Learning and Teaching as Communicative Actions: Broken Window as a Model of Transmedia Game Learning

Learning Game Theory

To begin this section on theories of game and simulation use in education, it is important first to acknowledge that the use of video and computer games to support learning is not new and the research is distributed over a number of disciplines. As with analog technologies like textbooks, computer games are used for different pedagogical purposes to support learning. These have ranged from teacher-directed, memorization-based approaches to situated, social constructivist ones in which the learner uses the game to explore challenging problems with no single correct answer alone or works in small groups with a goal of constructing meaningful knowledge and defensible solutions. Depending on the approach and goals for instruction taken by the designer of the game, the learning outcomes may wildly be different. The following sections explore three different theoretical approaches that have been commonly used to guide the design and development of games and simulations for learning, beginning with those taken from information processing and behaviorist perspectives.