In the process of doing research for a client's white paper, I've come across some interesting implementations of serious games on a broad scale. At Wharton business school, faculty frequently turn to the school's Learning Lab for their help in developing a game or simulation to support a course. At Wharton, games are just as likely to provide students with a baseline experience to launch a class or topic as they are used as a simulation model for students to run as a homework assignment. "Our philosophy is that games don't presume to teach anything," says Alec Lamon, co-Director of the Learning Lab. "It's an experience to refer to later."
3Dsolve, by turn, develops large-scale games for military and defense customers (among others) - the largest takes 121 hours to complete! These programs are frequently the culminating event in a course or curriculum. The tools that students have previously learned to use are available in-game, and students face scenarios that use and integrate all the material and learnings that have preceded them.
These are two very different approaches to the use of serious games, of course. Regardless of what approach you base your course or curriulum on, I cannot adequately emphasize the importance of following a rigorous learning design process. In particular, and as I've discussed in past columns, designing for and supporting learning transference is crucial to the success of any curriculum that includes serious games. (In my view, every meta-design document ought to include a discussion of what learning transference strategies will be employed and why.) The serious game must have a lasting effect for transference to occur, and learners' attention must be focused on the desired outcomes - before, during, and after the game is played.
What makes the supporting role of games work at Wharton is that professors recall the gaming experience during subsequent class sessions, and tie together that experience with the new concepts being presented. Conversely, 3Dsolve's model requires all the information that the student will need to complete the "end" game be presented to students as sort of conceptual "legos" that form the foundation for the framing that the game provides.
Both these approaches are quite successful. What makes them work is careful devotion to good learning design.
I'm serious,
Anne
