Background Common definitions of rhetoric in games such as Bogost’s ‘procedural rhetoric’ have their basis in the Aristotelian definition of rhetoric, which concerns itself with discovering all means of persuasion in language. Purpose Gaming rhetoric has more to do with inducing action in players, and therefore falls more in line with Kenneth Burke’s definition of rhetoric. Grinding is a gaming mechanic that can be analysed using rhetorical devices if Burke’s definition of rhetoric is held at the core of this understanding. This article posits that games that employ a particular game mechanic, that of ‘grinding’, are relying on a specific rhetorical device in their design known as ploke, which then persuades the player to continue to do an action multiple times over, and therefore persuade players to form attitudes that align with the designer’s rhetorical goals. Analysis An analysis of ploke was applied to three specific games: Runescape (2001), Ha des (2018) and Animal Crossing: New Horizons (2020). These games were chosen based on the ability to look at multiple genres as well as multiple different points in modern game development history. Ploke provided the ability to understand the method in which grinding communicates with players, enticing and incentivizing them to continue to complete actions repeatedly, whether for story progression or skill enhancement. The rhetorical power of ploke is found in its repetition, and since ploke describes the use of repetition in rhetorical contexts, thus grinding’s rhetorical power can be explained through this rhetorical phenomenon. Conclusion Ploke is just one rhetorical device, and grinding is just one game mechanic. There are several other game mechanics that can be analysed through rhetorical devices. This analysis allows researchers in interdisciplinary fields of games and linguistics, communication or humanities to explore how games communicate and influence player decisions.

Background Patient safety and improved outcomes are core priorities in healthcare, and effective handoffs are essential to these priorities. Validating handoff tools using simulation is a novel approach. Methods The construct validity and instrument reliability of the I-BIDS© tool were tested. In Phase I, construct validity was substantiated with a convenience sample of 21 healthcare providers through an electronic survey. Content Validity Ratio (CVR) was tabulated using Lawshe’s CVR. Interrater reliability was tested in a simulated handoff scenario, in Phase II, with graduate nursing students and two raters, and simulation effectiveness was assessed by students. Results Construct validity was evaluated, and 17 of the 25 items were found significant at the critical level (0.42). Items scoring below were removed, and the tool was reduced by one category. Weighted kappa (Kw) with quadratic weights was run from the scenario data to determine if there was an agreement between raters of handoff performance. There was a statistically significant agreement between the two raters, Kw = .627 (95% CI: .549–.705), p < .001) with good strength of the agreement. SET-M Total mean was 55.64 ( SD = 2.46). Discussion The tool showed beginning validity and interrater reliability. The SET-M Learning subscale showed the widest range of scores which suggests the most opportunity for improvement. Use of the tool in simulated scenarios may be one way to test the items further. Conclusions Simulation was effective in facilitating the evaluation of the tool.

Background Problem-solving and collaboration occur frequently in serious games. They are also considered necessary skills for students to learn, so many engineering and computer science programs design assignments with them in mind. Understanding the similarities and differences between each scenario would strengthen problem-solving interventions aimed at students. Aim This qualitative study examined how engineering and computer science undergraduates (students) and players of Magic: The Gathering (gamers) identified a problem as being complex, used the inquiry cycle for problem-solving, and engaged in proximal processes. Method Undergraduates in engineering or computer science and players of Magic: The Gathering’s Elder Dragon Highlander format completed an online questionnaire where they described how they solved a complex problem and how they engaged with others (or why they chose not to engage with others) during each part of the process. Responses were grouped by role (gamer or student) and by gender then coded to identify where each was alike and where they differed. Results Gamers and students engaged in the problem-solving process differently, with gamers using more of the inquiry cycle than students did. Proximal processes, however, were used differently based on both group and gender, with female gamers engaging in them most often and female engineers least often.

Background Current team assessment instruments in healthcare tend to involve rater-based evaluations that are susceptible to well-known biases. Recent advances in technology include portable devices to measure team-based activities. Consequently, the possibility exists to move away from rater-based assessments of team function by identifying quantitative measures to replace them. Aim This article aims to provide potential approaches to developing quantitative measurement suites involving large amounts of data to address the challenges of assessment presented by the complex nature of teamwork. Conclusion By addressing construct, measurement, and context components, we provide a practical approach to developing a suite to capture quantitative measurements that, through incorporation of social network analysis and aggregated other values, aligns with the Team Strategies & Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient SafetyTM (TeamSTEPPSTM) dimensions for fostering teamwork.

Background Extensive reading (ER) classes have become a popular way to promote reading in EFL (English as a Foreign Language) classrooms because ER supports the idea of reading for pleasure. However, reading in the classroom can still become stale if students have little chance to reflect on what they have read or if they become burdened by the reading requirements. Aim In an attempt to create a more energetic ER classroom, we converted the classroom into a game-based environment with the aim of promoting L2 reading enjoyment and motivating students to read in a more focused manner . Method As for specifics, 55 female Japanese university students—divided into two groups based upon English proficiency—participated in a social book reading game called Bibliobattle whereby students discussed their favorite books in small groups. Three iterations of the game were incorporated into the ER classroom as a way to enliven reading activities. Results The game proved largely successful. From the data obtained in the debriefing questionnaires, students mentioned that they were motivated by the activities through reflection on their book’s content and through the sharing of specific details about what they had read with their peers. Although both groups of students indicated their motivation to play the game, this was especially true for the lower level readers—a group that had demonstrated more apathy towards ER in the past. Based upon our experiences while running the game, we recommend that Bibliobattles be implemented as specialized events in the ER classroom as a means to help stimulate a love for reading in a second language; however, it should also be noted that student preparation for such battles is time-consuming, so the number of battles per semester should be limited to a maximum of two per semester.

Background: When selecting, managing, and debriefing simulations, facilitators wishing to maintain appropriate standards, face demanding ethical challenges especially in learning contexts. Aim: This article considers why facilitators need to attend to ethical issues in facilitating simulation games. Issues examined include the influence of complexity in socio-technical system simulation games, perceptions of both facilitator and participants’ behaviors by including belief systems. Intervention: A multidisciplinary integrative view of ethical facilitation from a reflective perspective has been used in this article. Method: Literature, interviews and case descriptions were employed to examine what might constitute ethical facilitation. Results: A three layered framework of perspectives on ethical facilitation is proposed and two case study examples are used to describe its application. Further research is being conducted on facilitator tools for dealing with ethical issues. Conclusions: While ethical facilitation is undoubtedly complex, tangible perspectives with scientific foundations can be established and applied on the continuum of open and closed simulation games.

Background. In recent years, the use of digital serious games in the education of healthcare students and professionals has been frequent. However, there are no high-level evidence studies focused on the effect of this tool in the development of patient care-related competencies in pharmacy education. Aim. To assess the effect of digital serious games on learning about patient care in pharmacy education. Methods. The Cochrane Library, ERIC, Embase, IPA, LILACS, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases were reviewed to identify relevant studies published up to October 2, 2018. Standardized and non-standardized terms including “games,” “serious games,” “pharmacy education,” “pharmacists,” and “pharmacy students” were used as search terms. The quality of the studies was assessed using validated tools. Results and Discussion. Of the 1,521 studies reviewed, seven met the eligibility criteria. Three studies were performed in the United States (42.85%). The most-frequent design studies were randomized controlled studies (n = 3; 42.85%). The number of participants ranged between 6 and 354. In most cases, game scenarios were based on simulations in which users performed the role of the pharmacist (n = 5; 71.42%). The predominant primary outcome was attitudes (n = 5; 71.42%) related to patient care. Only one study (14.27%) demonstrated significant improvements in the assessed primary outcomes. The methodology of the included studies lacked robustness. Conclusion. The effect of learning technological tools on patient care-related competencies was not significant in most of the included studies. Future studies must provide high-quality, integrated-manner evidence on the effect of digital serious games in pharmacy education (knowledge, skills, and attitudes) to facilitate the transfer of learning to real-life scenarios and changes in organizational practices.

Background. Wargaming has a long history as a tool for understanding the complexity of conflict. Although wargames have shown their relevance across topics and time, the immersive nature of wargames and the guild-like communities that surround them have often resisted the social scientific advances that occurred alongside the evolution of warfare. However, recent work raises new possibilities for integrating wargaming practices and social scientific methods. Purpose. Develop the experimental wargaming method and practice. Prioritizing the focus on iteration, control, and generalizability within experimental design can provide new opportunities for wargames to answer broader questions about decision-making, crisis behaviors, and patterns of outcomes. Method. The International Crisis Wargame developed in 2018 demonstrates the viability of experimental wargaming, and models the process of theorizing, designing, developing, and executing these wargames. It also identifies what makes games more or less experimental and details how experimental design influenced choices in the game. Conclusion. Experimental wargames are a promising new tool for both the social science and the wargaming communities. A proposed new research agenda for experimental design within wargames would support this nascent method

Background. Building on previous studies on racism and whiteness in video games, this article investigates how deck building games provide platforms for identity tourism, the symbolic appropriation of marginalised experiences, through their coupling of mechanics and racial stereotypes. Aims. The aim is to contribute to our understanding how dominant ideologies are expressed through simulation and gaming in a deck building context and how games similar to ASCENSION: DAWN OF CHAMPIONS (henceforth A: DOC) perpetuate racism and coloniality through gameplay design. This is part of an ongoing game studies effort to critique white supremacist and imperial structures in games. Method. In this article, I conduct a first-person close reading of A: DOC as an emblematic case study for contemporary deck building design. Using critical whiteness theory, I pay special attention to the gameplay design of the four Champion characters Nairi, Kor, Sadranis, and Dhartha in order to demonstrate the interplay of ludic, racial, and social performative elements in the construction of playful identities. Analysis. The deck building principles of A: DOC provides a racial pedagogical arena which creates affective links between gameplay and white supremacist values. In coupling digital deck building mechanics with stereotypical fantasy characters, the game invites players to take the roles of fantasy tourists and thereby become implicit in white supremacist play. Even though the characters Nairi, Kor, Sadranis and Dhartha are leaders of different genders and races, their “diversity” is established via popular racial cybertypes like the white female diversity advocate, the technologically advanced white male emperor, the aggressive Black male, and the Asian male exotic Oriental.

Introduction. Effective debriefing of simulation-based experiences is critical for learning. Approximately 33% of health professions instructors are debriefing novices. However, specific faculty development needs of novice debriefers has not been studied. This study examines how health professions instructors approach debriefing when they are new to debriefing simulation-based experiences. Methods. This pilot qualitative study used a thematic analysis approach to explore novice debriefers’ experiences in conducting post-simulation debriefings. Eligible participants engaged in one-hour semi-structured interviews. Recruitment continued until data saturation was reached. We reviewed verbatim interview transcripts, hand-coded the data, and formed codes into themes. Results. Nine novice debriefers participated. The overarching theme “I’m on my own…and they’re on their own,” reflects debriefers’ view that they are on their own, without resources. Debriefers also believe learners should identifying their own errors. Three main themes emerged: “Deep divide between me and the learners” portrays a separation between debriefers and learners in terms of expectations, roles, and responsibilities. “Winging it” depicts debriefers’ making-up their own debriefing approaches. “Debriefing quality: missing pieces of the puzzle” portrays novice debriefers unaware of criteria for effective debriefing. Conclusions. Novice debriefers in this study perceived that they were on their own, having little to no debriefing training and mentorship. Study participants expressed debriefing struggles in several areas including discussing errors, facilitating learner participation, and assessing debriefing quality. Our findings shed light on simulation as a growing specialty by health profession educators and it is critical that resources are devoted to faculty development for debriefing skill acquisition. These findings can serve as a basis for future studies on debriefer skill acquisition.