Education

Learning and exploring with games

Why is it fun to learn the rules of a game and dull to learn rules of physics?

One of the main driving forces behind engagement in games is learning and exploring the game mechanics. Game-based education takes advantage of this inherent motivation for learning games by basing the core structure of the game on the learning curriculum. This enables the students to progress at their own pace, while presenting the learning content in an innovative and engaging way.

A further advantage of using games for learning is the possibility of concretising and visualising otherwise abstract concepts such as the dynamics of an atom. Fully understanding atomic laws requires advanced mathematics. Yet, by playing a game like Quantum Moves students can get a feeling for what the complex physics equations describe. Through clever visualisations and design, game-based education has the potential to give students intuition and knowledge about subjects which would be inaccessible to them with more traditional teaching formats.

Another advantage of applying games to learning is the possibility of concretizing and visualising otherwise abstract concepts e.g. the time-dependent dynamic of an atom. Thus, game-based education has the potential to give the students an intuition and knowledge about subjects which would be inaccessible to them with more traditional teaching formats.

Recommended places to visit

This is a list of good simulations which are good places to find learning resources and fun simulations that help the understanding of physics.