Transcript A Proposal for a New Major Interactive Media and Game

How the Principles Behind GameBased Learning Will Change Our
Approach to Teaching and Learning
David Finkel
WPI, Computer Science Department
Interactive Media and Game Development
[email protected]
Interactive Media and Game Development
How Games Teach, and What
We Can Learn From Them
David Finkel
WPI, Computer Science Department
Interactive Media and Game Development
[email protected]
Interactive Media and Game Development
Background
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My recent experience playing games
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Book:
– What Video Games Have to Teach Us
about Learning and Literacy, by James
Paul Gee
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What do video games teach?
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They teach how to play the game!
– A very complex task
– Games are very effective teachers
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How do games teach so effectively?
What can we learn about teaching by
observing how games teach?
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How do games teach?
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Printed manuals. (Some players ignore
them, some players read them
thoroughly.)
Static on-screen image of the controller
or keyboard
In-game instructions or hints
Friends, teammates, opponents
more …
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How do games teach? - 2

In-game tutorials. May be
– Lesson based (do this, now do this …)
– In-game mentor
– Sandbox game environment

Game provides a graded series of
experiences
– becoming gradually more difficult
– requiring more mastery
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Why is the teaching effective
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Players really want to master the games
The players learn the skills in the same
environment that they’ll be using the skills.
(Situated learning)
The players can practice the skills
immediately after learning them. (Just-intime learning)
The game domain encourages
experimentation (Active learning)
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Why is the teaching effective - 2
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Teaching material can be adapted to the
level of the player
Player can control the amount and timing
of tutorials
Player can return for additional help at any
time
Game play later in the game depends on
successful adaptation of what was learned
earlier and innovation
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Some educational examples …
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Lots of bad examples – flashcard, drill
programs
History Simulations
– Oregon Trail
– Commercial history-based games
– Realistic war simulations
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University-based projects

USC and Department
of Defense
– Tactical Language
Project (learning
Arabic)
– Full Spectrum Warrior
(Squad-level tactics)
– Leaders Project 

MIT and Microsoft
– Engineering and
Science Games
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Challenges for educators and librarians
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Harness the teaching power of games in
schools and libraries
Find a way to afford the cost of developing
first-class games (upwards of $10M)
For libraries: How to incorporate games
into library collections
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Reference
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How Games Teach, and What
We Can Learn From Them
David Finkel
WPI, Computer Science Department
Interactive Media and Game Development
[email protected]
http://www.cs.wpi.edu/~dfinkel
Interactive Media and Game Development