Games, gamification and game-based learning have entered into the vocabulary of educators, eLearning developers and instructional designers from around the global in the past few years. Games have a seductive force and are seen as a great tool in creating engaging and interactive instruction. But are they effective for learning? What does the research tell us? We’ll explore some of the research around games, gamification and virtual worlds while creating links between research and virtual world actions and interactions. The use of games for learning seems like a good match, but we can’t blindly take it for granted. Instead, we need to explore questions to make sure the intuitive link between games, gamification and virtual worlds reaches its full potential. In this keynote, we’ll answer questions like: How does one mix virtual world and game-based learning experiences? How should games be integrated into a curriculum? Can attitudes and behavior change result from playing a game in a virtual world? What elements of games can learning designers borrow from game designers? Can flying around as a superhero in a virtual world make you a nicer person? Discover evidence-based techniques for increasing online engagement, interactivity and, most importantly, learning.

1. Reaching the Engagement
Horizon in Virtual Worlds
Karl Kapp
Professor: Bloomsburg University
Author: Gamification of Learning and
Instruction
Twitter:@kkapp

2. Lynda.com Course: Gamification of LearningYouTube Video
Web Site: www.karlkapp.com
Books
Getting in touch with Karl
Twitter: @kkapp
Web: www.karlkapp.com
Email: karlkapp.com :
http://www.facebook.com/gamificationLI

3. For:
Notes/Slides
Additional Ideas
www.karlkapp.com
www.karlkapp.com/kapp-notes

4. What is “Gamification?”

5. Structural
Gamification is
use of game-
elements to propel
a learner through
content with no
alteration or
changes to the
content.
Structural:
 Points
 Badges
 Leaderboard

6. Content
Gamification use
of game thinking
to alter content
to make it more
game-like but
doesn’t turn the
content into a
game.
Content:
 Challenge
 Story
 Characters
 Missions

7. Why might an instructor use
games in a virtual world?

8. Why might an instructor use
lectures in a virtual world?

9. Lectures are NOT effective for
fostering higher level thinking?
Gibbs, G., (1981). Twenty Terrible Reasons for Lecturing, SCED Occasional Paper No. 8, Birmingham.
http://www.brookes.ac.uk/services/ocsld/resources/20reasons.html and Bligh, D., (1972). What’s the Use of Lectures? Penguin.
Bloom, B. S., (1953). “Thought Processes in Lectures and Discussions.” Journal of General Education Vol. 7.
Isaacs, G., (1994). “Lecturing Practices and Note-taking Purposes.” Studies in Higher Education, 19:2.

10. During lectures
students' thoughts
involved attempting to
solve problems, or
synthesize or inter-
relate information for
1% of the time.
78% of the lecture
is spent in ‘passive
thoughts about
the subject’ and
‘irrelevant
thoughts’.

11. Lectures are not a
very effective way of
teaching… if the aim is
to teach thinking,
…or to change
attitudes or other
higher aims beyond
the simple
transmission of
factual knowledge.

12. Instruction with learning
games yields higher gains
in learning and retention
than traditional instruction.
Statistics are from: Sitzmann, T. (2011) A meta-analytic examination of the instructional effectiveness of computer-based simulation games.
Personnel Psychology .Review of 65 studies
Confirmed findings (not statistics): Wouters, P., van Nimwegen, C., van Oostendorp, H., & vam der S[el. E.D. (2013), February 4). A
Meta-Analysis of the Cognitive and Motivational Effects of Serious Games. Journal of Educational Psychology. Advanced online
publication. Doi: 10.1037/a0031311 39 Studies. Review of 39 studies 54% conducted in the last year.

13. Type of
Knowledge
/Retention
% Higher
Declarative 11%
Procedural 14%
Retention 9%
Percentages of Impact Over
Traditional Training

14. Type of
Knowledge
/Retention
% Higher
Declarative 11%
Procedural 14%
Retention 9%
Percentages of Impact Over
Traditional Training
17% Higher than
Lectures
5% Higher than
Discussion

15. Percentages of Impact
Type of
Knowledge
/Retention
% Higher
Declarative 11%
Procedural 14%
Retention 9%
It wasn’t the game, it was level
of activity in the game.
In other words, the engagement
of the learner in the game leads
to learning.

16. Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics
Scott Freemana,1, Sarah L. Eddya, Miles McDonougha, Michelle K. Smithb, Nnadozie Okoroafora, Hannah Jordta,
and Mary Pat Wenderotha. PNAS Early Edition (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)

17. Virtual Worlds are the Ideal
Environment for Engagement

18. Games can promote pro-
social behaviors.

21. First Experiment indicated that playing the
game Darfur is Dying resulted in a greater
willingness to help the Darfurian people than
reading a text conveying same information.
Peng, W., Lee, M., & Heeter. (2010) The effects of a serious game on role taking and willingness to help. Journal of
Communications. 60, 723-724. Chapter 5 of “The Gamificaiton of Learning and Instruction.

22. Second Experiment indicated that playing
the game Darfur is Dying resulted in a
greater role taking and willingness to help
than either game watching or text reading.
Peng, W., Lee, M., & Heeter. (2010) The effects of a serious game on role taking and willingness to help. Journal of
Communications. 60, 723-724. Chapter 5 of “The Gamificaiton of Learning and Instruction.

23. Fostering Pro-Social
Behavior
Greitemeyer, T. & Osswald, S. (2010) Effective of Prosocial games on prosocial behavior.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Vol. 98 . No. 2., 211-221.

24. 28% helped to
pick up pencils

25. 33% helped to
pick up pencils

26. 67% helped to
pick up pencils

27. City Crisis

28. 22% intervened

29. 56% intervened

30. Games Must be Embedded
into the Curriculum to be
Effective for Learning.

31. Engagement
PedagogyGame
Educational
Simulation
Instructional games should be embedded in
instructional programs that include
debriefing and feedback.
Instructional support to help learners
understand how to use the game increases
instructional effectiveness of the gaming
experience.
Hays, R. T. (2005). The effectiveness of instructional games: A literature review and
discussion. Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division (No 2005-004). Chapter 4
“The Gamification of Learning and Instruction.”
Sitzmann, T. (2011) A meta-analytic examination of the instructional effectiveness
of computer-based simulation games. Personnel Psychology .Review of 65 studies

32. Example
Wouters, P., van Nimwegen, C., van Oostendorp, H., & van der Sek E.D. (2013), February 4).
A Meta-Analysis of the Cognitive and Motivational Effects of Serious Games. Journal of Educational Psychology.
Advanced online publication. Doi: 10.1037/a0031311 39 Studies.
1. Teach & talk
about what will be
learned.
2. Explore Virtual World. 3. Debrief about what was
learned.

33. Games are more effective
than traditional instruction
when multiple sessions are
involved.
I would argue…Virtual
Worlds are also more
effective with multiple
sessions.

34. Conventional instruction for a one-off is better vs. one game session
Multiple game sessions better than
multiple conventional sessions
Wouters, P., van Nimwegen, C., van Oostendorp, H., & vam der S[el. E.D. (2013), February 4).
A Meta-Analysis of the Cognitive and Motivational Effects of Serious Games. Journal of Educational Psychology.
Advanced online publication. Doi: 10.1037/a0031311 39 Studies.

35. Games are more effective
than traditional instruction
when players work in groups.

36. Wouters, P., van Nimwegen, C., van Oostendorp, H., & vam der S[el.
E.D. (2013), February 4). A Meta-Analysis of the Cognitive and
Motivational Effects of Serious Games. Journal of Educational
Psychology. Advanced online publication. Doi: 10.1037/a0031311
39 Studies.
With serious games, both learners playing
individually and those playing in a group learn
more than the comparison group, but learners
who play serious games in a group learn more

37. What elements lead to
learning in virtual worlds?

38. Challenge
Jones, B., Valdez, G., Norakowski, J., & Rasmussen, C. (1994). Designing learning and technology
for educational reform. North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. [Online]. Available:
http://www.ncrtec.org/capacity/profile/profwww.htm and Schlechty, P. C. (1997). Inventing
better schools: An action plan for educational reform. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Chapter 2
“The Gamification of Learning and Instruction.”

39. Third Person View
Carey, B. (2007) This is Your Life (and How You Tell it). The New York Times. And Sestir, M. & Green, M. C. (2010). You
are who you watch: Identification and transportation effects on temporary self-concept. Social Influence, 5, 272-288
and research by Libby, L.K., Shaeffer, E.M., Eibach, R.P., & Slemmer, J.A. ( 2007) Picture yourself at the polls: Visual
perspective in mental imagery affects self-perception and behavior. Psychological Science. Vol. 18: 199-203.

40. “Seeing oneself as acting in a movie or a play is not merely
fantasy or indulgence; it is fundamental to how people work
out who it is they are, and may become.” Ben Casey

41. Rosenberg, R.S. Baughman, S.L., Bailenson, J.N. (2013) Virtual Superheroes:
Using Superpowers in Virtual Reality to Encourage Prosocial Behavior. PLOS One., 8(1), 1-9.
Flying around a virtual world
as a superhero made subjects
nicer in the real world. physical
world
Characters

42. Why be a Character at
All?
Research indicates that human
social models influence behavior,
beliefs and attitudes.
Bandura, A. 1986 Social foundations of thought and action: a social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ, USA: Prentice-Hall.

43. Avatar as Teacher
Research indicates that learners perceive, interact
socially with and are influenced by anthropomorphic
agents (avatars) even when their functionality and
adaptability are limited.
Baylor, A. 2009 Promoting motivation with virtual agents and avatars: R ole of visual presence and appearance. Philosophical
Transactions of the Royal B Society. 364, 3559–3565

44. Story

45. Story

46. Researchers have found that the
human brain has a natural affinity for
narrative construction.
Yep, People tend to remember facts
more accurately if they encounter
them in a story rather than in a list.
And they rate legal arguments as more
convincing when built into narrative
tales rather than on legal precedent.
Carey, B. (2007) this is Your Life (and How You Tell it). The New York Times. Melanie Green
http://www.unc.edu/~mcgreen/research.html. Chapter 2 “The Gamification of Learning and
Instruction.

47. 1) Create challenges in the virtual world.
2) Use the virtual world environment to tell stories.
3) The avatar is an important element in virtual world learning.
4) The third person perspective in a virtual world is important for learning.
5) Virtual worlds are more effective than traditional instruction when
players work in groups.
6) Virtual worlds are more effective for learning when multiple sessions are
involved.
7) Embed the use of the virtual world as a natural part of the curriculum.
8) Virtual Worlds can influence people to behave in a pro-social manner.
9) Engagement is what leads to learning.
Reaching the Engagement Horizon

48. Questions And Resources
www.karlkapp.com/kapp-notes
Karl M. Kapp
Twitter: @kkapp
Email: kkapp@bloomu.edu
BLOG: http://karlkapp.com/kapp-notes/
Content torn from the
pages.
Lynda.com Course: Gamification of Learning

49. Questions/More Information
• Email: karlkapp@gmail.com
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• Twitter: @kkapp
• Pinterest: Gamification Happenings
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