Author: Emily Vialls
Artist: Shangyu Chen
Editor: Altay Shaw
Imagine a world where learning about the intricacies of life science is exciting: no more dull lectures, or dry textbooks. Instead, you enter a virtual world where you get to experience the rush of exploration as you uncover the secrets of biology. Welcome to the future of education, where gaming is revolutionising the way we learn about life science. While this may seem unrealistic, perhaps even unachievable, research suggests that virtual games have untapped potential – some of which is already beginning to be tested and harnessed in educational settings.
But how effective are they?
A key goal of science education is training students to be scientifically literate – in simple terms, the ability to understand, experiment, reason, unify concepts with facts, and interpret their meaning. Being scientifically literate equips one to tackle the challenges of an information economy. If used effectively, gaming could be a powerful tool for developing key scientific skills. Such skills can support the underpinning elements of scientific literacy: information processing skills, an understanding of the nature of science, and factual knowledge.
Development of cognitive skills
The nature of gaming promotes engagement. The built-in motivational scaffolds of feedback, rewards and flow states engage learners. Flow states are an optimal state of immersion in an activity, and occur anytime a person is deeply immersed in their task…
… “The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you’re using your skills to the utmost,” – Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
But achieving a flow state takes balance; a puzzle too difficult will result in anxiety, whereas one too easy could result in boredom. Games perfectly navigate this issue – by allowing players to adjust the difficulty to fit their skill level. This ensures players can be continually challenged without being overwhelmed.
Maintenance of a flow state results in an enjoyable cognitive experience for the learner. A positive emotional state is necessary for engagement, promoting high levels of sustained attention. Immersion in a task expends less time and energy and thus is more rewarding for the learner than in traditional educational approaches.
Immersion in a game usually involves taking on the identity of others, encouraging players to approach a problem, for example, as a scientist would. In a classroom setting, learners are given problems posed by others, whereas practising scientists define their own goals, within a larger social-historical context. Students are less likely to be engaged by material that does not feel relevant to them, however, video games could provide a new avenue. Players could adopt the identity of a scientist and set their own goals, by learning to develop and test their own hypotheses.
Additionally, metacognition, the ability to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses, is an important component of scientific thinking. Metacognition can be thought of as the difference between knowledge and wisdom and is developed through evaluating actions and outcomes. For instance, scientists may apply this skill in evaluating whether a model or simulation they developed explains a natural phenomenon effectively. In video games, metacognitive thinking may be a requirement for progression. For instance, hitting a ‘game-over’ screen tends to send players back to a previous save point, forcing them to re-evaluate their actions and develop a strategy in order to progress.
Content knowledge
Video games have the potential to explain complicated concepts very concisely. Take, for instance, the ‘Creatures’ franchise – an artificial life simulator. The game focuses on raising alien creatures called ‘Norns’, teaching them to survive, defending against other creatures, and breeding them. The Norns are coded from the genetic level upwards with sophisticated biochemistry and neural network brains.
Creatures encourages players to experiment with the artificial living creatures. They can carry advantageous genes which promote their ability to survive and reproduce. Genes that promote survival can be passed on to the next generation and promote the survival of their offspring, simulating real genetics. The variation in Norn creation and the environment they survive in is nearly limitless, giving players a wide-ranging evolutionary sandbox to experiment in.
However, educational games like Creatures tend to be an exception, and lack the polish of those in the mainstream. Meanwhile, commercially successful games tend to fall under the umbrella of science fiction, borrowing tropes from books and films. Mainstream media takes a more relaxed approach to science, flexing the natural laws if they conflict with the story being told.
Popular culture assumes that specific genes invariably produce specific traits, ignoring the complexity of gene interactions and the interplay of genes and the environment. For example, in the popular FPS BioShock, genetic engineering is a core aspect of the gameplay. Players can enhance their abilities with ‘plasmids’ – mutagenic serums which grant the users super-human powers, such as telekinesis and pyrokinesis. Genetic enhancement of characters is a common plot device included in many popular games, such as Final Fantasy, Resident Evil, Overwatch, and Mass Effect, to name a few. The notion that human abilities can be augmented by plugging the right genes into the right places is debatable at best. Yet it is wholly consistent with popular culture’s vision of genetic engineering as a technology that borders on magic.
Commercial games are developed, programmed and tested with substantial capital, and consequently, scientific elements are glossed over or deliberately exaggerated to produce a narrative which hooks players. As a result, these games tend to be heavily engaging with low educational benefits. Meanwhile, not-for-profit, serious games are less sophisticated and fail to harness the engaging elements of commercial games. There are few video games which successfully harness both engagement and educational potential.
It is unlikely that the gaming industry will be a reliable source of educational content anytime soon. Commercially, ‘educational’ titles do not sell well enough to produce a profit. However, not-for-profit educational games could have some potential. As the gaming industry is expanding, cheaper, more accessible tools for developing games are becoming more widely available and will be of benefit to educators. As it stands, ‘gaming to learn’ is still in its infancy but gaining traction.
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