(Editor’s Note: the recent trade book Computer Games and Instruction brings together the leading edge perspectives of over a dozen scientists in the area of videogames and learning, including a very insightful analysis ‑excerpted below- by Harvard’s Chris Dede. Please pay attention to his thoughts on scalability below, and enjoy!)
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The research overview provided by Tobias, Fletcher, and Dai (this volume) is very helpful in summarizing studies to date on various dimensions of educational games and simulations. The next challenge for the field is to move beyond isolated research in which each group of investigators uses an idiosyncratic set of definitions, conceptual frameworks, and methods. Instead, to make further progress, we as scholars should adopt common research strategies and models—not only to ensure a higher standard of rigor, but also to enable studies that complement each other in what they explore. [Read more…] about Serious Games: Developing a Research Agenda for Educational Games and Simulations