Serious Games and their use in Higher Education: An overview of projects created by the Serious Games Research Group at the University of Westminster (SG@W)

Abstract

The keynote presentation elucidated the significant impact of serious games in Higher
Education, clarifying terms like gamification, game-based education, and serious games. It
provided a brief literature review, highlighting reasons for the growing recognition of serious
games in supporting diverse pedagogical methods and styles, utilizing technology for active
student engagement, and enhancing learning paradigms.
Furthermore, the keynote discussed the formation of the Serious Games at Westminster
Research group (SG@W), which bridges interdisciplinary research areas at the University of
Westminster. SG@W aims to foster knowledge of effective game-based educational design
across disciplines such as Computer Science, Engineering, Life Science, Liberal Arts, and
Politics. This initiative has resulted in tailored educational resources, showcasing
transformative pedagogical changes and significantly enriching student learning experiences
beyond Computing. The group's interdisciplinary approach enables a comprehensive
understanding of pedagogical requirements across different domains, facilitating the provision
of customized educational resources and technology.