CFP: Submissions Sought for Book on Serious Game Design

Dr. Janis Cannon-Bowers and Dr. Clint Bowers over at UCF are putting together a new chapter book on educational videogames, and sent out a call on the Serious Games listserv:

CALL FOR CHAPTERS
Proposals Submission Deadline: 9/5/2008
Full Chapters Due: 2/28/2009

Serious Game Design and Development:
Technologies for Training and Learning
A book edited by Dr. Janis Cannon-Bowers & Dr. Clint Bowers
University of Central Florida

Purpose and Goals of the Book
The use of gaming approaches for more serious purposes is not a new phenomenon. Teachers have used board games, memory games, and others in classrooms for decades. However, the advent of video gaming technologies created a host of opportunities for people to use the immersive, interactive, environments provided by such technology to deliver pedagogical content in a simulated environment that is thought to engender deeper learning in a more entertaining environment.

The use of video games for serious purposes was largely fostered by the US military, which saw the low-fidelity simulation abilities of these platforms as a low-cost way to deliver training. Buoyed by successes in this market, developers have expanded their activities to a whole range of serious applications, including K-12 education, advertising, and social change, to name a few. The increasing use of these games has now drawn the interest of various disciplines within the scientific community, who seek to understand the nature of effective games and to provide guidance for how best to harness the power of gaming technology to successfully accomplish the more serious goal.

At this point, several serious games have been fielded, with varying levels of success. Many of these games have not been formally evaluated, while others have been, but the results have not been published. Conversely, scientists are beginning to report results about effective game elements, but there is not a clear conduit to get these results to the developers who could most use them.

Our goal, therefore, is to create a volume that seeks to “bridge the gap” between development and science. Specifically, we will approach leaders in the game development community to share their successes and the area where they could benefit from scientific guidance. Similarly, we will invite prominent scientists to describe their current findings and to provide their input on the future of the field.

Recommended topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
Serious Games in K-12 Education
Serious Games in Postsecondary Education
Serious Games in Business and Industry
Serious Games in Training
Serious Games and Health
Serious Games as Social Tools
Research in Serious Games
Serious Games in the Military
Serious Games and Communication

Submission Procedure
Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit on or before September 5, 2008, a 2-3 page chapter proposal clearly explaining the mission and concerns of his or her proposed chapter. Authors of accepted proposals will be notified by November 30, 2008 about the status of their proposals and sent chapter guidelines. Full chapters are expected to be submitted by February 28, 2009. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a double-blind review basis. This book is scheduled to be published by IGI Global (formerly Idea Group Inc.), publisher of the “Information Science Reference” (formerly Idea Group Reference) and “Medical Information Science Reference” imprints. For additional information regarding the publisher, please visit http://www.igi-global.com/.

Inquiries and submissions can be forwarded electronically (Word document) or by mail to:

Dr. Clint Bowers
Department of Psychology
University of Central Florida
Orlando, FL 32801

sgbook at me.com

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Funds Wii-hab Research

Susan Jenks at Florida Today reports the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has awarded $2 million in research grants to 12 teams in order to study the benefits of videogames for health.

At the University of Central Florida, for example, researchers will receive $200,000 over the next two years to develop a role-playing game for individuals diagnosed with alcohol abuse or dependence to allow them to practice skills in a virtual setting that might help prevent real-world relapses … University of Florida researchers in the College of Public Health and Health Professionals will test the impact of Sony Playstation2 game “Crazy Taxi” on the visual attention skills of the elderly, using a $100,000 grant.

Researchers mentioned in the article include Patricia Belchoir, a postdoc at UF; psychiatrist Marcia Verduin affiliated with UCF; and Clint Bowers, a psychology professor at UCF.

References:
Jenks, S. (2008, July 2). Video games used as therapy. Florida Today. [Online]. Retrieved July 2, 2008 from http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080702/BUSINESS/807020316/1006/news01

UCF’s Simulated Classroom Helps Prepare Teachers

Here’s a tidbit over at DistrictAdministration.com. Professors at University of Central Florida have designed a classroom simulator to help prospective teachers prepare for real world teaching.

The link provides only the first few paragraphs of an article from the Orlando Sentinel, which has since been taken offline. Fortunately, a UCF press release offers considerably more detail regarding the program.

College of Education Professors Lisa Dieker and Mike Hynes, in conjunction with UCF’s Institute for Simulation and Training, Computer Science and student actors from the Interactive Performance Lab, developed a virtual, interactive environment that can give teachers real experience in handling a classroom. Lockheed Martin brings years of experience to the partnership including research, concepts and prototypes of models and simulations in the areas of teacher training and professional development.

Using a combination of technology, real life experience and entertainment the university has been able to create scenarios that are very realistic and have already assisted new teachers in thinking differently about their classroom. In fact, several teachers who tested out the virtual classroom continue to talk about how they need to change their teaching or to “try” again to make sure they meet the needs of these students who are not real.

A simulated classroom should provide an excellent resource for prospective teachers, and give them opportunities to experience “worst case” scenarios without the fear of failure.

References:
Kotala, Z. G. (2008, May 1). UCF and Lockheed Martin announce partnership to expand new screening and training technology. [Online]. Available: http://neighbors.ucf.edu/UCFnews/index?page=article&id
=0024004168851b1c0119a5470a22002594&mode=neighbors

Virtual classroom at the University of Central Florida puts teachers to the test. (2008, May 19). DistrictAdministration.com. [Online]. Available: http://www.districtadministration.com/newssummary.aspx?
news=yes&postid=50025

Upcoming Australian Conference & Healthcare Gaming/Simulation Symposium

SimTecT will be held in Melbourne, May 12-16. The conference primarily focuses on simulations, and the Australian military is a major player. There will be a strong serious games element. Speakers will include Jan Cannon-Bowers over at U. Central Florida; Clint Bowers, also from UCF; Elyssebeth Leigh over at University of Technology, Sydney; and Robert Carpenter, Deputy Director, Simulation Development, Army Simulation Wing, Land Warfare Development Centre in the Australian military.

On May 16, Elyssebeth Leigh notes the day will be devoted to Serious Games in Healthcare:

Technologies and techniques which games employ to deliver serious messages can be leveraged to achieve low cost, high impact solutions across the healthcare and other sectors. This symposium will introduce participants to opportunities and issues that serious games offer – for training, therapy and testing. It brings together experts from the US, experienced Australian practitioners, game developers, educators and healthcare professionals.

Program includes:
Interactive plenary sessions; Facilitated de-brief sessions of the plenaries; Forum – The way forward in gaming in healthcare.

Highlights of the Serious Games Summit at GDC 2008

Ben Sawyer noted recently on his serious games listserv that the 2008 Game Developers Conference is coming up Feb. 18-22 in San Francisco. Of most interest during the conference will be the Serious Games Summit. Here are some brief highlights of the summit:

The NSF-Funded WolfQuest (screenshot below) will be featured in a discussion by David Schaller from eduweb. This game has players assuming the roles of wolves in Yellowstone National Park and learning about their habitats and nature. Sawyer and Peter Smith over at U. Central Florida will present a taxonomy for serious games. Sawyer will also serve along with Eric Zimmerman at Gamelab as moderator for a panel discussion on the difficulties of measuring learning in games.

Most all the discussions look very interesting. Check out the Serious Games Summit page for a list of all the topics that will be covered.

UCF Card Study on Gaming Definitions

One of the ongoing issues with serious games is defining a clear set of definitions on which everyone can agree. Dr. Eduardo Salas over at University of Central Florida’s Institute of Simulation and Training is tackling the issue by performing a card study with serious gamers.

Card studies come from the old days when psychologists performed experiments by giving folks 3×5 cards with different terms written on the back. Participants were asked to organize the cards in groups and come up with a label for each group. Such research helped ferret out thought patterns among disparate individuals. Nowadays such experiments can take place easily on the Web, and the Dr. Salas’ team is using Websort.net.

Research assistant Davin Pavlas over at UCF recently sent out an e-mail on the Serious Games listserv seeking participants for the study. If you’re a serious gamer over age 18, you might be able to help all of us out by participating in this study.