Beyond Edutainment Exploring the Educational Potential of Computer Games By Simon Egenfeldt-nielsen Submitted to the IT-University of Copenhagen as partial fulfilment of the requirements for the PhD degree February, 2005 Candidate: Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen Købmagergade 11A, 4. floor 1150 Copenhagen +45 40107969 [email protected] Supervisors: Anker Helms Jørgensen and Carsten Jessen Abstract Computer games have attracted much attention over the years, mostly attention of the less flattering kind. This has been true for computer games focused on entertainment, but also for what for years seemed a sure winner, edutainment. This dissertation aims to be a modest contribution to understanding educational use of computer games by building a framework that goes beyond edutainment. A framework that goes beyond the limitations of edutainment, not relying on a narrow perception of computer games in education. The first part of the dissertation outlines the background for building an inclusive and solid framework for educational use of computer games. Such a foundation includes a variety of quite different perspectives for example educational media and non-electronic games. It is concluded that educational use of computer games remains strongly influenced by educational media leading to the domination of edutainment. The second part takes up the challenges posed in part 1 looking to especially educational theory and computer games research to present alternatives. By drawing on previous research three generations of educational computer games are identified. The first generation is edutainment that perceives the use of computer games as a direct way to change behaviours through repeated action. The second generation puts the spotlight on the relation between computer game and player. Computer games become interesting because they are believed capable of offering a variety of ways to learn with varying degrees of difficulty. The third generation includes the context of computer games and how they facilitate learning environments with peer-collaboration, constructions of knowledge, new teacher role and a changed student role. These three generations all become part of the framework for educational use of computer games avoiding a narrow focus on a few popular elements. In the third part the main empirical study is laid out with the purpose of examining the actual use of computer games in an educational setting from a 3rd generation perspective. The empirical study was conducted at a Danish high-school involving 72 students and two teachers. The study examined the use of a commercial historical strategy game (Europa Universalis II) in a 2½ month history course where the computer game played a significant role. The empirical Beyond Edutainment Page 2/280 study aims at examining some key findings around the barriers for educational computer game use, the scepticism towards the historical understanding of computer games, the problems related to linking of experiences with computer games to other domains and the effectiveness of learning from computer games. It is found that we can benefit from looking at teaching with computer games at three levels: Appreciation, exploration and linking with each level having its own problems. Students progressed through these levels with the appreciation as a prerequisite for exploration and linking. The appreciation caused problems for many students as they did not have the necessary knowledge of history and computer games to identify the relevant elements in the game experience. When relevant elements were recognized students failed to explore due to distrust of the value of the game experiences. Finally the linking between the game experience and other areas rarely happened. The last part presents the general framework for understanding educational use of computer games, where the ends from the three previous parts meet. The theory extends from an experiential learning approach, where concrete experiences are the starting point that can be transformed through reflection, instruction and active experimentation. In this process computer games provide rich concrete experience that can be manipulated in the game universe providing more handles for the student compared to other media. It is concluded that in ideal educational use of computer games the student is playing and constructing knowledge through interaction with the game universe. Slowly building on top of existing knowledge from previous experiences arising from inside the game universe and other spheres of life facilitated by instruction. It is an experience-based hermeneutic exploration in a safe rich environment, potentially scaffolding the student while maintaining student autonomy and ensuring a high emotional investment in the activity. Beyond Edutainment Page 3/280 Preface The wicked sirens still sing their song luring me to venture dangerous places This dissertation has been a journey through a landscape not seen in its full by many people. My background as a psychologist slowly, but steadily determined this dissertation supplemented with clear directions from game research. Over the years game research has become as much my starting point as my psychology training. It feels strange looking back at the road travelled, seeing the twisted passages one chooses, when one could have stayed on the main road. I have however, more than once been amazed by the rich experience-base, just under my nose, which seems to have gone unnoticed by me and other researchers for many years. I hope that the work you are about to read will bring the field forward and show new paths for educational practice with computer games. I believe this dissertation has been 3 years of hard learning and solid work. I have dissected the field of educational use of computer games, with a bit of luck paving the way for new insights. I have taken pride in being reluctant to settle with just the necessary findings and discussions, but have kept pushing on – taking chances. The empirical study could have gone wrong in so many ways and actually, it did, but still it produced valuable insights. In time, I came to see the chaotic, contradictory and preliminary nature of the empirical findings as a great strength. I have come to believe that to the practitioner good research is what in the end seems to be unfinished, unnecessarily hard work anticipating more enquiries. What I am now handing in can to the best of my knowledge be described as ‘unfinished business’. For me the dissertation has left more questions unanswered than answered even though it may not seem so from the outside. I cannot wait to continue the journey. The dissertation was written during a 3-year period at the IT-University of Copenhagen but a large part of it was written in frenzy while visiting the University of London, Institute of Education, for 3 months. A warm thanks to the University of London for having me as a visiting PhD student and the academic discussions engaged in. Beyond Edutainment Page 4/280 I would like to thank the following people who have played a significant role in the process. My three supervisors Anker Helms Jørgensen, Carsten Jessen and Andrew Burn who have given valuable insights, discussions and academic shelter over the years. In connection with the main empirical study, I wish to thank Gitte Nielsen, Henrik Wegener, Anders Kloppenborg and Anne Marie Asmussen for making this possible. I also want to thank the 72 students who participated in the 2½-month long study - none named, none forgotten. I am also grateful to the distributor Pan Vision and the developer Paradox Entertainment who made it possible to conduct the study by sponsoring the game titles and by making Europa Universalis II such an excellent game. For academic discussions in general thanks to everybody mentioned above but also to: Jonas H. Smith, Fin Egenfeldt-Nielsen, Susana Tosca, T.L. Taylor, Jesper Juul, Jesper Tække, Debra Lieberman, Caroline Pelletier, Siobhan Thomas, Diane Carr, Gareth Schott, David Buckingham, Espen Aarseth, Sara Freitas, Marie Laure-Ryan, Martin Sønderlev, Lars Konzack, John Kirriemuir, Patrick Bergman and all the anonymous reviewers of papers along the way. Thanks to Pernille Heegaard Deichmann and Ann Heegaard for the proofreading. For the statistics in connection with the empirical work I wish to express recognition to Fiona Steele who taught intermediate statistics with great skill at University of London and to Jane Hurry who was kind enough to give me some personal pointers along the way, and to Peter Allerup who straightened it all out. Also Alex Moore was valuable in grasping the limits and possibilities of qualitative methods. In addition, warm thanks to the listeners at conferences, public talks and seminars who raised their hands with comments, criticism and questions. Moreover, thanks to the people that went before me and to those that come after me. Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen, February, 2005. Dedicated to Sidsel Hæggelin who paints life in bright colours. Beyond Edutainment Page 5/280 Beyond Edutainment Page 6/280 Contents Introduction......................................................................................................... 9 Research focus 13 Terminology 23 Problem statement 23 The dissertation’s method 24 Part 1: Background 30 Chapter I: The History of Educational Computer Games ............................ 31 The military’s educational use of computer games 32 Educational business simulations and computer games 33 Educational Media: The forerunner for educational