Teaching Students About Plagiarism Using a Serious Game (Plagi-Warfare): Design and Evaluation Study

Background Educational games have been proven to support the teaching of various concepts across disciplines. Plagiarism is a major problem among undergraduate and postgraduate students at universities. Objective In this paper, we propose a game called Plagi-Warfare that attempts to teach students about plagiarism. Methods To do this at a level that is beyond quizzes, we proposed a game storyline and mechanics that allow the player (or student) to play as a mafia member or a detective. This either demonstrated their knowledge by plagiarizing within the game as a mafia member or catching plagiarists within the game as a detective. The game plays out in a 3D environment representing the major libraries of the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. In total, 30 students were selected to evaluate the game. Results Evaluation of the game mechanics and storyline showed that the student gamers enjoyed the game and learned about plagiarism. Conclusions In this paper, we presented a new educational game that teaches students about plagiarism by using a new crime story and an immersive 3D gaming environment representing the libraries of the University of Johannesburg.