Abstract
This chapter begins by introducing the game behind the book, including the mission and the first quest. The overall mission serves as the vehicle for designing and developing a curricular game while the first quest prepares the reader for any resistance he or she might encounter in the process of transforming his or her curriculum into a game. The chapter supports the reader in doing so by situating curricular games within the current context of education. In order to do this, this chapter outlines how this book conceives of game-based teaching both by describing it and by contrasting it with what it is not, building on deCastell and Jenson’s (J Curric Stud 35:649–665, 2003) work. The chapter delves into the needs of the twenty-first century learners (Educ Res 29:4–15, 2000) and the workforce in the twenty-first century (The world is flat: a brief history of the twenty-first century, Picador, New York, 2007; Educ Leadersh 66:20–25, 2008) and uses learning theories (How people learn. National Academy Press, Washington, DC, 2000) to demonstrate how game-based teaching can help meet these needs. Each subsequent chapter begins with the next quest in the mission, i.e., steps in designing a curricular game, and ends with a worksheet to help guide the reader in accomplishing that quest along with a rubric. Activities called challenges within chapters are designed to help the reader apply and practice the concepts. The worksheets and rubrics along with other supporting materials such as further readings allow this book to be used as a textbook by teacher education professors as well as providing supports for teachers and professors using this as a manual to guide their own self-study in game-based teaching.
Students frequently walk away from homework when it is too difficult, but difficult games are another matter–kids walk away from games when they’re too easy.
–Devaney 2014
Several sections of this chapter are taken from these previous works published under my former name with permission:
Jackson, J. (2009). Game-based teaching: What educators can learn from videogames. Teaching Education, 20(3), 291–304.
Jackson, J. (2011). Game changer: How principles of videogames can transform teaching. In M. S. Khine (Ed.), Learning to play: Exploring the future of education with video games (pp. 107–128). New York: Peter Lang.
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- 1.
“Though experts know their disciplines thoroughly, this does not guarantee that they are able to teach others” (Bransford et al. 2000, p. 31).
- 2.
This is not meant to denigrate teachers. Teachers in the United States are working so hard in a system that is more and more being crafted to thwart their best efforts (see Ken Robinson’s Changing Educational Paradigms video). My critique is of the system—and the role of those in federal and state governments in creating that system, not of the individuals within the system who, in many cases, are merely trying to survive. As a former high school English teacher, I know this survival mode first hand. My hope is that this book creates a means by which individual teachers can transform that system, or at least find ways to make that system work for them and for student learning, instead of against them.
- 3.
The video “A Vision of K-12 students today” is one of many that illustrate the contrast between students’ lives, their futures, and their schooling.
- 4.
Just like literature, people have classified video games in lots of different ways. However, there are some generally agreed upon genres like first-person shooter, adventure, role-playing, racing games, etc. (for more, see “Video game genres” in Wikipedia). The goal of this quest is for readers to realize there are different kinds of video games, to explore some of them, and to realize that different types of games are more suited for certain types of learning. Van Eck and Gikas’ Matrix of Game and Learning Taxonomies (Table 1.3) outlines their assessment of learning in video games by genre based on Gagne’s five types of intellectual skills.
Table 1.1 Pedagogical advantages of video gamesa Table 1.2 Guidelines for educational games adapted from de Castell and Jenson (2003) originally printed in Jackson (2011) Table 1.3 Matrix of game and learning taxonomies by Van Eck and Gikas (2006) from Van Eck (2007, p. 274) (Copyright IGI Global, Reprinted by permission of the publisher) - 5.
Brenda Laurel in 2001 referred to educational video games as “chocolate-covered broccoli.”
- 6.
Aldrich explains that “part of the trap, of course, is that any new approach to education has to pass a theoretical, ideal, and rigorous standard that no traditional approach could” (quoted by Becker 2010, p. 43).
Suggested Reading
Friedman, T. (2007). The world is flat: A brief history of the twenty-first century. New York: Picador.
Gee, J. P. (2003). What videogames have to teach us about learning and literacy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Gee, J. P. (2005). Learning by design: Good video games as learning machines. E-Learning, 2(1), 5–16.
Gee, J. P. (2007). Good video games + good learning. New York: Peter Lang.
Johnson, S. (2005). Everything bad is good for you: How today’s popular culture is actually making us smarter. New York: Penguin.
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital game-based learning. New York: McGraw Hill.
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5).
Prensky, M. (2005). “Engage me or enrage me”: What today’s learners demand. Educause, 40(5), 60–65.
Prensky, M. (2006). Don’t bother me Mom—I’m learning! St. Paul, MN: Paragon House.
Salen, K., Torres, R., Wolozin, L., Rufo-Tepper, R., & Shapiro, A. (2011). Quest to Learn: Developing the school for digital kids. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Shaffer, D. W. (2006). How computer games help children learn. New York: Palgrave MacMillan.
Van Eck, R. (2010). Gaming and cognition: Theories and practice from the learning sciences. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference.
Wagner, T. (2008). Rigor redefined: Even our “best” schools are failing to prepare students for 21st-century careers and citizenship. Educational Leadership, 66(2), 20–25.
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Appendix: Proposal Quest Worksheets
Appendix: Proposal Quest Worksheets
Video game | Genre | Pros and cons | Of supplying content | Of providing motivation | Of teaching (pedagogy) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 (previously played) | Affordances | ||||
Constraints | |||||
2 (previously played) | Affordances | ||||
Constraints | |||||
3 (previously played) | Affordances | ||||
Constraints | |||||
4 (newly played) | Affordances | ||||
Constraints | |||||
5 (newly played) | Affordances | ||||
Constraints | |||||
6 (newly played) | Affordances | ||||
Constraints |
Affordances | Constraints | |
|---|---|---|
Content | ||
Motivation | ||
Pedagogy |
Suggested Proposal Quest Rubric
Criteria | “Wow! I mean, I think this might work” (3) | “Hmm, this might be acceptable” (2) | “I need more convincing” (1) | “Go back to the drawing board” (0) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Affordances | Affordances put in context of learning theories | Affordances described | Affordances listed | No affordances listed |
Constraints | Constraints turned into affordances | Constraints countered | Constraints listed | No constraints listed |
Student impact | Explanation includes ELLs, students with special needs, and other types of learners | Explanation includes ELLs or students with special needs | Explanation includes impact on student learning | No mention of range of students |
Evidence | Research studies analyzed | Research studies cited | Evidence is all anecdotal | Little to no evidence provided |
Grammar, organization, and style | Sophisticated and creative persuasive writing in context of gaming scenario; APA used correctly | Clearly written and organized; APA style used correctly | Grammar or APA style mistakes; stylistically awkward | Grammar mistakes and style makes paper difficult to follow; APA style not used |
Techie (one extra point) | ||||
Table of affordances and constraints of video games by genre included | ||||
Tech Savvy (two extra points) | ||||
Analysis of percentage of standards addressed | ||||
Tech Guru (three extra points) | ||||
Learning theory diagram that demonstrates pedagogical affordances of video games included | ||||
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Kellinger, J.J. (2017). Upping Your Game: Transforming Teaching. In: A Guide to Designing Curricular Games. Advances in Game-Based Learning. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42393-7_1
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