Designing Casual Serious Games in Science

One of the problems in science education is students' low motivation and difficulty to see the connection between science learning and their daily life. In addition, many science concepts are not intuitive, and involve complicated relations between parameters. We previously presented (Weizman & Broza, 2012) evaluation of a model integrating digital educational games with interactive learning units, where we found that students reported experiencing both learning and enjoyment. The current study focused on games in science, and examined the relation between the game design parameters and the learning experience based on the Flow model. We define these games as casual-serious, since they require short playing time and relatively low budget to develop, while based on educational purposes. The goal of educational games is to give players the right balance between skill and challenge that will not be too difficult or too easy, enabling a flow experience. The research goal was to investigate the relation between the game design parameters and the learning experience. We assumed that by changing the game parameters the relation between challenge and skill will be influenced, as expressed by the flow experience, which is related to the learning experience. We studied the design process of two games in science, aiming to teach complicated concepts, like the idea that good health is based on balanced nutrition combined with physical activity. The influence of game parameters on students' learning experience was investigated through a pilot process in which each game was piloted in a primary school class, calibrated and piloted again. Flow was evaluated using online questionnaires. We found a significant change in the challenge to boredom rate between the three phases of the pilot. Students' responds indicate assimilation of social practices and understanding of the relation between parameters. Findings show that careful design of game parameters influences the flow experience as well as the learning experience and understanding of content goals and social values. We conclude that casual-serious games designed according to the described design principles may be useful in science teaching, since they provide an enjoyable way to deal with complicated concepts involving relations between parameters. By balancing game parameters it is possible to create a flow experience and lead to meaningful learning of science content and skills.