Applied Educational Game Systems
Learning & Behavior Research Through Interactive Design
I built several educational games as learning systems and looked at cognition, feedback, and how difficulty ramps up. Each one tests how mechanics, constraints, and feedback loops affect learning, decision-making, and retention.
Research angle: these are working prototypes for testing learning mechanics, feedback timing, difficulty scaling, and behavior change. They aren't formal lab studies, but the design decisions come from research and get tested in real use.
Games & Systems
Grammar Sorts
Gameplay
Players categorize nouns by dragging them into semantic buckets.
Research Focus
Looks at how players form concepts, learn from mistakes, and pick up categories by doing.
Reverse Math
Gameplay
Players pick 2-3 numbers from a grid to hit a target. It gets harder as the operations change from addition to subtraction to multiplication to division.
Research Focus
Looks at problem-solving strategies, mental load, and adaptive difficulty.
Crave Control
Gameplay
A decision-training game that nudges players toward healthier food choices. Made with a domain expert, Dr. Linda.
Research Focus
Looks at nudges, the choices a game offers, and how habits form through play.
Jazzy's Sight Word Jumble
Gameplay
Sight words show up scrambled and the player puts them back together, with audio pronunciation if they want it.
Research Focus
Looks at learning through sight and sound together, and memory practice for early readers.
Research Framework
Learning Mechanics
How game mechanics, like constraints, feedback loops, and interaction patterns, help players form concepts and remember what they learned.
Feedback & Iteration
The timing, clarity, and form of feedback, and how correcting errors changes the way players learn and build strategies.
Behavior Change
How game design, through nudges, the choices it offers, and adaptive difficulty, shapes decision-making and habits.