CURRICULUM & INSTRUCTION 614: INSTRUCTIONAL COMPUTING II
SPECIAL TOPIC: COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES
PROFESSOR: KURT SQUIRE,
MEETING TIME: TUESDAYS, 4:35-7PM
ROOM **
MEETS CONCURRENTLY WITH C&I
Computer and video games are a cultural and economic force drawing increasing attention from
educators, anthropologists, economists, media scholars, journalists, and art critics (King, 2002;
Perron & Wolfe, 2003; Poole, 2000). There has been a recent explosion of academic conferences,
art gallery exhibits, and research programs dedicated to understanding games. The 1990s brought
CD ROMs and the “multimedia” computer, but games were the only medium to successfully
demonstrate the potential of interactive digital entertainment. Computer games have grown in
sophistication and brought innovative models of interactive storytelling that entertained and inspired
millions while academics and curators argue about interactive fiction and hypertext. Games like
Ultima Online survived the Internet bust and boom, while journalists, business leaders, and
educators struggle to develop content that consumers will pay for. Now, with next generation
consoles and the broad installation base of broadband and 3D graphics cards, games are realizing
the vision of virtual reality, as key economic, social, legal, and educational issues are played out
through games.
In short, games have grown not only into an important economic force (grossing roughly $11
billion), but a cultural force, the medium of choice for a millennial generation that educational
technologists need to understand. Educational technologists need to understand how game
experiences shape users’ expectations of digital media; for an educational software designer not to
play games would be like an educational filmmaker to never go see a movie. In fact, while
educational technologists struggle to get academically-developed programs into schools, games
have quietly invaded the desktops of school computers. Show me a school computer and chances
are you’ll see Sim City 2000, Oregon Trail, or maybe a Tom Synder Production game. Whereas
most educational technologists have derided games as “frivolous”, I believe that we need to
understand why games have such appeal to teachers and understand what design principles
underlie them.
And in fact a growing number of educators are paying attention to games. Educators such as Jim
Gee argue that learning to play a game is a complex achievement, at least as complex as most of
what kids learn (or don’t) at school. Perhaps educators could profit from studying games as
environments “designed to be learned”. Whereas many students find school, boring, if not
intolerable, games engage millions of players, and psychologists such as such as Mark Lepper and
Tom Malone have developed principles for designing intrinsically motivating learning environments
based on studying games. More recently, research projects such as the Gaming X program at
Stanford, the Games-to-Teach Project, the Quest Atlantis Project, the Serious Games Initiative, and
the Education Arcade are exploring how commercial games can be used in classrooms, how nextgenerational educational media might leverage computer games conventions and genres, and how
we can educate teachers, parents, and policy makers about computer and video games.
This course will introduce you to the medium and culture of contemporary games. We will read core
texts in the emerging field of game studies and examine contemporary research programs that use
games to support learning. Most importantly, everyone in the class will be expected to learn, play,
and finish a contemporary video game of a new genre.
Design of Educational Games
Holland, W., Jenkins, H. & Squire, K. Theory by Design (2003). In Perron, B., and Wolf, M.
(Eds). Video Game Theory. Routledge.
Jenkins, H. Squire, K. & Tan, P. (in press). You Can’t Bring That Game To School!: Designing
Supercharged! To appear in B. Laurel (Ed.) Design Research. Cambridge, MIT Press.
*Squire, K. and the Games-to-Teach Research Team. (2003). Design Principles of NextGeneration Gaming for Education. Educational Technology, 43 (5).
Contemporary Game Technologies
Sawyer, B. (2002). The Next Ages of Game Development. Retrieved from:
http://www.avault.com/developer/getarticle.asp?name=bsawyer1
Games and training
Rejeski, D. (2002). Gaming out way to a better future. Retrieved from:
http://www.avault.com/developer/getarticle.asp?name=drejeski1
Thiagarajan, S. 1998. The myths and realities of simulations in performance technology.
Educational Technology, 38(5), 35-41.
Education and Games
Squire, K. (2003). Video games in education. International Journal of Intelligent Simulations and
Gaming (2) 1.
Squire, K.D. (2002) Rethinking the role of games in Education. Game Studies, 2(1).
(http://gamestudies.org)
*Squire, K. & Jenkins, H. (in press). Harnessing the Power of Games in Education. To appear in
Insight.
Online Games
Bartle, R. (1996). Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds, Spades: Players who suit MUDs. Journal of MUD
Research, 1(1). Available: http://www.mud.co.uk/richard/hcds.htm (19 May 1996).
Prensky, M. (2000). Military and Gaming Chapter.
*Simpson, Z. (2000). The in-game economics of Ultima Online. Paper presented at at The Computer
Game Developer's Conference, March 2000, San Jose, CA
Squire, K. D. & Steinkuehler, C. A. (in press). The genesis of 'CyberCulture': The case of Star
Wars Galaxies. In Cyberlines: Languages and cultures of the Internet (2nd ed.). Albert
Park, Australia: James Nicholas Publishers.
Games in Classrooms
*Jenkins, H., Klopfer, E., Squire, K. & Tan, P. (2003). Entering the education arcade. Computers
in Entertainment 1(1).
*McFarlane, A. & Kirriemuir, J. (2003). Use of Computer and Video Games in the Classroom,
presented at DiGRA conference, Holland, November 2003.
Engagement / Motivation
*Bowman, R.F. 1982. A Pac-Man theory of motivation. Tactical implications for classroom
instruction. Educational Technology 22(9), 14-17.
Cordova, D. I., & Lepper, M. R. 1996. Intrinsic motivation and the process of learning: Beneficial
effects of contextualization, personalization, and choice. Journal of Educational
Psychology, 88, 715-730.
Malone, T. W. 1981. Toward a theory of intrinsically motivating instruction. Cognitive Science,
(4), 333-369.
Games and Context
Mitchell, E. 1985. The dynamics of family interaction around home video games. Special Issue:
Personal computers and the family. Marriage and Family Review 8(1-2), 121-135.
Gender and Games
Cassel, J. & Jenkins, H. 1998b. Chess for girls? Feminism and computer games. In Cassell, J &
Jenkins, H. (Ed.), From Barbie to Mortal Kombat : Gender and Computer Games.
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Subrahmanyam K. & Greenfield, P.M. 1998. Computer games for girls: What makes them play?
In Cassell, J. & Jenkins, (Ed.), From Barbie to Mortal Combat: Gender and Computer
Games. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press