Serious Learning in Serious Games - Learning In, Through, and Beyond Serious Games

Serious Games are promising tools for fostering learning and for transforming players’ behavior and perspectives on particular topics. But can serious games satisfy these high expectations on an educational, learning theoretical, and empirical level? This chapter investigates different learning levels in serious games and follows the question, how serious learning in serious games proceeds. Based on Gregory Bateson’s concept of learning, three essential learning processes in games are compared and examples of serious games are analyzed critically. The main focus hereby lies on transformative, deep and meaningful learning processes that have a serious impact on players’ perspectives. Furthermore the educational concept of transformative learning is applied to the field of serious games, and their potential and limits for game design and education are discussed.

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