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Engaging Brains Through Games and Simulations

Engaging Brains Through Games and Simulations. Bernie Dodge, PhD San Diego State University. http://webquest.org/workshops/engaging/. Outline. Games vs Learning An Equation for Learning Power Star Logo 2 Second Life The Glass Bead eGame Choose Your Own Edventure Turoff’s Game

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Engaging Brains Through Games and Simulations

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  1. Engaging Brains Through Games and Simulations Bernie Dodge, PhD San Diego State University http://webquest.org/workshops/engaging/

  2. Outline • Games vs Learning • An Equation for Learning Power • Star Logo 2 • Second Life • The Glass Bead eGame • Choose Your Own Edventure • Turoff’s Game • Simulated Diaries

  3. Good Games vs Good Teaching • Engagement • Unforgetableness • Positive emotion • Uncertainty But also… • Adrenaline • Addiction • Mindless automatic behavior

  4. Game Addiction

  5. Mini-Games Marc Prensky distinguishes between mini-games and complex games. Mini-games… • Take less than one hour • Have simple content

  6. Mini-Game Examples • Card games (except Bridge) • Quiz / Trivia games • Board games (except Chess & Go)

  7. Complex Games • Require learning a wide variety of strategies and skills • Develop mastery by progressing through a series of levels • Include ethical dilemmas and choices • Take 10 to 100 hours to complete

  8. Example Complex Games • Rise of Nations • Civilization • The Sims • World of Warcraft • America’s Army • John Madden’s Football

  9. Two Burning Questions: • Who’s got 10-100 hours to spare in their course? • Who’s got a million dollars to develop a complex game wrapped around their course content?

  10. Brain Minutes

  11. Learning Power P = ADE Power = Attention x Depth x Efficiency

  12. Attention The proportion of time learners spend • looking at, • listening to, and • thinking about what you want them to. • Ranges from 0 to 1.

  13. Causes of Attention Human Interest Variability Attention Competition Uncertainty Challenge Social interaction

  14. Attention as a Ratio Attention = Brain Minutes spent attending to X Total Brain Minutes

  15. Depth • the degree to which thinking is required • ranges from 0 to 100

  16. Efficiency • Curricular efficiency is the proportion of time learners have to spend thinking about what you’re trying to teach. Efficiency = Brain Minutes Devoted to Curriculum Total Brain Minutes

  17. Efficiency and Games If a game is… • Unfamiliar • Particularly creative • Richly detailed Learners will.. • Spend brain minutes on figuring out the game • And not figuring out your content

  18. Learning Power P = ADE Power = Attention x Depth x Efficiency So a perfect game would be 1 x 100 x 1 = 100

  19. Star Logo TNG

  20. Star Logo TNG • Programming by building blocks

  21. Wash Your Hands, Homer

  22. Wash Your Hands, Homer

  23. Wash Your Hands, Homer

  24. Wash Your Hands, Homer

  25. Learning Power of Star Logo • High attention • High depth • Low efficiency • Power = .9 x 90 x .2 = 16

  26. Second Life

  27. Second Life

  28. Second Life

  29. Second Life

  30. Second Life

  31. Possibilities • Mathematics of scaling, geometry • Theater productions • Machinema • Cross cultural exchange • Role plays

  32. Learning Power of Second Life • Attention will be very high • Depth could range from low to high • Efficiency could be low to medium • Power = .9 x 90 x .5 = 40 at best • Power = .9 x 10 x .2 = 18 at worst

  33. Choose Your Own Adventure • Popular book series for children • Adapted for adult training • Branching stories, multiple endings

  34. Choose Your Own Edventure • Narrative/simulation based on your content • Emphasis on choices and their consequences • You create a starting point and two or more choices • Students carry the story on from there • Easily implemented in Google Docs

  35. Learning Power of CYOE • High attention • High depth • Medium efficiency • Power = .9 x 90 x .5 = 40

  36. The Glass Bead Game • Based on Hermann Hesse’s Magister Ludi. • A kind of Scrabble for ideas

  37. Glass Bead eGame • Can use Inspiration or Gliffy • Learners take turns placing a bead and explaining how it relates to adjacent beads • Players reward points based on the elegance or surpringness of the linkages

  38. Glass Bead eGame

  39. Learning Power of the GBG • High attention • High depth • High efficiency • Power = .9 x 90 x .9 = 73

  40. Turoff’s Game • Invented by Alan Turoff • Played on Compuserve in the early 80s • Useful to liven up an online chat • Development cost: $0

  41. Turoff’s Game • Two lines will be shown • Intertwingled between them is a word or phrase that matches the clue • Example: A U.S. President • GARPETCHACHINA • WOTRONGYERDUNG • GARPETCHACHINA • WOTRONGYERDUNG • WARRENGHARDING

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