Improving Physics Instruction by Analyzing Video Games

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Ian D. Beatty, Assistant Professor (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/

Abstract: Video games can be very powerful teaching systems, and game designers have become adept at optimizing player engagement while scaffolding development of complex skills and situated knowledge. One implication is that we might create games to teach physics. Another, which I explore here, is that we might learn to improve classroom physics instruction by studying effective games. James Gee, in his book What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy (2007), articulates 36 principles that make good video games highly effective as learning environments. In this theoretical work, I identify 16 themes running through Gee’s principles, and explore how these themes and Gee’s principles could be applied to the design of an on-campus physics course. I argue that the process pushes us to confront aspects of learning that physics instructors and even physics education researchers generally neglect, and suggest some novel ideas for course design.

Additional Information

Publication
Proceedings of the 2012 Physics Education Research Conference
Language: English
Date: 2012
Keywords
video games, learning principles, instructional design, instructional innovation

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