Serious Games for Vocational Training

The SG4BB research project developed an integrated platform for discovering, integrating, and evaluating educational games for vocational education and training (VET), with the main contribution being a metadata-driven search system and middleware linking games to learning management systems. The platform rests on an application profile extending the Serious Games Metadata Format (DIN SPEC 91380), which powers the Serious Games Information Center portal, and uses the xAPI standard to connect games with learning management and learning record stores. The work was carried out through an interdisciplinary, user-centered process involving German learning providers, game developers, and VET researchers, and targets qualification levels 4 to 7 of the European Qualifications Framework, with a German focus and reference to international occupational classifications.

The paper's central case study is "Corrugated," a mobile 3D simulation game for service technicians in the corrugated board industry, designed to build domain-specific problem-solving skills. Its evaluation proceeded in two iterations: an initial usability and technical test with 11 participants, followed by a final study in which 36 participants completed pre- and post-game problem-solving tests, a gameplay session of about 60 minutes, and an 18-item experience questionnaire, with 26 cases usable for game-interaction analysis. Participants rated the game highly on average (mean 3.6 on a five-point scale), and the authors report varied learning paths across difficulty levels, along with a dashboard for monitoring play and progress. The authors explicitly caution that the small, predominantly male sample means the results lack statistical significance and should be interpreted with care.

The authors draw practical lessons for future projects: learning objectives and evaluation methods should be fixed at the outset, and entertainment-oriented developers need concrete technical and content guidance, including clarity on when and how often game data should be sent to backend systems. The project is presented as establishing a workable pipeline for developing, providing, and integrating gamified VET content, though the evaluation is preliminary and the comprehensive findings are deferred to a later publication.