1. What We Can Learn from Work
in “Serious” Video Games
Maya Israel, Ph.D.
College of Education
@misrael09
misrael@illinois.edu

2. Roadmap
Rationale for (video)gaming in STEM education
Preliminary data on gaming
Implications for Game Design

3. Qualifier…I’m talking about video games
• BUT……
this is my living room
closet.
• AND……
Info learned in video
game studies can
influence tabletop game
design!

4. How Popular are Video Games?
Digital games
generated $25 billion
in sales in 2010
Lenhart, A. (2008) Teens, video games and civics. Pew Internet and American Life Project
*Note: error +/- 3 points
Anderson, J.Q., & Rainie, L. (2012) The future of gamification. Pew Internet and American Life Project

5. In general, gaming promotes:
• Problem solving
• Collaboration
• Persistence in the face of
frustration
• Systems-thinking
• BUT….major disconnect between
commercial games and
educational ones
– Engagement gets lost!!!

6. What we know about STEM education…Many
are left behind
 STEM=Reading Test
 More new vocabulary than in the first
year of a high school foreign language
course
 Complex expository texts that limit of
poor readers’ comprehension
New information is covered at a rapid
pace
 Scientific method=Rigid ,multi-step process
 Laborious lab reports
 If you are not an efficient reader, you
won’t likely succeed in STEM

7. Preliminary Research on Gaming and Struggling
Learners
Can be more effective than
traditional instruction
Increases motivation
Promotes self-esteem
Improves skills for
extended periods after the
game ends (Beaumont &
Sofronoff, 2008)
But….data is inconsistent!
Accel
(Israel, Marino, Basham, & Spivak, in press)

8. Preferred Method of Learning Science
60
Some preliminary data
Percentage of Students
50
IEP
For disability
40
Below basic
Reader
30
Basic
Reader
Proficient
Reader
20
Advanced
10
Reader
0
No opinion
Read
Video game
Lab
Internet
Marino, Israel, Beecher, & Basham, 2013)

9. For example: Cross-Game Study
• Study Design: Multilevel Modeling
• 366 middle school students across all game conditions
• Looked at gender, reading ability, disability, attitudes
about science, and attitudes about video games

10. Results
• Students made gains across all gaming
conditions, but….
• Reading ability, gender, and attitudes about science
influenced outcomes across gaming conditions
– Cell Command: Interaction between gender and attitudes
about science/interest in STEM careers
– Crazy Plant Shop: Disability made a difference
– You Make Me Sick!: LOTS of interactions including
gender, attitudes about video games, and interactions
among gender and attitude variables
• WHY????
• Implications for Game Design????