I have to admit, the idea of gaming as educational has been a bit of a mystery to me. I have been struggling to wrap my mind around using games as a teaching tool. As I was reading Aldrich, I had a "DUH" moment. Using simulation and games to teach skills..... As a PE teacher, that is what I do. In my last post, I mentioned a lack of skills transfer. Apparently, this applies to me also. In all of the reading I have done for this class, I actually enjoyed Aldrich's Chapter 8. The way he looked at Simulations, Games and Pedagogy, made sense. There was less of a division between those three elements than I had previously seen in other reading.
"The first thing that makes simulation work is context alignment. The performance situation is similar to the learning situation" (Aldrich pg 84). Simulations give students practice and practice leads to several different things. Practice gives people opportunities to work through problems in a less threatening environment. They can try different scenerios without the threat of failure. With increased security, students are likely to have greater confidence in what they are doing. All good things.
"Arbitrary (non-intrinsic) goals are often more motivating than real-world goals" (Aldrich pg 85). This statement explains why many students find games more interesting than your average English textbook. Of course, it also explains why people get all riled up about games and sports. They are entertaining.
Finally, Aldrich addressed the pedagological elements. His argument appears to be that when students are "lost and confused or don't see the relevancy of the experience to the real world" (Aldrich pg 90), it is time to fall back basic pedagogy. Giving background material, providing scaffolding and prompts are a few of the strategies that can be used to help students and support simulations and games.
Overall, Aldrich seems to argue for using all three elements in order to help students find success.
NOTE: I found this article interesting.
http://apnews.myway.com//article/20070221/D8NE9KKG0.html
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3 comments:
I enjoyed reading about your "duh" moment. I think we all have moments like that as we continue to learn new things. Since you are a PE teacher I can see how you made a connection with the content types. More specifically with the cyclical content which involves practice, timing and magnitude. I found it interesting how Aldrich (p.81) mentioned the importance of timing and magnitude for professional skills as well as kinesthetic skills.
I agree with your point of view. Having taught for many years, it is hard to let go of the old lecturer approach to teaching, but for those like me who struggle to let go, a combination of simulations, games and pedagogy can both fulfill our approach to teaching while allowing the students to enjoy the benefits of gaming. I think that any one alone is not good, but a logical combination of these techniques enhances any lesson.
Thanks for your post - it was enlightening. I had not really made a connection between sports and gaming... HA. I have to laugh as I write that. Of course they are similar!
Given this similarity, do you forsee ANY kind of gaming being used in your discipline? There is such a perceived dichodomy between the physical nature of PE and the non-physical nature of computer gaming. What are your thoughts?
Great post, very appropriate for the week!
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