Schools appear to be facing a crisis of engaging secondary students in meaningful learning. Many are recognizing that the learning principles embodied in computer and video games reflect the best theories of cognition, yet are underutilized as an educational resource. This article suggests an alternative model for game-based learning outside of…

Our pig game involves a series of tosses of a die with the possibility of a player's score improving with each additional toss. With each additional toss, however, there is also the chance of losing the entire score accumulated so far. Two different strategies for deciding how many tosses a player should attempt are developed and then compared in…

This is a narrative article, highlighting effective teaching strategies for teacher candidates at a four-year university in the South. The author examined preconceived negative notions teacher candidates expressed about being enrolled in a Math Block class and having to teach children about mathematics. After involving the teacher candidates in a…

The purpose of this study was to create a valid and reliable instrument to measure teacher perceived barriers to the adoption of games and simulations in instruction. Previous research, interviews with educators, a focus group, an expert review, and a think aloud protocol were used to design a survey instrument. After finalization, the survey was…

Traditional experimental paradigms have focused on executing experiments in a lab setting and eventually moving successful findings to larger experiments in the field. However, data from field experiments can also be used to inform new lab experiments. Now, with the advent of large student populations using internet-based learning software, online…

Contemporary curriculum guidelines, such as those provided in the incoming Australian curriculum, call for English to attend to multimodal forms of text and literacy as well as more traditional forms. Students are expected to become capable and critical readers, users and creators of texts and forms of literacy that span everything from newspapers…

Natural language processing (NLP) is a field of computer science and linguistics devoted to creating computer systems that use human (natural) language as input and/or output. The authors propose that NLP can also be used for game studies research. In this article, the authors provide an overview of NLP and describe some research possibilities…

Background: Previous research has revealed the existence of gender differences in physical education. Most descriptive studies show that boys are more physically active than girls, have greater self-perception of enjoyment and competence in physical education, attach more importance to sports and participation in them and demonstrate higher game…

Although the challenges around participation in online gaming grow, gamers and their partners who experience online relationship issues related to gaming, present a new set of treatment challenges for therapists. In this article, we report on the findings of a hermeneutic research study aimed at evaluating the scholarly literature related to…

The combined impact of social class, cultural background and experience upon early literacy achievement in the first year of schooling is among the most durable questions in educational research. Links have been established between social class and achievement but literacy involves complex social and cognitive practices that are not necessarily…

Multiplayer online games form complex semiotic ecologies that include game-generated texts, player-to-player communication and collaboration, and associated websites that support in-game play. This article describes an exploratory study of the massively multiplayer online game (MMO) "World of Warcraft" ("WoW"), with specific…

What are the affordances of online gaming environments for second language learning and socialization? To answer this question, this qualitative study examines two college-age Spanish learners' experiences participating in the Spanish language version of the massively multi-player online game "World of Warcraft." Using data culled from participant…

The five characteristics that influence new product rate of adoption are routinely covered in the Principles of Marketing course. Any particular marketing concept such as relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, divisibility, and communicability may not capture interest or engagement among students who take the course as a graduation…

A problem-posing system is developed with four phases including posing problem, planning, solving problem, and looking back, in which the "solving problem" phase is implemented by game-scenarios. The system supports elementary students in the process of problem-posing, allowing them to fully engage in mathematical activities. In total, 92 fifth…

Objective: Compare feedback strategies in 3 versions of an educational game. Participants: Study abroad students (N = 482) participated by playing the game and completing pregame/postgame surveys January-March 2010. Methods: This study employed an experimental design. Primary outcome measures were knowledge gain, player satisfaction, and risk…