Gaming SEL Lab

Games enable children to practice emotions in spaces that are free from actualized consequences. With thoughtful guidance, games can help children manage emotions, perspective-take, demonstrate empathic concern, and exhibit prosocial behaviors.

Emerging research suggests that social and emotional learning (SEL) skills are, in fact, teachable. The Gaming SEL Lab in the Educational Technology department investigates the rich opportunities that games have in supporting SEL skill development.

Read: Farber, M. (2021). Gaming SEL: Games as Transformational to Social and Emotional Learning. Peter Lang.

Gaming SEL book cover

Follow Matthew Farber on Edutopia: https://www.edutopia.org/profile/matthew-farber

Contact Us

Matthew Farber

matthew.farber@unco.edu
Phone: 970-351-1981

William Merchant

william.merchant@unco.edu
Phone: 970-351-2015

Games

Time Society Chronicles: Independence!, a U.S. history-based game created with Erin Drake Kajioka: https://3sxp.itch.io/timesociety

Walden, a game EDU “Self-reliance” module, Survival Game cards: (free print-and-play version) or (deck for purchase)

Walden, a game EDU “Where I Lived” module, Lost in the Shuffle cards & instructions: (free print-and-play version) or (deck for purchase)

Also, check out our Gaming SEL itch.io page: https://gamingsel.itch.io

Curriculum

Game Design Studio Toolkit, published by iThrive Games.

Museum of Me, What Remains of Edith Finch game-based curriculum, published by iThrive Games.

Bury me, my Love game-based curriculum, published by UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development.

Walden, a game EDU, game-based curriculum, published by USC Game Innovation Lab.

Research and Publications

Zamboni, C., Farber, M., & Merchant, W. (Eds.) (2024). Roll for Learning: 51 Micro Tabletop Role-Playing Games to Use in the Classroom. Play Story Press.
Farber, M., & Merchant, W. (2024).Cultivating Esportspersonship: How Scholastic Esports Coaches Perceive Facilitating Positive Youth Development. Simulation & Gaming. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10468781241299131
Farber, M., Erekson, J. (Spring 2023). Going beyond the page: Pairing children’s literature with video games. Children and Libraries, 21(1), 6-13.
Farber, M., Merchant, W. (2024). Awkward moment. In Kat Schrier, Rachel Kowert, Diana Leonard, Tarja Porkka-Kontturi (Ed.), Learning, Education, and Games: 50 Games to Use for Inclusion, Equity, and Justice. Carnegie Mellon ETC Press.
Farber, M., Merchant, W. (2023). Unlocking hidden rules of office hours: A game jam on the first-generation college students’ experiences. In Remi Kalir, Danielle Filipiak (Ed.), Proceedings of the 2022 Connected Learning Summit. Pittsburgh, PA: Carnegie Mellon ETC Press.
Farber, M., & Merchant, W. (2022). Insights from investigating early childhood ebooks on literacy, cognitive development, and social and emotional learning outcomes. E-Learning and Digital Media. DOI: 10.1177/20427530221108538
Mukund, V., Sharma, M., Srivatsa, A., Sharma, R., Farber, M., & Singh, N. C. (2022). Effects of a digital game-based course in building adolescents’ knowledge and social-emotional competencies. Games for Health Journal. 11(1), 1-12. DOI: 10.1089/g4h.2021.0138
Farber, M. (2022). How games give players “the feels” (book excerpt). Journal of Games, Self, and Society, 3(1), 74-84. DOI: 10.1184/R1/12215417
Farber, M., & Schrier, K. (2021). Beyond winning: A situational analysis of two digital autobiographical games. Games Studies: The International Journal of Computer Game Research. 21(4).
Schrier, K., & Farber, M. (2021). A Systematic Literature Review of “Empathy” and “Games.” Journal of Gaming & Virtual Worlds. 13(2).
Farber, M., & Rivers, S. (2020). Leveraging technology for SEL programmes. In N. Chatterjee, A. Duraiappah, & R. Ramaswamy (Eds.), Rethinking learning: A review of social and emotional learning for education systems (pp. 221-249). UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development.
Farber, M., Williams, M. K., Mellman, L., & Yu, X. (2020). Systems at play: Game design as an approach for teen self-expression. Journal of Games, Self & Society. Carnegie Mellon University ETC Press. 2(1), 40-84.
Farber, M., & Schrier, K. (2017). The strengths and limitations of using digital games as “empathy” machines. UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development.