IACBE Annual Conference and Assembly Meeting
April 8-11, 2014
Hyatt Regency Mission Bay , San Diego, CA
N E L S O N A LTA M I R A N O , P H . D .
BEN RADHAKRISHNAN, M.S.,MBA
JAMES J. JAUREZ, PH.D.
DEEPER LEARNING
It is a ‘process through which an individual
becomes capable of taking what was learned
in one situation and applying it to new
situations (NRC Report 2012).’
Through deeper learning the individual
gains expertise in a particular area of
k nowledge and is c apable of k nowing ‘how,
w h y, a n d w h e n t o a p p l y t h i s k n o w l e d g e t o
answer questions and solve problems. (NRC
Report 2012)’
GAMES IN CLASS AND DEEPER LEARNING
DOUBLE-AUCTION MARKET GAME
Buyers & Sellers
Fun, simple,flexible
5-7 Rounds
Engagement
Market shocks
Deeper Learning
DEBRIEFING SECTION
BENEFITS AND COSTS
PLAYING G AMES
Professor designs the game
Professor provides logistics
including game engine
Professor motivates
students to play it
Professor runs the game
Professor runs debriefing
Risk: students don’t get it!
GAME DESIGN
METHODOLOGY
Students design the game
Professor empowered to teach
economics with GDM tools
Professor facilitates transfer of
knowledge into new
situations
Students provides logistics
Students do the debriefing
Risk: students like it too much!
PRINCIPLES OF MICROECONOMICS AND GDM
GAME PAPER
OBJECTIVES
understand economics at a deep level
learn how to differentiate theoretical
results from real situations
gain excel skills, team working skills and
game creation skills
reinforce writing and presentation skills
Deliverables
(1) Game paper in word
(2) Game engine in excel
(3) Game presentation in
power point.
5 to 10 page long without including
the pages for the title,
references and appendixes.
Sections:
A. Abstract
B. Instructions
C. Game Board and Excel Engine
D. Microeconomics Debriefing
Section
E. References
F. Appendix
G. Attachments
COPYRIGHT © NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
5
MODULES PER WEEK AND CLOS
Tue
Thu
Fri
Sun
W1
Demand-Supply;
Market
Equilibrium;
Opportunity Cost
Session 1
Excel Basics
Session 2
Excel D/S
Office Hour
Exam1
Group members
W2
Consumption and
Production
Decisions
Session 3
Excel Elasticity,
Consumption
Session 4
Excel Profit, Costs
Office Hour
Game Description
Exam2
Comment on
Game Description
W3
Competitive and
Non-Competitive
Markets
Session 5
Excel Perfect
Competition
Session 6
Excel Monopoly
30’ Advising
Office Hour
Assignment
W4
Labor Market and
Government
Intervention
Session 7
Session 8
Game
Presentations
Office Hour
Exam3
COPYRIGHT © NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
6
PAPER RUBRIC AND GRADING ITEMS
Paper (50 points)
 Content:
 Structure:
 Style:
Game Board and Engine (20 points)
 Game Board Design and Integration with
Engine:
 Engine Design:
 Engine Formulas that express game
rules:
 Engine Formulas that calculate winners:
Powerpoint (10 points)
 Content direct to the point:
 Design for slides:
Self Evaluation: 10 points
Peer Evaluation: 10 points
Activities and Assignments
Grade
Live Session Attendance
8%
Weekly Discussion
8%
Group Game Assignment
20%
Group Presentation (Individual Grade)
5%
Exam 1
18 %
Exam 2
18 %
Exam 3 and learning outcomes
23 %
Total
100 %
Extra Credit: Comment on Game Description
COPYRIGHT © NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
2%
7
Demand in Traditional Texts
GDM: TEACHING AND
FACILITATING
Interactive Demand in Excel
STUDENT DEEPER LEARNING EXAMPLE: FISHING GAME
ENGINE AND DEEPER LEARNING
SUSTAINABILITY CONCEPTS WITH GAMES
Attributes of Games in General for students
Makes learning fun
 Less stressful
Active learning (as opposed to passive learning)
 Engaged in learning
Participative, collaborative, innovative/creative
 Teamwork
Concepts become easier to understand and
practical
 Innovate/create a game, Demonstration and Quantification
Randomness and Unknown Environments
 Applying the known concepts to new situations
LEARNING SUSTAINABILITY CONCEPTS WITH GAMES
Sustainability concepts
Recent subject-matter in higher education
 Getting recognition as a matter of ‘survival’ for the planet
and its beings
Modern Sustainability Definition in 1987
(UN’s Brundtland’s report)
 "Sustainable development is development that meets the
needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs”
 Modern Interpretation in 3 Es: Environment, Economics
and Equity(Social Justice)
Not easy for students to understand the
concept of 3 Es
 The inter-relationships of the 3 Es
SUSTAINABILITY CONCEPTS WITH GAMES
Sustainability and Student Created Games
 Student teams to design/create/play games tied to the
course outcomes
 Students can also adopt any existing game
 Course Learning Outcomes (CLO) linking game
outcomes:
 Develop critical thinking concepts and Tools which will be used in the
course, including the different measurement unit systems used for
Sustainability
 Explore, evaluate the improvements and changes required to achieve
sustainability
Game attributes support these CLOs qualitatively
and quantitatively
 Critical thinking for game objective, rules and quantification (game
engine) helps students to turn the definitions (qualitative) to seeing
actual real results
SUSTAINABILITY CONCEPTS WITH GAMES
Sustainability Games
 Home or commercial building water, energy
management
 Use actual home or building actual information (or standards available from
EPA) for the engine
 LEED Certification – demonstrate key aspects of obtaining
LEED points without really having to spend money, but doing
it in a fun way
 LEED is not an easy process and this makes good training tool as well
Food impacts on environment and changes
Commercial landscaping
Waste Management games
All games need an engine (usually Excel) with
immediate outputs (charts, numbers)
 Game board, as required
FACULTY EXAMPLE:
LEARNING SUSTAINABILITY
CONCEPTS WITH GAMES
Game Board
Dashboard & Engine
STUDENT EXAMPLE:
LEARNING SUSTAINABILITY
CONCEPTS WITH GAMES
Game Board
Engine
LEARNING SUSTAINABILITY CONCEPTS WITH GAMES
n. Game creation, playing , demonstration is
an effective method of learning
SUS 601 Introduction to Sustainability - Student Feedback Survey on GDM
SUS601 - Survey Feedback on Game Creation & Play
6.00
5.00
Rating - 5 Most Favorable
Sample Size = 25
Questions Relating to GDM
Rate the following attributes for the Game
design and creation activity (rating 1 to 5, with
5 being most favorable):
a. Increased student Motivation
b. Increased student depth of learning
c. Increased student engagement
d. Increased team collaboration and
communication
e. Increased ‘inter’ and ‘intra’ team positive
competition
f. Increased student creativity and
imagination
g. Learning was fun through ‘game creation
and play’
h. Expect better retention of learned material
through game creation and playing
i. Games help to demonstrate difficult
sustainability concepts
j. Increased tools knowledge and skills
(PowerPoint, spreadsheet, game website
research, etc.)
k. Game ‘creation and play’ improved student
critical thinking skills
l. Team presentation & game demo is an
effective method to communicate with the
class
m. The Game theory videos and tools at
www.nucatalyst.com was effective and useful
4.34 4.20 4.32 4.32
4.16
4.56
4.44 4.32
4.32 4.28
4.16
4.60
4.12
4.00
3.63
3.00
2.00
1.41
1.00
1.03 0.90 1.04
0.85 0.90 0.77 0.80 0.98 0.90 0.90 0.95
0.95
0.58
0.00
6a
6b
6c
6d
6e
6f
6g
6h
6i
6j
6k
6l
Specific Game Related Qs (details on the right side)
Ave Rating
Std Dev
Student Feedback
6m
6n
FOUR PHASES OF STUDENT BUILT GAMES
Phase 1: Elements, Ideation, and Planning
• Learn Design through play
• Outlining course targets/concepts for game integration
• Game teams, titles, and descriptions
Phase 2: Early Implementation and Game Construction
• Defining objectives of the student built game
• Fleshing out characters and objects in the proposed game, based on
course concepts
• Design game assets with approachable tools
• Initial Playtest and feedback
Phase 3: Advanced Implementation and Game Shaping
• Outline rule sets and feedback systems
• Refine game assets and game tracking
• Iterative Playtest and improvements
Phase 4: Completion, Reporting, and Presenting Game Designs
• Final/Game Design Document as a Scholarly Document
• Completed Game Assets, Boards, and Playable Pieces
• Example Gameplay and Live Presentation
GOING TO WAR!
UNDERSTANDING CHARACTER
DEVELOPMENT AND BALANCE
OF PLAY
POWERPOINT AS A GRAPHIC DESIGN TOOL
FOR NON-GRAPHIC DESIGN STUDENTS
Basic Radio Simulation Game Procedure Cycle
Data from Game
Inputted to Simulator
Player Executes
Game Strategy
Simulator
Output
Player Decision
To Game Interaction
LITERATURE GAMEPLAY
Faculty and administrators in higher education have been seeking
innovative ways to engage and motivate students in STEM (Science,
Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) disciplines (Shaffer, 2008).
Game play and mini games have been used to help reach students and
assist in learning the fundamentals of these disciplines (Prensky,
2008). By providing fault tolerant environments and the environment to
approach content at the students own pace, games provide a vehicle for
students to experiment and approach course concepts through a
sandbox of play.
Games have been shown to have a number of distinct benefits when
applied to education (Gee, 2007; Linder, 2012):
 Fault tolerant (iterate to solution/fail forward)
 Opportunity for continual feedback
 Tools within the game have many purposes
 Builds on prior knowledge and allows for progressing to new levels
 Players are rewarded for persistence
 Players can work at your own pace
GAME DESIGN, TEACHING, AND LEARNING
Formative
Continual
Feedback
Fault Tolerant
Project Based
Through providing the fault
tolerant environment, games
provide a chance for
students to make mistakes
in a safe setting (McGonigal,
2011).
These educational settings
encourage students to try
again or “fail forward” when
met with obstacles (Shaffer,
2008).
Games often provide
continual feedback, through
the screen in video games
or status in physical games.
This formative and
summative assessment of
player progress is helpful in
correcting ideas and
strategies in the game (Gee,
2007).
Game in education leverage
this feature to provide real
time assessment of
learning and the ability to
correct misunderstandings
Games provide this
or confusions with course
opportunity to iterate through content embedded in the
a problem, by allowing
game (Lim, 2008).
players to build strategies or
test boundaries in the game
without the fear of failing
(Prensky, 2001).
Even if the student does not
reach an objective, they can
try again until they succeed.
Skills/Tools
Practical Real
World
The ability of games to
provide complex
environments and a variety
of objects means they can
give players exposure to
many tools and topics to
explore (Linder, 2012;
Sheldon, 2011).
As with STEM disciplines,
these complex systems are
often difficult to
demonstrate, however the
games can provide a visual
representation of concepts
and relationships between
objects and topics (Kapp,
2012).
Students learn to employ
various tools within the
game just as they would in
the real world in order to
problem solve and seek
answers to challenges in the
course and game (Kapp,
2012).
Prior Knowledge
Leveling Up
Games are flexible, but also
allow for progress to be
measured as players’
progress from one level to
another (Linder, 2012; Ray
& Coulter, 2010).
Similar to traditional
educational environments,
game play promotes and
rewards the gaining of
experience and
advancement towards
higher levels of expertise
(Rogers, 2010).
This “leveling up” provides
motivational queues and a
consistent monitoring or
feedback of academic
progress, which is highly
desirable in engaging
continued play and in
assessing the student
performance (Prensky,
2008; Rogers, 2010)
Game Design and Play
Persistence
And Pace
This leveling and feedback also
promotes students remain
persistent in seeking or
achieving goals within the
educational games (Kapp,
2012).
Persistence is the hallmark of
gamers and is often times the
very attribute that is lacking in
STEM students (Shaffer,
2008).
In order to engage and
understand complex concepts
in STEM, students must remain
persistent through the process
and combine the right building
blocks in order to achieve the
desired outcomes for the
course (Jaurez, Fu, Uhlig, &
Viswanathan, 2010).
Game environments reward
such persistency and levels
within the game act as these
stepping stones towards
knowledge transfer and
scaffolding of ideas (Sheldon,
2011).
GAME DESIGN, TEACHING, AND LEARNING
Skills/Tools
Practical Real
World
Formative
Continual
Feedback
Prior Knowledge
Leveling Up
Persistence
And Pace
Fault Tolerant
Project Based
Process
Methods
R
Matlab
Excel
Statistics
Analysis
Formulas
Unity
Heuristics
Phase 1: Behaviorist Focus
Codes
GAME DESIGN, TEACHING, AND LEARNING
Formative
Continual
Feedback
Fault Tolerant
Project Based
Skills/Tools
Practical Real
World
Prior Knowledge
Leveling Up
Persistence
And Pace
Phase 2: Cognitivist Focus
• Student begin to apply learned course concepts to known situations.
• Common solutions use of skill, relationships, and content… testing models,
schema, transfers of knowledge, content frameworks
• Example: Elasticity simulation, water usage simulation, computer ethics case
dilemma…
GAME DESIGN, TEACHING, AND LEARNING
Formative
Continual
Feedback
Skills/Tools
Practical Real
World
Fault Tolerant
Project Based
Prior Knowledge
Leveling Up
Persistence
And Pace
Phase 3 and 4: Social Constructivist
• Student begin to apply known course concepts to unknown situations.
• Uncommon solutions: use of complex systems, interrelation between advanced
content…
• Examining, designing, and testing against fragile gaming systems – enquiry and
discovery, capturing the nuances of mastery of course concepts, and team
iteration/evolution of system
• Example: Game simulation of competing forces, leveling, designing environments
for tactics and strategy, and managing world building
GAME DESIGN, TEACHING, AND LEARNING
Formative
Continual
Feedback
Fault Tolerant
Project Based
Skills/Tools
Practical Real
World
Prior Knowledge
Leveling Up
Persistence
And Pace
All Phases: Constructionist
• Students build, build, build.... Making tangible objects and manipulation of
materials
• Experimental problem based learning occurs at every phase as students design
maps, characters, cards, digital assets, models, rule sheets, procedures,
objectives, challenges…
• Systems and subsystems where students construct situations, problems,
implications, and need payoff of each component (utility)
GAME DESIGN, TEACHING, AND LEARNING
Formative
Continual
Feedback
Skills/Tools
Practical Real
World
Prior Knowledge
Leveling Up
Persistence
And Pace
Fault Tolerant
Project Based
All Phases: Constructionist
Phase 3 and 4: Social Constructivist
Phase 2: Cognitivist Focus
Phase 1: Behaviorist Focus
TOOLS FOR GAME DESIGN
Construction of Universal and Economics Tools for Student Built
Games:
• Web based resources (Research Wiki, Repository of articles)
• Course concept card constructors – Characters and objects of
the discipline
• Game play card constructors – Worlds, maps, legends, and
game flow frameworks
• Rule sheet templates and references – quick sheet,
relationship definitions, and gameplay procedure outlines
• Game engine bridge frameworks – templates and connectors
for common GDM game engines (Matlab, Excel, R, etc..)
• Presentation Builders – workflows to represent and report
gameplay for presentation of final games
• Reusable Game Storage And Compliance Pattern –
Establishing game archival and retrieval standard and
structures
NUNUKE.COM (RESOURCES AND CONTACT)
Questions and Answer?
Nelson Altamirano
Ben Radhakrishnan
James J. Jaurez
James J. Jaurez, PhD is an Assistant Professor with National University’s
School of Engineering, Technology, and Media. Dr. Jaurez teaches courses
in Computer Science, Educational and Instructional Technology, and Digital
Media Design programs, which has lead him to pioneer a fusion of the
education and computing technology disciplines. As lead researcher and
co-PI on Hewlett Packard Technology for Teaching – Higher Education –
Leadership Grant 2008 and Catalyst Grant 2010, Dr Jaurez has worked
extensively in Game Design Methodology as a novel teaching framework for
STEM+ courses. A PhD from Nova Southeastern University, his dissertation
work is in Research and Development in the discipline of Computing
Technology in Education. As board member for an organization called
Learning for Life, Dr. Jaurez also uses video game technology to inspire
juvenile court system kids in the area of science, technology, engineering
and mathematics (STEM). His aim is to encourage academic and
professional career paths in gaming, and inspire "at risk" youth to enroll in
college. Dr. Jaurez also sits on the board of his local church and assists
with outreach programs and ministries.
Ben D Radhakrishnan is a Faculty-Instructor in the School of Engineering,
Technology and Media (SETM). He is the Lead Faculty for MS Sustainability
Management Program in SETM. He develops and teaches Engineering and
Sustainability Management graduate level courses. Ben has taught
Sustainability workshops in Los Angeles (Army) and San Diego (SDGE). His
special interests and research include promoting Leadership in
Sustainability Practices, energy management of Data Centers and to
establish Sustainable strategies for enterprises. He is an Affiliate
Researcher at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA,
focusing on the energy efficiency of IT Equipment in a Data Centers.
Ben Radhakrishnan holds M.Tech, MS and M.B.A degrees, and Sustainable
Business Practices Certification from UCSD. Ben’s hobbies include
Photography & Videography, travelling and hiking.