e-Learning and the Science of Instruction

So on Wednesday I chose this book to have a read through over the past week. Unfortunately it was the largest of all the books on offer and had a hardback cover...just my luck. But turned out to be quite useful as chapter 16, 'Simulations and Games in e-Learning' was very relevant to the tutorial that I have been creating.

E-Learning and the Science of Instruction - Clark, R and Mayer, R

There were 6 key principles highlighted in this chapter that are necessary to create an effective learning resource in the form of a game or simulation.

The Sims 3 : Jumanji Room by Alora246 on DeviantArt

Principle 1: Match the game types to the learning goals

There are a number of different types of games out there, strategy, puzzle, action adventure...the list goes on. So it is important to ensure your game type matches the actual information you would like to teach.

For example my game has the goal to teach students how to navigate a ward and how to prioritise which patients to see and when, so instead of using a first person shooter style game, I opted for a simulation style similar to what you might see in The Sims.

Principle 2: Make learning essential to game progress

Basically anything that allows you to proceed through the tutorial/game should actually promote learning and be informative, rather than just a question for the sake of asking a question. It should all relate back to the learning objectives that are provided at the beginning of the game.

Principle 3: Build in proven instructional strategies

Including different types of question and answer formats. More importantly explanatory feedback rather than just correct or incorrect feedback. This is something I have been attempting to do for my simulation especially since the format of our exams is a 'most appropriate answer' style question, where they may be more than one answer that could possibly be right but in this particular situation only one can be correct.

Because of this style of questions I feel like every single possible answer requires an explanation so that people can see where they went wrong or why a certain answer is better than others.

Principle 4: Build in guidance and structure

Discovery learning where by the operator has to go through the tutorial without instruction does not really promote learning.

Due to this I have tried to include small parts of information to instruct users on what to do next or what will be expected of them as the progress through various sections of the tutorial.

Principle 5: Manage complexity

This is something that could become quite important if this format of tutorial were to be adapted across all 5 years of the medical school as many different years are at different levels due to the increased knowledge gained. One possible solution to this would be to have an initial screen allowing you to select your year group and then advance through various scenarios that are more tailored to your own level. Obviously there would be nothing to stop younger years from attempting a harder scenario however some of the information may be too difficult for them to comprehend.

Principle 6: Make relevance salient

Once again this sort of ties in with matching the game types to learning roles. For example certain genres of games may make the tutorial more fun and engaging but many users may struggle to relate it to their actual jobs and therefore may find it to be a waste of time to complete.

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Author & Editor

Third Year Medical Student