A Methodological Framework for Making the Transition From Traditional Innovation Teaching Towards Serious Games

Abstract

Serious games (SGs) are motivational and practical pedagogical tools that have been widely used in design education. SGs seem to be an efficient way to give instructions on innovation processes (IPs), offering unique and attractive environments to support situated learning. While there has been much interest in SGs of the IPs type, there is very little research about the design framework to reduce the complexity and time consumption of their design process. This paper presents the preliminary results of our ongoing study: a design framework adapted to innovation SGs. The framework integrates eight general design frameworks/models/methodologies for SGs. Besides, it introduces a new stage “analysis of traditional teaching experience,” which conducive to the early phases of the design. We use a case study to prove the value of this stage. First, it aids designers in defining the teaching objectives of innovation SGs, that is, choosing required competencies from innovation competency frameworks. More importantly, it helps identify game mechanics that may contribute to the realization of teaching objectives. This stage should support designers successfully making the transition from traditional innovation teaching towards SGs.