CONTENTS
3 LITERATURE REVIEW
3.2 Towards a serious game framework for educational tabletop games with digital components: SLR 2
3.2.4 Code discussion and explanation
The following discussion unfolds according to the first four code groups: (i) curriculum;
(ii) game elements; (iii) game mechanics; and (iv) game dynamics.
• Curriculum
The key aspects related to curriculum identified in the articles were (i) assessment, (ii) real-life-engagement, (iii) game purpose, (iv) knowledge, (v) pedagogical skills, (vi) pervasive skills, (vii) content scaffolding, and (viii) teaching and learning. These key aspects correspond to the stance of experts in higher education on the incorporation of skills and real-life scenarios into curriculum development, not only for the 21st-century (Table 6) but also for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Gleason, 2018; Penprase, 2018), thereby underwriting the use of serious games as a teaching tool for 21st-century classrooms (Ibrahim & Jaafar, 2009). The term or code scaffolding was included in the curriculum code group to address the scaffolding of curriculum content. However, scaffolding was also addressed in the game elements code group as its focus is on
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addressing different levels of play and/or feedback to players during play (Table 7).
Furthermore, the term or code engagement was addressed in the curriculum code group as well as the game elements code group. In the curriculum code group, engagement was seen as the engagement between students as part of curriculum outcomes, whereas in the game elements code group, engagement was seen as how students engage with the game during gameplay.
The key codes indicated in Tables 6–9 (28 key codes in total) are grounded and indicated as a number beneath each code. Codes were grounded to indicate the scrutinizing of the 21 articles, which involved naming each word, line, or segment of data followed by a focused, selective phase that used the most significant or frequent initial codes to sort, synthesize, integrate, and organize the data from the 21 articles. Table 6 showcases how the curriculum code group was analyzed through the creation of eight different codes.
Table 6. Key code findings in the curriculum code group
CODE GROUP: CURRICULUM Knowledge
[13]
Content scaffolding [1]
Teaching and learning
[19]
Pervasive skills [34]
Prior experience Series of actions Focus on problem-solving
21st-century skills
Prior knowledge Learning cycles Immersion
Learning layers Target audience Fidelity
Learning style – the obtainment of knowledge through visuals, audio, reading, and writing
Game genre Situated learning
Repetition Technology
Evaluation Learning objectives
Pedagogical consideration
Facilitation of learning Pedagogical
construction Goal
55 Game purpose
[15]
Pedagogical skills [33]
Real-life-engagement [9]
Assessment [4]
Goal Practice Feeling of being
present
Comprehension Pedagogical approach Repetition Identification Application Purpose Gaining of experience Relating Bloom’s taxonomy
Activity Communication High focus
Interaction Teamwork
Facilitation Social connectedness Critical thinking Decision making Logical thinking Planning
Challenge Resourcefulness
Most of these codes were drawn from terms or key phrases usually referred to in academic discussions regarding curriculum and curriculum design (Ainsworth, 2011).
Furthermore, the terms or codes referred to in Table 6 were purposefully used to address serious game design in accountancy education as they are commonly used in the SAICA competency framework. Each of the eight codes was mapped and the keywords were deduced to showcase what aspects of the curriculum need to be considered when using and designing serious games as a teaching and learning tool. The disparity in the use and design of serious games, as suggested through the code analysis in Atlas.ti™, is that details on curriculum content scaffolding for enabling students to achieve curriculum outcomes are not commonly addressed or explained. Content scaffolding was, for example, only mentioned or explained once, while codes such as pervasive (34) and pedagogical skills (33) were continually explained. Thus, when setting or developing a framework for educational tabletop games, it is crucial to address the scaffolding of learning content within the framework.
• Game elements
Previous studies have found that serious games provide immersion, motivation, fun, and a high level of engagement, which are crucial for successful learning (Ibrahim & Jaafar, 2009). Keywords such as “immersion,” “motivation,” and “fun” are referred to as game elements when used in accordance with the term serious games (Whyte, Smyth, & Scherf, 2015). These elements may include but are not limited to motivation, different levels or scaffolding of play, feedback, reward, and choice (Whyte et al., 2015). These keywords were used as codes in the analysis of game elements and are presented in Table 7.
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Table 7. Key code findings in the game elements code group
CODE GROUP: GAME ELEMENTS Achievement
[4]
Game engagement [16]
Challenge [20]
Game flow [28]
Scoring Communication Levels Participation
Resources Immersion Objectives Challenge
Recognition Social Competition Motivation
Feedback Multiplayer Social interaction Feeling of time Conceptualization Comfort
conceptualized
Activity
Balance Feedback
Tasks Immersion
Esthetics [1]
Graphics [17]
Scaffold of levels [6]
Reward [4]
Thematic Clear Multiple levels Reward system
Visual appeal Fun Complicity Feedback system
Digital components Related to art Layers
Balance Competition
Digital components [7]
Balance
As showcased in Table 7, the game elements code group was divided into nine codes.
The purpose of this table is to indicate that inexperienced lecturers who endeavor to design games as a teaching and learning tool must consider a vast number of game elements. The disparity, as indicated in Table 7, points to esthetics (1), rewards (4), achievement (4), level scaffolding (6), and the use and incorporation of digital components (7); thus, inexperienced lecturers require theoretical guidance on the incorporation of game elements during the serious game design journey. These game elements are addressed in Chapters 4 and 5.
• Game mechanics
A researcher posited that game mechanics can be defined in relation to rules and challenges (Sicart, 2008). Furthermore, game mechanics are seen as the method invoked by agents for interacting with the game world (Sicart, 2008). In the 21 articles uploaded to Atlas.ti™, the researchers have posited that game mechanics are the formal elements of the game, such as players (number, roles, and interaction patterns), objectives,
57 procedures, rules, resources, conflict, boundaries, and outcomes. These notions have been supported by Fullerton, Swain, and Hoffman (2004) and Boller (2013), who explained game mechanics as the rules and procedures that guide the player and the game response to the player's moves or actions. Therefore, from the Atlas.ti™ analysis, the following codes were used in reference to game mechanics: (i) fiction and narrative;
(ii) player actions and or player control; (iii) game rules; and both (iv) commercial and (v) serious game identifiers.
Table 8. Key code findings in the game mechanics code group
CODE GROUP: GAME MECHANICS Serious game
identifiers [39]
Fiction and narrative [14]
Player actions/control [6]
Building on pedagogical principals
Storytelling Within the context of games and play
Learning outcomes incorporated
Integration of different characteristics Target audience and
purpose
Design requirements Genre requirements Different role-players
Game rules [3]
Commercial game identifiers [30]
Explicit explanation Rewards system
Researchers have argued that no concrete accepted definitions exist for the term game mechanics (Arnab et al., 2015; Sicart, 2008). Furthermore, the fundamental aspect of serious game design consists of the translation of learning goals/practices into mechanical elements of gameplay, thus serving an instructional purpose besides that of play and fun (Arnab et al., 2015). Table 8 indicates that more information and or guidance is required in terms of (i) game rules (3) and (ii) player actions/control (6).
• Game dynamics
Game dynamics define the patterns of how the game and the players will evolve over time. Furthermore, the term game dynamics can relate to behavioral momentum, feedback, progress, time pressure, and certain abilities developed through avatars (Kim, 2015). This notion was confirmed and expanded through the data analyzed through
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Atlas.ti™ (Table 9), as the suggested codes used to analyze game dynamics were (i) fun/fantasy, (ii) avatars, (iii) player development, (iv) playability/progress, (v) feedback, and (vi) motivation.
Table 9. Key code findings in the game dynamics code group
CODE GROUP: GAME DYNAMICS Fun
and fantasy [10]
Avatars
[14] Player
development [3]
Playability and progress
[3]
In-game feedback
and debriefing
[10]
Motivation [23]
Creative Game world Repetition Clear rules Important Challenge
Imagination Interaction Challenge Crucial Curiosity
Fun Identity Competition Control
Effectiveness Representation Clear goals Purpose
Return to play Motivation Feedback Immersion
Interest Story Line
Game dynamics are encapsulated in students’ growth and development as they progress through the game, which is demonstrated by the complexity of the structures that they are able to build in each level (Wang et al., 2016). Furthermore, the dynamics of a serious game provide different challenges at each level of the game, and those challenges increase in difficulty as the players progress to higher levels (Wang et al., 2016).
Table 9 showcases the lack of theoretical information on player development and progress while playing the game. The data analysis presented in Tables 6–9 also indicated that research articles have tended to focus on one serious game characteristic at a time, and also that articles that focus on all serious game characteristics with a theoretical explanation on how they can be synchronized are still scarce; thus, the steps followed to develop a serious game design framework with digital components are presented next (Chapter 4). Furthermore, an expounded explanation of the key codes, the application and use of the framework are presented in Chapters 4, 5 and 6.
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