Maarten van de Ven
The focus of institutions is the preparation of future professionals. To achieve this aim, Higher education institutes use innovative teaching methods to prepare their students for future professional work. These methods include games and simulations. As the field of digital games and simulations is ever maturing, this paper systematically reviews the literature relevant to games and simulation pedagogy in higher education. The main objective is to study the impact of games and simulations with regard to achieving specific learning objectives. Furthermore, the aim of this paper is to develop a framework to allow educators across disciplines to better understand the advantages and draw backs of games and simulations specific to their pedagogical goals.
On balance, results indicate that games and/or simulations have a positive impact on learning goals. The researchers identify three learning outcomes when integrating games into the learning process: cognitive, behavioural, and affective.Games and simulations show mixed effects across a number of sectors, such as student performance, engagement, and learning motivation.