Strong claims are made for the potential educational effectiveness of narrative-based adventure games, but evidence about how to construct effective educational games is needed (Clark, Yates, Early, & Moulton, 2010; O'Neil & Perez, 2008). College students played a computer-based narrative discovery learning game called Crystal Island (Spires et al., 2010), in which they learned about pathogens (in Experiment 1), or one called Cache 17 (Koenig, 2008), in which they learned how electromechanical devices work (in Experiment 2). In media comparison tests, participants who learned by playing the game performed worse than students who learned from a matched slideshow presentation on retention (d = 1.37), transfer (d = 0.57), and difficulty rating (d = 0.93) in Experiment 1 and on posttest score (d = 0.31) and learning time (d = 2.89) in Experiment 2. In value-added tests, taking away the narrative theme concerning a detective story in the Cache 17 game did not significantly affect students' posttest score (d = −0.16) or learning time (d = −0.22) in Experiment 2. Overall, these results provide no evidence that computer-based narrative games offer a superior venue for academic learning under short time spans of under 2 hr. Findings contradict the discovery hypothesis that students learn better when they do hands-on activities in engaging scenarios during learning and the narrative hypothesis that students learn better when games have a strong narrative theme, although there is no evidence concerning longer periods of game play.

Computer-based instructional simulations are becoming more and more ubiquitous, particularly in military and medical domains. As the technology that drives these simulations grows ever more sophisticated, the underlying pedagogical models for how instruction, assessment, and feedback are implemented within these systems must evolve accordingly. In this article, we review some of the existing educational approaches to medical simulations, and present pedagogical methodologies that have been used in the design and development of games and simulations at the University of California, Los Angeles, Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing. In particular, we present a methodology for how automated assessments of computer-based simulations can be implemented using ontologies and Bayesian networks, and discuss their advantages and design considerations for pedagogical use.

Introduction:The need for teamwork training is well documented; however, teaching these skills is challenging given the logistics of assembling individual team members together to train in person. We designed 2 modes of screen-based simulation for training teamwork skills to assess whether interactivity with nonplayer characters was necessary for in-game performance gains or for player satisfaction with the experience. Methods: Mixed, randomized, repeated measures study with licensed healthcare providers block-stratified and randomized to evaluation-participant observes and evaluates the team player in 3 scenarios-and game play-participant is immersed as the leader in the same 3 scenarios. Teamwork construct scores (leadership, communication, situation monitoring, mutual support) from an ontology-based, Bayesian network assessment model were analyzed using mixed randomized repeated measures analyses of variance to compare performance, across scenarios and modes. Learning was measured by pretest and posttest quiz scores. User experience was evaluated using χ 2 analyses. Results: Among 166 recruited and randomized participants, 120 enrolled in the study and 109 had complete data for analysis. Mean composite teamwork Bayesian network scores improved for successive scenarios in both modes, with evaluation scores statistically higher than game play for every teamwork construct and scenario (r = 0.73, P = 0.000). Quiz scores improved from pretest to posttest (P = 0.004), but differences between modes were not significant. Conclusions: For training teamwork skills using screen-based simulation, interactivity of the player with the nonplayer characters is not necessary for in-game performance gains or for player satisfaction with the experience.

The first part of this chapter explores how narrative can be used as a cognitive aid in educational video games. It discusses how narrative is currently used in games, and how that modality of presentation, when combined with instruction, is complimentary to the way we comprehend, store, and retrieve information. The second part of the chapter reviews the cognitive prerequisites needed in the minds of players to adequately attend to and leverage the instructional aspects of games. To this end, it offers suggestions for how to instill a functional game-schema in the minds of novice players so that they can be productive in the game environment. The focus on the interplay of narrative and game schema construction in this chapter is also meant to serve as a model for a holistic approach to games research in which a game’s cognitive prerequisites are explicitly studied alongside the more traditional pedagogical measures.

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