1 / 35

Video Games and Education

Video Games and Education. What Homework’s Biggest Enemy Has to Teach Us About Teaching. George and Dylan Woodbury. Grading System. Grading System ( old way). Start at perfect score ; take away Motivates by punishment/fear. Grading System ( gaming ideal).

adamma
Download Presentation

Video Games and Education

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Video Games and Education What Homework’s Biggest Enemy Has to Teach Us About Teaching George and Dylan Woodbury

  2. Grading System

  3. Grading System (old way) • Start at perfect score; take away • Motivates by punishment/fear

  4. Grading System (gaming ideal) • Start at zero, reward from there • Motivating by reward/accomplishment • Players want to grow and get better

  5. Grading System (gaming ideal) • Points important – make performance in game better • Player is not reminded of missed points

  6. Grading System (new way) • Start grades at zero, award points for homework, tests, etc. • Points important in class – knock points off final • Students indirectly motivated to do homework, study, and LEARN

  7. Method of Learning

  8. Method of Learning (old way) • Use of lecture and reading to teach • Students are taught to solve problems before trying • If fail to master material… must move on

  9. Method of Learning (gaming ideal) • Players use scientific method to tackle problems • Form strategy/predict solution based on prior knowledge • Try solving problem • FAIL, repeat until success

  10. Method of Learning (gaming ideal) • Failure is essential to learning; not punishing failure allows students to freely try things • Game waits for mastery before progression

  11. Method of Learning (new way) • Online homework does not punish failure • Quizzes can be retaken • Tests can be retaken for some points if failed

  12. Encouraging Positive Behavior

  13. Encouraging Positive Behavior (old way) • Not really a worry • Curves and planned extra credit • Actually DEMOTIVATE students to try their best

  14. Encouraging Positive Behavior (gaming ideal) • Unique ways of solving problems are rewarded with bonuses • Exploration is rewarded with secret worlds and items • Doing well (epic wins) rewarded with bonuses and powerups

  15. Encouraging Positive Behavior (new way) • Give rewards to promote good behaviors • Rewards turned in for benefits • Need balance of expected and unexpected rewards

  16. My Grading System • I wanted to create a grading system that was not just a translation of the standard grading scale.

  17. Test Grades • Tests are graded pass (70% or above) or fail. • Pass = 1 Point, Fail = 0 Points • Homework and quizzes do not directly count towards a student’s grade, but instead can be used to “level up”.

  18. Leveling Up • Students who have satisfactory online homework scores (90% on each assignment) and online quiz scores (70% on each quiz) level up and have a chance to earn bonuses.

  19. Bonus Earned • 70-79% on test: 2 points (instead of 1) • 80-100% on test: 3 points (instead of 1)

  20. I give my students a gold coin if they earn 3 points on a test.

  21. Mastery Learning • Leveled up, but failed test: Students can retest the following week for 1 point

  22. Points Available • 25 points available before final 6 tests (up to 3 points each)1 test is doubled4 points for final review quiz/homework assignment • 100 points from final exam

  23. Grades • A: 100 points • B: 88 points • C: 76 points

  24. Results • Only 1 drop from 47 students (98% retention) • 3 students did not take the final • A: 15 B: 8 C: 5 D: 4 F: 14 • 33% A’s, 61% Success

  25. Common Final Results • 43 of my students took a common final exam, along with 101 students from different classes/instructors.

  26. Common Final Results • 65% scored 60 or higher (control: 37%) • 35% scored 80 or higher (control 7%) • Mean: 12.5 higher • Median: 14 higher (Median was greater than Q3 for control)

  27. Semester 2 • Intermediate AlgebraMean score increased by 6.4 pointsMedian score increased by 11 points • Elementary AlgebraMean: 77.2 Median: 81.5Q1: 75

  28. Changes On The Way • I am increasing the required points for A, B, & C by 4 points.

  29. Changes On The Way • I am adding a second point category to accommodate +/- grades.

  30. This Semester – Through 4 Exams • Typical Exam: 24 leveled up, 15 did not • Leveled Up: 87/96 passed the chapter exam (91%) • Did Not Level Up: 37/59 passed the chapter exam (62%) • Retest: 5/9 passed the retest

  31. Potential Problems • A student could over rely on the online learning aids or have assistance from a tutor/classmate to level up.

  32. Potential Problems • This grading system is so different from what students are used to that I have to constantly remind my students at the beginning of the semester.

  33. Why Does This Work? • “Your students are working hard because they have no idea how they are graded.”

  34. Why Does This Work? • Students are doing their homework the right way, for the right reason.

  35. Contact Information • Email: georgew@cos.edu dwstrat@yahoo.com • Web Site: georgewoodbury.com • Blog: georgewoodbury.blogspot.com • Twitter: @georgewoodbury

More Related