Shikakeology: Designing Triggers for Behavior Change: Papers from the 2013 AAAI Spring Symposium
Game-Initiated Learning:
A Case Study For Disaster Education Research In Taiwan
Sarah Chen Lin, Meng-Han Tsai, Yu-Lien Chang and Shih-Chung Kang
National Taiwan University, Department of Civil Engineering
Xinhai Road, Sec. 3, No. 188, 6F-610, Taipei, Taiwan. sarahcl@caece.net
traditional learning. In the last few decades, digital games
have emerged in the market and have become popular for
entertainment. Digital games have also been used more
often in educational contexts; such games are widely
Abstract
Game-based learning has been proven an effective method
to engage students in the class. However, it is very
challenging to balance playability and learnability when
only developing digital games. Some "playable" games may
not carry sufficient knowledge; some "learnable" games
may reduce the students' interest and curiosity. In this
ongoing research, we proposed an innovative learning
method, "game-initiated learning." This method consists of
three main steps: game, discussion and self-directed
learning. In this model, students can experience real-world
problems from the game, discuss problems they found in the
game, and finally, the instructors can deliver related
knowledge that is useful to solving the problems previously
discussed. To validate the proposed method, we selected a
topic of disaster education in Taiwan and experimentally
developed a set of course materials including a digital game,
animation videos and an e-book. We conducted a review
meeting, inviting experts from hydraulic engineering, game
development, and disaster mediation as well as school
teachers and students. The reviewers were asked to play the
games and review all course materials. From the feedbacks
of the reviewers, we found game-initiated learning an
educational method with great potential in providing tacit
and explicit knowledge about disaster management.
entertaining purpose (serious) with a video game structure
(game
been used in a variety of disciplines with some limited
success, including but not limited to medicine, business,
military training, science, mathematics, biology, and
geography (Haring, Chakinska and Ritterfield 2011).
However, few digital Serious Games have been produced
and used in game-based learning for disaster education to
.
Taiwan has a strong need for disaster education because
of its vulnerability to natural disasters. According to the
survey Natural Disaster Hotspots
A
Global Risk Analysis, Taiwan was classified as the most
vulnerable country to natural hazards in the world. (Dilley
et al. 2005). It is also ranked second place in the world in
terms of annual rainfall (MOFA 2011), meaning frequent
water-related disasters are an ongoing challenge for the
island. However, it is challenging to carry out disaster
education because disasters cannot be reproduced.
Furthermore, it is difficult to emotionally engage the
students without having witnessed the disaster firsthand. It
is also impractical to take students to a dangerous site
recently affected by disasters for educational purposes. As
thus, using Serious Games could be a suitable option for
disaster education.
Countless of research has shown that engaging the
students first, allows them to absorb more information
afterwards (Annetta 2011, Svingby and Nilsson 2011). The
channels that students prefer to use should also be
considered to optimize learning efficiency. Nowadays, the
majority of the millennial generation prefer interacting and
learning via digital means (Singer 2008). This may be
Introduction to Game-initiated Learning
There exists many methods of triggering change; whether
conceptual or behavioral change. Behavioral change may
result from a change in perceptions, experiences or both
simultaneously. One of the most effective methods of
triggering change is through education (Fujiwara et al.
2012). Yet depending on what knowledge is being
transmitted, appropriate educational approaches should be
chosen to obtain the most efficient results.
Game-based learning has been deemed by many
researchers as having great potential when compared to
Copyright © 2013, National Taiwan University Water Games
(water.caece.net). All rights reserved.
67
through web forums, online video lessons, multimodal
texts, discussions via chat platforms and more. Since
-requisite to
efficient learning, engaging them through digital means
seems logical. They enjoy social interaction, especially, via
gaming (Michael and Chen 2006, Whitton 2010). In line
with the opinion of Haring, Chakinska and Ritterfield
(2011), we believe students may process the educational
content better and implicitly by enjoying the game. This is
ideal considering a predominant gaming culture has been
observed in Taiwan among the youth (Lo and Chen 2012)
as well as a lack of understanding of water-related
disasters.
We
optimal approach to teaching with digital Serious Games,
selecting disaster education as the chosen theme to be
transmitted. Game-Initiated Learning differs from gamebased learning in that the lesson begins with students
playing the game, followed by a discussion; the discussion
gives the students an opportunity to reflect on the game
they just played; the discussion is then followed by a selfstudy session where students can inquire via an eBook for
more in-depth information (Please refer to Figure 1).
disaster education, we have developed a prototype of a
digital Serious Game and an eBook for high school
students. Our game focuses specifically on flooding, a
common water-related disaster in Taiwan. Our eBook is
equipped with condensed information on water-related
issues in Taiwan and internationally. The game is designed
to provide implicit knowledge, knowledge acquired
indirectly, while the eBook serves to provide explicit
knowledge, information that is clearly stated.
always bring a host of challenges and leave both short-term
and long-term impacts; the impacts are seldom beneficial,
which is why it is crucial that students understand the
basics of flood protection while seeing the bigger picture
The player can learn different basic flood prevention
approaches (i.e. soft engineering, hard engineering, and donothing approach) through the game by choosing icons to
protect important city infrastructures. As shown in Figure
2, the game begins with a river and some infrastructures
along the river. Once hit by a flood, the player must choose
different engineering methods to protect the infrastructures
so that they can keep generating income and the Happy
Index, which reflects social stability, can remain high.
Our game also gives opportunity for the student to
reflect on the difficulty of balancing social and economical
dimensions to a water-related disaster. Is it more important
to protect the people or the key infrastructures
economy? The game also gives opportunity for the student
to reflect on water as a essential and a destructive force at
the same time (Chen Lin et al. 2012).
However, playing the game alone only initiates the
change; more thorough information should be provided
directly after to encourage conceptual change. Thus, the
eBook was created as an extension of the digital game, in
order to reinforce the content of the game with more
information. It has been created as an iBook, currently only
accessible via an iPad.
Many factors were considered when designing the
eBook. The content was set at a high school level, written
with appropriate language in Mandarin Chinese, and
combined with graphs, maps, and even animation videos
created by our team. The content should be both rich and
interest. As thus,
(2001), were used when designing the eBook.
Furthermore, educational material should be interactive
and grant the user perceived control, not just in the digital
game. Research has shown users to be more engaged when
they feel a certain degree of control over the learning
process (Annetta et al. 2011), which explains why an
eBook was produced. However, it must be noted that
although an eBook is ideal, not all students have access to
an iPad or a computer. For this reason, a paper version of
the booklet will be produced in the near future.
The eBook covers a wide range of water-related topics.
These include but are not limited to the role of climate
change on water resources, the water cycle, water
footprint, water security, water pollution, water-related
hazards, water management, city planning for droughtprone and/or flood-prone areas, and water recycling. The
eBook will also introduce efforts done regarding water
education in Taiwan as well as a section on trivial facts
about water.
Figure 1. Comparison of a Traditional learning model with
a Non-traditional learning model
Game and Booklet Development
Our digital game focuses on flooding. Severe flooding
worldwide has been brought to attention by the media in
recent years; not just in Taiwan but also in other countries
such as the United Kingdom, Thailand, the Philippines and
Pakistan. Regardless of the time and location, flooding
68
(a) Start of the game. Normal water flow with full Happy Index.
(c) Money earned and Happy Index remains high by keeping flood
plains safe.
(b) Flooding takes place with warnings given.
When sad faces appear, the Happy Index is
lowered.
educational tools developed are suitable for secondary
school students in terms of style and content load.
The experts made several suggestions to improve the
concept that s to be transmitted from the game. They
suggested adding the concept of water rights and green
economics to show the difficulty of balancing the
Validation
To ensure the content in the game and the booklet is
coherent and accurate, advisers have reviewed our games
throughout the developmental process (Figure 2). Our
advisers are professors and experts from various
disciplines; these include but are not limited to water
pollution, green economics, water footprint, water
management, architecture, civil engineering, and
education. The content in both the game and eBook has
been reviewed via individual interviews as well as an
expert forum.
The expert forum allowed the experts to discuss ideas of
how to improve the educational tools. Giving the experts
an opportunity to discuss amongst themselves may
increase chances of generating new and more ideas as
opposed to individual interviews. All advisers expressed
great hopes for the project and commented that the
suggested adding more clues and information in the digital
game to guide the students when using the tool and
considering incorporating other secondary topics such as
water pollution.
Aside from the content of the game and eBook, to
ensure the tools are user-friendly, our team members
gather on a biweekly basis to test the tools and give
feedback. The tools were also tested by our advisers during
the expert forum and will be tested again during a pilot
study in January 2013 by secondary school students from
different Taipei schools.
69
(a) Meeting with expert reviewer Chang-E Zhou from Taiwan Institute of Economic Research on September, 2012.
(b) User test during the expert forum held on November, 2012.
Figure 3. Content validation and user test
the eBooks to browse through information. By allowing
students to inquire by themselves, information is more
likely to be retained as opposed to being spoon-fed through
a traditional lecture.
Implementing Game-initiated Learning
Once re-adjusted after the first pilot study, the digital game
and eBook will be used during a one-day study at Huwei
Junior High on February 2013. The study will begin by
dividing the students in two groups; one group will
undergo Game-Initiated Learning while the other group
will undergo traditional learning. Students will be further
divided into groups of 3, where students will take turns to
play while the others observe and discuss. The GameInitiated Learning model consists of first emotionally
engaging the students by playing the digital game. A
dimension of competitiveness will be added as students
will be asked to complete the tasks in the game in the least
time possible, keeping students actively engaged. The
students will then proceed to discuss and share thoughts
that may have arisen. And lastly, the students will be given
Summary
The primary objective of the project is to develop an
interactive game for high school students for two main
reasons; to validate the efficiency of Game-initiated
Learning for water-related issues and to meet the need for
disaster education in Taiwan, which has been a growing
concern for the island. Our educational content is set at a
high-school level due to an observed predominant gaming
culture amongst teens in Taiwan; especially in urban
settlements.
As part of the developmental process, game proposals,
paper prototypes, storyboards have been completed and
70
programming has taken place, via Adobe Flash. A draft of
the eBook has also been produced with the program iBook
Author; the eBook is currently only accessible via an iPad.
To ensure development for both the game and the eBook
congregates on a
move at the same pace,
biweekly basis to test both education tools as well as to
exchange ideas. The content of both tools has been
reviewed by external advisers, who are experts in the field
of water governance. Experts have reviewed the tools
individually as well as collectively through an Expert
forum held in 2012.
The game and the tool will be used during a short pilot
study with high school students from various schools in
Taipei and a one-day study with Huwei Junior High, a
secondary school based in southern Taiwan. Such studies
are necessary in order to obtain direct feedback from the
targeted users so that the tools may be improved.
We expect this ongoing project to become sustainable in
years to come in that both interactive tools will continue to
upgrade as studies, such as the one scheduled at Huwei,
will continue to run annually. We also hope to have the
educational tools exhibited at public spaces, such as
Proceedings of the Conference for Disaster Management in
Taiwan, Taipei, Taiwan, November 16, 2012.
accessible to the public.
Lo, H. W. and Chen, C., 2012. Japanese video game developer
opens office in Taiwan, Central News Agency, 8 August, viewed
8 August 2012, <http://focustaiwan.tw/ShowNews/WebNews_Detail.aspx?Type=aECO&TNo=&ID=201208120016>
Dilley, M., Chen, R.S., Lerner-Lam, U.I.A.L., Agwe, M., Agwe,
J., Buys, P., Kjekstad, O., Lyon, B. and Yetman, G., 2005.
Natural Disaster Hotspots A Global Risk Analysis. Washington,
D.C., United States of America: The International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development/ The World Bank and
Columbia University.
Djaouti, D., Alvarez, J., and Jessel, J-P., 2011. Classifying
Serious Games: The G/P/S Model In Felicia, P. (Ed), 2011.
Handbook of Research on Improving Learning and Motivation
through Educational Games: Multidisciplinary Approaches (pp.
118-135). Pennsylvania: IGI Global.
Fujiwara, T., Yamada, F., Okuyama, M., Kamimaki, I., Shikoro,
N. and Barr, R.G., 2012. Effectiveness of educational materials
designed to change knowledge and behavior about crying and
shaken baby syndrome: A replication of a randomized controlled
trial in Japan. Child Abuse and Neglect 36(9): 613-620.
Haring, P., Chakinska, D., and Ritterfield, U., 2011.
Understanding Serious Gaming: A Psychological Perspective In
Felicia, P. (Ed), 2011. Handbook of Research on Improving
Learning and Motivation through Educational Games:
Multidisciplinary Approaches (pp. 413-430). Pennsylvania: IGI
Global.
Acknowledgments
Mayer, R. E. 2001. Multimedia learning, Cambridge, UK:
Cambridge University Press
Council (NSC) under contract 101-2515-S-002 -002. The
contributors from
authors are gratef
National Taiwan University: Kai-Lin Kao, You-Rong Kuo,
Pei-Yen Liao, Ting-Ju Chen, Da-Yio Tseng, Ming-Zhang
Wen, Chih-Tian Shih, Yi-Zhi Tsai, Ting-Ying Chang Jian
and Ting-Ju Chen. The authors further thank our project
reviewers Ko-Chiu Wu from the National Taipei
University of Technology, Jing-Yuin You from National
Taiwan University, Chang-E Zhou from the Taiwan
Institute of Economic Research, Yu-Chen Lin from
National Taiwan University, and Xi-Ting Fang from the
Center for Weather Climate and Disaster Research for
guiding the students and reviewing the educational tools.
Michael, D. and Chen, S., 2006. Serious Games: Games that
Educate, Train, and Inform. Boston, USA: Thomson Course
Technology PTR.
crisis, Taiwan Today, 20 May, viewed 1 January 2013,
<http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=164881&ctNode=413>
Singer, M.A.L., 2008. Digital education for the millennial
generation, Norwich University Office of Communications, 15
February, viewed 2 January 2013, <http://www.norwich.edu1/about/news/2008/021508-digitalEducation.html >
Svingby, G. and Nilsson, E.M., 2011. Research Review:
Empirical Studies on Computer Game Play in Science Education
In Felicia, P. (Ed), 2011. Handbook of Research on Improving
Learning and Motivation through Educational Games:
Multidisciplinary Approaches (pp. 1-28). Pennsylvania: IGI
Global.
References
Annetta, L. A., Lamb, R., Bowling, B., and Cheng, R., 2011.
Assessing Engagement in Serious Educational Games: The
Development of the Student Engaged Learning in a Technology
Rich Interactive Classroom (SELTIC) In Felicia, P. (Ed), 2011.
Handbook of Research on Improving Learning and Motivation
through Educational Games: Multidisciplinary Approaches (pp.
310-329). Pennsylvania: IGI Global.
Whitton, N. 2010. Learning with Digital Games: A Practical
Guide to Engaging Students in Higher Education. New York,
USA: Routledge
Chen Lin, S., Tsai, M.H., Kang, S.C. and Lai, J.S., Prototyping
Interactive Games for Water and Disaster Education, In
71