Think Games on the Fly, Not Gamify: Issues in Game-Based Learning Research.

Abstract

From Space Invaders to Call of Duty, from Super Mario Bros. to Grand Theft Auto, video games have come a long way since the early 1970s. Still, educators continue to struggle to identify the beneficial properties of games that might engage and motivate students at all levels, from K-12 students and college undergraduates to medical students and residents. To better understand the pedagogic value of video games, we must first differentiate terms like “game” versus “simulation,” and we must be clear how instructional design principles commonly associated with “gamification” are related to well-known principles of behaviorism (eg, reinforcement, reward, contingency schedules). Four decades after Pong's debut, much of the potential of learning from playing video games remains overlooked, and educators will not be able to make use of that potential until the secrets of great game design are unlocked. In this perspective we seek to give educators the key to game-based learning in hopes that they might see how contemporary theories of thinking and learning, games and play, can inform the reenvisioning of instructional practices in graduate medical education.