LudoScience

Minds in Play Yasmin B. Kafai - 1994

Serious Games

Minds in Play

Author(s) : Yasmin B. Kafai
Editor : Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
Publication date : 12-13-1994
Language : english English

This book describes a pioneering scientific experiment conducted by Yasmin Kafai in the Serious Games field. In 1994, for 6 months during 1 hour per day, she asked 4th grade students to design video games explaining the mathematical concept of "fraction" to 3rd graders. To create these games, the kids used the LOGO language they learned during the workshop. Through this experiment, the researcher observed that designing video games about "fractions" helped kids to master this concept. It's a great illustration of the "constructionism" learning theory, i.e. learning by creating stuffs. This book presents the context of the experiment, analyzes the games created by the students, and details Kafai's conclusions in comparison with the control groups she used. A brilliant book describing a founding experiment in the Serious Games field, that should be read by any researchers and student working in it.

 


Keywords : serious game, constructionnisme, logo, scientific research