Games, gamification and game-based learning have entered into the vocabulary of trainers, elearning developers and instructional designers in the past few years. While the use of games for learning seems like a good match, questions arise. How should games be integrated into the curriculum? Can attitudes and behavior change result from playing a game? What elements of games can learning designers borrow from game designers? The answer to these questions can be found in the research on game-based learning. This interactive presentation includes many examples of using game-based learning for performance improvement and highlights how organizations have used games to achieve learning success. And, yes, you will play a game at this presentation. Discover how research-based practices fit in with today's fast-paced need for quick, effective instruction.

1. Twitter:@kkapp
By Karl M. Kapp
Bloomsburg University
Gamification of Learning &Instruction
May 14, 2013
ASTD Philadelphia
Interactivity, Games, and Gamification:
A Research‐Based Approach to Engaging Learners
Through Games

2. Interactivity (I) + Immersion (I) = Sustained Engagement (E)
Results in meaningful learning.

3. Interactivity (I) + Immersion (I) = Sustained Engagement (E)
Results in meaningful learning.

4. Content ripped from the pages of
“The Gamification of Learning and
Instruction”
Content ripped from the pages of
“The Gamification of Learning and
Instruction”
Slides for This Presentation
Google
“Kapp Notes”
Look for ASTD Philly 2013 Presentation Resources
Slides for This Presentation
Google
“Kapp Notes”
Look for ASTD Philly 2013 Presentation Resources

5. 1
Agenda
How to apply game‐based
strategies to the presentation of
learning content?
What are three principles for adding
gamification and games to learning
curriculums?
2
3
What are four motivational aspects of
games that improve learning recall
and application?

6. Use game-based mechanics,
aesthetics and game thinking to
engage people, motivate action,
promote learning, and solve
problems.
Gamification

7. http://success.adobe.com/microsites/levelup/index.html

9. Some people think Gamification is only about points,
badges and rewards…

10. … if it was, this would be the most engaging game in the
world.

11. 20% increase in profile completion.

12. … the possibilities of “gamification” are far larger than
points, badges and rewards.

13. Two Examples of the Concepts of
Games and Gamification

14. Malone’s Theory of Intrinsically
Motivating Instruction
Challenge Fantasy Curiosity

15. Challenge
Jones, B., Valdez, G., Norakowski, J., & Rasmussen, C. (1994). Designing learning and technology
for educational reform. North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. [Online]. Available:
http://www.ncrtec.org/capacity/profile/profwww.htm and Schlechty, P. C. (1997). Inventing
better schools: An action plan for educational reform. San Francisco, CA: Jossey‐Bass. Chapter 2
“The Gamification of Learning and Instruction.”

16. Re‐design the Instruction to
Start with a Challenge

17. Fantasy– There are both cognitive and
emotional reasons for evoking fantasy.
Cognitively a fantasy can help a learner
apply old knowledge to understand new
things and help them remember the
content. Emotionally, a person can
connect with the experiences and not
bring with it “real-world” concerns or fears.

19. Challenge and Consolidation– Good games offer players a set
of challenging problems and then let them solve these problems
until they have virtually routinized or automated their solutions.
Games then throw a new class of problem at the players requiring
them to rethink their now, taken-for-granted mastery, learn
something new, and integrate this new learning into their old
mastery.
James Paul Gee,
University of Wisconsin-Madison

20. Transfer
The ability of simulations to teach skills that transfer to real‐
life, on‐the‐job situations seems abundantly positive…
Computer‐based simulations—assessed as an alternative to
other means of training, as a supplement to other means of
training, as a device to combat skill decay in experienced
trainees, and as a means of improving performance levels as
they stand prior to training—show positive results for transfer
a majority of the time.
In 22 out of 26 studies, trainees demonstrated equal or
superior transfer to the control group from simulations.
Shenan Hahn
ADL Research and Evaluation Team

23. Learners assume the role of an aspiring
Venetian merchant in the late 15th century,
an era when Venice was the center of
commerce in the Mediterranean, and
therefore the world. 6‐levels.

24. Recommendations
1) Use a game/simulation to provide a context for the learning.
2) Include Fantasy to overcome resistance, encourage
generalization and invoke curiosity.
3) Carefully craft the simulation/game to provide opportunities
to increase engagement and interactivity to increase
learning.
4) Transfer of learning occurs when tasks are cognitively the
same.

25. Learners remember facts better…
When presented as bulleted
list rather than presented as
a story.
Is that Fact or Fishy?

26. Story

27. Researchers have found that the
human brain has a natural affinity for
narrative construction.
Yep, People tend to remember facts
more accurately if they encounter
them in a story rather than in a list.
And they rate legal arguments as more
convincing when built into narrative
tales rather than on legal precedent.
Carey, B. (2007) this is Your Life (and How You Tell it). The New York Times. Melanie Green
http://www.unc.edu/~mcgreen/research.html. Chapter 2 “The Gamification of Learning and
Instruction.

28. 1. Characters
Story Elements
5. Conclusion
2. Plot (something has to happen).
3. Tension
4. Resolution

29. NikePlus Stats for Karl

33. Recommendations
• Embed facts to be learned in the context of stories.
• Start the learning process by providing a challenge to
the learner.
• Use stories that are related to the context of the
desired learning outcome.

34. We’ve Always Wanted
Characters
Characters

35. Rosenberg, R.S. Baughman, S.L., Bailenson, J.N. (2013) Virtual Superheroes:
Using Superpowers in Virtual Reality to Encourage Prosocial Behavior. PLOS One., 8(1), 1‐9.
Flying around a virtual world
as a superhero made subjects
nicer in the real world. physical
world

36. An experience as an avatar
can change a person's real
life perceptions. In a study
conducted by Yee and
Bailenson (2006), it was
found that negative
stereotyping of the elderly
was significantly reduced
when participants were
placed in avatars of old
people compared with those
participants placed in avatars
of young people.
Yee, N. & Bailenson, J.N. (2006). Walk A Mile in Digital Shoes: The Impact of Embodied Perspective‐Taking on The
Reduction of Negative Stereotyping in Immersive Virtual Environments.. Proceedings of PRESENCE 2006: The 9th Annual
International Workshop on Presence. August 24 – 26, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

37. On tests involving different word problems, the group who had
a character explain the problems generated 30% more correct
answers than the group with just on‐screen text.
Animated pedagogical agents (characters) can be aids
to learning. A “realistic” character did not facilitate
learning any better than a “cartoon‐like” character.
Clark, R., Mayer, R. (2011) E-Learning and the Science of Instruction: Proven Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of
Multimedia Learning. New York: Pfeiffer. Pg. 194. Chapter 4 “The Gamificaiton of Learning and Instruciton”

38. Guru
Carlo Vecchio

39. Recommendations
• Use characters/agents to model desired behavior.
• Use characters/agents to provide feedback and
instruction to learners.
• Characters should speak in a natural, conversational tone.
• Use two characters, one for coaching and one for
expertise is better than just having one character trying to
do both.

40. Feedback

42. Games like The Sims provide feedback on
many dimensions which provide
opportunities to consider tradeoffs and
higher level cognitive thinking.

43. The most helpful feedback provides specific
comments about errors and suggestions for
improvement. It also encourages learners to focus
their attention thoughtfully on the task rather than
on simply getting the right answer.
Shute, V. J., Ventura, M., Bauer, M. I., & Zapata‐Rivera, D. (2009). Melding the power of serious games and
embedded assessment to monitor and foster learning: Flow and grow. In U. Ritterfeld, M. J. Cody, & P.
Vorderer (Eds.), Serious Games: Mechanisms and Effects. Philadelphia, PA: Routledge/LEA. 295‐321.

46. Embed into a larger Curriculum
E-learning
Training Manuals
Classroom
instruction

47. Engagement
PedagogyGame
Educational
Simulation
Instructional games should be embedded in
instructional programs that include
debriefing and feedback.
Instructional support to help learners
understand how to use the game increases
instructional effectiveness of the gaming
experience.
g
Hays, R. T. (2005). The effectiveness of instructional games: A literature review and
discussion. Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division (No 2005‐004). Chapter 4
“The Gamification of Learning and Instruction.”

48. Example

49. Serious games lead to well‐
structured prior knowledge on
which learners can build but the
effect is only seen over time.
Wouters, P., van Nimwegen, C., van Oostendorp, H., & vam der S[el. E.D. (2013), February 4). A Meta‐Analysis of the Cognitive and
Motivational Effects of Serious Games. Journal of Educational Psychology. Advanced online publication. Doi: 10.1037/a0031311 39
Studies. Review of 39 studies 54% conducted in the last year.

50. Negotiation Skills
Can be divided into different
segments:
• Know your position
• Know your opposition’s
position
• Understand what you
can give up.
.
Immediately after the learning from conventional
instruction or a game, the surface level and text base
level representation of content is still sufficiently available
causing no difference between the conventional
instruction or the game in comparison studies.
In contrast, after 2-4 days, the benefit of deeper processing
in the game condition pays off as the surface level and text
base level representation of the content decays.
Studies with a one session learning stage in which an immediate and a delayed test
is administered show no efficacy on the short term but they do in the long term.

51. “I can’t tell you how many people are coming to me wanting another
game solution.”
“The repetition of the different paths helped me retain the information.”
“I’m a pretty competitive person so challenging myself to get one of the
top scores added a layer of fun to learning about the MobileConnect
product.”
“The game was a fun way to learn about MobileConnect. I enjoyed the
scenario‐type questions, which put it all into context.”
Player Results

52. Business Results
Average contract value 2x higher than for previous mobile product.
First call resolution ($35 a call/average) is up 45%
Of all the launches done in the previous two years to
MobileConnect, the sales team has built the quickest pipeline for
this product.

53. Player Results
“I really had a good time with Merchants. It’s original, fun, challenging,
outside of the ordinary. It hooks you!”
“This is the best online training I know of. It has had a positive impact on our
business.”
“It’s a very new and interesting program. The lessons from the mentor and
the readings are very beneficial. You learn concepts to help you plan, and
afterwards negotiate in situations that reflect real negotiations that you have
with clients.”
“Very interesting cases. You learn very efficiently and effectively. Applicable
to real life.”
“I found it very interesting, especially the lessons of the mentor. The main
concepts are completely applicable to our day‐to‐day. I am already looking
forward to the next course!”

54. Learning Results
Average course evaluation, to date: 9.4 out of 10
Average assessment of educational value: 9.3 out of 10
Percentage answering “Yes” to “I find it applicable to real life”: 98%
Percentage answering “Yes” to “I will recommend this course”: 99%
Percentage of learners who completed the course after starting it: 92%
The above results are aggregate averages from over 30,000 learners who have
taken this course.

55. Special Thank You!
• Game On! Learning
– Bryan Austin
– http://www.gameonlearning.com/
• The Knowledge Guru
– Sharon Boller
– https://www.theknowledgeguru.com/

56. 1) Interactivity of games leads to higher knowledge.
2) Fantasy, curiosity and challenge are key elements for
instructional games.
3) Embed facts to be learned in the context of stories.
4) On screen characters can enhance e‐learning.
5) Use stories rather than bulleted lists to present facts.
6) Present learners with a difficult challenge to engage and
motivate them.
7) Use stories that are related to the context of the desired
learning outcome.
8) Feedback needs to be targeted.
9) Embedded the game into a larger curriculum.
Takeaways

57. Contact Karl via
Twitter or email
Twitter:@kkapp
kkapp@bloomu.edu
Twitter:@kkapp
kkapp@bloomu.edu
Look for Fieldbook
in 2014!