Serious Games/Simulation
Use in Online Courses
Jim Grenier
Mass Bay Community College
Peter Shea
Middlesex Community College
Session Description
This presentation/discussion will address such issues as

using games/sims in online courses for student engagement and
assessment,

customizing instruction with games/sims,

Identifying and overcoming obstacles/objections to integrating
games/sims in the curriculum
Presenters
Jim Grenier
Director of Online Education
Massachusetts Bay Community College
E-mail: [email protected]
Peter Shea
Director, Office of Professional Development
Middlesex Community College (Massachusetts)
E-mail: [email protected]
Why Should We Use Games & Sims?
“The idea of passively sitting back and
gathering around the radio or television simply
watch and listen to a show is becoming
increasingly foreign to today’s students.”
John D. Shank
What are simulations and serious
games?
simulation

A simulation is an “interactive
environment in which features in
the environment behave
similarly to real-word events.”
(Clark & Meyer, 2003).

“A serious game is a game in
which education (in its various
forms) is the primary goal,
rather than entertainment.”
(Chen, 2006)

They are both forms of
interactive learning media (ILM)
Serious game
Interactive Learning Media
(ILM)
Games and Simulations as Means of
Engaging Online Students

Gaming is a highly social activity. Organize
students into small groups – have them
play against one another and then discuss
their successes

“You can discover more about a person in
an hour of play than in a year of
conversation.” Plato
Simulations & Serious Games: Examples
Simulations

Fighting a Churchfire (Fire Science)
https://www.middlesex.mass.edu/RLOs/661/
Armstrong-churchfire.htm

Evil Landlady (Global Culture)
http://www.halfbakedsoftware.com/quandary
/version_2/examples/landlady.htm

Rhet Sims
(Composition)https://www.branchtrack.com
/projects/q163k0r2
Serious Games
• Free Rice (Vocabulary review)
http://freerice.com/
Spent (Sociology)
• http://playspent.org/html/
Using Simulations & Serious Games to
Assess Prior Knowledge

“We overestimate student knowledge and thus build new knowledge on a
shaky foundation.” (Ambrose et al., 2010)

Games & Simulations can be used to identify gaps in students’
knowledge

Students can engage in a simulation and game, then report out on their
mistakes while identifying the assumptions that led them into error
(metacognition)
How is Simulation or Game-based
Assessment Different from Traditional
Educational Assessment?
Learning Analytics Dashboard (LAD)
Simulation: “Simformer” (business)
Simformer offers a learning management system which provides both
an LAD for student players tracking the success of their virtual
businesses as a well as a LAD that provides instructors data on student
[Source: Simformer]
performance in the simulation.
Learning Analytics Dashboard (LAD)
Serious Game: “Agent Surefire” (Cybersecurity)
Screenshot of Agent Surefire game space
Screenshot of Agent Surefire Player LAD
[Source: Mavi Interactive]
[Source: You Tube]
Customizing Instruction with Games/Sims
DIY (Do It Yourself)
[Source: www.branchtrack.com]
[Source: www.twinery.org]
Customizing Instruction with Games/Sims
Find a Game or Sim
Nobel Prize Website – Displays several
games in different content areas.
http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/
PHet– Interactive Simulations for Science and
Math. https://phet.colorado.edu/
Obstacles to Integrating Games/Sims

Dominant educational paradigm is focused on information transfer.
(Highly centralized control).

Games/sims are a form of experiential learning. (Requires relinquishing
control).

Some students may not feel comfortable with new model of learning.
Some administrators may not “get” it either.
Solutions?

Slow but steady integration in online course. Experiment. Survey
students for their feedback.

Cite research literature for administrators. Emphasize your focus on both
increased engagement & quality assessment.

Form a community of practice with others.
Recommended Reading

Aldrich, C. (2009). The Complete Guide to Simulations & Serious Games: How the
Most Valuable Content Will Be Created in the Age Beyond Gutenberg to Google.
San Francisco, CA: Pfieffer

Kapp, K. (2012). The Gamification of Learning and Instruction: Game-based
Methods and Strategies for Training and Education. Pfieffer.

Loh, C., Shang, Y., & Ifenthaler, D. (Eds.). (2014). Serious Games Analytics:
Methodologies for Performance Measurement, Assessment, and Improvement.
Springer.

Mayer, R (2014). Computer-Based Games for Learning: An Evidence Based
Approach. Cambridge: MIT Press

Michael, D & Chen, S. (2006) Serious Games: Games that Educate, Train, and
Inform. Boston: Thomson
Quote of the day
“If great lecture is theatre,
the future of learning is
games.”
Anant Agarwhal – President, EdX
[Source: Inaugural Celebration Symposium: The Future of Education.
2012 MIT Alumni Leadership Conference
.http://storify.com/mitalc/2012-mit-alumni-leadership-conference]
www.oerinteractive.org