Edited by Fran C. Blumberg
There is a growing recognition in the learning sciences that video games can no longer be seen as impediments to education, but rather, they can be developed to enhance learning. Educational and developmental psychologists, education researchers, media psychologists, and cognitive psychologists
are now joining game designers and developers in seeking out new ways to use video game play in the classroom.
In Learning by Playing, a diverse group of contributors provide perspectives on the most current thinking concerning the ramifications of leisure video game play for academic
classroom learning. The first section of the text provides foundational understanding of the cognitive skills and content knowledge that children and adolescents acquire and refine during video game play. The second section explores game features that captivate and promote skills development among
game players. The subsequent sections discuss children and adolescents' learning in the context of different types of games and the factors that contribute to transfer of learning from video game play to the classroom. These chapters then form the basis for the concluding section of the text: a
specification of the most appropriate research agenda to investigate the academic potential of video game play, particularly using those games that child and adolescent players find most compelling.
Contributors include researchers in education, learning sciences, and cognitive and
developmental psychology, as well as instructional design researchers.
Part I. Introduction and Overview
1. Fran C. Blumberg, Debby Almonte, Yishai Barkhardori, & Andrew Leno: Academic Lessons from Video Game Learning
Part II. Theoretical and Cognitive Perspectives: How Should We Think About Learning in Video Games?
2. Susan M. Barnett:
Virtual to Real Life: Assessing Transfer of Learning from Video Games
3. C. Shawn Green: The Perceptual and Cognitive Effects of Action Video Game Experience
4. John R. Best: Relations between Video Gaming and Children's Executive Functioning
5. Corinne Zimmerman: Developing Scientific
Thinking in the Context of Video Games: Where to Next?
6. Akane Zusho, Jared S. Anthony, Naoko Hashimoto, and Gerard Robertson: Do Video Games Provide Motivation to Learn?
7. K. Anders Ericsson, Jong Sung Yoon, and Walter R. Boot: What We Know About How Experts Attain Their Superior
Performance: Implications for the Use of Video Games and Game Training in Schools
8. John L. Sherry: Media Effects, Communication, and Complexity Science Insights on Game Learning
9. Douglas A. Gentile, Chris Groves, and J. Ronald Gentile: The General Learning Model: Unveiling the Teaching
Potential of Video Games
Part III. Game Design Perspectives: How Should We Design Educational Video Games?
10. Celia Hodent: Toward a Playful and Usable Education
11. Matthew Gaydos: Educational Video Games: Two Tools for Research and Development
12. James Bachhuber: Formative
Research for Game Design
13. Debra A. Lieberman, Erica Biely, Chan L.Thai, and Susana Peinado: Transfer of Learning from Video Game Play to the Classroom
Part IV. Learning in practice: How Should We Study Learning in Video Games For Transfer To Academic Tasks?
14. Shalom M. Fisch,
Richard Lesh, Elizabeth Motoki, Sandra Crespo, and Vincent Melfi: Cross-Platform Learning: How Do Children Learn from Multiple Media?
15. Sandra L. Calvert, Bradley J. Bond, and Amanda E. Staiano: Electronic Game Changers for the Obesity Crisis
16. Osvaldo Jiminez, Ugochi Acholonu, and Dylan
Arena: Tug-of-War: Seeking Help while Playing an Educational Card Game
17. Jodi Asbell-Clarke and Elizabeth Rowe: Scientific Inquiry in Digital Games
18. Keith Roe and Anne Dickmeis: Computer Games and Education: A Multi-Dimensional Relationship
19. Michael A. Evans, Brett D. Jones, and
Jennifer Biedler: Video Games, Motivation, and Learning
20. John B. Black, Saadia A. Khan, Shih-Chieh Doug Huang:
21. Kasey L. Powers and Patricia J. Brooks: Evaluating the Specificity of Effects of Video-game Training
Part V. Conclusion
22. Michael E. Levine, Lori Takeuchi,
and Sarah E. Vaala: Games in a Digital Age: Supporting a New Ecology of Learning
There are no Instructor/Student Resources available at this time.
Fran Blumberg is Associate Professor of Psychological and Educational Services at Fordham University.
