Abstract

Master the craft of game design so you can create that elusive combination of challenge, competition, and interaction that players seek. This design workshop begins with an examination of the fundamental elements of game design; then puts you to work in prototyping, playtesting, and redesigning your own games with exercises that teach essential design skills. Workshop exercises require no background in programming or artwork, releasing you from the intricacies of electronic game production, so you can develop a working understanding of ...

Abstract

We argue that reform in curriculum and instruction should be based on allowing students to problematize the subject. Rather than mastering skills and applying them, students should be engaged in resolving problems. In mathematics, this principle fits under the umbrella of problem solving, but our interpretation is different from many problem-solving approaches. We first note that the history of problem solving in the curriculum has been infused with a distinction between acquiring knowledge and applying it. We then propose our alternative ...

Abstract

Four software designers present a catalog of simple and succinct solutions to commonly occurring design problems, using Smalltalk and C++ in example code. These 23 patterns allow designers to create more flexible, elegant, and ultimately reusable designs without having to rediscover the design solutions themselves. The authors begin by describing what patterns are and how they can help you design object-oriented software. They go on to systematically name, explain, evaluate, and catalog recurring designs in object-oriented systems.--From publisher description. ...

Abstract

"People sometimes ask me what they should read to find out about artificial intelligence. Herbert Simon's book The Sciences of the Artificial is always on the list I give them. Every page issues a challenge to conventional thinking, and the layman who digests it well will certainly understand what the field of artificial intelligence hopes to accomplish. I recommend it in the same spirit that I recommend Freud to people who ask about psychoanalysis, or Piaget to those who ask about child psychology: If you want to ...

Abstract

Graphics have been used since ancient times to portray things that are inherently spatiovisual, like maps and building plans. More recently, graphics have been used to portray things that are metaphorically spatiovisual, like graphs and organizational charts. The assumption is that graphics can facilitate comprehension, learning, memory, communication and inference. Assumptions aside, research on static graphics has shown that only carefully designed and appropriate graphics prove to be beneficial for conveying complex systems. Effective graphics conform to the Congruence Principle according ...

Abstract

<I>Design Patterns</I> is a modern classic in the literature of object-oriented development, offering timeless and elegant solutions to common problems in software design. It describes patterns for managing object creation, composing objects into larger structures, and coordinating control flow between objects. The book provides numerous examples where using composition rather than inheritance can improve the reusability and flexibility of code. Note, though, that it's not a tutorial but a catalog that you can use to find an object-oriented design pattern that's ...

Note (first note only)

"One thing expert designers know not to do is solve every problem from first principles. Rather, they reuse solutions that have worked for them in the past. When they find a good solution, they use it again and again. Such experience is part of what makes them experts. Consequently, you’ll find recurring patterns of classes and communicating objects in many object-oriented systems. These patterns solve specific design problems and make object-oriented designs more flexible, elegant, and ultimately reusable. They help designers

Abstract

As Bednar, Cunningham, Duffy, and Perry (1995) argued, instructional strategies and tools must be based on some theory of learning and cognition. Of course, crafting well-articulated views that clearly answer the major epistemological questions of human learning has exercised psychologists and educators for centuries. What is a mind? What does it mean to know something? How is our knowledge represented and manifested? Many educators prefer an eclectic approach, selecting "principles and techniques from the many theoretical perspectives in much the same ...

Abstract

<I>Simulations and the Future of Learning</I> offers trainers and educators the information and perspective they need to understand, design, build, and deploy computer simulations for this generation. Looking back on his recent first-hand experience as lead designer for an advanced leadership development simulation, author Clark Aldrich has created a detailed case study of the creation and deployment of an e-learning simulation that had the development cycle of a modern computer game. With this book Aldrich, a leader in the e-learning field, ...

Abstract

The digital revolution necessitates, but also makes possible, radical changes in how and what we learn. This book describes a set of innovative educational research projects at the MIT Media Laboratory, illustrating how new computational technologies can transform our conceptions of learning, education, and knowledge. The book draws on real-world education experiments conducted in formal and informal contexts: from inner-city schools and university labs to neighborhoods and after-school clubhouses. The papers in this book are divided in four interrelated sections as follows: * _Perspectives in Constructionism_ further develops the ...

Abstract

<p>This is the classic work upon which modern-day game theory is based. What began more than sixty years ago as a modest proposal that a mathematician and an economist write a short paper together blossomed, in 1944, when Princeton University Press published <i>Theory of Games and Economic Behavior</i>. In it, John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern conceived a groundbreaking mathematical theory of economic and social organization, based on a theory of games of strategy. Not only would this revolutionize economics, but ...

Abstract

This interdisciplinary work presents an integration of theory and research on how children develop their thinking as they participate in cultural activity with the guidance and challenge of their caregivers and other companions. The author, a leading developmental psychologist, views development as an apprenticeship in which children engage in the use of intellectual tools in societally structured activities with parents, other adults, and children. The author has gathered evidence from various disciplines--cognitive, developmental, and cultural psychology; anthropology; infancy studies; and communication ...

Abstract

<i>The Game Design Reader</i> is a one-of-a-kind collection on game design and criticism, from classic scholarly essays to cutting-edge case studies. A companion work to Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman's textbook <i>Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals</i>, <i>The Game Design Reader</i> is a classroom sourcebook, a reference for working game developers, and a great read for game fans and players.<br /> <br /> Thirty-two essays by game designers, game critics, game fans, philosophers, anthropologists, media theorists, and others consider fundamental questions: ...

Abstract

A video game is half-real: we play by real rules while imagining a fictional world. We win or lose the game in the real world, but we slay a dragon (for example) only in the world of the game. In this thought-provoking study, Jesper Juul examines the constantly evolving tension between rules and fiction in video games. Discussing games from <i>Pong</i> to <i>The Legend of Zelda</i>, from chess to <i>Grand Theft Auto</i>, he shows how video games are both a departure ...

Abstract

You have heard about how a musician loses herself in her music, how a painter becomes one with the process of painting. In work, sport, conversation or hobby, you have experienced, yourself, the suspension of time, the freedom of complete absorption in activity. This is "flow," an experience that is at once demanding and rewarding--an experience that Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi demonstrates is one of the most enjoyable and valuable experiences a person can have. The exhaustive case studies, controlled experiments and innumerable ...

Abstract

Peer-evaluation is a powerful method for fostering learning in a variety of contexts. Yet challenges of application in contexts involving personal values received little attention. This study used a design-based research approach to explore such challenges in an undergraduate educational-philosophy course. The study was organized in three design-and-implementation iterations of a peer evaluation activity. Discrepancies between student and instructor scores were explained by bias due to non-objective student personal stands. Refinements to the design, based on emerging design principles a) assisted ...

Abstract

Wireless and mobile devices are beginning to offer stunning new technical capabilities for collaborative learning. Yet, researchers in this field must recognize the importance of complementing these technical advances with improved understanding of the patterns of classroom activity that most need support. Our approach is to create conceptual tools that help us think and talk about technology-supported collaborative learning. A particularly powerful tool, we have found, is Collaborative Design Patterns, which capture common learning situations and tradeoffs in written form. ...

Abstract

In this study, we describe a mechanism to support designers in sharing and building design knowledge. The Design Principles Database was developed as an infrastructure for designers to publish, connect, discuss and review design ideas. The database is intended to be built by and serve the community of educational software designers. In this study we examine how the activities of a two-week workshop with educational software designers helped participants synthesize their knowledge. Our outcomes are based on qualitative analysis of online ...

Abstract

The value of involving people as 'users' or 'participants' in the design process is increasingly becoming a point of debate. In this paper we describe a new framework, called 'informant design', which advocates efficiency of input from different people: maximizing the value of contributions from various informants and design team members at different stages of the design process. To illustrate how this can be achieved we describe a project that uses children and teachers as informants at different stages to help ...

Abstract

Narrative is fundamental to the ways we make sense of texts of all kinds because it provides structure and coherence, but it is difficult to see how this works in the context of multimedia interactive learning environments (MILES). We tested our hypotheses about the form and function of narrative in MILES by developing three versions of material on CD-ROM which had different narrative structures and analysed the impact of the different versions on learner behaviour. We present a theoretical framework in ...

Abstract

Design plays a central role in a range of subjects at different educational levels. Students have to acquire the knowledge necessary for the execution of tasks that enable them to construct an artefact or model that can be tested by simulation and that satisfies some requirements and verifies some constraints. They achieve this by means of a design process. In some design domains there is a lack of teaching tools from a learner-centred perspective. Moreover, when these domains are complex, the ...

Abstract

This article reviews the literature on the role that children can play in the design of information technology applications intended for young users themselves. It discusses several relevant design theories--user-centered design, contextual design (CD) or inquiry, participatory design (PD), cooperative inquiry, informant design, and learner-centered design--looks at usability issues in relation to design and children, and presents a number of studies in which children have been actively involved in the design both of software and Web portals. Designers are finding that ...

Abstract

Mathematics education (didactics of mathematics) cannot grow without close relationships to mathematics, psychology, pedagogy and other areas. However, there is the risk that by adopting standards, methods and research contexts from other well-established disciplines, the applied nature of mathematics education may be undermined. In order to preserve the specific status and the relative autonomy of mathematics education, the suggestion to conceive of mathematics education as a lsquodesign sciencersquo is made. ...