Call for Papers
Workshop on Serious Moral Games
at the 48th International Simulation and Gaming Association conference (ISAGA 2017)
Delft, the Netherlands, 10-14 July 2017
Extended deadline for submission – papers: 20 March 2017
Deadline for submission – game demo: 31 March 2017
Dear All,
If you are interested in the use of video games for purposes of ethics training / moral education, we’d like to make you aware of a thematic workshop on Serious Moral Games, which we are organizing at the ISAGA Conference in Delft (10.-14.07.2017).
The purpose of this thematic session is to bring together experts from diverse disciplines and areas of practice to share knowledge about the design, development, and evaluation of serious moral games (SMGs), i.e. games that explicitly try to stimulate learning in the moral domain. On the one hand, we are looking for research presentations (call for papers / extended abstracts). On the other hand, we want to organize a forum for the presentation and discussion of existing SMGs, or games, which are currently being developed (call for game demonstrations).
By SMGs, we denote games that aren’t only played for the gaming experience itself, but also with the explicit aim to achieve learning related to morality and ethics, e.g. the development of moral competences, ethical values and attitudes, schemes and skills for moral and pro-social behavior, etc. . The purpose of SMGs is to stimulate this learning process in a playful manner. We believe this specific type of game to hold a vastly unexplored potential to promote moral development and action. While various video games and other types of games, as well as simulations, already qualify as playful approaches for the development of morality, and research on the promotion of morality through video games is thriving, we believe that a more systematic investigation of game mechanisms that promote morality and a more rigorous analysis regarding their effects with respect to the development of moral competences is needed.
Relating to the theme of the ISAGA 2017 conference (www.isaga2017.com), we would be particularly keen to feature papers and game presentations on SMGs concerning sustainable cities and smart infrastructures. However, presentations around SMGs for any target group of learners are welcome, e.g. SMGs for the ethical training of bankers. Presentations are invited for either one, or both sessions.
CALL FOR PAPERS / EXTENDED ABSTRACTS (THEMATIC SESSION I)
We cordially invite you to submit extended abstracts (not full papers). Extended abstracts (300-500 words, excluding title and references) must relate in one or the other way to SMGs and can, but are not restricted to, cover one of the following topics:
- Training goals: Which moral competences should be trained in SMGs?
- Strategy & Effectiveness: Learning mechanisms for the game-based development of morality? Methods for the investigation and evaluation of SMGs?
- Transferability: How to stimulate a real impact of game-based learning on ethical practice?
- Measuring morality: Measuring moral behavior or the attainment of learning outcomes.
- Testing: SMG testing in (quasi-)experimental research.
- Efficiency: How to achieve a maximum moral learning effect with a small production budget?
- Target groups: SMGs for professionals, e.g. architects and city planners, medical practitioners, police officers, students, migrants…
- Advantages and limitations: Purposes, benefits and risks of SMGs.
The extended abstracts submitted to this thematic session will be subject to a double-blind peer-review process organized by this session’s committee. Up to six abstracts will be selected for presentation. In this thematic session (180 minutes), presentations will be held (max. 20 min) followed by an extended discussion (min. 10 min).
PUBLICATIONS OF CONTRIBUTIONS
All extended abstracts for this session will be published in the conference’s digital proceedings, which the participants will receive at the start of the conference. Authors of accepted abstracts will be invited to submit a full paper (after the conference). The full paper will be peer-reviewed and then published in a special issue of Ethics and Information Technology (Springer). Further details will follow.
CALL FOR GAME DEMONSTRATIONS (THEMATIC SESSION II)
The second part of our thematic session will be dedicated to demonstration of SMGs (180 minutes). In the beginning, participants will shortly present their game (10 minutes), followed by a forum (a kind of “market place”) where the conference participants can test out games individually, speak with the presenters and discuss with each other. The goal of this workshop is to share SMGs in an expert circle and to receive constructive feedback on selected topics (e.g., game methodology, game design…).
To submit a game for a game-play-demonstration-workshop, please submit the following information:
- Name(s) of the contributors
- Name(s) of the game designers
- Year of the latest version of the game
- Type of game (e.g. board game, video game…)
- Main user group
- Short summary of the game theme
- Non-entertainment goals of the game (e.g., desired learning outcomes…)
SUBMISSION AND DEADLINES
Extended abstracts for thematic session I:
Submission opens: January 2017
Extended deadline for submission (paper): 20 March 2017
Feedback from reviewers: 31 March 2017
Game Demonstrations for thematic session II:
Submission opens: January 2017
Deadline for submission of (game demo): 31 March 2017
Feedback from reviewers: 15 April 2017
Contributions can be submitted via PDF to smg@bf.uzh.ch. More information about ISAGA 2017 can be found online on the conference website: www.isaga2017.com
For further information about submissions please contact the thematic session organizing committee on smg@bf.uzh.ch.
PROGRAMME COMMITTEE
PD Dr. Markus Christen, University of Zurich, Institute of Biomedical Ethics & History of Medicine / UZH Digital Society Initiative
Johannes Katsarov, University of Zurich, Center for Ethics – Ethics Research Institute
David Schmocker, University of Zurich, Department of Banking & Finance, Center for Responsibility in Finance / Institute of Psychology
Prof. Dr. Carmen Tanner, University of Zurich – Department of Banking & Finance, Center for Responsibility in Finance / Zeppelin University – Leadership Excellence Institute Zeppelin