| Recent years have seen a large number of game-based training systems or serious games developed for diversified learning domains. Despite the hypothesis that computer games are motivator to promote learning engagement, however, researchers reported various problems existing in these systems. One of the intractable problems, for example, is that games incentives may direct learners to unproductive learning activities, diverging from the original intention of educational software designers. Skeptics began to question the worth of employing game techniques in training systems, as constructing a serious game faces relatively longer development cycle and consumes more expensive resources.;Do unproductive learning activities in serious games falsify the hypothesis that games can promote learning? What kind of learners can benefit from the didactics of learning by playing? What design issues should be taken into consideration in order to reduce these unproductive activities? To what extent can pedagogy harness the power of computer games and still preserve their fun elements? This thesis attempts to answer these questions through in-depth research on improving the learning productivity of serious games. Iterative exploratory studies were carried for evaluating the training results and validating the design of a particular serious game, called the Tactical Language & Culture Training System (TLCTS), which coaches adult learners to rapidly acquire spoken communication skills. Evidence of the previous study was used to establish the hypothesis for the next controlled study, which further serves as the basis of qualitative and quantitative analysis on the generic issues of low learning productivity in serious games. Based on the analysis, this thesis presents a pedagogical framework tailored for serious game applications, which incorporate customized curriculum contents, implicit and explicit feedback, game scoring, scaffolding and fading, online student assessment, performance summarization as well as tutor advice facilities. This thesis also provides implementation details of this framework as a case study. Preliminary results on adoption of this framework indicate that it helps reduce unproductive learning activities. We conclude that serious games should be engineered as coherent whole that harmonizes the cognitive and game design principles rather than a mere container of the curriculum contents. |
