Solutions
Serious Games in K-16 Education
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Tell me and I forget,
Show me and I remember
Involve me and I understand
(Lao Tze, Chinese Philosopher, C.604 - 521 BC)
Scene 1: "Emily, an eighth grader, takes her first tentative steps on Mars. As she learns how to move around in low gravity, she stops and turns slowly to survey the landscape. Though she had seen quite a few pictures, nothing could prepare her for virtually being there. "I finally made it," she thinks. "It wasn't easy. We had to solve lots of problems to get here. But we'll know how to solve them quicker next time. I've taken notes. Now it's time to get to work." -- From Virtual Astronaut (in development)
Scene 2: Oscar, a high school senior, has a problem. He is ranking member of the Energy and Commerce commission and must vote yea or nay on a bill to increase to increase fuel economy standards. He believes this bill is a good one, as does his party leadership. But his district is strongly against it. He has received hundreds of letters and phone calls from his constituents, and their opposition to the bill was brought up rather forcefully in a recent town hall meeting. Despite his own convictions and the urgings of his party leaders, he feels strongly that as the representative of his district in Congress, he was elected to be their mouthpiece in Washington. How will he reconcile these differences? There are still 18 hours to go before the vote, and in the meantime he'll have discussions with colleagues in Washington and constituents from his district, and do some research on his own. -- From Oceana: A Virtual Democracy (in development)
These scenes illustrate the type of authentic, collaborative experiences that we are designing to help motivate and engage young people in learning math, science, and social studies. In 2007, a study by the Pew Trusts showed that 67% of teenagers play video and/or PC games. The most common reasons cited for playing games are challenge, control, and engagement (fun). Wouldn't it be nice if young people cited the same reasons for studying? As we see it, that's the point of using games in education.
The algorithm used in mastering a subject in school is basically the same as that of mastering a strategy game: learn the rules, apply them, run into a problem, figure out how to solve the problem, solve the problem, and then move on until you hit another problem, all in pursuit of the main goal, whatever that happens to be. Anyone who has seen a 12-year-old playing video games (or a scientist at work, for that matter) will have seen this pattern.We are particularly interested in "multiplayer online role play games," (MORPGs), partly because of the social and immersive nature of this type of game. In MORPGs, players assume the role of a particular character (or "avatar"), and then work with other players to achieve goals collaboratively. For instance, in the space game, a player might choose to be an astronaut, a navigator, or scientist. These types of collaborative activities are happening millions of times a day around the world in popular commercial online role play games like World of Warcraft® and Lord of the Rings®. Online role-play simulations offer the following benefits:
- They allow students to apply what they have learned in low-risk situations.
- They encourage higher-order thinking skills.
- They motivate.
- They use a language common to many and a format with which players are familiar.
- They allow assessment of knowledge gained.
- They allow students to be immersed in complex, real-world situations.