Symmetry in the Design of Educational Computer Games and the Gamification of Instruction

Dear Colleagues,

The ability of video games to capture and sustain players' attention continues to fuel interest in the design of (serious) educational games and the gamification of conventional, hybrid and completely online learning environments. The blend of education and entertainment, however, often comes up as less than the sum of its parts, failing to meet the standards of high quality education or the expectations of first-rate entertainment. Games that over-emphasize educational requirements may undermine the dramatic flow of story and disrupt the riveting interactions of gameplay. In contrast, games that profligate on the compelling goals of interactive entertainment may overlook, oversimplify or trivialize the importance of content information and vital instructional events. Symmetry, defined here as the balance between instructional design and entertainment design, is believed to be necessary to realize the potential of game-based learning to facilitate individual and group performance.

In this Special Issue of Symmetry we will focus on research and the development of training and educational programs that utilize educational video games or otherwise apply elements of story, play and game to facilitate learning and human performance in business and industry, government agencies, and primary, secondary, and post-secondary education. Manuscripts that emphasize and address the need for symmetry between education and entertainment during the analysis, design, development, implementation and/or evaluation of training or educational programs are particularly welcome.

Please submit a short proposal, including a title, one to two page summary and outline of proposed manuscript to Dr. Hirumi at Atsusi.Hirumi@ucf.edu by midnight, Sunday, 3 December, 2017. Selected authors will be notified by mid December and invited to submit complete manuscripts by Friday, 30 March, 2018. Please Note: An invitation to submit a complete manuscript does not guarantee the manuscript will be published; all manuscripts must still undergo full peer review process). All approved submissions for this Special Issue will be sent out for peer-review by end of April.

Prof. Atsusi “2c” Hirumi, PhD
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Symmetry is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.