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This book is a guide to designing curricular games to suit the needs of students. It makes connections between video games and time-tested pedagogical techniques such as discovery learning and feedback to improve student engagement and learning. It also examines the social nature of gaming such as techniques for driver/navigator partners, small groups, and whole class structures to help make thinking visible; it expands the traditional design process teachers engage in by encouraging use of video game design techniques such as playtesting. The author emphasizes designing curricular games for problem-solving and warns against designing games that are simply "Alex Trebek (host of Jeopardy) wearing a mask". By drawing on multiple fields such as systems thinking, design theory, assessment, and curriculum design, this book relies on theory to generate techniques for practice.
List of contents
Upping your Game: Transforming Teaching.- The Name Game: Developing a Theme.- The Game Behind the Game: Uncovering Systems.- Game Face: Telling the Story.- The Game Plan: Designing the Game.- Fair Game: Developing Quests.- Game Play: Rendering the Game.- Game on!: Teaching the Game.- Endgame: Scaling Up.
About the author
Dr. Janna Jackson Kellinger is an associate professor at the College of Education and Human Development at University of Massachusetts, Boston. She received her Ph.D. from Boston College with a specialization in curriculum, policy, and school reform. Her publications range from contributed chapters in a variety of books to articles in journals such as Journal of Poverty and Teaching Education. Her first book, Unmasking Identities, explores how queer teachers navigate their profession.
Summary
This book is a guide to designing curricular games to suit the needs of students. It makes connections between video games and time-tested pedagogical techniques such as discovery learning and feedback to improve student engagement and learning. It also examines the social nature of gaming such as techniques for driver/navigator partners, small groups, and whole class structures to help make thinking visible; it expands the traditional design process teachers engage in by encouraging use of video game design techniques such as playtesting. The author emphasizes designing curricular games for problem-solving and warns against designing games that are simply “Alex Trebek (host of Jeopardy) wearing a mask”. By drawing on multiple fields such as systems thinking, design theory, assessment, and curriculum design, this book relies on theory to generate techniques for practice.
