Chapter 13: Instructional Support in Games

Researchers conclude even today that despite its popularity, game-based learning is in its infancy with regard to design issues and with regard to understanding its impact on learning and instruction (Spector & Ross, 2008). More than ten years ago, Knotts and Keys (1997), in the context of learning from business games, asserted that

O’Neil, Wainess and Baker (2005) also concluded that games themselves are not sufficient for learning, but that there are elements in games that can be activated within an instructional context that may enhance the learning process.

A similar situation has occurred in a related field, namely learning from computer simulations. Here initial expectations were high, but soon researchers learned that simulation-based learning was only effective when the learning process was adequately scaffolded (de Jong, 2006; Quintana et al, 2004), for instance by giving assignments, explanations, or just-in-time background information. Now, there are large-scale evaluations showing that simulation-based learning, when properly designed, can be effective (Eysink, de Jong, Berthold, Kollöffel, Opfermann & Wouters, 2009; Hickey, Kindfield, Horwitz, & Christie, 2003; Ketelhut, Dede, Clarke, & Nelson, 2006; Linn, Lee, Tinker, Husic, & Chiu, 2006). This road is still ahead for game-based learning.