1. Serious Games/Simulation
Use in Online Courses
Jim Grenier
Mass Bay Community College
Peter Shea
Middlesex Community College

2. Session Description
Serious games/simulations are a multibillion-dollar industry that has
the potential to be a disruptive force in education at all levels.
This presentation/discussion will address such issues as using
games/sims in online courses for student performance data collection
and assessment, customizing instruction with games/sims, and
overcoming obstacles to integrating games/sims in the curriculum, as
well the possible solutions to these implementation issues.

3. Presenters
Peter Shea
Director, Office of Professional Development
Middlesex Community College (Massachusetts)
E-mail: sheap@Middlesex.mass.edu
J.M. Grenier
Director of Online Education
Massachusetts Bay Community College
E-mail: jgrenier@massbay.edu

4. You can discover more about a person in
an hour of play than in a year of
conversation.
Plato

5. Definitions
 A simulation is an “interactive environment in which
features in the environment behave similarly to real-
word events.” (Clark & Meyer, 2003).
 “A serious game is a game in which education (in its
various forms) is the primary goal, rather than
entertainment.” (Chen, 2006)

6. Important Terms
 “Educational data mining (EDM) refers to the process of extracting useful information out of a
large collection of complex educational data sets (Berland, Baker, & Blikstein, 2014 ).
 “Academic analytics (AA) is the identification of meaningful patterns in educational data in
order to inform academic issues (e.g., retention, success rates) and produce actionable
“strategies” in budgeting, human resources, etc. (Long & Siemens, 2011 ).”
 “Learning analytics (LA) emphasizes on insights and responses to real-time learning
processes based on educational information from digital learning environments, administrative
systems, and social platforms. Such dynamic educational information is used for real-time
interpretation, modeling, prediction, and optimization of learning processes, learning
environments, and educational decision- making in near real time (Ifenthaler &
Widanapathirana, 2014 ).”
[Source: Loh, C., Shang, Y., & Ifenthaler, D. (Eds.). (2014). Serious Games Analytics: Methodologies for
performance measurement, assessment, and improvement]

7. Emerging Market for Serious Games
& Simulations
[Source: Ambient Insight. The 2012-2017 Worldwide Game-based Learning and Simulation-based Markets
Key Findings from Recent Ambient Insight Research. Presentation for Serious Play Conference 2013.
http://goo.gl/6WL39G]

8. Example of a Serious Game with LAD
Screenshot of Agent Surefire game space Screenshot of Agent Surefire Player LAD
[Source: Mavi Interactive]

9. Example: Gravitalent
[Source: You Tube]

10. Example of a Simulation with LAD
Simformer offers a learning management system which provides both
an LAD for student players tracking the success of their virtual
businesses as a well as a LAD that provides instructors data on student
performance in the simulation. [Source: Simformer]

11. “We overestimate student knowledge and thus
build new knowledge on a shaky foundation.”
(Ambrose et al., 2010)

12. How is Simulation or Game-based
Assessment Different from Traditional
Educational Assessment?

13. Sim Tools
[Source: www.branchtrack.com]

14. Examples of Serious Games
Nobel Prize Website – Displays several games in different content
areas. http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/
FunBrain – Great website for K-8, both for students and teachers.
www.funbrain.com
Educational Learning Games – boasts over 4000 games for
education. http://www.educationallearninggames.com/

15. Examples of Simulations
 Churchfire https://www.middlesex.mass.edu/RLOs/661/Armstrong-
churchfire.htm
 Evil Landlady (Cultural Competence)
http://www.halfbakedsoftware.com/quandary/version_2/examples/landlady.htm
 Rhet Sims https://www.middlesex.mass.edu/TitleIII/rhetsim.aspx

16. Advantages of Game-Based
Assessment
"The greatest advantage of an in situ analysis algorithm built ... into the game
engine is that it allows for ad hoc (formative) assessment. This means that
stakeholders can access the assessment report as the game is still in
progress, without waiting for play-learners to complete the entire game." (Loh
et al.,2014)
[Source: Loh, C., Shang, Y., & Ifenthaler, D. (Eds.). (2014). Serious Games Analytics: Methodologies for
performance measurement, assessment, and improvement]

17. Paradigm Shifting
“If great lecture is theatre,
the future of learning is
games.”
Anant Agarwhal – President, EdX
[Source: Inaugural Celebration Symposium: The Future of Education.
2012 MIT Alumni Leadership Conference
.http://storify.com/mitalc/2012-mit-alumni-leadership-conference]

18. Recommended Reading
 Aldrich, C. (2009). The Complete Guide to Simulations & Serious Games: How the
Most Valuable Content Will Be Created in the Age Beyond Gutenberg to Google.
San Francisco, CA: Pfieffer
 Kapp, K. (2012). The Gamification of Learning and Instruction: Game-based
Methods and Strategies for Training and Education. Pfieffer.
 Loh, C., Shang, Y., & Ifenthaler, D. (Eds.). (2014). Serious Games Analytics:
Methodologies for Performance Measurement, Assessment, and Improvement.
Springer.
 Mayer, R (2014). Computer-Based Games for Learning: An Evidence Based
Approach. Cambridge: MIT Press
 Michael, D & Chen, S. (2006) Serious Games: Games that Educate, Train, and
Inform. Boston: Thomson

19. All play means something.
- Johan Huizinga, Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element in Culture
[Special thanks to our friend Nikki Boots, PhD for
some of the slide content]