Some educational thoughts

Hey Game Fans, today we’re back with a little wander from our normal articles and we’re going to talk about something that i wanted to work on when i was a graduate student but never quite found the right amount of time for.  It blends two of our favorites, learning theory and game design, and makes an interesting baby that might have some influence on the universe if anybody thinks deep thoughts about it. I’ll try to not get too technical, since this is a ramble,  but if there is interest in this idea, then i might actually work it out into a longer piece. Let’s get the deep dive started.

One of the dominant views of learning theory is that students of all ages are scientists exploring the world as one great big experimental playground.  The role of educators in that views is that the educator is a more experienced scientist who presents new ways for students to explore the environment, providing them with new ways to learn and new topics to study.  Now, one of the areas that I personally find fascinating with this view is the artificial worlds you can create within the structures of a game’s rules and how a student will use those rules to explore that world.  

Now, there are some games this doesn’t work so well with.  Candyland for example doesn’t have a lot of wiggle room because the rules are not that complex.  Conversely, a game like Imperial Assault or Descent with multiple options for character choices and ways to interact with the game give a profusion of opportunities to explore.  The more complex the game, and the more opportunities a game gives you to interact with the world, the more useful it can be as a tool to provide educational insights for a student.  

Now i’m sure at least someone is going to ask, “Well, sure, learning the optimum strategy to try and deal with Darth Vader is one thing, but how does that help in the really real world?” Well i have two answers.  The first is “Quit being a killjoy.” and the second is a more serious response. Teaching a person how to read a situation and what assets they have available to them is a tremendously useful skill in the real world, but is not something that necessarily comes up a lot in the real world, (not the way most people tend to think).  So, if you can keep creating scenarios that put your students into situations where they have to explore the environment around them and teach them to make choices based on the information they have available, you empower them as thinkers.  

One of the laments i constantly hear from friends in the education field is that Students don’t think critically about things.  My response, after having spent a life playing games where critical thinking is an essential component to just about everything you do, is usually something along the lines of “are you providing them with opportunities to think critically?”  You also have to remember that games have an intrinsic element of fun, and that fun helps sustain students through the harder part of the process of learning the game.  

So, in conclusion, I honestly think that with the right level of complexity, any game can be a tool for teaching valuable lessons that move beyond the confines of the game and have real world applications.  Now there are problems with this, namely, know the audience you are working with and choosing age appropriate tools, but those are part of the discovery process for the educator, learning to use new tools to provide educational opportunities for their students.  

We’ll be back next week with more gaming related nonsense, so see you then.  Game On, Game Fans.