Simulation, Games, and Education - UOIT: Faculty Web … · Simulation, Games, and Education Friday, ... wildebeest, zebras, ... First computer games were traditional games like chess

CSCI 5530: Serious Games Development (Simulations and Serious Games)

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Winter 2012

Bill Kapralos

CSCI 5530, Winter 2012 Bill Kapralos

Winter 2012

Simulation, Games, and EducationFriday, January 20 2012

Bill Kapralos

Overview (1):Administrative Details

Comments re. the final course project

Simulation

A brief overview from last week

Play and Games (Continued from last Week)

Brief history of games

Video games

Serious games

Overview (2):Overview

Something to consider

Games and Simulations in Education

Educational simulation

History of educational simulation

Education, simulation, and games

Video games (again)


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Administrative Details

Course Preliminaries (1):

Course Outline

Let’s go over the course outline in detail

Simulation:A Brief Review from Last Week


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Review from last Week (1):

Lets Define Simulation Now

Various definitions available but essentially they all

mean something along the lines of

Simulation is the process of designing a model of a real or

imagined system and conducting experiments with that

model. The purpose of simulation experiments is to

understand the behavior of the system or evaluate strategies

for the operation of the system. Assumptions are made about

this system and relationships are derived to describe these

assumptions - this constitutes a "model" that can reveal how

the system works. (Becker and Parker, 2011)

The Basics – System and Model (1):

But What is a Model ?

Let’s start with a definition of a system → a collection of

elements that act together to achieve some goal

Model

A description of the system that you wish to study

Start by describing the elements of interest, which

often end up becoming the variables and their

behaviours → behaviours are those things that the

elements can and cannot do as well as the

relationships they may have with each other


But What is a Model ? (cont.)

A model doesn’t have to be a description of a real life

system but it does have to be consistent

Doesn’t have to necessarily refer to a physical model

→ can develop a purely mathematical model where it

is possible to describe all properties/behaviours only

using mathematical formulae

The model is a way of describing a system whether

the system is real or fantasy


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But What is a Model ? (cont.)

A model will likely not be able to describe everything

there is to know about any given system → very few, if

any, perfect models available

Your description of the model and the types of values

and relationships you include will determine what you

can do with the model → your model is only as good

as your description of it

Important to know what you plan to do with the model

right from the beginning


Model and Simulation (cont.)

Another view of simulation → implementation of a model

regardless of whether you are creating a computer-

based simulation or a live-action training simulation

Computer-based simulation

Simulation will ultimately be expressed as a program

or a set of programs on some type of computing

device → desktop, laptop, ipad, cell phones/PDAs,

etc.

The Basics – Learning (1):

Simulation and Learning

Simulation is a powerful learning tool when learning

outcomes are clearly defined

Narrow popularist view of simulation

That of advanced technologies recreating a particular

experience, such as those found in virtual reality and

advanced computer controlled simulations

But simulation does not focus exclusively on technical or

psychomotor performance

Encompasses a broad perspective even incorporating

cognitive aspects


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The Basics – Learning (2):

Simulation and Learning (cont.)

Simulation may involve a wide range of techniques and

approaches applicable to learners at all levels → from

novice to expert

Simulation is not dependent on “high” (or “low”)

technologies and it is not confined to interactions with

people of models, physical or virtual → a simulation

could be a simple paper-based activity!

Overview (1):

First Simulations Were Probably Military-

Based

Stories of Roman soldiers using a tree trunk to

practice with their sword

Later developed into logs hanging on a rope →

introduced movement

Next evolved to work from horse-back and boats

using wooden figures to represent enemy soldiers

Military Simulations (3):

Huge Number of Applications (cont.)

Current focus is on virtual reality-based technologies and

serious gaming in particular (more later in course…)


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Military Simulations (5):

Flight Simulator Examples

Medical Simulations (1):

Historical Overview

Next to military use, simulation has been used

extensively for health professions education

First medical simulations/simulators were simple

models of human patients

From antiquity, representations in clay and stone

were used to demonstrate clinical features of

disease states and their effects on humans →

used in some cultures (e.g., Chinese) as a

"diagnostic" instrument


Foetal Model and Pelvis

One of the first patient simulators was the foetal

model and pelvis to train midwives developed by

Madame Du Coudray, 1759 → released first edition of

her midwifery manual Abrege de L’art des

Accouchements

Madame Du Coudray’s"machine", a mannequin for teaching obstetrics


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Huge Applications

Simulation in

healthcare → large

emphasis on the use

of simulation

particularly over the

last 40 years


Huge Applications (cont.)

Play (1)Definition of Play

Engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation rather

than for a serious or practical purpose

Partly Responsible for Survival of Humans

Through play our ancestors

Honed their hunting skills

Established a dominance hierarchy

Learned the importance of following rules

Discovered values of their societies


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Play (2)Games

Formalized play → uniquely human behavior

associated with enhanced individual and group survival

Penalty for failure in game much less than in real world

Every “good game” → message about how to think and

act when confronted with real problems

Play (5)Animal World

Adult lion → efficient predator that kills & feeds on

mammals like antelope, wildebeest, zebras, and even

larger animals like giraffe and buffalo

When hunting larger animals → attacks at oblique

angle before leaping and throwing one paw over the

shoulder or rump and then using its weight and

strength to pull down the quarry

Play (6)

Animal World (cont.)

Lion cubs during play → often mimic this attack

behavior, stalking, ambushing, and grappling with each

other as they instinctively learn and practice how to

bring down prey

Essential skills they'll need to survive as adults.


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Play (7)

Can Games Have Educational Value ?

What do you think?

Brief History of Games (1):

Formalized Games

Games that include some form dice, board, cards, or

other artifacts designed specifically for those games

Have existed for more than 4.5 thousand years

Two of the earliest known games

Senet

Royal Game of Ur

Which of the two came first is still under debate

Play and Games (cont.)


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Games as Simulations

Use of board games to simulate real-world activities

instead of their use for “fun” probably began with chess

Developed around the 6th century in northwest India

“Indian military strategy is faithfully reflected in the

game of chess” (Kulke, 2004)


Games as Simulations (cont.)

Games that are explicit simulations began sometime

around 1824 with a game called Kriegesspiel,

developed by a Prussian military officer



In the US, there was a game called Mansion of

Happiness, developed in 1843 but the best known

simulation games is Monopoly, developed in the 1930s

In the 1970s fantasy type simulation games became

popular → Dungeons and Dragons in 1974

Military-themed board games involving strategy and

tactics became commercially available in the 1960s and

1970s → PanzerBlitz and Stalingard

Such games had a specific time scale that they were

designed to implement


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Panzerblitz

Each turn in PanzerBlitz was intended to represent

the passing of a fixed and relatively short period of

time within the game although the player may take

as much time as needed to set up their move

Representative of computer simulations where

passage of time is simulated in discrete chunks

Video Games (1):

Three Overlapping Categories

Video games

Use a video display and an electronic device that

allows a game to be played

Computer game

Makes use of a computer to create a game

environment of sound/images and enforce rthe rules

of the game allowing player to focus on play

Computer mediated game

Computer sets up/keeps score, allowing player to

avoid boring parts & provides opponent if needed

Video Games (2):

Three Overlapping Categories (cont.)

Chess and solitaire → computer mediated games

No computer required to play solitaire but shuffling

and dealing cards takes much time for a game →

computer is much more efficient

Pong → one of the original video games and didn’t use

a computer to control play

The influence of traditional games to the evolution of

video games is indisputable but computer games

began as, and remain as sub-categories of simulations


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Video Games (3):Three Overlapping Categories (cont.)

First computer games were traditional games like chess

and tic-tac-toe → tic-tac-toe was the first, implemented

in 1952 at the University of Cambridge and key to this

game was the simulated opponent (which couldn’t lose)

Tennis for Two in 1958 (oscilloscope-based)

Spacewar in 1961 which simulated battle in space

→ became the first commercially available video

game Computer Space in 1971

Video Games (4)

Three Overlapping Categories (cont.)

Video game → a game played by electronically

manipulating images produced by a computer program

on a television screen or display

Video Games (5):Video Games and Simulation

Whether or not you accept the premise that video

games are all, in some sense, simulations → most

video games marketed after Spacewar have a

significant simulation component

Video games are all about learning → learning the

paths, rules, actions that permit the player to win

This inherent learning coupled with the simulation

component make video games a natural choice to

teach → serious games!


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Serious Games (1):Serious Games and the Military

The most consistent supporters and developers of

games for learning and professional development

First likely serious game was Battlezone, arcade

game (Atari 1980) → version of this game (Army

Battlezone) was designed to train army gunners

Army Battlezone was not particularly successful but

it was the beginning of the army’s use of gaming and

virtual reality for training

Serious Games (2):

The Topic of Simulation is Huge

Can spend several courses covering simulation but

the purpose here was to provide a very brief overview

of simulation

This is intended to motivate the topic of serious

games and virtual simulations → which are

simulations albeit in the virtual domain

Game in Education


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Something to Consider (1):Are Computer Simulations and Games Really

Different From Non-Digital Simulations and

Games ?

Many educators often claim that non-digital games

and digital games are part of a continuum and thus

the same

Many educators also claim that games and

simulations are not the same

Confusion ???

Something to Consider (2):Are Computer Simulations and Games Really

Different From Non-Digital Simulations and

Games ? (cont.)

What do you think ?

Something to Consider (3):Computer Simulations in Education (cont.)

Despite being available for a long time, it is only

recently that computer simulations have been used in

formal education

Computer games have also been around for some

time (1970s) but apart from a brief “honeymoon”

during the “Edutainment era”, only recently have

they been seriously considered in formal education

Digital games are still forbidden in some schools

altogether including many college/university

departments

But some groups (military) have embraced them…


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Simulations in Education (1):Traditional vs. Digital Simulation in

Education

Recall → all digital simulations are based on models

that have some degree of consistency

Some sort of rules we can describe, and some

purpose for the model

Models are abstractions → no precondition that the

model be based on reality

Education community → it is believed that

simulations necessarily model reality and are

distinct from games which do not model reality


Education (cont.)

Possible to create a fabricated set of rules for a

hypothetical system modeled using a simulation

It is still a simulation and assessments can be

made to determine how accurately the simulation

reflects the model → simulation’s validity

Also possible to create a scenario set in a

fantastical setting that focuses on some realistic

element → a “fable” where a “real” lesson is

wrapped up inside a fantasy story


Education (cont.)

The use of fantasy and metaphor as effective

teaching tools has been accepted for 1000s of years

Why shouldn’t that also apply to simulations and

games ?


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Simulation in Education

Educational Simulation (1):What is an Educational Simulation ?

Role-playing is probably one of mankind’s oldest

social activities → “the changing of one's behaviour to

fulfill a social role” (Oxford dictionary)

First performed around the campfire and later in

the form of theater → used as entertainment and

for communication since before we became literate

Also been used in the military for centuries

More recently used as a form of therapy

Educational Simulation (2):What is an Educational Simulation ? (cont.)

Despite the fact that role-playing was facilitating

learning for a long time, it was not seen as a

deliberate teaching technique until about the 1950s

In formal education, role playing is known as

educational simulation

Until recently, has been associated exclusively

with in-class, live action, or paper-based activities

→ learners given pre-defined set of roles and then

asked to play out some scenario


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Role-playing strengths


There are those in the educational domain however

that see no distinction between instructional games

and simulations (Thiagarajan, training specialist, who

specializes in in-class & paper-based learning)

Considers all training he designs as simulation

games and within that context, he identifies five

critical characteristics of training simulation games

Educational Simulation (5):Five Critical Characteristics of Training

Simulation Games (Thiagarajan)

Conflict → can also be described as challenge

Constraints on player’s behaviours → rules

Closure → game must come to an end

Contrivance → all games are contrived situations

Corespondence → designed to respond to some

selected aspects of reality


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History of Educational Simulations (1):In the Early 1970s

Future of simulations and gaming in education

seemed very bright!

Study concluded that simulation and gaming were

the fastest growing new methods of instruction

“Games”, “gaming”, and “simulation” used

interchangeably in education and huge optimism

about their learning value → lasted into the 1980s

“There seems every reason to believe that

elements of simulation play can be transferred or

adapted from their existing contexts and used

consciously as an approach to learning”

History of Educational Simulations (2):The Edutainment Era

With the advent of the PC in the early 1980s, formal

education first embraced the idea of using the PC as

a personal learning technology

Computer Aided Instruction became the

technology of the day → it appeared as if there

was nothing that computers could not do to

enhance learning and this included computer

games and this is what brought about the term

Edutainment

Believed that Trip Hawkings (founder of EA) first

used the term

History of Educational Simulations (3):The Edutainment Era (cont.)

Analog simulations and games at this time were

widely accepted

Many education experts simply saw computer-

based simulations and games as extensions of the

games they already knew and used

Many influential educators at the time such as

Saymour Papert from MIT, talked about how

computers in classroom would revolutionize

education

This is also the era where video games started to

become very popular → pac-Man, Donley Kong…


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Many educators, non-profit, and for-profit

organizations began building educational computer

games

The view was that one could wrap any instruction

inside a game and thereby enhance the learning

experience → we now know this doesn’t work!

At the time, many games were produced without

bothering to learn anything about the computer,

the learners, or the game itself → most of these

“educational entertainments” were awful


Majority of educational games of this time did not live

up to expectations and in fact, this really turned

people away from educational-based games

Resulting backlash still exists today → many game

developers looking at education-based games are

highly suspicious of educators

Many game designers believe that instructional

designers take all the fun out of games → in the

1980s, this was definitely the case as educational

games didn’t take the “fun” aspect seriously


Although many of the Edutainment era games were in

poor, there were some very popular and influential

games of that era

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?

Oregon Trail

SimCity

Reader Rabbit

Math Blaster


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History of Educational Simulations (9):The Post-Edutainment Era

Early 2000s, optimism for learning via games was

replaced by claims that games were almost always

less efficient than other methodologies and that

players in games are primarily motivated by winning

→ and this interferes with educational goals

Becoming clear that games designed by educators

for learning could not live up to earlier expectations

Simulations and games were separated →

simulations were legitimate educational tools while

games were discounted/ignored

History of Educational Simulations (10):The Post-Edutainment Era (cont.)

The last 10 years have given us unprecedented

development in the field of computer games

With respect to simulations and games, anything

greater than five years old is outdated

Putting non-digital games and simulations in same

class as digital ones assumes that the medium

doesn’t change → but medium does change!

Consider the current opportunities → ipad, PDAs…

Education, Simulation, Games (1):Education Simulation-Game Continuum

Many educators now place simulations and games at

opposite ends of a continuum

Simulations are seen as good and games as

frivolous with no educational merit and sometimes

even viewed as bad

Simulations Simulation Games

Games


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Education, Simulation, Games (2):Education Simulation-Game Continuum (cont.)

Problem with placing simulations and games at

opposite ends of the continuum

Severely limits one’s ability to take advantage of

what technology has to offer in terms of design

Games are still viewed negatively in many places so

this distinction is deemed necessary by many

despite the many innovations in commercial games

when it comes to interface design, and ways to track

and assess players’ progress

Education, Simulation, Games (3):Education Simulation-Game Continuum (cont.)

Although many definitions exist, for our purposes here,

a game must have

Rules → constraints

An end → an identifiable objective)

Score → a means of measuring progress

Unfortunately for many scholars and practitioners in

education use a different definition

Games → element of fantasy and not realistic

Simulation → realistic and fun is not a part

But what is reality ? More in later lectures…

Education, Simulation, Games (4):Simulations – Games Relationship

Simulations

Games

Simulation-Games

Currently, game engines can be and are being used to make educational objects that have all the qualities claimed by educators to be essential to simulations and simulation engines are being used to make games


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Video Games (1):The Video Game Phenomenon

$56 billion per year industry (Economist, 2010)

Despite economic downturn → growing 9% yearly

Surpassed film revenue 2003

Surpassed music revenue 2007

Call of Duty: Black Ops takes in $360 Million in one

day breaks all records ($1 Billion in one month)

Some Interesting Facts to Follow

Originated from within IBM and their work at Sony

Computer Entertainment.

Video Games (2):Some Interesting Facts

8 to 18 Year-Olds

83% have a video game console at

home

86% have two or more consoles at

home

55% own a hand-held video game

player

Spend min. one hour each day playing games

Video Games (3):Some Interesting Facts (cont.)

No longer specific to adolescent boys but rather, girls,

and children of all ages are playing

42% of all game players are women

Women over the age of 18 represent a significantly

greater portion of the game-playing population (31%)

than boys age 17 or younger (20%)


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Video Games (4):Some Interesting Facts (cont.)

72% of American heads of households play computer

and video games

Average (US) game player is 37 years old → has been

playing games for 12 years

36% of American parents say they play computer and

video games

80% of gamer parents play video games with their

kids

66% of gamer parents feel playing video games has

brought their families closer together

Video Games (5):Emerging Trend → Mobile Games

Over 5 billion phone subscriptions world-wide (2010)

31% increase over the year before

Games are proving to be a popular application for

mobile phones → Angry Birds has been

downloaded over 500 million times!

$7 billion (2010) market for mobile applications but

expected to reach $35 billion by 2015 → most of this

is expected to be from games

Video Games (6):The 10,000 Hour Rule

Anders Ericsson, a psychologist researched success of

violinists at the Berlin Academy of Musiche

Violinists that performed the best spent more time

practicing

10,000 hours was the average number of hours the

violinists spent to achieve their success

Applies not only to violinists, but composers, writers,

artists, surgeons, etc.

Same amount of time child with perfect attendance

spends in school from 5th grade to graduation


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Video Games (7):The 10,000 Hour Rule (cont.)

By age 21, the average American will have spent more

than 10,000 hours playing video games

Equivalent to 5 years of work at a full time job!

The total amount of time that World of Warcraft has

been played 5.93 million years

Estimated 3 billion hours are currently spent on

gaming every week

Video Games – The Positive* (1):

Positive Effects of Video Games

Aside from the effects on learning, previous studies that

examined video game players have shown

Superior hand-eye coordination

Fast reaction times

Superior spatial visualization skills

Increased capacity for visual attention and

spatial distribution

*From James C Rosser Jr., Beth Israel Medical Centerhttp://www.psychology.iastate.edu/~dgentile/MMVRC_Jan_20_MediaVersion.pdf

Video Games – The Dark Side* (1):

But… There are Many Negative Effects

Video games have been linked to

Decreased academic performance

Decreased prosocial behavior

Aggressive thoughts, feelings, and aggression

Have been correlated to

Smoking

Obesity

Physiological arousal

*From James C Rosser Jr., Beth Israel Medical Centerhttp://www.psychology.iastate.edu/~dgentile/MMVRC_Jan_20_MediaVersion.pdf


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Video Games – The Dark Side (2):

Video Game Addiction ?

“Although not yet officially recognized as a diagnosable

disorder by the AMA, there is increasing evidence that

people of all ages, especially teens and pre-teens, are

facing very real, sometimes severe consequences,

associated with compulsive use of video and computer

games”

More than 5 million kids in the US may be addicted,

according to an AMA report


Video Games and Play

Playing video games is really no different from playing

any other “traditional game”

Basically just a different medium

But why all the “bad press” with video games?


Video Games and Play“I just bought Modern Warfare 2, the game," writes, Andrew Berwick, "It is

probably the best military simulator out there and it's one of the hottest games

this year. ... I see MW2 more as a part of my training-simulation than anything

else. I've still learned to love it though and especially the multiplayer part is

amazing. You can more or less completely simulate actual operations."

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Simulation, Games, and Education - UOIT: Faculty Web … · Simulation, Games, and Education Friday, ... wildebeest, zebras, ... First computer games were traditional games like chess