- (Life On the Edge: Supporting students’ learning of cell biology) “Life on the Edge” is an educational game designed by MacEwan University to teach cell biology to undergraduates through interactive gameplay, with ongoing research to assess its effectiveness.
- (User Testing for Serious Game Design: Improving the Player Experience) The case study examines the crucial role of user testing in designing the video game “Life on the Edge” for first-year biology students, highlighting how it helps identify and address game issues to enhance player experience
- (Creative, Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Research: An Educational Cell Biology Video Game Designed by Students for Students) A team at MacEwan University of 7 faculty and 14 undergraduate students from various disciplines designed a video game for biology students, balancing education and entertainment, and creating meaningful learning experiences despite numerous challenges.
- (Interaction Design and Educational Video Games: Motivating Undergraduate Students to Explore New Territories) While educational video games are prevalent in K-12, they are rare at the university level and often lack engagement and quality. The article answers many questions including Can design students create a fun and educational game? What roles could they play, and what unique learning experiences could they gain? What challenges exist in integrating game design into design education? Partnering with a Biological Sciences professor, we hired undergraduates in interaction design and computing science to develop a biology game prototype, exploring these questions through a practical, engaging project.
- (Effects of using a serious video game on academic performance, engagement, and disengagement in an undergraduate biology course context) Serious video games can engage learners, promote exploration, build problem-solving skills, and enhance long-term knowledge retention if well-designed. However, studies on digital game-based learning show mixed results and often focus only on positive experiences, neglecting both engagement and disengagement. Understanding both is crucial for preventing dropout and promoting academic progress. Recent research highlights the need to study student disengagement in digital game contexts and calls for consistent terminology in describing engagement and disengagement.
- (Learning supportive game features and flow experience: Applying Self-Determination theory and Flow theory) Self-Determination Theory (SDT) distinguishes between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and identifies three basic psychological needs—competence, autonomy, and relatedness—essential for well-being. This theory helps understand individuals’ motivations in various learning contexts, including STEM educational games.
- (Designing a digital educational game to support and measure higher education students’ learning of cellular and human biology) Digital education games are recognized as highly effective learning tools that engage students and facilitate knowledge transfer. Despite extensive research on learning-supportive game features, there is still lack of theory guiding effective educational game design. More research is needed to identify factors influencing game effectiveness and to develop a theoretical framework for practitioners.
- (The impact of a digital educational video game on academic achievement, multidimensional engagement, and disengagement in three distinct biology undergraduate course contexts) This study evaluated the cellular biology educational game Life on the Edge in diverse undergraduate biology contexts, finding no significant effects on academic achievement but significant improvements in behavioral, cognitive, and emotional engagement while reducing behavioral disengagement. The results highlight that educational games can enhance student engagement, though effects on cognitive and emotional disengagement vary, emphasizing the need for context-specific implementation strategies.
- (How Can We Integrate an Interactive and Immersive Educational Video Game Into Secondary and Post-Secondary Science Classrooms: A Roundtable Discussion on the Role of Instructors)
This paper highlights how educational video games, like the award-winning Life on the Edge, can engage students and support learning in biological sciences. It addresses challenges in classroom implementation and provides participants hands-on experience with the game, followed by a conversation on applying such games in teaching practices.
