Development of a Serious Game to Assist in Teaching History

Abstract

Computerized games have proved to be a great tool to help students learn independently of their application, either in foreign language teaching or to arouse interest in learning from other disciplines or even to help them learn specific functions in certain professions, due to its popularity and motivational capacity. Nowadays, with Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) available, it is possible to create new teaching methodologies that use Game-Based Learning (GBL) to facilitate learning. This work aims to develop a Serious Game to aid in the acquisition of knowledge about a historical event occurred in the sixteenth century: The Black Death. The game provides teachers and students with a new kind of teaching that can be used in the classroom, motivating and facilitating the acquisition of students' knowledge. The game was developed using the RPG Maker VX Ace tool, that allows create attractive, versatile and accessible RPG games. Other advantage isn't internet connection is required to use the game. To create scripts, RPG Maker uses the Ruby programming language, an open source language that is easy to understand and use, and is focused on productivity. After completing, the game proved to be a good tool to help the teacher, addressing the Black Death theme and the Mongol attack on the city of Caffa. The game gave an insight on the theme, introducing the subject and as waiting, presented the theme form more dynamic, in order to arouse the students' interest.