Serious games for information literacy: a scoping review and design recommendations

Abstract

Purpose: This paper provides an overview of the literature on digital games designed or adapted for information literacy instruction, as well as practical design recommendations.Design/methodology/approach: The paper presents an analysis of a compiled set of peerreviewed articles on games in the provision of information literacy instruction published between 2013-2018, categorized by game mechanics utilized.Findings: Application of the inclusion criteria led to 12 papers considered relevant. Synthesis of the papers suggests that although studies indicate positive outcomes for information literacy games, such games continue to rely on transcription of declarative tasks to digital environments.Originality/value: While previous literature reviews provide summaries on information literacy digital games, this paper not only presents an up-to-date review but also provides step-by-step instructions and worked examples for aligning information literacy learning mechanics with game mechanics.

Analysis of Digital Games Related to Mathematics Education with Deconstructing

“…What is important is that there is an interaction between the two mechanics (Arnab et al, 2015). Otherwise, as observed in Goddess of Math, the game mechanics and education mechanics are two different concepts and independent from each other (Urban, 2019). In terms of education, another important aspect of digital games is that they have mechanics such as reward-punishment and scoring.…”

“…As mentioned before, the two games, namely "Rookie Math Pro, A Percent of a Pirate", are different games with the most mechanical types. As can be understood, if we want to design a digital game for conceptual teaching, we should attach importance to game and learning mechanics (Arnab et al, 2015), try to ensure that they interact with each other (Urban, 2019) and try to provide an authentic learning environment that is embedded in the context of the game concept (Ke, 2019). However, if we do not have a very large budget and staff, the most logical thing to do is to focus on only one concept and not to make a very comprehensive game.…”

“…Therefore, the mechanics of the designed games should be chosen very well and should be designed in an integrated way with education. High-level thinking skills such as analysis, synthesis and evaluation, which are especially necessary for mathematics education, can only be realized with certain mechanics that provide users with freedom to use (Urban, 2019).…”

Applying social media to environmental education: is it more impactful than traditional media?

“…As a consequence, we suggest that for future studies in the same vein, more diversified participants could be recruited and researchers can analyse the data based on different demographic variables. Finally, we suggest that future research can focus on evaluating what kind of strategy can increase online discussions over environmentalism most efficiently such as virtual communities (Deng et al , 2019), multimedia resources (Lam et al , 2019) and games (Urban, 2019). On the other hand, we are interested in the use of social media for disaster and health alert notification and preparedness education (Chiu et al , 2010).…”

Narrative immersion for information literacy: A pilot study

“…However, sometimes teachers must craft opportunities for students to practice finding, using, and evaluating information. Researchers have used a variety of tactics, including alternate reality scenarios and video games (Bonsignore, Hansen, Kraus, & Ruppel, 2013; Urban, 2019). As such, researchers and practitioners alike may benefit from understanding the motivational affordances of narrative itself before investing time and money in developing interactive media to teach inquiry skills.…”