The DOI matches its Crossref record; 11 of the 12 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy
Abstract
Good computer and video games like System Shock 2, Deus Ex, Pikmin, Rise of Nations, Neverwinter Nights, and Xenosaga: Episode 1 are learning machines. They get themselves learned and learned well, so that they get played long and hard by a great many people. This is how they and their designers survive and perpetuate themselves. If a game cannot be learned and even mastered at a certain level, it won't get played by enough people, and the company that makes it will go broke. Good learning in games is a capitalist-driven Darwinian process of selection of the fittest. Of course, game designers could have solved their learning problems by making games shorter and easier, by dumbing them down, so to speak. But most gamers don't want short and easy games. Thus, designers face and largely solve an intriguing educational dilemma, one also faced by schools and workplaces: how to get people, often young people, to learn and master something that is long and challenging--and enjoy it, to boot.
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In the citing paper
“Understanding these relationships corresponds to Gee's (2003) semiotic principle which states that an appreciation of multiple sign systems such as images, artifacts, words, and actions is essential for learning through DVGs.”
From Readers, Players, and Watchers: EFL Students’ Vocabulary Acquisition through Digital Video Games (2017) · cites this paper as Gee's (2003)
In the citing paper
“As noted in Gee's (2003) multimodal principle regarding the construction of meaning through various modalities such as images, texts, and interactions, eased comprehension of the meanings through the multimedia principle seems to have played an important role in vocabulary acquisition as investigated in the present study.”
From Readers, Players, and Watchers: EFL Students’ Vocabulary Acquisition through Digital Video Games (2017) · cites this paper as Gee's (2003)
In the citing paper
“This involved the gamer in an active process of critically examining all relevant issues to the immediate situation (Gee, 2003).”
From Readers, Players, and Watchers: EFL Students’ Vocabulary Acquisition through Digital Video Games (2017) · cites this paper as Gee, 2003
In the citing paper
“This is also in keeping with Gee's (2003) explicit information on-demand and just-in-time principle.”
From Readers, Players, and Watchers: EFL Students’ Vocabulary Acquisition through Digital Video Games (2017) · cites this paper as Gee's (2003)
In the citing paper
“Effective learning games foster cognitive engagement and motivation by providing interactivity, adaptive challenges, and ongoing feedback”
From Efficacy of an Adaptive Game-Based Math Learning App to Support Personalized Learning and Improve Early Elementary School Students’ Learning (2023) · cites this paper as Gee, 2003
In the citing paper
“Game environments incorporate multidimensional learning features such as contextual salience, emotional engagement, goal-directed interaction, and problem-solving activities (Gee, 2003; Peterson, 2016; Reinders and Wattana, 2015).”
From Incidental vocabulary learning from digital games: the predictive role of game playing time, foreign language motivation, and anxiety (2026) · cites this paper as Gee, 2003
In the citing paper
“In addition to the resources listed above in Nasir's study of basketball, video games are designed to change and adapt as the player develops, thus offering the player a scaffolded series of experiences catered to her needs.”
From Identity development as a lens to science teacher preparation (2007) · cites this paper as Gee, 2003
In the citing paper
“These findings suggest that learning opportunities offered to preservice teachers may also differ with respect to their abilities to support the development of a professional identity as”
From Identity development as a lens to science teacher preparation (2007) · cites this paper as Gee, 2003
In the citing paper
“Video gaming, as well, has been shown to be rich in these identity resources (Gee, 2003).”
From Identity development as a lens to science teacher preparation (2007) · cites this paper as Gee, 2003
In the citing paper
“Taking on a new identity in cases such as this (in which the existing identity of the person does not align well or actually contradicts the desired practices of the discourse) requires additional support.”
From Identity development as a lens to science teacher preparation (2007) · cites this paper as Gee (2003)
In the citing paper
“Gee (2003) describes three essential components of identity”
From Identity development as a lens to science teacher preparation (2007) · cites this paper as Gee (2003)
In the citing paper
“What gets buried is that Gee emphasizes his own category of “good games”, stocked with a roster of his choosing, based on criteria of his devising.”
From The Game Studies Crisis: What Are the Rules of Play? (2021) · cites this paper as Gee (2003)
In the citing paper
“Situated, game-like or DIY learning through design are just a few ways that global scholars describe online learning (Gee, 2003(Gee, , 2009;;Denner, 2011;Kafai & Peppler, 2011;Hayes & Game;2008).”
From Reclaiming and Learning Indigenous Languages on Social Media with Digital Activists: Insights from Lampung, Mayangna and Miskitu Youth (2020) · cites this paper as Gee, 2003
In the citing paper
“This approach promotes active learning, requiring students to make decisions, test hypotheses, and receive immediate feedback [30].”
From Fostering computational thinking in young students through student generated challenges in tangible mobile augmented reality games (2025) · cites this paper as [30]
Citations
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Flagged first, then by citations
1 of the 12 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
Research works printed but not linked: 4
- BRUER , J. T. 1993. Schools for Rhought: A Science of Learning in the Classroom . MIT Press , Cambridge, MA . BRUER, J. T. 1993. Schools for Rhought: A Science of Learning in the Classroom. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
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Promoting active learning with ChatGPT: A constructivist approach in Sri Lankan higher education
(2024) · Journal of Applied Learning & Teaching · doi:10.37074/jalt.2024.7.2.26 · Cited by 30
Lai, C.-H., & Hu, P.-Y. (2025) · Information · doi:10.3390/info16060490 · Cited by 18
Beyond the digital divide: An ecological approach to gameplay
Linderoth, J. (2013) · Transactions of the Digital Games Research Association · doi:10.26503/todigra.v1i1.9 · Cited by 52
Gamificación Digital en la Educación Secundaria: una revisión sistemática
Faure-Carvallo, A., Calderón-Garrido, D., & Gustems-Carnicer, J. (2022) · Revista Latina de Comunicación Social · doi:10.4185/rlcs-2022-1773 · Cited by 17
Roman palace: a videogame for foreign-language vocabulary retention
Larchen Costuchen, A., Mollá Vayá, R. P., & Dinkova Dimitrova, D. (2022) · International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (iJET) · doi:10.3991/ijet.v17i05.27621 · Cited by 12
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Multimodality and Expressivity in Videogames
Zagalo, N. (2019) · Observatorio (OBS*) · doi:10.15847/obsobs13120191411 · Cited by 8
Vnucko, G., Kralova, Z., & Tirpakova, A. (2024) · Heliyon · doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e33301 · Cited by 7
Hinton, L. L., & Putra, K. A. (2020) · The Journal of Second Language Acquisition and Teaching (JSLAT) · doi:10.2458/jslat.2161 · Cited by 6
Marinho, A., Bittencourt, I. I., Dermeval, D., Santos, J., Challco, G., & Reis, M. (2025) · Technology, Knowledge and Learning · doi:10.1007/s10758-024-09796-5 · Cited by 5
The Game Studies Crisis: What Are the Rules of Play?
Ouellette, M., & Conway, S. (2021) · Eludamos: Journal for Computer Game Culture · doi:10.7557/23.6360 · Cited by 4
“Beyond the deterministic tautology that games are fun, there is something hollow in these claims, and the fact they cite James Gee (2003) is more than a little telling.”
BackgroundBuendgens-Kosten, J. (2022) · The JALT CALL Journal · doi:10.29140/jaltcall.v18n3.548 · Cited by 3
“Monographs and edited volumes are regularly published on this topic (Gee, 2004, 2008; Reinders, 2012; Reinhardt, 2019; Sykes & Reinhardt, 2013).”
Gardeli, A., & Vosinakis, S. (2025) · Discover Education · doi:10.1007/s44217-025-00899-4 · Cited by 3
Talk to Me! Games and Studentsâ Willingness to Communicate
Reinders, H., & Wattana, S. (2014) · Digital Games in Language Learning and Teaching · doi:10.1057/9781137005267.0015 · Cited by 3
Shahiwala, S., & Rahul, D. R. (2025) · System · doi:10.1016/j.system.2025.103864 · Cited by 2
Conceptualizing Digital Game-Mediated L2 Learning and Pedagogy
Reinhardt, J., & Sykes, J. M. (2014) · Digital Games in Language Learning and Teaching · doi:10.1057/9781137005267.0008 · Cited by 2
Critical Pedagogies in Geography Education
Morgan, J. (2024) · Springer International Handbooks of Human Geography · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-72366-7_14 · Cited by 1
Güner Özer, M., & Belet Boyacı, Ş. D. (2025) · Education and Information Technologies · doi:10.1007/s10639-025-13677-4 · Cited by 1
Akbulut, S., Şimşek, B., Direkci, B., Koparan, B., Gülmez, M., Şimşek, E. E., & Kayır, G. (2026) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1798613
“Game environments incorporate multidimensional learning features such as contextual salience, emotional engagement, goal-directed interaction, and problem-solving activities (Gee, 2003; Peterson, 2016; Reinders and Wattana, 2015).”
Metadata
- Authors
- Gee, J. P.
- Affiliations
- University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
- Corresponding author
- Gee, James Paul
- ORCID
- Gee, James Paul
- Venue
- Computers in Entertainment
- Published
- 2003-10
- Volume
- 1
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 20-20
- ISSN
- 1544-3574 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4292952947
- Cited by
- 5,735
- References
- 12
- Citations by year
- 2026: 332 · 2025: 384 · 2024: 360 · 2023: 385 · 2022: 335 · 2021: 390 · 2020: 366 · 2019: 353 · 2018: 268 · 2017: 258 · 2016: 260 · 2015: 325 · 2014: 226 · 2013: 262 · 2012: 241
- FWCI
- 90.24
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Computers in entertainment (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Educational Games and Gamification
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Digital Games and Media
- Social Sciences › Education › Literacy, Media, and Education
- Keywords
- video games, game design, learning, literacy, game-based learning, game difficulty, player motivation, video game industry, serious games
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