Exploring the unknown: Designing a serious game for tertiary education from scratch, a case study

Serious games offer educators the opportunity to enhance student motivation and engagement, setting the stage for authentic and productive learning (Coates, 2005). Anecdotal evidence suggests barriers to adoption of serious games in education include perceptions of the need for technological expertise and high costs of development. The author created a serious game to assist post graduate professional psychology students to manage the transition from theoretical knowledge to professional practice. This demanding stage of development is key to graduate competence, perceptions of self-efficacy and employability (De Stefano, D’Iuso, Blake, Fitzpatrick, Drapeau, & Chamodraka, 2007; & Skovholt & Ronnestad, 2003). During this developmental stage, serious games provide an opportunity for safe and engaging learning opportunities. This case study provides insight into the theory and principles to be considered when developing a serious game.