Seven Questions to Ask Before Using a Video Game In the Classroom

Today is the first day of school for most public districts in Texas. With that in mind, I’d like to offer seven important questions teachers should ask before using any videogame in the classroom. This list is based in part on a paper I delivered to the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT), 2005 Convention.

1. Is the game’s cognitive load appropriate for your students? Many simple edutainment titles are aimed at younger audiences. Consequently, these titles are often inappropriate for older students, who will find them less of a challenge and potentially insulting to their intelligence. Conversely, modifications of such titles as those in the Neverwinter Nights series, or the Civilization series, might be beyond the abilities of younger audiences.
2. Is the game easily modifiable? Many educational games on the market offer no capabilities for modification, giving teachers a “what you see is what you get” approach. Some games might have a higher level of adaptability for classroom use. For instance, a foreign language teacher can run a copy of The Sims 2 on her classroom computer and simply change the operating language, offering an instant immersive language environment for her students. Ideally, however, a game can be easily modified by the teacher, so that he can insert whatever objectives are needed into the gaming environment. Such modifications are more difficult and time consuming but doable, as seen in several examples for the Neverwinter Nights engine and Second Life.
3. Does the game align with your standards (local, state, national)? Fortunately this question is increasingly being addressed by educational video game companies, as they realize that the purchasing of their titles in large quantities by schools largely hinges on this question. Look at the excellent job Tabula Digita is doing making sure their math games are aligned with state and national standards. Hopefully the company selling the product has already done the alignment for you, however your job as a teacher will be to make sure you know where the product lines up with the standards you are responsible for teaching. If nobody has done that previously, chance are good you will have to do it yourself if you need to justify using the game in your classroom to parents and administrators.
4. Can the game present useful outcomes within a short time period? Class periods are generally short. Time spent on any lesson is perforce brief. Many excellent video games with learning potential are hugely complex and take hours to complete. However, you have just minutes in your class to drive home a point or two. Therefore you will need to eschew games that take an inordinate amount of time to develop their pedagogical points. Also, setting up a game and getting students going takes additional time, whether in a lab, on laptops, or on classroom computers. Setup and shutdown times will decrease the available minutes students can spend on the game and its learning objectives.
5. Does the game train or teach? This is a critical difference classroom teachers need to fully understand. Most “serious games,” as they are commonly called, train players in something. This training may involve safety practices, industrial techniques, machinery operation, or a host of other skills. Academic games aligned to state standards will focus on testable outcomes and high stakes exams. Most teachers will not want to deviate from the standards they are required to teach, or at least have a ready explanation as to how the game is germane to their subject matter. For instance, a geometry teacher could certainly justify using a game that involves creating floor plans; a history teacher can find plenty of justification for the many Civilization mods out there; and a language arts teacher can justify the typing and reading involved in most any higher level game. Regardless, if a game actively seeks to teach academic content, its appropriateness for the classroom will naturally rise above a rival game designed more for work skill enhancement.
6. Does the game track player progress? Videogames that keep track of the progress your students make will lift that burden off your shoulders. Ideally the game will offer reporting functions on each student so you can easily track their progress, and perhaps suggest remedial actions or advanced activities if a student is behind or ahead of the norm.
7. Are the graphics and gaming quality on par with contemporary entertainment titles? It is certainly possible to buy educational games which fall far below the expectations of students used to higher quality offerings. Since studies show that nearly two-thirds of all households play videogames, it behooves us to use quality games in the classroom since our students will likely be used to high standards. It’s always good to pilot test any particular title with students you trust. If they like the game, it’s probably worth the investment to outfit a school computer lab or buy a site license. Dr. Brian Woodfield over at BYU noted how a teacher set up Virtual ChemLab on one machine in the back of her classroom, which eventually led to the school purchasing a site license. I do mini-studies with my own kids from time to time. Also, my paper on assessing higher order thinking in videogames might help pinpoint the pedagogical potential of games with which you are unfamiliar.

In conclusion, any classroom intervention is worth serious consideration beforehand. Hopefully, these seven questions will help steer you toward quality products. Educational videogames are strong tools for teaching in the classroom. Judicious selection of appropriate titles may result in many positive results.

References:
Rice, J. (2005). Evaluating the suitability of video games for k-12 instruction. Paper presented to the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT), 2005 International Convention, Orlando, FL.

FETC 2008: Virtual ChemLab

I’m fresh back from FETC 2008, and I’ve got lots to share. I’ll start with a presentation I attended by Brian Woodfield over at Brigham Young. Dr. Woodfield is project director for the Virtual ChemLab (VCL) computer simulation that BYU has been working on the past several years, and is offered to high schools and universities through Pearson Prentice Hall.

Several simulated laboratories are offered through the software, and Dr. Woodfield provided many interesting demonstrations during his lecture, including ones for a Physics Lab, Physical Science Lab, General and Organic Chemistry Labs. Improvements and additions to the offerings continue to occur with each passing year. Graphics art students at BYU work on the computer graphics, and each year new students attempt to outdo previous efforts. Coming soon will be a simulated Biology Lab, complete with microscopes and genetics.

Graphics indeed were good. Dr. Woodfield opened the presentation with photos of traditional chemistry labs, and explained how tedious and time consuming classroom experiments are to set up, and how they tend to stifle experimentation and creativity among students. Placing accurate simulated experiments within appropriate contexts, though, does allow free exploration and additional opportunities for serendipitous discovery. Plus, it allows much faster and less expensive experimentation. It’s also safer. Click here for a brief list of horrific accidents that have occurred in high school chemistry labs over the years. Dr. Woodfield demonstrated an “explosion” by mixing the wrong chemicals, and the beaker came back ready for another experiment. This was much safer than real world explosions.

Over the years, BYU has found VCL to be as useful as any other tool in the classroom. In other words, most of its effectiveness depends on the teacher or professor using it. Implementation is key, and instructors with a positive attitude will have the most success with the product (I think this is true of every educational product).

They’ve found most kids take 15 – 30 minutes to learn the interface. BYU instructors have also found giving students the Hermann Brain Dominance Instrument before classes using VCL helps pinpoint those who prefer direct instruction over personal discovery, and who therefore may need more initial assistance with the program.

VCL seems to be most useful when assigned as homework. Dr. Woodfield indicated instructors have noted a 30% increase in performance on exams in classes using VCL versus those who do not. Also, students who did not use VCL invariably performed poorly on quizzes over the covered material.

Dr. Woodfield shared many interesting anecdotes about using the program. One involved a teacher in Indianapolis who wanted the program for her students. The school was unwilling to provide a site license, so she bought a single license and installed it on a computer in the back of her room. VCL became so popular, the students told their parents about it, and complained they did not get enough time on the program. The parents pitched in and paid for a site license so VCL could be installed on every computer in the school. Stories like that attest to the program’s popularity.

Worksheets that teachers have put together are available. Also, a couple of papers by Dr. Woodfield and his colleagues appeared in the Journal of Chemical Education concerning use and assessment of the program in college course. These are available for download at the main VCL site:

B.F. Woodfield, H.R. Catlin, G.L. Waddoups, M.S. Moore, R. Swan, R. Allen, and G. Bodily, “The Virtual ChemLab Project: A Realistic and Sophisticated Simulation of Inorganic Qualitative Analysis”, J. Chem. Ed. 81, 1672-1678 (2004).

B.F. Woodfield, M.B. Andrus, T. Andersen, J. Miller, B. Simons, R. Stanger, G.L. Waddoups, M.S. Moore, R. Swan, R. Allen, and G. Bodily, “The Virtual ChemLab Project: A Realistic and Sophisticated Simulation of Organic Synthesis and Organic Qualitative Analysis.” J. Chem. Ed. 82, 1728-1735 (2005).

Finally, there is a nice wiki on VCL for Sloan-C members that has more details. From all accounts, and by every indication, this looks like an excellent addition to high school and college chemistry courses. Highly recommended.