarez, J., Jessel, J.P., Methel, G. & Molinier, P. (2008). A Gameplay Definition through Videogame Classification, International Journal of Computer Games Technology, Vol. 2008, Article ID 470350 File
  • Elverdam, C. & Aarseth, E. (2007). Game Classification and Game Design: Construction Through Critical Analysis, Games and Culture, 2(1), 3-22 File
  • Juul, J. (2003). The Game, the Player, the World: Looking for a Heart of Gameness, Keynote presented at the Level Up conference in Utrecht, November 4th-6th 2003, reveived on September 2010, from http://www.jesperjuul.net/text/gameplayerworld/ File

  
  
• 4
  
  

  Psychology in the Games (Flow and motivation)

  Reflection Question(s)

  1- How do Flow theory and Malone motivation theory match? What is the relationship between them? Is one of them subset of the other?
  2- Pick any game (computer game or non-computer game) and analyze it according to the Flow theory and Malone motivation theory.
  

  3- Write 3 questions/comments you want to discuss in the class (20 pts)

  
  

  • Readings
    
    
  • Csikszentmihalyi, M (1990). Flow : The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Harper Perennial, London. Flow Chapter 2 File
  • Malone, T. & Lepper (1987). Making Learning Fun: A Taxonomy of Intrinsic Motivations for Learning. In Snow, R. & Farr, M. J. (Ed), Aptitude, Learning, and Instruction Volume 3: Conative and Affective Process Analyses. Hillsdale, NJ File
  • Falstein, N. (2005). Understanding fun-the theory of natural funativity. In Rabin, S. (Ed), Introduction to Game Development File
  • Chen, J. (2007). Flow in Games (and Everything Else). Communications of the ACM. 50(4), 31-34. File
  • Weber, R., R. Tamborini, et al. (2009). "Theorizing Flow and Media Enjoyment as Cognitive Synchronization of Attentional and Reward Networks." Communication Theory 19(4): 397-422. File
  • TED Presentation :Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi on flow Page
  • 
    Optional
  • Thomas Malone - What makes things fun to learn File
  • Reflection 3 Upload Assignment

  
  
• 5
  
  

  Player aggression, violence (emotional connections)

  Reflection Question(s)

  1 - Based on the readings, what is your position regarding the violance in computer games? Please state it in academic tone.
  2 - Let we assume that a parent or an educator you are totally side with the statement "The positive association between video games and aggressive personality is consistent with a developmental model in which extensive exposure to violent video games (and other violent media) contributes to the creation of an aggressive personality". You also think that banning can never be the solution; so what methods or strategies do you apply to pull the violent game play time (or any other violent media) to minimum and to eliminate the effects as parents, educators or society.

  3- Imagine, you are a computer teacher in Namık Kemal Primary School. You have some students who bully others and use violence against peers. You read Cunningham & Engelstätter’s (2011) article and they state that “violent video games lead to decreases in violent crime” (p. 1) and decided to make them play the game “Prototype”. What would you expect in students’ behaviors in terms of a change in their tendency to use violence?
  

  4 - Write 3 questions/comments you want to discuss in the class (20 pts)

  • Readings
    
    
  • Mandatory Readings
    
    
  • Carnagey, N. L. & Anderson, C. A. (2004). Violent video game exposure and aggression. Minerva Psichiatr.(45), p. 1-18. File
  • Cunningham, A.S. & Engelstätter, B. & Ward, M. R. (2011). Understanding the Effects of Violent Video Games on Violent Crime File
  • ESA (2012). Essential Facts about Games and Violence File
  • Goldstein, J. (2000). Effects of electronic games on children. Electronic Games. p.1-16 File
  • Griffiths, M. (1999). Violent video games and aggression: A review of literature. Aggression and Violent Behavior, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp 203-212. File
  • Grodal, T. (2000). Video Games and the Pleasure of Control. in: D. Zillmann & P.Vorderer, (Eds.). Media entertainment: The psychology of its appeal (pp 197-213). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. File
  • Weber, R., Ritterfield, U. & Kostgina, A. (2006) Aggression and Violence as Effects of Playing Violent Video Games? In P. Vorderer & J. Bryant (Eds.), Playing Video Games: motives, responses and consequences (pp. 347-361). Mahwah, NJ File
  • Willoughby, T., Adachi, P. J. C., & Good, M. (2011). A Longitudinal Study of the Association Between Violent Video Game Play and Aggression Among Adolescents. Developmental Psychology. DOI: 10.1037/a0026046 File
  • 
    Optional Readings
    
    
  • Anderson, C.A., & Dill, K.E. (2000). Video games and aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behavior in the laboratory and in life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 772-790. File
  • Wingrove, J., & Bond, A. J. (1998). Angry reactions to failure on acooperative computer game: The effect of trait hostility, behavioural inhibition, and behavioural activation. Aggressive Behavior, 24, 27–36. File
  • Bensley, L., & Van Eenwyk, J. (2001). Video games and real-life aggression: Review of the literature. Journal of Adolescent Health, 29, 244-257. File
  • Colwell, J. & Payne, J. (2000) Negative correlates of computer game play in adolescents. British Journal of Psychology, 91, 295–310 File
  • Lynch, P. J., Gentile, D. A., Olson, A. A., & van Brederode, T. M. (2001). The effects of violent video game habits on adolescent aggressive attitudes and behaviors. File
  • Sherry, J. (2001). The effects of violent video games on aggression: A meta-analysis. Human Communication Research, 27, 409–431. File
  • Mathiak, K. and Weber, R. (2006), Toward brain correlates of natural behavior: fMRI during violent video games. Human Brain Mapping, 27: 948 File
  • Weber, R., Ritterfeld, U. & Mathiak, K. (2006). Does Playing Violent Video Games Induce Aggression? Empirical Evidence of a Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study. Media Psychology, 8(1), 39-60. File
  • Reflection 4 Upload Assignment

  
  
• 6
  
  

  Diversity in Game Culture (Age, gender, identity and culture issues in the games)

  Reflection Question(s)

  1 - One game developer states " I have more left handed players than I have female players and I don't make games for left-handed people. Why should I make games for you" If there is no sufficient demand from girls, what could be the reason (less able to use technology, cultural effects, etc.) What needs to be done to eliminate the gap between boys and girls? Or should industry just ignore girls?

  2 - Why there is (almost) no computer game for elderly? Should there be?

  
  3- a)Since gamers share a common connection, that being the love of gaming,is it possible for them to regard the racist theme of the game?

  b) If children play the game for a long time, does it cause for caucasians feel themselves superior over others?"

  4 - Write 3 questions/comments you want to discuss in the class (20 pts)

  • Readings
    
    
  • ESA 2010 Report File
  • Williams, D., Martins, N., Consalvo, M., Ivory, J., 2009. The virtual census: Representations of gender, race and age in video games. New Media & Society 11 (5), 815-834 File
  • Weisman, S. (1983). Computer games for the frail elderly, Gerontologist, vol. 23 (4), 361 63 File
  • Noble, R. , Ruiz, K., Destefano, M., and Mintz, J. (2003). Conditions of Engagement in Game Simulation: Contexts of Gender, Culture and Age, Level Up: Digital Games Research Conference. In Marinka C. & Joost R. (Eds) DIGRA: Utrecht University, 2003. File
  • Subrahmanyam K. & Greenfield, P.M. 1998. Computer games for girls: What makes them play? In Cassell, J. & Jenkins, (Ed.), From Barbie to Mortal Combat: Gender and Computer Games. File
  • Reflection 5 Upload Assignment

  
  
• 7
  
  

  Social Interaction and Online communities in Games and Virtual Environments (Social presence, online communication, learning communities)
  
  Reflection Questions
  

  1. How do you associate the Flow and Motivation theories creating social interactions which enhance players' motivations to play the online games?

  2. What is the impact of transferring our social networks and communities into virtual spaces (especially online games)?

  3. having been experienced in this game, do you believe that social interaction games make any contribution to social and intellectual development of people?

  4. Write 3 questions/comments you want to discuss in the class (20 pts)

  • Readings
    
    
  • Cole, H. & Griffiths, M. (2007) Social Interactions in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Gamers, Cyberpsychology & Behavior, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 575 583. File
  • Manninen T. (2000) Interaction in Networked Virtual Environments as Communicative Action - Social Theory and Multi-player Games. In proceedings of CRIWG2000 Workshop, October 18-20, Madeira, Portugal, IEEE Computer Society Press File
  • Tamborini, R., & Skalski, P. (2006). The role of presence in the experience of electronic games. In P. Vorderer & J. Bryant (Eds.), Playing video games: Motives, responses, and consequences (pp. 225 40). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates File
  • Axelsson, A.-S., & Regan, T. (2002). How Belonging to an Online Group Affects Social Behavior - a Case Study of Asheron's Call. Redmond, Washington: Microsoft Research. File
  • TED Presentation:Jane McGonigal: Gaming can make a better world Page
  • Reflection 6 Upload Assignment

  
  
• 8
  
  

  Learning in Games and virtual environments (Commercial games, simulations, serious games and virtual environments)
  
  

  Reflection Question(s)

  1 - Generally it is stated that "Learning that is fun appears to be more effective". What other components are required for more effective learning in order to promote fun? Sometimes fun is much more dominant than the learning goals in such fun computer games as educational tools. So, what is to be done to prevent the deviation of the goals of an educational tool?

  2 - It is a common argument that "many computer-delivered games have not been developed by instructional designers (educators). Instead, various other groups have developed many of these products. If there exists a lack in instructional part of games, how can we overcome this problem?

  3- Do you think that Dimenxian is a good game in terms of learning principles which are emphasized by Gee that good games have? What are your perceptions on the advantages/disadvantages of the Dimenxian to be used in the classroom?

  4 - Write 3 questions/comments you want to discuss in the class (20 pts)

  • Readings
    
    
  • Mandatory Readings
    
    
  • Becker, K. (2006). Pedagogy in Commercial Video Games. In D. Gibson, C. Aldrich & M. Prensky (Eds.), Games and Simulations in Online Learning: Research and Development Frameworks: dea Group Inc File
  • Gee, J. P. (2005). Good video games and good learning. Phi Kappa Phi Forum. 2005;85(2), 33. File
  • Lieberman, D. A. (2006). What can we learn from playing interactive games? In P. Vorderer & J. Bryant (Eds.), Playing video games motives, responses, and consequences (pp. 379 397). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc File
  • Ritterfeld, U. & Weber, R. (2006). Video Games for Entertainment and Education. In P. Vorderer & J. Bryant (Eds.), Playing Video Games-Motives, Responses, and Consequences (pp. 399-413). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, Inc. File
  • Daphne Bavelier: Your brain on video games URL
  • 
    Optional Readings
    
    
  • Pablo Moreno-Ger, Daniel Burgos, Javier Torrente: Digital games in e-Learning environments: current uses and emerging trends. Simulation & Gaming 40 (5), pp. 669-687. File
  • Upload Reflection 7 Assignment
  • Term Paper Proposal Assignment

  
  
• 9
  
  

  Design Issues of the Games (Basic game elements, narration, storytelling, scenario development, game genre selection)
  
  

  Reflection Question(s)

  1 - Is game design an arthistic or technical process?

  2 - Designing a dental game:

  Design to educate people (children and adults) on major dental operations like fillings, filling removal, filtration, removal of stains and tooth discoloration. Another goal is to help patients avoid dentist fear.

  Your design document should be associated with the "Level Design" and "Game Design" articles. For your answer, you may use a table structure as shown below:

  Name of Game
  Story
  Distribution Media
  Price
  Platform
  Game play
  Development Team
  Target Audience
  Level design
  You can add more components...

  3 - "Please study the demo levels of the game World of Goo, and comment on the
  design of it considering the factors such as the architecture of the game;
  its mood, style and its sound effects and graphics. Please consider the way
  you experience these factors. "

  4 - As always, 3 question...

  
  

  • Readings
    
    
  • Mandatory Readings
    
    
  • Barry, I. (2005). Game Design. In Rabin, S. (Eds). Introduction to Game Development (pp. 99-160). Hingham, MA: Charles Rive Media, Inc File
  • Adams, E. (2010). Fundamentals of Game Design (2nd Ed). New Riders: Berkeley, CA. Chapter 12 - General Principles of Level Design File
  • Gunder, A. (2003). As if by magic: On Harry Potter as a novel and a computer game. In M. Copier & J. Raessens (Eds): Level up: Digital games research conference. Utrecht: Utrecht University. File
  • Bopp, M. M. (2008). Storytelling and Motivation In Serious Games, File
  • 
    Optional Readings
    
    
  • Dondlinger, M. J. (2007). Educational video game design: A review of the liter- ature [Electronic Version]. Journal of Applied Educational Technology, 4, 21-31 File
  • Reflection 8 Upload Assignment
  • Design Documents of Commercial Games Folder

  
  
• 10
  
  

  Design Issues of the Games (Game design methodologies, participatory game design, Art of the games, game aesthetic, visual elements, musical components)
  
  

  Reflection Question(s)

  1 - Do we have to involve mature players into game design process? Isn't it waste of time? If yes, how and in which level?

  2 - It is argued that young children cannot reflect on what they like, you can only understand whether they liked it or not by observing them while playing with the final product. So, do we have to get their ideas/feedback during the early stages of game design process?

  3 -Playing the Game 99 Bricks (http://fizikoyun.com/99-bricks/) The legend of Garry, how would you evaluate it in terms of game design methodologies, participatory game design, game aesthetic, visual elements and musical components ?

  4- 3 questions/discussion issues...

  • Readings
    
    
  • Pagulayan, R. J., Keeker, K., Wixon, D., Romero, R. L., & Fuller, T. (2003). User-centered design in games. File
  • Kaplan Akilli, G. & Cagiltay, K. (2006). An Instructional Design/Development Model for the Creation of Game-like Learning Environments File
  • Scaife, M. and Rogers, Y. (1999). Kids as informants: Telling us what we didn’t know or confirming what we knew already, in A. Druin (Ed.), The design of children's technology (pp.29-50).Morgan Kaufmann, San Francisco, CA File
  • Upload Reflection 9 Assignment

  
  
• This topic11
  
  

  Usability Evaluation of the Games (Human Game Interaction, Usability, playability, heuristic evaluation of play, computer game criticism, game play analysis)
  
  

  Reflection Question(s)

  1 - Please have two participants play the “Bejeweled” game on the eye tracker, and also examine the game using the "Play Heuristics" given in Desurvire and Wiberg's article as a guideline. How would you compare and contrast usability evaluation of the game regarding the two different methods?
  

  2- Write 3 questions and discussion issues

  • Desurvire, H. and Wiberg, C. (2009). Game usability heuristics (play) for evaluating and designing better games: The next iteration. In Ozok, A.A. & Zaphiris, P. (Eds.): Online Communities and Social Computin File
  • Federoff, M.A. (2002). Heuristics and Usability Guidelines for the Creation and Evaluation of Fun in Video Games. MS Thesis, Department of Telecommunications, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA, 2002 File
  • Laitinen, S. (2005, Jun 6). Better Games Through Usability Evaluation and Testing. retrieved from File
  • Cornett S. (2004). The Usability of Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying games: Designing for New Users. Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems, 6(1), pp 703-710 File
  • Jørgensen, A.H. (2004). Marrying HCI/Usability and Computer Games: A Preliminary Look. In Proceedings of NordiCHI. pp. 393-396. File
  • Upload Reflection 10 Assignment

  
  
• 12
  
  
  Games and ethical issues
  
  

  Reflection Question(s)

  1 - What does ethic mean for computer games? Since a game is an artificial thing can we talk about ethics?
  
  2 - What are the ethical issues from the perspectives of developers and players? Some game developers state that they just develop the game, ethics is not business of them, players have decide on it. Agree disagree? Whose job is ethics, developer, player, government, or ? Please exemplify your ideas.
  
  3 - 3 Questions/Discussion issues
  
  
  

  • Sicart, M. (2009). the Ethics of Computer Games, MIT Press:Cambridge, MA (Chapter 2) File
  • Sicart, M. (2009). the Ethics of Computer Games, MIT Press:Cambridge, MA (Chapter 4) File
  • Zagal, J. P. (2009). Ethically Notable Videogames: Moral Dilemmas and Gameplay, Proceedings of Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA), retrieved on April, 20 2010 from File
  • Upload Reflection 11 Assignment

  
  
• 13
  
  
  Trends and issues in educational game and simulations research (trends in conferences, journal papers, meta analyses)
  
  For this week you will find the readings...
  
  

  Reflection Question(s)

  1 - What is the future of computer games? Take a look at this issue from the SOCIO-TECHNICAL point of view. Make a literature review, determine 2-3 articles or research reports regarding this issue and reflect your ideas based on your findings.

  
  

  2 - Write 3 questions/comments you want to discuss in the class (20 pts)

  
  

  • Upload Reflection 12 Assignment