Norana Cantrell Portfolio

(Non-video) Games for Education

Topic/purpose

This mini-course will cover the use of non-Video games in the classroom, such as board games, card games, and pen-and-paper games (i.e. hangman or madlibs). Specific topics covered will include:

1. implementing games effectively within the classroom
2. evaluating games for use as educational tools
3. selecting games for specific educational goals or subjects
4. altering existing games to better suit class goals
5. work with students to develop games

Needs Assessment

1. Instructional Problem
Educators are usually looking for ways to increase student engagement and enthusiasm while keeping costs low and stable. According to survey results, over 84% of teachers surveyed considered student engagement and enthusiasm to be a concern while classroom costs also a concern to almost 77%. Educational video games, while they can increase enthusiasm and engagement, can often not be cost effective. One device can cost several hundred dollars and you need several to engage an entire classroom, plus the costs of the video games, plus there is the concern that the hardware and software will become obsolete after just a few years to almost 70% of educators surveyed. Many of these educators are not aware of the variety and applicability of (non-video) games that currently available, such as board games, card games, dice games, or pen and paper games. Even if they do want to include these games in the classroom, they may not know which games to look for or be comfortable implementing them in the classroom.

Participants in this course will learn about the benefits of using video games in their classrooms. They will be able to find appropriate games and know how to integrate them into their lesson plans and classrooms. They will understand some basic ways to create custom games for specific class needs as well as ways to have students create their own games.

The main obstacle that exists is that participants needs to be able to determine for themselves when and what is the best way to integrate games into their lessons.

2. About the Learners
This mini course will benefit any instructor looking for ways to improve student engagement and motivation, and interested in new ways to learn and practice content.

3. What is to be Learned
The course participants will develop an understanding of how using (non-video) games can benefit them and their students. Then they will learn how to find appropriate games to use based on various criteria such as topic, age range, time available, and number of players/size of groups and class. Participants will be able to successfully and effectively integrate these games into both their lesson plans and classrooms overall. After that, they will explore some basic ways to create custom games for their classes as well as working with students to have them create their own games.

4. Instructional Content
There is a basic layout for each unit in this mini-course. It begins with having the participant play a game that they already posses - it can be pretty much anything from Shoots and Ladders, Risk, or a game with a regular deck of cards. They will create a discussion post which will require them to reflect on the experience and figure out what knowledge and skills were needed to play that game. They will comment on others posts helping the other participants see if they missed any knowledge or skills that were required for the game. While this discussion is going on, the participants will also be following a lesson, primarily text-based, followed by some activities - examples of such activities include finding games in a database or writing reviews of games geared towards educators. The final piece of the basic unit layout generally involves developing a lesson plan implementing the game that was initially played and discussed.
The course will be based on a mixture of several learning theories. About half of the course will be based on a constructivist learning model where the participants will learn from real-world activities and receive feedback from their peers. About a third of the course will be designed based on an Instructivist learning model which will mainly consist of text-based lectures present in the majority of the units. The last little piece will be from connectivist learning theories, specifically Social Learning Theory, which comes from the group discussions.

5. Exploring the Instructional Problem and Solution
Participants will explore using (non-video) games in their classroom. They will complete activities that will allow them to recognize educational value within these games. There has been much research on the benefits of play-based learning (Hancock 2014, Hunkin 2014, and Thomas et al 2011), but exploration as to how to actually implement this practice into the classroom has been more limited.

6. Goal of this Mini-Course
By the end of this mini-course, participants will be able to:

• Effectively include (non-video) games into their courses and classrooms
  
• Use appropriate pre-existing games in their classroom
  
• Develop their own games approriate for use
  
• Have the students create appropriate games
  
• Be comfortable finding appropriate games
  
• Modify existing games
  
• Develop student assignments to have them create games
  
• Develop student assignments to have them modify existing games
  
• Be comfortable implementing these into their lesson plans, courses, and classrooms

Analysis of Learner and Context

Learner Analysis
The typical participant of this course will be an educators of all varieties of subject matter and for a wide variety of grade grades, from lower school up through high school level courses. Most, if not all, course participants will have college degrees or higher. The required knowledge and skills that participants must possess prior to enrolling in this mini-course will be basic instruction, creation and implementation of lesson plans, basic classroom management, and other basic teaching and instruction skills. Most participants will have knowledge of some basic game play such as the ability to follow instructions for a game.

Context for Instruction
The participants of this course will choose to participate because they are interested in fun and interestings ways to increase student engagement and enthusiasm.

Performance Objectives

The educators which will be participating in this course will be able to effectively include games into their courses and classrooms, either through using appropriate pre-existing games, developing their own, or having the students create games. Given their regular class of students, and access to the necessary websites, and databases, they will find appropriate games, modifying existing games, and create a student assignment to have them modify existing games. Given these conditions, they will be able to create or modify an existing lesson plan integrating a game in to the lesson and successfully increase student engagement.

Assessment Assessment for this mini-course will be two-fold. First, there will be a multiple choice quiz. The primary form of these questions will involve presenting the user with information about games and having them answer questions about the educational applicability of each game. For instance, I might present four different games, either through links to their database information or descriptions and ask which one would be generally considered more applicable for teaching mathematics. Another example is to describe a certain game mechanic and ask which subject that is more applicable to. Additional questions will be asked such as how to find appropriate games, which sites would the participant use.

The second form of assessment is for the participant to informally determine if the games did indeed increase student engagement and interest. After integrating the games into their classroom, they are to have an informal discussion with their students and post the results to a course discussion group.

Task Analysis

Unit 1: The purpose of this unit is to show participants how games can be applicable to classroom instruction.
1. The participant will play a game that they have played before
2. The participant will analyze which learned skills or knowledge it requires
3. The participant will be involved in course discussion to help further understand what skills and knowledge the game requires
4. The participant will follow a text-based lecture
5. The participant will create a lesson plan using the game they played in the beginning of this lesson.

Unit 2: The purpose of this unit is to show participants of the variety of games that are available and how to evaluate and select appropriate ones for their purposes.
1. The participant will play a game that they have played before
2. The participant will analyze which learned skills or knowledge it requires
3. The participant will be involved in course discussion to help further understand what skills and knowledge the game requires
4. The participant will follow a text-based lecture
5. The participant will complete several activities:
-explore the educational games library
-use the library to develop a list of fifteen games they would like to use in their classroom
-explore the board game geek site
-use the BGG site to evaluate which games on their list (from Unit 1) are considered better
-rank the list in order of preference
-the participant has the option to remove up to five games from their list
-write a review in BGG, of the game they played in the beginning of this lesson, geared towards educators who may want to use this game in their classroom
6. The participant will create a lesson plan using this game

Unit 3: The purpose of this unit is to show participants how games can be modifies or created either by the instructor or the students.
1. The participant will play a game chosen from this list: madlibs, hangman, twister
2. The participant will analyze which learned skills or knowledge it requires
3. The participant will be involved in course discussion to help further understand what skills and knowledge the game requires
4. The participant will follow a text-based lecture on modifying or creating games
5. The participant will complete several activities:
-modify the game played in the beginning of the unit to apply to subject taught by participant
-write another review in BGG, of the game they played in the beginning of this lesson, geared towards educators who may want to use this game in their classroom
6. The participant will learn how their students can modify or create games
7. The participant will create a lesson plan using either game creation or modification
8. The participant will purchase one of their top games and play it, preferably with colleagues

Unit 4: The purpose of this unit is to assess the learning of the participant.
1. The participant will play a game chosen from the top of their ordered list
2. The participant will create a lesson plan involving the game from their list that they played previously
3. The participant will implement the lesson plan into their classroom
4. The participant will informally survey the students afterwards to determine if they felt the lesson was more engaging when compared to more standard lessons
5.The participant will post their lesson plan and the results to a course discussion group, and be involved in a group discussion regarding how they could improve upon their experience
6. Participant will complete an assessment quiz which provides information about several games and questions about the education value and implementation of those games in the classroom

References and Resources

Hancock, O. (2014). Play-based, constructionist learning of pure data: A case study. Journal of Music, Technology, & Education, 7(1), pgs 93-112.

Hunkin, E. (2014). We're offering true play-based learning: Teacher perspectives on educational dis/continuity in the early years. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 39(2), pgs 30-35.

Thomas, L., Warren, E., & deVries, E. (2011). Play-based learning and intentional teaching in early childhood contexts. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 36(4), pgs 69-75.

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