Instructional Game Design
Instructional Game Design is first about designing a digital game that engages students and second about designing the learning around that digital game.
The game’s design encompasses the IGD approach to ensure that the game does not have the same fate as most other educational games and many, perhaps most, college textbooks. The Achilles' heel of educational games, and especially textbooks, is their inability to engage college students, particularly outside of course lecture and lab.
This company utilizes the prototyping methodology where the bulk of our attention is based on User–Center Design. Our products are designed with the college student in mind, which means our primary focus is student success. A flexible structure allows our company to deal with the ever-changing landscape of game design and higher education. We minimize design risks by focusing most of our attention and efforts on product design based on the end user.
Below you will find some of the basic theoretical frameworks that inform Delta32 Studio's design choices when making digital games.
Student Involvement Theory
Student Involvement explains how desirable outcome for institutions of higher education are viewed in relation to how students change and develop in result to being involved co-curricularly. Astin argues that involvement requires an investment of psychosocial and physical energy. Secondly, involvement is continuous, and the amount of energy invested varies from student to student. Thirdly, aspects of involvement may be qualitative and quantitative. Next, what a student gains from being involved (or their development) is directly proportional the extent to which were involved (in both aspects of quality and quantity). Lastly, academic performance is correlated with the student involvement. This theory has many applications in the world of higher education, and is one of the strongest pieces of evidence for co-curricular student involvement. (Student Development Theory, 2007) (Alexander Astin)
Problem-Based Learning
Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is a pedagogical approach and curriculum design methodology often used in higher education and K-12 settings. Rather than having a teacher provide facts and then testing students ability to recall these facts via memorization, PBL attempts to get students to apply knowledge to new situations. Students are faced with contextualized, ill-structured problems and are asked to investigate and discover meaningful solutions (Learning Theories).
Digital Game-Based Learning (DGBL)
Digital game-based learning refers to using actual digital video games as learning tools. The basic idea behind digital game-based learning in the classroom is that, as opposed to isolated tasks such as memorization, quizzing and drilling, digital games help students learn subject matter in context, as part of an interactive system (EdNews Daily).
A learning paradigm — learning via play. argues that digital games have twelve characteristics that make them engaging for millions of people: 1. Games are a form of fun. 2. Games are form of play. 3. Games have rules. 4. Games have goals. 5. Games are interactive. 6. Games are adaptive. 7. Games have outcomes and feedback. 8. Games have win states. 9. Games have conflict/competition/challenge/opposition. 10. Games have problem solving. 11. Games have interaction. 12. Games have representation and story (Marc Prensk) (DGBL).
Experiential Learning
Believes “learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience” (1984, p. 38)[1]. The theory presents a cyclical model of learning, consisting of four stages.
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Concrete experience (or “DO”)
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Reflective observation (or “OBSERVE”)
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Abstract conceptualization (or “THINK”)
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Active experimentation (or “PLAN”)