Games in the Classroom: Using Games

In the first article in this series, which appeared in the April!June 2009 issue of IEEE MultiMedia, we presented an overview of using games in the classroom, cited several examples of this approach, and linked the use of games with various cognitive models as they relate to computing education. Most of this work, and the general effectiveness of these approaches with regard to assessment activities, focused on the first-year introductory programming classroom that is typical in computing programs around the world. In this second part of our article, we describe two additional topics: the relation of games to educational models that stretch beyond the introductory sequence, and the important issue of gender as it relates to games as a motivational tool within the classroom. We present our own results in exploring approaches in this space in another article (see this issue’s Multimedia at Work column). Educational theories related to games All of examples from part 1 of this article have focused entirely on the introductory classroom, and specifically on the introductory programming sequence or courses directly related to this sequence downstream. But games as a relevant and exemplary application domain need not be restricted to introductory material. Furthermore, there are additional educational theories that hold direct relevance to using games across several different educational paradigms, from introductory students to the advanced classroom, and even independent research and exploration. Three of these theories are of particular note in their relevance to the incorporation of games in computing pedagogy: