Dede, C. (2011). Developing a research agenda for educational games and simulations. Computer games and instruction, pp. 233-250. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
This article discusses five assumptions based on a research agenda for educational game simulations. Dede posits that any research agenda should focus on usable knowledge; collective research; what works, when, for whom; more than a straightforward comparison of the innovation to standard practice; and a focus on innovations that can be implemented at scale.
A notable point about usable knowledge is that too often educational games and simulations are developed because they are “cool” or “fun” they are solutions looking for problems. Instead of this approach, he suggests research that focuses on how games and simulations can aid in resolving perennial educational problems and issues. For the “what works,” assumption, he suggests centering on specific situations, types of learners, and times rather than universal effectiveness of games. This is not a one size fits all approach for gaming research and findings. For his assumption of “Treatment Effects,” he asks that research studies that are actually summative evaluations, be more mindful of the problems that impact generalizability as then they do not contribute to theory or provide understandings of what works when, for whom and under what conditions, (Dede, 2011).
The assumption of “Scale,” focuses on designs that can flexibly adapt to effective use in a wide variety of contexts across a spectrum of learners and teachers. He offers five dimension to consider for scaling. These consist of: Depth-design-based research to understand and enhance causes of effectiveness, Sustainability- robust design to enable adapting to inhospitable contexts, Spread-modifying to retain effectiveness while reducing resources and expertise required, Shift-moving beyond brand to support users as co-evaluators, co-designers, and co-scalers, and Evolution-learning from users’ adaptions to rethink the innovation’s design model, (Dede, 2011).
Overall, this article provides a nice framework for considering research agendas regarding gaming. The five assumptions presented still apply today and should be taken into account when studying the effects of gaming in any respect. Additionally, the five dimensions offered regarding the fifth assumption of Scaling provides specific aspects to consider for ensuring gaming enhancements or usage take into account the needs of the user and stakeholders. Throughout the article the author reinforces the need to think about gaming as tool to solve problems rather than creating games and then finding a problem for it to solve. This simple idea is something that has often been ignored as technology is sometimes brought into the classroom as a requirement to use technology rather than as a tool to achieve learning outcomes.
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