The Promise of Dragons – Strategies for Leveraging Games for Instruction.

The Promise of Dragons – Strategies for Leveraging Games for Instruction

Presentation Goals

• Discuss a common instructional challenge and explore a hypothesis for meeting this challenge

• Contextualize games in learning theory• Discuss link between memory, motivation, and

emotion• Deconstruct a sample game• Review my mini “study”• Create a strategy for creating and leveraging

gamesTotherow, Session 302 - The Promise of Dragons - Strategies for Leveraging Games for Instruction

The Challenge

How to teach (and motivate) when appeal to reason fails.

Hypothesis: games have the potential to teach and change behavior where traditional teaching methods sometimes struggle.

Totherow, Session 302 - The Promise of Dragons - Strategies for Leveraging Games for Instruction

A Theoretical Backdrop

• Games can…– Act as or support the

“More Knowledgeable Other”– Construct “scaffolding” in the

“Zone of Proximal Development”

Lev Vygotsky

Totherow, Session 302 - The Promise of Dragons - Strategies for Leveraging Games for Instruction

Application to Games

Structured Activity

(Game as MKO)

Social discovery of successful

tactics (construct

scaffolding)

Debrief and Reflect

(reinforce scaffolding)

Transition (apply

scaffolding)

ZPD

Totherow, Session 302 - The Promise of Dragons - Strategies for Leveraging Games for Instruction

The Importance of Emotional Connection

Dr. Art KohnPhD in cognitive psychology

Totherow, Session 302 - The Promise of Dragons - Strategies for Leveraging Games for Instruction

The Importance of Emotional Connection

What makes a game a game?

What is the difference between an activity and a game?

Totherow, Session 302 - The Promise of Dragons - Strategies for Leveraging Games for Instruction

The Importance of Emotional Connection

Timer

CompetitionScore

Tension!

Totherow, Session 302 - The Promise of Dragons - Strategies for Leveraging Games for Instruction

Summary: The Power of Games

• Provide emotional context, enhancing the opportunity for memory encoding

• Act as the More Knowledgeable Other or as a support for the MKO

• Create meaningful scaffolding within the Zone of Proximal Development

Totherow, Session 302 - The Promise of Dragons - Strategies for Leveraging Games for Instruction

Example: Clash of Clans

• Construct a village• Create an army• Upgrade your

defenses• Upgrade your army• Invest in resources

Totherow, Session 302 - The Promise of Dragons - Strategies for Leveraging Games for Instruction

This is me, showing off…

Gold mine

Elixir extractor

Dark elixir drill

Army

Resource storage

Defenses

Totherow, Session 302 - The Promise of Dragons - Strategies for Leveraging Games for Instruction

Developing Resources

TroopsDefense

Totherow, Session 302 - The Promise of Dragons - Strategies for Leveraging Games for Instruction

When things go well…

• Approach: balanced and patient

• Long-range planning• Clear success and broader

opportunity!

Totherow, Session 302 - The Promise of Dragons - Strategies for Leveraging Games for Instruction

When things go… poorly…

• Approach: immediate gratification

• Lack of balance and patience

• Limited opportunity

Totherow, Session 302 - The Promise of Dragons - Strategies for Leveraging Games for Instruction

My “Test Subject”

This screen will contain a video example of the application of these techniques. The video will be available in the live session.

Totherow, Session 302 - The Promise of Dragons - Strategies for Leveraging Games for Instruction

Adam’s Village Then…

Totherow, Session 302 - The Promise of Dragons - Strategies for Leveraging Games for Instruction

Adam’s Village Now!

Totherow, Session 302 - The Promise of Dragons - Strategies for Leveraging Games for Instruction

Debriefing the Interview

• Adam has been playing for 10 months.• Adam prioritizes his choices based on long and short-term

success.• Adam is “proud” of his village• Adam engages in socialization in playing and learning the

game.• Adam is beginning to articulate basic concepts, such as ROI

and investment.• Adam’s favorite troop: the dragon (he’s named his first dragon

“Sparky”)

Totherow, Session 302 - The Promise of Dragons - Strategies for Leveraging Games for Instruction

Strategy

• Construct scaffolding with appropriate game elements, within the student’s zone of proximal development

• Play the game and instill basic behaviors

• Debrief positive and negative results

• Transition from scaffolding to target subject matter

• Continue to draw parallels to game

Buy Now

Save

High School

Diploma

College Degree

Totherow, Session 302 - The Promise of Dragons - Strategies for Leveraging Games for Instruction

Building a Game Engine

• Consider your Target Behaviors• Leverage Common Game Elements

– Time– Points– Level Up– Achievements/Badges– Chance– Costs

• Create an experience which encourages your target behaviors without an explicit conceptual overlay.

Totherow, Session 302 - The Promise of Dragons - Strategies for Leveraging Games for Instruction

Discuss!

• Thoughts?• Ideas?• Questions?• Concerns?• Played any good games lately?

Totherow, Session 302 - The Promise of Dragons - Strategies for Leveraging Games for Instruction

Thank you for your attendance and contributions!

Totherow, Session 302 - The Promise of Dragons - Strategies for Leveraging Games for Instruction

©2013, Federal Reserve Bank of St. LouisThe opinions expressed in this presentation are the speaker’s views, are intended only for information purposes, and are not formal opinions of, nor binding on, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis or the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Systems. Joe [email protected]