Determination Of The Features Of Instructional Computer Games

Abstract

The ultimate goal of computer based education is to design an education-application which interactively presents all the relevant information in the best possible way. Imagine an expert systemwith all the advanced capabilities presents the information by using all sorts of different media, including virtual reality, accesses a rich knowledgebase, and interacts with students as an expert in the field. This kind of a system would provide the knowledge and experience of the best teacher to a large group of people. Today, the use of computers in education is generally an effort to imitate the conventional education by using the computer. But it may be necessary to adapt a totally different approach in order to fully utilize the capabilities of a computer. One of the best ways to utilize the power of the computers in education may be to present the instructional material in the form of an instructional computer game. Computer games can enhance learning while affecting the motivation and retention of knowledge and skills positively. In the context of this paper, learning is defined as enhancing the learning outcomes proposed by Gagné (1985). A game becomes an intentional education tool when the rules which govern the play of the game demand the development and use of educationally valuable skills, the acquisition of important knowledge, or exploration of a worthwhile world of experience