In general, the design of game representations and behaviors can help guide or hinder student learning.
Conversely, when affordances are inconsistently represented, students’ focus can shift from problem solving at the goal level (game strategy, etc.) to problem solving at the game interface level (which is frustrating their goals). In addition, consistent and well-organized visualizations encourage learning and collaboration among students by providing shared referential resources and scaffolding coordinated sequences of problem solving acts during gameplay. Results demonstrate that specific cues direct attention, helping to focus efforts on new or underutilized game tasks. A descriptive, inductive study was carried out to identify how high school students make use of the video game interface and its representations. AbstractLiterature suggests that games can support learning in schools by enabling creative problem solving, allowing dynamic resource allocation, providing a motivating, immersive activity, and supporting explorations of identity.
