Learning by Playing Video Gaming in Education [Hardcover]

There is a growing recognition in the learning sciences that video games can no longer be seen as impediments to education, but rather, they can be developed to enhance learning. Educational and developmental psychologists, education researchers, media psychologists, and cognitive psychologists are now joining game designers and developers in seeking out new ways to use video game play in the classroom.

InLearning by Playing, a diverse group of contributors provide perspectives on the most current thinking concerning the ramifications of leisure video game play for academic classroom learning. The first section of the text provides foundational understanding of the cognitive skills and content knowledge that children and adolescents acquire and refine during video game play. The second section explores game features that captivate and promote skills development among game players. The subsequent sections discuss children and adolescents' learning in the context of different types of games and the factors that contribute to transfer of learning from video game play to the classroom. These chapters then form the basis for the concluding section of the text: a specification of the most appropriate research agenda to investigate the academic potential of video game play, particularly using those games that child and adolescent players find most compelling. Contributors include researchers in education, learning sciences, and cognitive and developmental psychology, as well as instructional design researchers.

Part I. Introduction and Overview

Chapter 1. Academic Lessons from Video Game Learning
Fran C. Blumberg, Debby Almonte, Yishai Barkhardori, & Andrew Leno

Part II. Theoretical and Cognitive Perspectives: How Should We Think About Learning in Video Games?

Chapter 2. Virtual to Real Life: Assessing Transfer of Learning from Video Games
Susan M. Barnett

Chapter 3. The Perceptual and Cognitive Effects of Action Vl³