Abstract

There has recently been a great deal of interest in the
potential of computer games to function as innovative
educational tools. However, there is very little evidence of
games fulfilling that potential. Indeed, the process of
merging the disparate goals of education and games design
appears problematic, and there are currently no practical
guidelines for how to do so in a coherent manner. In this
paper, we describe the successful, empirically validated
teaching methods developed by behavioural psychologists
and point out how they are uniquely suited to take
advantage of the benefits that games offer to education. We
conclude by proposing some practical steps for designing
educational games, based on the techniques of Applied
Behaviour Analysis. It is intended that this paper can both
focus educational games designers on the features of games
that are genuinely useful for education, and also introduce a
successful form of teaching that this audience may not yet
be familiar with.