Game Design for Teaching and Learning
Session Goals
- Play Cap and Trade
- Post mortem on actual play
- Discuss design considerations
- (Maybe) Talk more generally
CAP AND TRADE
- I made a game just for you.
- You have a role. Meet your fellows!
- Read and listen to the instructions.
- Don't inject personal values - be persuaded ONLY by what you hear.
- We will play FAST!
ROUND ONE
ROUND TWO
ROUND THREE
ROUND FOUR
FINAL ROUND
VOTE TALLY
- Which side do you think carried the day?
- Which side most effectively used the media?
- Did legislators and citizens differ?
Cap and Trade: Design Concerns
- The play space
- The social space
- The learning space
Design Concerns: The Play Space
- Conflict
- Competition
- Currency
Design Concerns: The Play Space continued
- Relationships
- Speed, usability, physical constraints
- Limiting the possibility space and making it scale
Design Concerns: The Social Space
- Engagement and/or fun
- Discrete roles and the tyrrany of balance
- Group problem solving
Design Concerns: The Social Space continued
- Clear win conditions...
- ...even if winning if fictive.
- Assume rules will be subverted, bent, broken - did you cheat?
Design Concerns: The Learning Space
- Themes, whimsy, fantasy, attention-getting
- Content delivery - discrete and social
- Experiential
- MMO/Casual games paradigm
Thanks!
- I'm jason_morningstar@unc.edu
- Tell me what you think!
What is an educational game?
- An educational game is a game designed to teach people ... about a certain subject or help them learn a skill as they play. - Wikipedia
More Specifically
- Simulations
- Sandboxes and software toys
- Serious Games
- Challenge-based: "Exergaming" and repurposed entertainment
- Emulations and Role-playing
- These categories play nicely together!
Techniques
- Face-to-face
- Computer-mediated
- "Augmented Reality", combining real-world information with digital overlays.
Visual data tagging and RFID (think mass casualty drills)
Who is using Games in Instruction at NC State University?
Benefits of Using games
- Integrated curriculum, cross-disciplinary
- Cooperative learning
- Self-motivated, self-directed
- Integrated technology and content
- Assessment with meaning
Simulation
- Meets broader curricular needs
- Many simulations replacing lab bench work
Sandbox
- USC Center on Public Diplomacy and the Annenberg School for Communication
- "Our goals are to explore how virtual worlds can be used as effective tools to bridge cultural gaps, to foster new ways to resolve conflict and to learn and teach new skills in dealing with each other to build a better world."
Serious Games
- Using location-aware computing to teach environmental engineering and address policy issues
- A quick-and-dirty modification of a commercial game to make a political statement
Very Serious Games
- An officers' leadership development trainer, based on lessons learned in Iraq and Afghanistan
- DoD is a huge procurer and consumer of serious games
Repurposed Entertainment
- "Exerlearning" - Combining physical activity with language instruction
- Commercial Dance, Dance Revolution repurposed
Emulations: Role-playing
Reacting to the Past series, Barnard College and Columbia University
- Demonstrating ideas emerging from historical context, content by osmosis: "Defining a Nation - India, 1947"
- Writing, speaking, teamwork, leadership skills
- Building learning communities - students in factions bonding and working through necessity
- Low cost, low tech, high impact
User Feedback
- “This allows you to really take part in history. It’s not you sitting there listening to your professor babble on. You actually get to do something. . .”
––Samuel Zivin, Trinity College ’07
- “I have never seen students this engaged. They write more ... everyone, shy or not, participates vigorously ...They read important texts with real understanding, making complex arguments and ideas their own.”
––Larry Carver, University of Texas at Austin
One Instructor's Thoughts
Kristin Thoney, NC State University
- "Students are both excited and apprehensive about playing educational simulation games."
- "Educational simulation games need to be modified each semester, and this can take a lot of time..."
- "Using software that is accessible through the Internet can be a time saver..."
Demonstrating effective pedagogy
- Games must be able to demonstrate that learning has occurred
- Traditional video games do this well...
Beyond Multiple Choice
- Opportunities to leverage engagement, self motivation, and fun
- James Paul Gee suggests good video game designs demonstrate sound educational technique
- Complex learning and progression are built in
- Skills are internalized, applied, rewarded, and then expanded upon
General Challenges
- How do you show that the students are learning what you claim they are learning?
- How do you know that what you are measuring is what you think you are measuring?
Specific Challenges
- Social emulation leads to varied outcomes - which is "correct"?
- Self-directed sandbox play - how to measure improvement and achievement?
- l33t h@xxorz = roxx0rz or lamez0rz?
Assessment Methods
- Did the player complete the lesson? Did the student pass the test?
- How did the player choose his or her actions? At what point did he or she make and correct errors?
- Does the teacher think the student has internalized and understood the material?
Let's Play! Western Iceland, 1000 AD
Debriefing
- What did we learn about Western Iceland in 1000 AD?
- What did we experience as participants during the role playing exercise?
