Abstract
Games that are created for purposes other than entertainment are called serious games. The art of applying games on a day to day actions is known as gamification. The gaming elements in serious games can be utilized to simulate reality in teaching and training environments (Crookall 2010, p. 898). Deep learning is a new approach to education and disregards the traditional method where the teacher was the all-knowing authority who passed down facts to the students (Fullan and Langworthy 2014). The traditional method did not view the learning environment as a factor that could affect the learning process. Adult learning that is characterized by social interaction, self-reflection, and self-regulated learning can be classified as deep learning. This deep learning by adults mainly happens through online learning. Studies have shown that a student’s mind is almost dysfunctional during lectures. Therefore, there is a need to develop new methods of teaching that will help schools produce HR professionals who are ready for the market.
Aim
Through the development of a deep learning framework of gamified elements, this research aims at improving the learning process. The framework shall be in a position to enhance understanding and creativity in classes, and also motivate the student and teachers.
Research Question: Do serious games support deep learning Pedagogical framework for HR practitioners?
Literature Review
Studies have shown that serious games are growing at a rapid rate in the education sector and are helping students in their learning and practitioners in their day-to-day activities. Serious games are considered since they possess a carefully scrutinized and explicit pedagogical purpose and are not only meant for amusement (Bouki, and Economou 2015, p. 390). Innovative approaches are utilised when developing the games so as to enhance education and training. A market study conducted recently showed that the serious game market is growing at a rate of 100% (Mayer et. al. 2014, p. 503). This study is an indication that the world is rapidly shifting to virtual reality and dumping the traditional ways. Serious games differ from video games in that they have a main design objective and not just entertaining. Activity, modality, and interaction styles are some of the characteristics that are useful in the design of serious games (Hauge 2011, p, 5). Serious games have been applied in diverse areas. This proposal, however, aims at showing how the technology can be utilized in HR to help the students and practitioners achieve their goals.
Serious games can be used largely in the education domain benefiting all students, including the HR students. Many institutions are utilizing the success of video games to benefit them in the learning processes. Game plays are usually addictive, and players usually end up obsessed. This nature plays a major role in facilitating how the players learn. Serious games are seen as a strong and effective approach to learning and skills development. They also focus on achieving learning outcomes and serious, maintainable changes in behavior and performance (Economou et. al. 2015, p. 390). The designers of these games focus on creating gameplays, which change skills, beliefs, and behaviors of the players. At the same time, the designers strive to maintain the entertainment aspect of the games.
Incorporating serious games in the education sector can be challenging. It requires a story with fascinating characters so as to engage and capture the attention of learners (Girard, Ecalle, and Magnan 2013, p. 208). An effective serious game should have the ability to leave a memorable impression in the player’s mind. It takes an interactive smart virtual environment with fascinating characters to deliver a scene to the students in an immersive, engaging, and interactive manner (Wouters et al. 2013, p. 249). With such smart environments, learners can get an experience that enhances their learning positively through the provision of new pedagogical capabilities. The multimodal interaction offered by these games enables human resource students to attain skills they can utilize in their lives as HR practitioners.
There are several ways through which HR practitioners can use serious games in their organizations. The games can be used to train, attract, develop, induct, retain, and engage employees. HR professional should comprehend well the idea of serious games and employ them in their workplaces so as to meet their firms’ strategic needs. Many institutions today are seeking for employees who are innovative. To achieve this, the companies need to develop recruiting techniques that can distinguish such employees (Good et al. 2014).
Gamified Elements of serious games that can support deep learning
Serious games can be utilized to motivate a specific user behavior. This research looks at how serious games can be used to motivate students to undertake in the learning process. Common game elements include badges, points, leaderboards, and avatars. Those elements give the individuals playing the games a motive. Every player wants to achieve something in a game, and they get to learn in that process. An effective serious game incorporates a flow element so as to make the players lose their sense of time and concentrate more on the game. Individuals who are in flow operate at full capacity, and they ignore external disturbances. Hence, through flow, serious games can support deep learning.
Serious games give individuals a sense of self-determination. Persons playing this games develop a need for competence, autonomy, and relatedness. When an individual attains a target when playing a game, they develop motivation. This can prove to be very useful in an educational perspective. The experience offered by serious games influences the learning success largely. Engaging in serious games involves abstract conceptualization, active experimentation, reflective observation, and concrete experience. A different learning style that involves feeling, reacting, thinking, and watching is developed through serious games.
Motivation is influenced by goals. A person with no goals has no motivation. Setting goals improves motivation, and hence, performance. Serious games usually have difficult by attainable goals. Individuals are also at liberty to choose the difficulty level they desire in the games. Attaining a goal on a certain level gives the individual motivation to proceed to the next level. It can be a very useful in a class environment as the students will develop a self-driven attitude when learning. Elements of gamification allow for remembrance, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluation, and creativity.
Game elements can be very effective for getting people on board. People inducted to companies through game elements develop competence and master concepts more rapidly (Laamarti, Eid, and Saddik 2014, p.8). A new starter is more likely to be productive in an enjoyable manner if they were inducted using game elements. Serious games also aid in teaching and developing employees, making them more productive. A company can support and employees journey to mastery through the use of gaming concepts. The concepts of games can be used to train employees in various departments of a company. Employees in the customer service department can be taught how to greet customers, use body language, how to deal with unsatisfied customers, good listening skills, and how to manage an appropriate tone.
For efficient deep learning, the students should discover even knowledge that is not related to the game objectives. It can be hard to insert all items of knowledge in a game without diminishing the fun part or impairing the rhythm. To curb this, game developers can create virtual places in the games which will exhibit the knowledge. It can involve creating an exhibition place where learners will visit without having to undergo game pressure. A player who will enjoy the place in a game scenario will definitely be interested in visiting the real situation. HR practitioners can utilize such actions in their strategies to improve functions such as marketing. For instance, a virtual recruitment office can be developed by HR practitioners. This will give players, or interested candidates, a perspective on how the real interview shall be.
Methodology
The prototype shall have learning aspects and fun aspects. Learning aspects shall include being reflective, interactive, and conveying information in the right manner. Fun aspects shall involve motivation and helping the users advance in the game. For interaction, an interactive gameplay involving questions and answers shall be utilized. Advanced indicators shall be utilized to initiate the reflective process. Users shall be motivated by incorporating fun reward programs in the game.
Research Approach
Approach to the research can either be inductive or deductive. An inductive approach shall involve collecting all data that is relevant to HR Gamification then studying it to try and find a pattern (Heit and Rotello 2010, p. 805). This pattern will help in the development of a theory about the use of serious games in learning institutions and companies. Data collection, in this case, may involve collecting information from articles and other relevant material about how people use serious games. It shall entail focusing on HR Gamification to find out how individuals fare after they employ it, then come up with a general point of focus. This approach, however, is time-consuming since it shall involve collecting all available information available, some of which shall not be of any use in the research. The preferred approach to this research is an inductive one.
Approach to this research shall involve developing a prototype, which shall be done in numerous phases. The first phase shall involve understanding the module users (Huang 2005). In this case, the HR practitioners shall be the target group. The prototype shall be provided to numerous HR schools and shall be utilized in teaching. The second phase shall involve making a design depending on the users; the module shall take a learner design since it shall be utilized in schools. The third phase shall involve incorporating multimedia components and building interactivity in the module. This shall be the development phase, and pattern language shall be utilized. At the end of this phase, a prototype will be ready for testing. The fourth phase shall involve putting the prototype into practice to test how the users will react to it. Its usability and heuristics shall be tested. The final phase shall involve evaluating the outcomes of the module and implementing any necessary changes (Huang 2005).
This research shall involve observing how institutions that utilized the prototype shall perform. This means the research will not be tied to a specific objective, and a conclusion will be made after all data is analyzed. During the research, there will be no clear hypothesis in mind; rather, coming up with a hypothesis or conclusion from the collected data will be the main aim of the research. The process shall involve gathering information regarding the performance of the institutions that will utilize the prototype and those that will not. The performances of these institutions shall then be compared to find out whether the prototype will be creating a difference. Also, data on the performance of the schools before the started using the prototype shall be collected and shall be compared to the post-usage data. This shall play a great role in determining the impact of the module on learning.
Proposed Data Collection
An inductive approach to the research will call for a qualitative data collection method. It shall involve making observations and taking measurements that are substantial. Data shall be collected through interviews and observations. Structured interviews shall be conducted with concerned parties during this phase. Lecturers shall be interviewed to find out the methods they use when they are teaching and what they thought of the prototype in case they used it. Face-to-face interviews will be used to conduct this survey. Observation shall be utilized to get a snapshot of the situation in institutions. Written descriptions about how the students were fairing shall be used as the techniques during observations.
In this phase of data collection, random sampling shall be used. The use of this method will help ensure that all the targeted population is represented. Institutions from which data will be collected shall be randomly selected, hence eliminating sampling bias. This method of sampling shall involve listing all the associated companies then randomly selecting a sample from the list. Random sampling requires a lot of time and effort before it is completed. Data collection shall take approximately a year since it shall be done in stages to ensure consistency. For instance, data about the performances of schools shall be collected after every semester, for about three semesters so as to make sure the collected information is consistent.
Conclusion
The use of serious games can prove to be a useful strategic human resource management approach. It is possible to achieve objectives in organizations since the technology impacts positively on the human resource department. This research will aid in determining which individuals have more chances of success between those who utilize serious games and those who do not. HR professionals should make it their business to use this valuable tool so that they can be in a position to argue the strategic values to their organizations.
Proposed Time Schedule
The Proposed time scale is spread over 30 months.
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