May 12, 2009
Call for Chapter Proposals
CALL FOR CHAPTER PROPOSALS
Proposal Submission Deadline: May 31, 2009
Serious Educational Game Assessment
Sense Publishers
A book edited by Dr. Len Annetta (North Carolina State University) & Stephen Bronack (Clemson University)
Background
In an increasingly scientific and technological world the need for a knowledgeable citizenry, individuals who understand the fundamentals of technological ideas and think critically about these issues, has never been greater. There is growing appreciation across the broader education community that educational three dimensional virtual learning environments are part of the daily lives of citizens, not only regularly occurring in schools and in after-school programs, but also in informal settings like museums, science centers, zoos and aquariums, at home with family, in the workplace, during leisure time when children and adults participate in community-based activities. This blurring of the boundaries of where, when, why, how and with whom people learn, along with better understandings of learning as a personally constructed, life-long process of making meaning and shaping identity, has initiated a growing awareness in the field that the questions and frameworks guiding assessing these environments should be reconsidered in light of these new realities.
Although a few innovative research efforts are trying to accommodate these new realities, we believe the field could significantly benefit from a broadly inclusive, far-reaching dialogue on this issue. Authors wishing to submit chapters for this edited book should address the following question:
Given the rapidly changing landscape of education, including the blurring of boundaries related to when, where, why and who is learning in Serious Educational Games and 3D virtual learning environments, what are the best practices for assessing learning, presence, identity and interactivity?
The audience for this edited book collection will be researches working in the Serious Games arena along with distance education instructors and administrators. Just as the boundaries of what, where, when, how and why learning occurs is broadening and expanding, so too are the boundaries of who is involved in the learning research enterprise. Many research frameworks also now embrace the importance of more meaningfully involving practitioners from a wide range of learning settings in the research process.
A major goal of this initiative, and in turn this special call for chapters, is to help build bridges across diverse research communities in order to foster dialogue and synergies, making particular efforts to bridge the differences between those historically focused on specific aspects of distance learning and Serious Games. We also hope to discuss strategies for beginning to break down silos between content areas such as science, mathematics, social studies, language arts, etc. and build meaningful connections between research and practice within and across these diverse learning communities.
Examples of re-defined research frameworks might include questions, designs and approaches that:
1. How are 3D virtual learning environments being used to collect user data in world?
2. How are asynchronous platforms being integrated into 3D virtual environments to collect and analyze user data?
3. What research frameworks have been used to collect both in-world and integrated data from other platforms?
4. How can multiuser, synchronous environments be improved to support education research and data collection?
Submissions of interest should include a title for the chapter, a 250 word abstract describing: the context of the Serious Educational Game or 3D VLE,
the assessment techniques used, and implications from research for practice in future virtual environment construction. Also, an outline of the chapter will help the editors make an informed decision to the flow of the book.
Inquiries and submissions can be forwarded electronically (Word
document) to:
Dr. Len Annetta
North Carolina State University
Len_annetta@ncsu.edu
____________________
Dr. Stephen Bronack
Clemson University
Decisions will be made the first week of June and a formal invitation will be sent out to authors of all chapters accepted immediately following acceptance. Final chapters will be due to the editors by September 30, 2009. Chapters should build on relevant literature and be no less than 10,000 words not including references.
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