Teacher Candidate Responses to Digital Games: 21 81 -Century Skills Development JRTE I Vol. 42,No. 4, Researchers conducted a mixed-methods study with 21 undergraduate university students majoring in education to determine their ability to recognize the motivational factors and 21st-century learning skills associated with digital games. Results suggest that students in the study were able to detect the learning skills embedded in games. The majority of participants stated that the element of motivation was important, but motivation alone was not a sufficient reason to influence them to use digital-game-based instruction in their future classrooms. However, peer modeling and the positive responses received from middle/high school students to whom candidates taught games appeared to be factors in teacher candidates' decision to use digital games in the classroom. (

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This paper describes undergraduate students' learning after researching environmental topics and co-creating and disseminating environmental justice games to fulfill their course and university service-learning requirements. Post-play reflections revealed motivation toward improvement in providing a game format that audiences would find engaging while learning about the seriousness of the environmental topic. Further, evidence of students' critical thinking, reflecting on the lack of environmental justice was noted. Students remarked that disseminating information by "spreading the word" is a key to raising awareness about environmental injustices. Essays also revealed students' intrigue with the game's co-creation process and enjoyed playing games with others. These findings may benefit researchers and educators interested in game creation as critical pedagogy.

Gaming has become a core activity with children and more teachers are using games for teaching content than they did five years ago. Yet, teachers report that they learn about game titles, impact studies, and facilitation techniques through their own initiatives or from other teachers rather than from their teacher education program. This chapter reports on a combined curricular strategy built on game strategy research that asked teacher candidates (n= 125) to discuss news headlines about games, play educational games, review games, and game research, teach others how to play educational games, and construct games. Findings reveal that candidates saw value in using games in K-12 to teach content, were able to develop assessments based on game content at a novice level, and were able to construct games either alone or in small groups. Educators contemplating gaming as an instructional strategy may be interested in the espoused combination strategy to encourage game adoption in K-12 settings.

Gaming has become a core activity with children and more teachers are using games for teaching content than they did five years ago. Yet, teachers report that they learn about game titles, impact studies, and facilitation techniques through their own initiatives or from other teachers rather than from their teacher education program. This chapter reports on a combined curricular strategy built on game strategy research that asked teacher candidates (n= 125) to discuss news headlines about games, play educational games, review games, and game research, teach others how to play educational games, and construct games. Findings reveal that candidates saw value in using games in K-12 to teach content, were able to develop assessments based on game content at a novice level, and were able to construct games either alone or in small groups. Educators contemplating gaming as an instructional strategy may be interested in the espoused combination strategy to encourage game adoption in K-12 settings.