Can Game Development Impact Academic Achievement?
Electronic educational gaming has received a tremendous amount of attention within the last few years. This excitement is owing, in part, to theoretical arguments and empirical findings about the possibilities of using videogames in teaching and learning (e.g. Squire, 2006; Squire & Jenkins, 2003; Gee, 2003; Prensky, 2001). Several articles in THE Journal have also drawn attention to video game use, highlighting concern (Weinstock, 2007), health and fitness issues (O’Hanlon, 2007), multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs) & simulations (Blaisdell, 2006), and the promise of digital game-based learning (Deubel, 2006). One area within the video game arena that has received considerably less attention is the concept of student development of games. The work that has been done (e.g. Kafai, 1998; also see DiPietro, Ferdig, Boyer & Black, 2007) has shown tremendous promise for motivating students, building conceptual knowledge, and improving content knowledge acquisition. Squire (2006) argued
