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How might we determine the impact and effectiveness of using video games in a classroom?
Beyond the idea of game-based learning, I’m looking to understand the effectiveness of video games to communicate and inform elementary age curriculum.
My science mantra: I aim to inspire, inform and delight grade 3-6 science students.
As we know, video games have become a billion dollar industry. 97% of all teenagers play video games. These range from apps on a smart phone to interactive multiplayer games found on the Xbox, Playstation and PC. With this much engagement from youth and teenagers, the question begs to be asked: How can we leverage this level of participation and commitment in the classroom?
To that end, I focused my action plan on researching, testing and reporting the effectiveness of using video games to support the Ontario science curriculum.
Here’s a brief summary of the progress thus far:
Research
The first challenged I faced was finding appropriate games that could support learning in the classroom. To my surprise, there are several FREE games out there that closely adapt to the science curriculum. In our grade 5 unit on the human body I was able to find 3 games plus leverage our existing Minecraft accounts to support the curriculum.
Testing
It took a while to figure out how to implement these games into the class for the most impact on learning. Should I make the games for, as or of learning? Luckily our class is game-based so a badge system is already in place making it more seamless than I anticipated.
I scheduled the games to be run as ‘boss missions’. This special type of mission can only be activated once students completed their core work. In the instance of Code Fred, I had the students complete a respiration lab testing their lung capacity. Once the lab was submitted, they were allowed to activate the ‘boss mission’.
Dr Guts is a paid game so I used it as the core lesson. Students completed the game and reflected on their learnings via ReCap.
Minecraft was and continues to be an ongoing project where our class is working together in creative mode to design a modern hospital. We’re thinking about some of the needs of doctors today and how modern hospitals can not just offer triage, but support healthy living and connect research with practicality.
Results
The data is still pouring in, but so far it looks promising! Students were certainly engaged in the gaming aspect (yes, even the ones I thought would dislike it) and it molded well with our higher game based learning environment. While there certainly was engagement, the challenge becomes identifying the opportunity cost for using valuable learning time to play games. I’m hoping to run a regression analysis on the lab and test marks this year versus previous years.
Going forward
Statistics are important, but what I’m really searching for is the intangibles. Motivation, engagement, excitement are all very important for young science students. It’s important to keep a sense of wonder and finding new ways to foster that is essential for keeping a fresh science program.
I’m hoping to gain some insight into other game-based programs at our next face-to-face. I’d really like to bounce ideas off anyone who has implemented a similar program, or heck, even someone who is a gamer!
Such a neat way to connect with learners starting with where they already are! A colleague of mine, Mike Farley ([email protected]), a C21 alum, has done quite a bit of work in this area. He runs a resource page (changegamer.ca) and a Twitter feed looking to connect teachers like you to resources and similarly-minded teachers that are already out there. He is also doing some grad work right now in game-based learning at Michigan State. I’m sure he’d love to connect!
What a nice way to engage young people in learning! I love the idea of the boss mission and @mfarley who was mentioned by @ccarswell will be at the F2F on Saturday so you should definitely touch base with him after visiting his sight.
How do your students like Recap? It’s a pretty great tool and one that I’m introducing soon in my French classroom.
I am curious to know what tools/techniques you’re using to gather evidence. This is such rich data you could when sharing your work with colleagues and online.
Really engaging and inspiring post @jwood, thanks!
What a great blog. As I read yours, I am thinking about how much my future writing can improve! I took away resources, learned about how you implemented your action plan and what you want to take away. Very inspiring!
I hope to take a better look at the resources you provided in hopes to integrate them into my classroom as well. I am intrigued with your ongoing use of minecraft as a tool to discuss a modern day hospital. Seems really interesting!
As a high school science teacher, I have also found it effective to “gamify” lessons to enhance motivation, excitement and engagement. One of the best tools that I have used Kahoots. https://getkahoot.com/ I know that my Gr. 12 biology students love these interactive quizzes and they get excited every time I make one. I thought that they might get bored after doing them for the 6th or 7th time, but they do not seem to be.
Thank you for the solid blog and I look forward to learning more at the third F2F!
I love your vision for engaging students and using video games can be powerful. Like Derek, I wonder what criteria you might be using to measure engagement, motivation, excitement. Being able to identify “look fors” helps others in their own reflective practice and might also support students in their own self-assessment of these valuable factors of deeper learning. Christie Lovrics is also really interested in the gamification, I know your research will strengthen our learning community at HTS and bring us such valuable insights. Great work @jwood.