Delkonklusion
In this section we would like to reflect over connections between System Theory,
Constructinism and Flow as well as the adventure game genre in order to give a
more precise definition of learning and teaching and their relationship with one
another. Furthermore, we would like to conclude on the possibilities for creating
an adventure game within such a relationship.
Both System theory and Constructinism builds on the assumption that students
build up their own knowledge through the learning process. Learning is an
individual process that is always which always relies on internal cognitive
processes. This process occurs when a mental system lets itself be pertubated
with the intentions of increasing egenkompleksitet. Learning is an environment
to teaching where teaching is seen as a social system consisting of
communication. Both systems are closed of to each other and a teacher or other
students cannot transfer knowledge into another mental system. It cannot be
about favouring learning over teaching - they are both related.
As learning occurs within a closed meantal system, it is always an internal
process occurring through a series of self-reflection and external perturbation
resulting in a re-negotiation of established knowledge. Teaching can therefore
never be a transfer of knowledge, but must instead be viewed as structured
communication serving to initiate self-reflection within the student towards
certain objectives. The teacher will be aware of the intentions and objectives of
what is to be learned. The communication between student/teacher should
therefore allow the teacher to see the student’s communicative selections in order
to give feedback and in this way structure the communication and hence the
learning process. Furthermore a student ’s communicative selections should also
be made available to other students so the student himself gets feedback in a
form which might resemble his own mental process more precisely. While this
communication will be less structured, it is the combination of the two that allows
a student to adjust and develop mental structures by combining and reflecting
over the feedback received.
Constructinism sees this process of learning as happening especially well when
ideas, theories and mental structures are projected externally in the form of a
public entity. This entity gives the student a form in which to view his own mental
processes and its public nature a way to them with others i.e. a way of making
communicative selections visible. The entity is therefore a facilitator for a
feedback process that the student must become aware of – what Papert himself
terms cybernetics. The focus of Constructionism is on letting the student become
aware of there own mental processes, on letting the student see his own thoughts
and become aware of the feedback cycle which creating the public entity entails.
Constructionism sees the objectives of the feedback process (learning) as less
structured because its real objective is for the students to become aware of these
feedback process so they can be used in other situations i.e. learning to learn.
We think a learning based computer game could be fitted between System Theory
and Costructionism when though of as a semi-structured digital environment.
By this we mean that it should be structured to the extend that there are specific
objectives within our game. The student’s learning should revolve around specific
topics and have specific objectives. While these objectives should be definable,
and thereby semi-structured, they are not necessarily quantifiable. By
quantifiable we mean that the objectives cannot simply be measured in yes or no
questions and demand a deeper understanding e.g. an objective could be the
comprehension that large asteroids which can cause severe damage to earth are
not necessarily as dangerous as smaller asteroids which cause less damage, as
smaller asteroids collide with earth more often.
The semi-structured computer game should contain the necessary information
and possibilities for exploring and understanding the concepts, but the student
should himself be able to manipulate and navigate through them in his own
manner, implementing his own style. It is more than simply building a sand castle
because the student is told about criteria for how such a castle should be
constructed and what it should be able to do. Based on this structured
understanding, the student is free to build any sand castle that follows these
rules.
While the student must interact and explore the game universe in a cybernetic
relationship, the process of feedback is essential to such a semi-structured digital
environment. While some possible feedback can be directly built into the
computer based environment, much is needed in the interaction with the teacher
and other students. The teacher, especially as this game is not concerned with
quantifiable knowledge, teacher need to personally see, evaluate and give
feedback on the student’s communicative selections as way of further structuring
the learning process. To furtherly help the student become aware of and reflect
over his own communicative selections, the student should be encouraged to
share them with other likeminded students. While these processes cannot
possibly be scripted into the gaming environment, they are necessary for an
efficient learning process. In an learning based adventure game, these elements
should be integrated into the storyline. While they cannot be a scripted part of
the computer environment, programming does allow for some of this
communication to occur within the game as a form of in game story telling. To
the extend that all of this feedback processes cannot be intergraded directly into
the adventure game, they could be fitted in as a form of external material. The
story line of the adventure game could demand communication between students
or that some problems are solved in groups for example. The point being that
communication between students and students/teachers should be integrated into
the storyline either in the form of in-game story telling or external material. While
the entire feedback process might not happen on the computer, it could still be
integrated into the storyline from within the computer game.
For a feedback process to result in learning, what is fed back must be evaluated
and contemplated by the student. A student must not only select understanding
but must relate this understanding to existing ideas and based on this comparison
accommodate or accumulate the result of such a comparison.
Preferably a student will be intrinsically motivated to learn and therefore to
engage in this process of comparison and relief of dis-equilibrium. Flow is
characterized by such a state and while this is an optimal state for learning, we
cannot assume that every student will be in such a state for every subject in
school. The objective of our semi-structured digital environment in terms of
game design becomes the creation of an environment that builds on factors of
extrinsic motivation to set the student in a state of dis-equilibrium while keeping
him interested. Such a state of dis-equilibrium is only solved through a process of
self-reflection i.e. learning.
Conflicts are inherent in story telling and adventure games are built up around
the resolution of such conflicts. The story line could therefore introduce a conflict
within the game world that can draw the player into it, in such a way that the
player internalises the conflict in the form of a cognitive dis-equilibrium. The flow
of the game should then keep the player motivated and interested in resolving
this conflict. The purpose of applying these motivators is to help focus the
player’s attention or psychic energy on the goals of the game. This psychic
energy serves as the fuel for solving the conflict and thus alleviate the player’s
state of dis-equilibrium. By solving the game, the player will have resolved his
state of dis-equilibrium and learned the material.
From a combination of Flow and the adventure game genre, there are several
way in which to keep the player motivated.
Manifestation of conflict
Csikszentmihalyi has found that passive activities like watching television do not
require much concentration. They are likely to be considered pleasurable as
opposed to enjoyable and thus not likely candidates for an “optimal experience”.
Out-of-game storytelling is similar to the lean-back activity of watching TV. It
may be considered pleasurable by the player, but it will not enhance a state of
flow. At the same time, in-game storytelling is more likely to leave the player
with a felling of being engaged. In this way, we would suggest finding a balance
between the two that gives the game enough back story to let the player identify
with its conflict balanced with in-game story telling positioning the player as an
active participant in the conflicts resolution within the game world.
Consistency of style
The conflicts within the game do not have to be realistic; they do however have
to realistic in relation to the game universe. For suspension of disbelief or to
identify with the conflict, the gaming world has to be internally coherent.
Graphics, storyline, characters etc all have to have a relationship, which make
sense within the game world. Its not necessarily about expensive and elaborate
3d games, its about a believable universe. When a player identifies with conflict
in the game, he will also have a personal reason to resolve it.
Balance between reflective and experiential cognition
A game should inspire a balance between both experiential and reflective
cognitive processes. Adventure games are geared around a methodical searching
for clues and solving of bits of a puzzle to learn about an ongoing story. These
are highly reflective activities thus it seems important to deliberately integrate
some twitch elements to enhance possibilities for a state of flow. This could be
done by incorporating an element of time. For example upon receiving a message
from a nearby satellite about an encroaching meteor the player finds that he has
30 seconds to redirect the space station so as not to get hit. After some practice,
and becoming familiar with the controls, he will be comfortable when messages
like that come in.
Anxiety vs. Boredom
The challenges that are faced when solving the puzzles of an adventure are also
important to regulate. There should be a way to insure the likelihood that the
player is faced with challenges that seem possible to achieve while not being so
boring that they are not worth doing. If they are too easy or too hard at first, the
player should soon automatically reach an appropriately challenging level or have
an option to increase of decrease the difficulty level. This could be done for
example by allowing the player to give himself more time to complete a task or
increase the likelihood that a clue will be found.
Levels of Abstraction
When having to learn new terms and ideas, ‘viewing’ them from different levels of
abstraction can help a player understand these ideas. Computer’s multimedial
nature means it leands it self well to different levels of abstraction from an idea.
A term like frequency can be explained in text, it can be shown through an
illustration or as an interactive animation. All of these different levels of
abstraction can each explain the idea of frequency. The computer can be used to
illustrate these different levels and a player can therefore get a broader
understanding or focus on a level which fits his style.
It contributes to several of the components of an optimal experience by making
any task easier, helping the player get a sense of control over his actions while
contributing to his chances of losing himself in the game play.
Not really a tool box not really, not really an analysis apparatus but……

The student should be presented with a variety of different ways to view
or deal with a problem within the game.

The student’s communicative selections should be made visible to the
teacher and it should be possible for her to comment and furtherly guide
the student.

The student’s communicative selections should be made visible to other
students so they may comment on them giving the student the possibility
to reflect on this feedback.

The feedback processes from teachers and other students should happen
as in game storytelling or as external material.

A player should be able to identify with the conflict of the story in order to
keep him motivated towards its resolution.