In my case study of Serious Play, I chose the following chapters to read and report on:
Chapter 2: ‘A Game Isn’t a Game without Interaction’: Students’ Thoughts about the Use of Digital Games in School by Catherine Beavis, Roberta Thompson and Sandy Muspratt;
Chapter 3: Impassioned Learning and Minecraft by Michael Dezuanni and Joanne O’Mara; and Chapter 12: Playing, Making and Analysing Games: Cases of Assessment for Serious Play by Leonie Rowan. After reading the Series Introduction and Chapter 1, which I will mention briefly, I dove into Chapters 2 and 3 because they cover student approaches to games-based learning and on Chapter 12 because it encapsulates the observations teachers made about student experiences in learning through play.
The study, which explored the “potential of digital games to enhance learning,” was necessitated by the void of any long-term studies focusing on gameplay and learning in formal educational settings (Beavis, 2017). It was conducted in Australia from 2012-2014 in “mainstream, non-specialist schools” in different subject areas and included over 400 student participants a year. Students involved ranged from ages 5-16 in years 1-10 and had various prior experiences with playing digital games both inside and outside of school (Beavis, 2017, p. 23). Students reported that games needed to possess key qualities: freedom of choice, opportunity for interaction with others, the open world experience, some degree of challenge without being too difficult or confusing, and engaging in-game features (graphics, storyline, etc.) and ease of use (controls) (Beavis, 2017). These qualities facilitated students’ desire for autonomous play without too many rules or restrictions, self-discovery and self-reliance, and creating positive relationships with their classmates through collaboration and teamwork. Researchers also uncovered potential issues to problematize. Student concerns involved wanting enough time to finish games within a class period, technological issues, the rowdiness and high energy gameplay elicits, and the balance between fun games, overly educational games, and learning.
The next chapter, Impassioned Learning and Minecraft, details the fortuitous timing of the Minecraft’s emergence with the study, which allowed researchers an incredible, and perhaps rare, opportunity to study the aspects of fandom, culture, and community in relation to digital games, and subsequently, their boon on learning. Although some students had no experience playing Minecraft outside of school, it was clear that an unparalleled culture of fandom and community surrounded the game, and as one teacher aptly stated, “Minecraft ‘is all they talk about” (Dezuanni & O’Mara, 2017, p. 39). Because of the seemingly endless capability for students to create and explore worlds, the game incited passionate, authentic engagement and gave students a “sense of agency and freedom” and promoted collaboration and teamwork (Dezuanni & O’Mara, 2017, p. 40). Researchers were also able to consider the impact of “participatory culture” surrounding Minecraft and its implications on games-based learning in schools (Jenkins, 2009). It was demonstrated and discovered that students engaged in a system of a mentorship and apprenticeship: students who learned from more experienced players outside of school in turn became classroom mentors to less experienced players. Students’ intense engagement with Minecraft and the sense of community they created in their interaction with the game led their teachers to see the potential for learning.
In Chapter 12, teachers’ thoughts on play and its implications on assessments, curriculum decisions, and the development of student skills are explored and connect with the research findings of student attitudes and experiences with games presented in Chapters 2 and 3. Though some teachers came to the conclusion that games needed to be assessed, others assessed student learning in their content area through “gameplay, analysis and game making” and numerous examples demonstrating this (Rowan, 2017, p. 188). Beyond assessing discipline-specific knowledge, teachers saw the value added in using games to develop “personal skills and general capabilities” such as: literacy, numeracy, information and communication technology capability, critical and creative thinking, personal and social capability, ethical understanding, and intercultural understanding (Rowan, 2017, p. 194).
From these chapters of Serious Play, it is clear that digital games offer students an engaging way to learn discipline specific content, and perhaps more importantly, opportunities to develop 21st Century personal skills and capabilities. Although the study demonstrated that there are myriad benefits for the integration of games-based learning and the potential for success in virtually any school, grade level or class curriculum, the assessment piece is problematic and may restrict games-based learning from reaching its full potential. As one teacher, Shae, stated “we do have games where almost all students experience success…it doesn’t matter about a child’s reading ability, but they can still achieve success in terms of communication and collaboration” and then lamented, “These skills are the ‘things that aren’t measured’” (Rowan, 2017, p. 202-203). It is paramount that assessment-based and data-driven educational systems accept that some learning cannot be measured if we are to see the full potential of digital games and their impact on learning.
References
Beavis, C. (2017). Serious Play: Literacy, Learning and Digital Games. In C. Beavis, M. Dezuanni, and J. O’Mara (Ed.), Serious Play: Literacy, Learning and Digital Games (pp. 1-17). Routledge, New York.
Beavis, C., Thompson, R., and Muspratt, S. (2017). ‘A Game Isn’t a Game Without Interaction’: Students’ Thoughts About the Use of Digital Games in School. In C. Beavis, M. Dezuanni, and J. O’Mara (Ed.), Serious Play: Literacy, Learning and Digital Games (pp. 23-35). Routledge, New York.
Dezuanni, M. and O’Mara, J. (2017). Impassioned Learning and Minecraft. In C. Beavis, M. Dezuanni, and J. O’Mara (Ed.), Serious Play: Literacy, Learning and Digital Games (pp. 36-48). Routledge, New York.
Jenkins, H., (2009). Confronting the challenges of participatory culture: Media education for the 21st century. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Rowan, L. (2017). Playing, Making and Analysing Games: Cases of Assessment and Serious Play. In C. Beavis, M. Dezuanni, and J. O’Mara (Ed.), Serious Play: Literacy, Learning and Digital Games (pp. 186-205). Routledge, New York.