The Games for Learning Institute encompasses a collaboration of faculty and researchers from multiple universities focusing on designing educational games, particularly in STEM and literacy. The mission includes establishing effective design patterns for learning games, incorporating assessments that evidence their effectiveness, and exploring future research directions. Emphasis is placed on cognitive development, attentional control, and emotional regulation through game mechanics.

2. Games for Learning Institute
• Members
• NYU (Ken Perlin, Jan L. Plass, Co-Directors, Katherine Isbister)
• TC Columbia University (Chuck Kinzer)
• CUNY Graduate Center (Bruce D. Homer)
• Parsons, Dartmouth, RIT, PUC
• Total of 11 faculty from 7 universities and their labs
Game designers, computer scientists, engineers, educators, learning scientists, psychologists

3. Collaborators

4. Games for Learning Institute
• Mission
• Design Patterns for Games for Learning
• Guide for Designers
• Embedded Assessment
• Evidence of Effectiveness of Games for Learning
• Focus on STEM, Language, Literacy

5. The Game

9. EF Tasks in Context
Image from foxbusiness.com
Image from psych.stanford.edu

11. Game Feedback Tables by Level
Responses sent to Alien
Mood Meter

13. Literature to Support Design Concept
• Repeated exposure to tasks that require learning
increasingly complex rule sets can improve inhibitory
control (Dowsett and Livesey 1999)
• Cognitive Complexity and Control theory (CCC) highlights
developmental transitions in children’s ability to plan and
reflect – specifically to reflect on complex, hierarchical
rule structures (Zelazo and Frye 1998)
Hierarchical Tree Structure of Rules from Zelazo and Frye 1998

14. The Design Process
• Design of game tasks focuses on three commonly cited
target functions (Anderson 2002; Miyake, et al. 2000)
• Action video games proven to alter visuospatial attention
and modify selective attention (Green and Bavelier 2006)
• Games for executive functioning assessment and…
training?
• Learning Mechanics 
Game Mechanics
Image from Noobs vs. Leets, Games for Learning Institute 2012

15. Directions for Future Research
• Abilities in attentional control amidst irrelevant features
within game world (Minar and Sloutsky 2011)
• Effects on emotional response and regulation in
comparison to traditional assessment tasks (Um, Plass,
Hayward and Homer 2011)

16. References
Anderson, P. (2002) Assessment and Development of Executive Function (EF) During
Childhood. Child Neuropsychology, 8:2, 71-82.
Dowsett, S.M. and Livesey, D.J. (1999) The Development of Inhibitory Control in
Preschool Children: Effects of “Executive Skills” Training. Development of Inhibitory
Control: John Wiley and Sons.
Green, C.S. & Bavelier, D. (2006). Effect of action video games on the spatial distribution
of visuospatial attention. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and
Performance, 32(6), 1465-1468.
Minar, N. and Sloutsky, V. (2011) Visual Attention and the Dimensional Change Card Sort.
Juros, 2. Retrieved from: http://asiandoc.lib.ohio-
state.edu/index.php/juros/article/view/1693
Miyake, A., Friedman, N.P., Emerson, M.J., Witzki, A.H., Howerter, A., Wager, T. (2000)
The Unity and Diversity of Executive Functions and Their Contributions to Complex
“Frontal Lobe” Tasks: A Latent Variable Analysis. Cognitive Psychology, 41, 49-100.
Salen, K., & Zimmerman, E. (2003). Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals
Zelazo, P.D. and Frye, D. (1998) Cognitive Complexity and Control: II. The Development
of Executive Function in Childhood. Current Directions in Psychological Science.

17. Thank You! Danke Schön!!
This project is a collaboration among the following people at the CREATE lab and G4LI:
• Bruce Homer (CUNY)
• Elizabeth Hayward (NYU)
• Jan Plass (NYU)
• Seamus Donnelly (CUNY)
• Rachel Feigenbaum (CUNY)
And our team of faculty and student programmers at University of Vienna:
• Manuel Sprung
• Alexander Hofmann
• Jakob Leyrer
• Gabriela Markova
This has been presented as part of: “Games 4 Resilience: Spielerisch Selbstkontrolle und
Emotionale Kompetenz fördern” given in Vienna, Austria on May 11, 2012