FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — An interdisciplinary team of University of Arkansas researchers plans to explore the positive characteristics of video and computer games and the people who play them to find effective ways to teach the generation now entering college. To do so, they are bringing together a national group of experts for a day-long conference, called Sim-U, which will be held from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7, at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

The idea behind the conference is to begin to determine and characterize how the gaming generation learns new information and how this affects the university curriculum, said Fred Limp, conference chair.

“It is clear that gaming is affecting a substantial percentage of the student population,” said Tom Hapgood, assistant professor of art in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. “The university needs to respond to changes in the way students learn information.”

“The idea of the conference is to stimulate interest and get the community interested in what we should do next,” said Limp, who holds the Leica Geosystems Chair in Geospatial Imaging.

The University of Arkansas has begun to integrate simulation into some classes, said Fred Davis, who holds the David D. Glass Chair of Information Systems in the Sam M. Walton College of Business.

“In the master of information systems degree program, we use simulations of business activities as a learning tool,” Davis said.

The conference will include several national speakers, some well-known in the gaming education world. The keynote speaker will be Ian Bogost, co-founder of Persuasive Games, an independent video game studio that makes games about social and political issues, including airport security, Christmas shopping, the global petroleum market and disaffected workers. Bogost speaks at conferences around the world about videogame theory and design. Bogost’s company has a relationship with the New York Times, in which they are publishing news games on the online op-ed page as part of the editorial content. He is an assistant professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Also speaking will be two University of Arkansas graduates who have gone on to get a life — a Second Life, that is. Jason and Sunny Cerchie, a couple who both majored in architecture, now work for the Electric Sheep Co., creating content for Second Life. Second Life is a virtual world where people can buy land, build houses or businesses, sell goods, gather for meetings, learn things in virtual schools or simply wander around, taking it all in. Second Life has more than 8.5 million subscribers worldwide and grows daily. Jason Cerchie will speak at the conference, and Sunny Cerchie will make an appearance in Second Life as her online avatar, Endira Udal.

The co-directors of the Learning Games Initiative, Judd Ruggill and Ken McAllister of the University of Arizona, will also speak. Ruggill and McAllister both study the cultural and pedagogical import of video and computer games.

Throughout the day, there will be an exhibit from Ruggill and McAllister’s video and computer game archive, consisting of toys, books, articles, clothes, posters and, of course, games — from all over the world and from the beginning of computer gaming forward.

The afternoon will include a panel of University of Arkansas students, who will discuss the ideas and issues brought forth during the conference. The panel will be moderated by Kenneth J. Knoespel, professor and chair of the school of literature, communication and culture at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Knoespel’s interests lie in the role of technology in modern-day culture. He will close the conference with a round-up of ideas generated during the conference.

The event is free, but registration is required. Advanced registration, more information and a link to the conference’s Facebook group can be found at: http://simu.uark.edu/.

8-8:45 a.m. — Light breakfast, history of video games exhibit

8:45-9 a.m. — Welcome from Chancellor White

9-9:45 a.m.  — Judd  Ruggill, University of Arizona

9:45-10:30 a.m. — Ken McAllister, University of Arizona

1-1:45 p.m.  — Ian Bogost, Keynote Speaker, Persuasive Games, Georgia Tech

1:45-2:30 p.m. — Student panel with Ken Knoespel of Georgia Tech as moderator

2:30-3 p.m. — Ken Knoespel, Georgia Tech

Persuasive Games Web site: http://www.bogost.com/

Learning Games Initiative: http://www.mesmernet.org/lgi/

The Electric Sheep Company: http://www.electricsheepcompany.com/