Design in Game-Based Learning

Abstract

Educational games have shown promise as a technology that can improve learning, and education, but research has yet to produce games that can consistently and sustainably fulfill this promise. One reason to the shortcomings of research may be that game based approaches, including design approaches, have thus far focused on developing domain-based theories and methods of research and design and have tended to neglect design frameworks. In this paper, we identify design as an area that will be necessary to study in order to develop effective educational games and suggest that literature begins by presenting failure in design in order to identify what needs to be improved.