The GaLA project began with an awareness of the history of
the successful use of games to support early learning (simple
tasks – easy to align game goal with learning goal), especially
in K-12 public school settings. In fact, games have a long history
of use and success in primary school education. With the advent
of digital technologies, the use of games in primary schooling
has expanded significantly. Moreover, advocates of game-based
learning argue, with some evidence, that the motivational aspects
of games attract some who might not be interested in a topic
to become more interested and engaged. As stated
previously, the time a student spends on a learning task and
with a set of learning problems is correlated with learning outcomes.
In addition, there is recent interest in using games to support
adult learning – even in complex and ill-structured problem
solving domains as well as in the area of soft skills (e.g., leadership
training). The GaLA project is primarily focused on developing
evidence that games can be used effectively to support
learning in higher education as well as in settings in business
and governmental and non-governmental agencies. The evidence
for success in this area is not yet convincing, however.