Purpose and Goals of the Book
The use of gaming approaches for more serious purposes is not a new
phenomenon. Teachers have used board games, memory games, and others in
classrooms for decades. However, the advent of video gaming
technologies created a host of opportunities for people to use the
immersive, interactive, environments provided by such technology to
deliver pedagogical content in a simulated environment that is thought
to engender deeper learning in a more entertaining environment.

The use of video games for serious purposes was largely fostered by the
US military, which saw the low-fidelity simulation abilities of these
platforms as a low-cost way to deliver training. Buoyed by successes in
this market, developers have expanded their activities to a whole range
of serious applications, including K-12 education, advertising, and
social change, to name a few. The increasing use of these games has now
drawn the interest of various disciplines within the scientific
community, who seek to understand the nature of effective games and to
provide guidance for how best to harness the power of gaming technology
to successfully accomplish the more serious goal.

At this point, several serious games have been fielded, with varying
levels of success. Many of these games have not been formally
evaluated, while others have been, but the results have not been
published. Conversely, scientists are beginning to report results about
effective game elements, but there is not a clear conduit to get these
results to the developers who could most use them.

Our goal, therefore, is to create a volume that seeks to “bridge the
gap” between development and science. Specifically, we will approach
leaders in the game development community to share their successes and
the area where they could benefit from scientific guidance. Similarly,
we will invite prominent scientists to describe their current findings
and to provide their input on the future of the field.

Recommended topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
Serious Games in K-12 Education
Serious Games in Postsecondary Education
Serious Games in Business and Industry
Serious Games in Training
Serious Games and Health
Serious Games as Social Tools
Research in Serious Games
Serious Games in the Military
Serious Games and Communication

Submission Procedure
Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit on or before
September 30, 2008 , a 2-3 page chapter proposal clearly explaining the
mission and concerns of his or her proposed chapter. Authors of accepted
proposals will be notified by November 30, 2008 about the status of
their proposals and sent chapter guidelines. Full chapters are expected
to be submitted by February 1, 2009. All submitted chapters will be
reviewed on a double-blind review basis. This book is scheduled to be
published by IGI Global (formerly Idea Group Inc.), publisher of the
“Information Science Reference” (formerly Idea Group Reference)
and “Medical Information Science Reference” imprints. For additional
information regarding the publisher, please visit www.igi-global.com.

Inquiries and submissions can be forwarded electronically (Word
document or pdf) to:
Dr. Clint Bowers
Department of Psychology
University of Central Florida
Orlando, FL 32801