Book information: Author: Kurt Squire
Year: 2011
Publisher: Teachers College Press, NY
Pages: 234
Cost: $29.95
ISBN: 978-0-8077-5198-5
In 'Video Games and Learning', Kurt Squire, Associate Professor in the Dept. of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, provides an insightful comprehensive overview of contemporary issues relating to educational gaming. In addition, he also shares personal anecdotes of lessons learned from his experiences with games and how games have shaped him as a learner, educator and researcher. Throughout the book, the reader will understand why games should be studied in an educational context, what constitutes a good educational game and how learning occurs in games.
The text is full of detailed examples of the educational use of both commercial games and games developed for specific instructional needs. While the author focuses heavily on the use of games in K-12 education, the concepts presented are applicable to higher and adult education, where developing expertise and 21st century skills are still warranted. Educators and researchers of gaming and/or education would benefit from reading and studying this book. Considering what is expected of our students today in terms of communication, cooperation, collaboration, critical thinking, and problem solving skills, we need to reflect upon our practices and be thoughtful and creative in our instruction. Games can be a powerful tool that stimulate interest, motivate, and promote learning.
Of note, the author specifically points to personalized medicine as an area of interest for educational games.
“My own next generation of research will explore whether we can partner with scientists doing cutting-edge work in areas such as nanotechnology, epigenetics, personalized medicine, or systems biology to create games that communicate the ideas in their fields to broader publics.”
What other topics in pharmacy education and/or the health sciences could be applied in educational games?
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