Dig Deeper with Engagement Games

Dig Deeper with Engagement Games A presentation deck for training educators on the Project MASH engagement games process, from the Engagement Lab. Half day version

Quick Play: RoShamBo TIME 15 minutes Modification of existing game elements is a common strategy for creating new games. Most of us know the game, “Rock, Paper, Scissors.” Work in groups of 3-5 to mod the game to make it more fun. For example, you could change the rules, or the kinds of actions players take, the theme (e.g., using aliens, bombs, or magic spells instead of rock/paper/scissors). Play another group’s mod.

Today’s explorations • Introduction to engagement games (15 min.) • Play & Games (60 min.) • Games and Civic Learning (120 min) • Academic Connections, Resources (45 min)

What is play?

Play is activity in which means are more valued than ends. • Play is non-literal, imaginative, marked off in some way from reality (aka magic circle).

Children often encounter the world through play Play & Games And for children, the distinction between play and “real life” can be blurry or change on a whim.

Games structure the “magic circle” of play with goals and guidelines for action.

Games help us harness the power of play to: • Fosterlearning and empathy(which are necessary to develop strategy) • Buildsocial norms (i.e., competition and cooperation)

Uncertainty and suspense are built into the game’s structure. Escalating challenges and clear feedback focus attention, support reflection, and build meaning.

Elements of a game Objective and feedback: What does it mean to win? How to players evaluate their progress? Actions/mechanics: What actions can players take, and how does this move the game forward? What are the obstacles? Clear rules/boundaries: What are the limits on player choice? What games are/are not allowed? ...and room to play: uncertainty, choice, strategy and interaction

Ready to create your own game?Explore engagement games with an activity from Project MASH.

Race to the End An Engagement Games Activity from Project MASH Many games, both board games and physical games, involve a race to the end. Players are confronted with certain obstacles and given constraints about how they can move forward, and then the race is on! In this activity you’ll create your own Race to the End game.

Define • Your game board (space as small as a piece of paper or as large as the room) • Theme: What is your game about? • Objective and feedback: What does it mean to win? How do players evaluate their progress? • Actions/mechanics: What actions can players take, and how does this move the game forward? What are the obstacles? • Clear rules/boundaries: What are the limits on player choice? What games are/are not allowed? • Name of your game

Create It! TIME 25 min • Step 1: Create your game. • Step 3: Play-test it. • Step 4: Write a description of your game so others can play: • What is the goal? How do you win? What are player actions, a.k.a. mechanics? What rules guide these actions?

Project Share: Play! TIME 10 minutes Each group plays the game created by another group.

Reflection & Discussion TIME 5 minutes • Consider your group’s design and the other group’s design: • What elements of each worked for you? • What would you like to change?

Students and teachers can learn even more by modding and playing games specifically designed to promote academic and civic understanding.

Games & Civic Learning • Gamification • Games that model real-world systems • Games for civic engagement There are a number of ways in which games or game-like systems have been applied to the goals ofacademic and civic learning.

Gamification Gamification is about using rewards to motivate behavior. It’s efficient when you already know exactly what you want people to do.

Some games for school are focused on fluency and practice, so they gamify traditional academic activities. For example, First in Math uses fun graphics and the challenge of time limits to incentivize developing math fluency.

Limits of gamification When the behaviors are all predefined, there isn’t much room for uncertainty, choice, strategy, and play. In other words, the gamified system does not provide room to play.

Games that model real-world systems: • Present players with multiple goals, tradeoffs, and uncertainty; and • Teach the workings of the system through play

Games that model real-world systems Democracy 3 is a governing strategy game. You play as the president of a western industrialized nation and face problems such as crime, unemployment, national debt, terrorism, and climate change.

Games for civic learning help players develop skills in: • understanding conflicting needs and different perspectives; and • collaborative problem-solving and decision-making Like games that model systems, civic learning games provide plenty of room to play.

Ready to play & mod a game for civic participation? Explore engagement games with an activity from Project MASH.

@Stake An Engagement Games Activity from Project MASH Propose solutions to local problems. Satisfy your agenda. Win the vote! @Stake is a paper-based game designed to spark civic process around local problems or challenges. Players are presented with a new challenge scenario. They propose solutions and then vote to determine which solution appeals to the most players.

@Stake At the beginning of each round, each player is assigned a new stakeholder card (student, teacher, parent, administrator, or community member). Each stakeholder has a different agenda. Players propose solutions to the challenge scenarios based on the agenda of their stakeholder. Details at projectmash.org. Search for “@Stake.”

@Stake When you play the game with your students, colleagues, and other school community members, you can create new scenarios and stakeholder roles. Scenarios can be as short as a single sentence questions, i.e., “How do we support development of the whole child?” The purpose is to spark conversation and explore an issue from multiple perspectives within the safety of the “magic circle.”

@Stake TIME 40 min • Step 1: Split into groups of 3-5 • Step 2: Each group draws a scenario card. • (Ideally, groups will end up with different scenario cards.) • Step 3: Each player draws a stakeholder card. • Step 4: Each group plays 3-4 rounds of the game. For each round, players draw new stakeholder cards, and thegroup draws a new scenario card.

Share & Reflect TIME 5 minutes What kind of impact do you envision this game having • On students’ learning of core content; • On relationships and culture at the classroom level, school level, and within the greater school community?

So far, you’ve experienced a range of games and mechanics, and a few different learning goals. Now, it’s time to create your own learning game, from scratch.

Added Value An Engagement Games Activity from Project MASH TIME 40 minutes • 1. Each group chooses a different one of the following values/emotions: • Friendship, cooperation, jealousy, individuality, commitment, sensitivity, democracy • 2. Design the game’s goal, mechanics, and rules to help players practice and explore the value/emotion that your group chose. • 3. Each group plays its own game. • 4. Each group plays one other group’s game. • *If you’re stuck see the next slide for suggestions of common, simple games to mod…

Some simple examples include: • Simon Says, • Monkey in Middle, • Tag, • Checkers, and • Candyland. • You can also try common sports, but it’s best to use a game that doesn‘t require additional space or equipment and can be played during the workshop.

Common Core Connections TIME 40 minutes • What connections do you see between game design and the skills identified in the Common Core State Standards? What connections do you see between game design and the knowledge foci supported by the Common Core State Standards?

Some grade-level content connections include… Math: Modeling, e.g., the probability of a certain outcome, the path of the basketball Science: “The science behind it,” e.g., why we get tired when we run, what materials hold up well during play, the workings of the terrain or climate Language Arts: Write about the game, the design process, or the play process. Social Studies: Understand group dynamics throughout the design process, draw connections to historical or contemporary social processes

Engagement games offer an approach to teaching and learning that is at the heart of Project MASH, a social network for educators, students, and the organizations that serve them. Visit www.projectmash.org for student activities and projects from the Engagement Lab and others that rely on design thinking and other unique teaching strategies.

Dig Deeper with Engagement Games