Shout out to Stevie Rocco who shared this out via Yammer!
My reflections on Why Games Don’t Teach by Ruth Colvin Clark
To preface my thoughts, I don’t think that any technique teaches by itself. As educators, we provide opportunities for students to learn by motivating and inspiring them. Well devised games are one way to enable students to have success. For some examples see the following article: https://learn.it.uts.edu.au/31002/Autumn04/support/learnfromgames.pdf.
“… the type of graphic, the intended learning goal, and the prior knowledge of the learner must all be considered in defining the instructional value…”
Reflection: Good point. It is important to note that when we say games, we are talking about the good and the bad. We cannot create a game for a game’s sake. There must be an objective in mind that aligns with the teaching and learning goals of the course.
“Games encompass so many diverse potential learning environments that it makes no sense to make any general statements about them.”
Reflection: This is part of the reason that so many will have a problem with the title of the article. I’m sure that the title was carefully crafted to get readers. I completely agree that it’s important to find the correct type of game to fit the learning objective.
“The goal of the research was to compare learning efficiency and effectiveness from a narrative game to a slide presentation of the content.”
Reflection: It’s hard to know where to start here. I don’t know how many would say that learning by playing a game is efficient, but most would agree that because of motivation that many learners will spend the time to accomplish the goal. Slide presentations are one way of teaching, but I think that most would agree that we have found many ways to tap out their effectiveness.
“Students who played the Crystal Island game learned less and rated the lesson more difficult than students who viewed a slide presentation without any game narrative or hands on activities. “
Reflection: Without knowing much about the Crystal Island game, I wonder if there was any reflection or attempt after playing the game to check for understanding. Games, like any other type of learning activity, require instructors to facilitate and/or intervene when necessary.
“…for simple visual or auditory recognition tasks that benefit from drill and practice, a timed game may convert a boring flash card activity into a more engaging experience.”
Reflection: This is one way to incorporate games for students to at least have a better feeling about learning, but hopefully we can take a game to incorporate higher-order thinking as well.
“A game that displays signals and requires learners to click on the correct action (slow down, stop, etc) and scores learners based on both response accuracy and speed may prove to be an effective learning vehicle.”
Reflection: We need to adjust games to our purposes. Making adjustments like this are one way to solve a larger pedagogical problem. Solving any problem requires adjustments along the way.
“Despite the uncontested popularity of commercial games and a lot of hype in the training community, the reality is that there is scarce credible evidence on how and when to best use games to improve instructional outcomes and motivation.”
Reflection: We need more data and individuals within the educational community to take the risk of making games for education to study. But using a conservative approach will only keep things as is.
