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Gaming in the Classroom: Essential Elements Pitfalls Bad/Successes Good

Exploring the incorporation of gaming in educational settings, this study by Richard Liston delves into the essential elements, challenges, and triumphs of using games for learning. Through examples like quiz games, artificial life simulations, and networked games, the text discusses the advantages and potential drawbacks of peer reviews. With a focus on active engagement and interdisciplinary skills, the research highlights the immersive learning experience and the benefits of incorporating gaming into various disciplines.

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Gaming in the Classroom: Essential Elements Pitfalls Bad/Successes Good

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  1. Richard Liston Ursinus College Gaming in the Classroom: Essential ElementsPitfalls Bad/Successes Good

  2. $ whoami

  3. $ whoami Currently: CS Professor/Networking Researcher

  4. $ whoami Currently: CS Professor/Networking Researcher Formerly: Musician

  5. $ whoami Currently: CS Professor/Networking Researcher Formerly: Musician • IF (“Adventure”)

  6. $ whoami Currently: CS Professor/Networking Researcher Formerly: Musician • IF (“Adventure”) • Hofstadter: “Gödel, Escher, Bach”

  7. $ whoami Currently: CS Professor/Networking Researcher Formerly: Musician • IF (“Adventure”) • Hofstadter: “Gödel, Escher, Bach” • Math/CS…and still love learning…

  8. Gaming, Learning and I NITLE Seminar, Summer 2005 Incorporated into my courses (various sources) • Intro to CS: quiz game (User I/O, designing for generality: reading from file) • Data Structures: artificial life (arrays, simple image file formats), minesweeper (recursion, 2D arrays) • Computer Networks: networked QuadraPong (protocol design/implementation, protocol interoperability) • CIE: Interactive Fiction (explore moral dilemmas w/Inform 7)

  9. Why Does Gaming Work?

  10. Why Does Gaming Work? • Students play games

  11. Why Does Gaming Work? • Students play games • Professors play games

  12. Why Does Gaming Work? • Students play games • Professors play games • Designing/implementing games is fun for all

  13. Why Does Gaming Work? • Students play games • Professors play games • Designing/implementing games is fun for all • Advantages (disadvantages?) of peer reviews • Learning value

  14. Learning Value • Immersion • Active thought • Requires broad knowledge • Game domain • Interdisciplinary skills • Learn good process: complete design

  15. Coming Up • Experience: successes and challenges • Possible projects in other disciplines (non-CS) • Some recommendations • Discussion

  16. Quiz Game Assignment: • Choose a topic about which you have a great deal of knowledge • Create a series of questions with multiple choice answers • Devise a scoring system • Administer the quiz • Print scores and some associated comment about the score

  17. Successes • All working games

  18. Successes • All working games • Topics • Math • Music • Television Shows • Sports: baseball, hockey • Geography • Food • “The Godfather”

  19. Challenges • Time to grade: plan this!

  20. Challenges • Time to grade: plan this! • Scoring system too open-ended

  21. Cellular Automata • AKA “Artificial life” • Assignment: • Use arrays (low-level data structure) • Read file describing initial conditions and rules • Write out image representing “generations”

  22. Successes: beauty

  23. Successes: beauty

  24. Successes: beauty

  25. Successes • Beautiful pictures • Experience with emergent properties • Work with image file formats • Work with low-level data structures

  26. Challenges • Time to grade: plan this! • Scoring system too open-ended • Short time, many new details • Complex: risky!

  27. QuadraPong Assignment: • Design network protocol • Use real IETF process • Modify game code with protocol • Test against other implementations

  28. Successes Game Engine Credit: Scott Kulp

  29. Successes Game Engine Credit: Scott Kulp

  30. Successes • Mostly properly working games • Learn about design in the real world • Work with real-time protocols • Solid software development process • Play during exam time!

  31. Challenges • Time to grade: plan this! • Scoring system too open-ended • Short time, many new details • Very complex: risky! • Managing group dynamics

  32. Challenges • Time to grade: plan this! • Scoring system too open-ended • Short time, many new details • Very complex: risky! • Managing group dynamics • Quiet during exam period!

  33. Games in other disciplines • Languages: • To create: must know vocabulary, structure • Can reinforce, steadily increase difficulty • Sciences • Solve math/physics/chemistry puzzles • Anthropomorphize photosynthesis • History: create historically accurate virtual world • Fixed in time • Historical events unfold over time

  34. Elements • Clear goal • Realistic time frame • Access to information • Domain of topic • Facility with development environment • Process • Schedule • Revision control: SubVersion • Shipping Product? • Maintenance?

  35. Some Recommendations • Employ solid software engineering practice (optimal)

  36. Some Recommendations • Employ solid software engineering practice (optimal) • Choose teams well • Different skills (may not be able to)

  37. Some Recommendations • Employ solid software engineering practice (optimal) • Choose teams well • Different skills (may not be able to) • Good idea (aye, there’s the rub)

  38. Some Recommendations • Employ solid software engineering practice (optimal) • Choose teams well • Different skills (may not be able to) • Good idea (aye, there’s the rub) • Design/design review • User studies using prototype (HCI techniques) • Thinkaloud: user talks while using the product • Task Completion: user completes specific tasks according to script

  39. Some Recommendations • Employ solid software engineering practice (optimal) • Choose teams well • Different skills (may not be able to) • Good idea (aye, there’s the rub) • Design/design review • User studies using prototype (HCI techniques) • Thinkaloud: user talks while using the product • Task Completion: user completes specific tasks according to script • Implement/review/debug

  40. Some Recommendations • Employ solid software engineering practice (optimal) • Choose teams well • Different skills (may not be able to) • Good idea (aye, there’s the rub) • Design/design review • User studies using prototype (HCI techniques) • Thinkaloud: user talks while using the product • Task Completion: user completes specific tasks according to script • Implement/review/debug • Testing: user studies with real system

  41. Some Recommendations • Know your system • Use • Features • Capabilities (don’t exceed)

  42. Some Recommendations • Don’t Panic! They’re learning: • Group skills (not all students enter college with the skills that would make them a good team members) • Development process (not just for CS) • Use of a game development environment; knowing something about what software can do won’t hurt anyone

  43. Some Recommendations • Plan a reasonable, complete schedule (How??) • Keep eyes open for red flags of schedule slip • Watch for group “issues” • Make the group think through the tasks in detail • Too easy to say “we’ll get it done in time” • Because we can imagine it, we can do it? • Implement when the design is complete • But is delay of gratification still fun? Yes, with support. • Keep everyone focused on a common end result

  44. Thank you!

  45. Let’s hear from you…

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