Game Learning Analytics

Chapter 15 Reflection | Handbook of Learning Analytics

Identify and describe 4 key points. Discuss the implications/applications of the key points.

The authors of our text propose four “fundamental principles”: agency, engagement, growth, and social connection. Each of these principles must be “in-play” for game-based learning to be both “compelling gameplay and meaningful learning.”

Agency

Referring to the learner’s sense of control, a sense of agency helps learners grow and feel safe to fail, persist, and feel ownership of their learning. This principle aligns to the contructivist theory of cognitive development by establishing an environment where learners are motivated to explore and test new theories, thus making meaningful connections to your learning.

Engagement

Beyond the development of a flashy game learners want to play for fun, the authors describe an engaging game as one that promotes intrinsic motivation and a growth mindset in the learner. The development of these qualities affects the effectiveness of game learning and spills over into more formal learning settings.

Growth

Through guided play, scaffolding, and content alignment to game action, games can serve as “objects-to-think-with”. This means as a player progresses in the game, they also progress in their content knowledge. The game can act as the vehicle but the gas fueling the engine is the content acquisition made along the way.

Social Connection

Social connection emphasizes the role of collaboration and interaction with others in game-based learning, which ultimately supports learning. “Players of complex, multiplayer online games achieve reading levels almost three grade levels higher when socially engaging with other players on discussion boards (Lang et al., 2017a).” There is inherent motivation in human connection. We want to be heard, acknowledge, and respected by our piers- this is really the ultimate motivation. 

What points surprised/impressed you the most in this reading? Why?

The authors chose to align the four previously described “fundamental principles” to the “pillars of learning” initially formulated by Hirsh-Pasek et al. through research in the learning sciences and tailored them to address game-based learning specifically. I found this approach very impressive as it yields more buy-in from educators and develops a solid framework to build gamification into learning. 

Identify one new point of information that you learned from this reading and describe how it relates to the science of learning analytics.

In my previous discussion post for Chapter 15, I wrote about the following challenge: “When gamification and the reward systems focus on positive reinforcement outside of the learning outcome, ie coins to buy a new outfit for an avatar or something of the like, what happens to the long-term agency in learning? With gamification, we can find the intent of learning is diluted. What happens when digital tokens and whizbangs unrelated to the learning content trump metacognition around the reason for learning?

The final section, “Opportunities,” I learned about how the standardization of assessment of efficacy for learning across game platforms would be a way to build upon existing standardization frameworks in gaming but apply them or extend them to learning frameworks. This sounds like a need to focus on developing a system to transfer highly guarded student data between platforms and then have a set of standards-aligned to desired learning outcomes. Good interoperability will be critical. This relates to the science of learning analytics as data standardization gives analysts consistency in measurement. This consistency in metrics and assessment criteria makes it easier to compare student performance across different gaming platforms.

Regardless of how data is mined and framed, the learning analytics field must blaze a more precise trail in using GLA for instructional decisions. With engagement waning and the increasing teacher shortage, gamification stands to be a ubiquitous tool in the educational landscape.

Resource

Lang, C., Siemens, G., Wise, A. F., & Gašević, D. (2017b). Handbook of Learning Analytics. In Society for Learning Analytics Research (SoLAR) eBooks (2nd ed.). https://doi.org/10.18608/hla17