Epistemic Games

1
Epistemic Games

• By
• Ali Shameem
• Instructional Technology Masters Student
• College of Education
• Presentation is based on David Williamson
  Shaffers book How Computer Games Help Children
  to Learn

2
Overview

• Problem in our education system
• Epistemic Games
• Elements of Epistemic frames
• Epistemic frames
• Is it really a Game?
• Example of Epistemic Games Digital Zoo
• Example of Epistemic Games Urban Science
• Building Epistemic games Epistemography
• More Information about games and Learning

3
Problem in our education system

• Currently our Education is about
• giving the learner basic skills
• Preparing students to score well in standardized
  tests.
• Basic skills jobs no longer exist
• We should raise the bar on educational
  achievement
• Our kids and our economy will be left behind

4
Epistemic Games

• They are a way to help students learn to think
  like professionals.
• they are based on what we already know about how
  people learn to be innovative thinkers
• how thinking is used to solve real problems in
  the world outside of the game
• This concept is based on the idea of epistemic
  frames

5
Epistemic Frames

• New way of thinking about thinking
• the way of thinking and working of a profession
  or other community of practice
• entails a situated and action-based form of
  learning based on the ways in which professionals
  develop these epistemic frames.

6
Elements of Epistemic frame

• 5 elements of Epistemic frame are
• Epistemology
• knowledge,
• skills,
• values
• identity.
• professionals organize their work around these
  epistemic frames
• professionals use them to think in innovative
  ways

7
Is it really a Game?

• The definition of a game from Rules of Play Game
  Design Fundamentals book
• A game is a system
• In which players
• engaged in an artificial conflict
• defined by rules
• That results in a quantifiable outcome

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Is it really a Game?

• Epistemic games are role playing games
• It is system
• A number of players involved in game play
• Engaged in an accurate simulation of real-life
  problem.
• overcome obstacle to achieve the goal
• Defined by rules same as the ones in real life
• May or may not have a quantifiable outcome
• The experience is considered more important
• Learning through experience/interactions of game
  play

9
Examples of Epistemic Games Digital Zoo

• A game developed at the University of Wisconsin
• Players become biomechanical engineers and design
  virtual creatures.
• Uses Sodaconstructor
• a virtual spring-mass modeling environment
• Players advance from one level of the game by
  producing designs for clients.

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Example of Epistemic Games Urban Science

• Very similar to commercial game SimCity
• Why not use SimCity?
• SimCity is not an epistemic game.
• Role-playing game of professional urban planning.
  
• designed to re-create an urban planning
  practicum.
• iPlan is the epistemic game engine used in Urban
  Science

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Building Epistemic games Epistemography

• Build based on the way professionals develop
  skills Practica
• By analyzing practicum through epistemography
• By looking at the kind of actions and kind of
  reflection-on-action that develops the epistemic
  frame of the profession.
• How can we make these learning practices
  available for other through games.

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Questions

• The following questions are asked when designing
  an epistemic game.
• What is worth being able to do in the world?
• Who knows how to do this kind of things and how
  do they learn how to do it?
• How can we make these learning practices
  available for the others?
• Technology that can create simulations.

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More Information about games and Learning

• Details on all of these games are available at
  Shaffer's Web site, Epistemic Games
  (www.epistemicgames.org).

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Questions ??

• Thank you