Our Favorite Games - Educational Gaming Commons
Download
Report
Transcript Our Favorite Games - Educational Gaming Commons
Our Favorite Games:
(Dibs on Candy Crush!)
Applying Lessons of “Fun Games” to the
Classroom
May 13, 2014
Elizabeth Pyatt
[email protected]
Such as Candy Crush
Match
3 candies
to clear
Match 4 = striped
Match 5 = bomb
Like
“Bejeweled”
but with more
sucrose
What I like
Casual
No can die
(each round is short)
Except my iPad
Many gameboard
variations
Blockers:
Jelly, Licorice Cage,
Chocolate, Meringue,
Chocolate Meringue…
Goals: Points, Clear Jelly,
Get combos
Board layouts (w/ portals)
Ooh a RAINBOW
Now some Pedagogy
Mastery
Learning
Collaborative Learning
Combined with individual learning
Mastery Learning
Achieve Minimal Score before moving
to next Lesson
AKA complete level 1 before level 2
Scaffolding
Each level introduces new element
Zone of Proximal Development
Adding a touch of difficulty adds interest
Too little is boring
Too much causes gamers to quit
Classic
Leveling Up
Pac Man Maze levels
Pac Man 5D which presents a
variable 3D grid. Invented by
a Russian gamer.
Planning Levels
Some
introduce new obstacle
Level groups often focus on one new
obstacle in different combos
Most
COMBINE obstacles
Like real life STEM problems
Requires tactical thought
And CHANGING strategies per level
Level 181
Goal:
Bring 2 cherries to
bottom
Need to blast 4
rows 18 times
Also need to clear
board of
meringues first to
make moves
Collaborative Learning
No
direct team
play BUT
Many discussion
boards, wikis,
YouTube videos
Almost
no
official
instructions
Your Favorite Games?
Other Lessons
Physics (Ballistics)
http://technobento.ca/angry-birds-and-teaching-part-2-assessment-feedback-andmotivating-mastery/
Team Playing (Neverwinter
Nights)
Group Learning
World of Warcraft
Discuss strategy, plan missions
Make trades
Compile notes
http://www.wowwiki.com/
Practice English grammar
Econ in Outer Space
A game in which students build a modern
economy from scratch post spacecraft wreck
ECON 201, UNC Greensboro
Role Play
Empathy/Affect
What’s it like to be another person?
“Warrior” is a common role BUT
Business Administrator
Bucket of Beans (S. Pacific Reciprocity)
Sims & ECON 102 Sims (Campus)
Players learn the value of “cashing in” favors
StarPower
Establish an arbitrary upper class via trades
This class can establish new rules
BEWARE
http://www.stsintl.com/schoolscharities/star_power.html
Quests and Missions
Pot Assembly Required
PBL/Challenge Based
Learning
Games
are often won by solving
problems
AKA “Quests” or “Missions”
Educational
Quests
Beer Distribution Game (used in Smeal)
Oregon Trail
Rare educational game that was a commercial
success
Simulation Genres
God
Game
Game in which players control parameter
of universe (e.g. Sim Games)
History
Sims
Age of Empires
Trial of Lizzie Borden (U Mass)
Science
Simulations
Flight Simulator, Spore
Oregon Trail
Goal: Teach about life on the Oregon Trail
Life on the Oregon Trail is very
hazardous, requires careful planning,
and crosses a variety of terrain
SimHealth
Played as part of HPA 101
Shoot To Kill
“Drill and Kill”
Games
encourage
practice
And automaticity of
skills
Such as pattern
recognition
But with fun
graphics & music
Failing can be Funny
When games are required…
Survive annihalation. Win
free nail polish for life?
Can we still have fun?
Low Stakes vs High Stakes
Students do enjoy
Games (low stakes) + reflection (higher)
Change from lecture/quiz
Leader Boards (when low stakes)
Games if logistics not too burdensome
A certain level of goofiness or joie de vivre
Game may teach crucial skill
So maybe we do require it anyway
Can we allow more “failure”?
Games
Because they allow resets
Games
teach via mistakes
are “better than reality”
Although we may need to teach about
reality as well….
Thinking Game Goals
Games
can allow for:
Strategic/Systems thinking
Experience as a different person
Add motivation
Practice of low level skills/knowledge
Games
don’t
Convey content (except in the
“narrative”)
Quick Starts
Casual
Games
Hangman/Peril/Typo
http://gaming.psu.edu
PowerPoint Templates
ANGEL games (crossword/match)
Gamification
Badges? Quests?
Case
Studies (gussied up)?
Fun Play
Find
the challenge “sweet spot”
Not too easy or too difficult
Challenging gun for faculty ≠ fun for
students
Allow
Graphics, sound effects, puns
Allow
for goofiness
for some “low stakery”
Can activities be replayed?
What do you mean “goofy”?
Many
use great cartoons but do we
Show warriors fleeing the scene after a
mistranslation?
Simulate explosions in engineering?
Turn ourselves into an avatar?
Turn homework into “quests” or
“missions?
Add game graphics to assignments?
Allow students to earn points towards
late assignment submissions?
Explaining Functions w/Subs
Using cash register buttons as metaphors
for algebraic functions in Math 21
Starring Deb
Mirdamadi,
Mont Alto
Campus
Angry Bird Refs
The ‘Angry Birds’ Guide to Online Lesson
Design
http://tedcurran.net/2011/02/14/angrybirds-guide-to-online-lesson-design/
Angry Birds and Teaching Part 2: Assessment
Feedback
http://technobento.ca/angry-birds-andteaching-part-2-assessment-feedback-andmotivating-mastery/
Some References
McGonigal, Jane
James Paul Gee
What Video Games Have to Teach Us about
Learning and Literacy
Koster, Ralph
Reality is Broken: Why Games Make us Better.
A Theory of Fun
Bartle, Richard (player types)
Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds, Spades: Players who
Suit MUDs