Ben Goldacre's energetically scathing book Bad Science highlights a series of problems underlying scientific work, such as bad studies, bad experiments, bad analysis, and bad reporting. Goldacre is himself a medical scientist from the UK so much of his criticism is leveled against the British media and medical establishment, although it still applies to other fields of study. His key targets are alternative medical practitioners, especially homeopathics and nutritionists, as well as other fads that celebrities and their favorite doctors pedal in the mass media.
Interest in the research and design of digital games for learning has been accelerating over the past ten years. Various groups—including private corporations, the MacArthur Foundation and the White House—have provided incentives for researchers to tap into the immense success of the video game industry and find ways of using games to re-invigorate the waning motivation among students in schools today. Among the arguments in support of using games is that games are simply better suited for the Millennial generation who has grown up with technology. At the same time, integrating games into a traditional schooling environment can be challenging because games do not fit easily into the school’s institutional system, which has its own concerns for evaluation, grade benchmarks and other accountability measures. It is against this backdrop that Mizuko Ito’s Engineering Play is set.