Game On! by Kevin Bell

Game On! by Kevin Bell

Author:Kevin Bell [Bell, Kevin]
Language: eng
Format: epub


Figure 11. Screenshot: Leaderboard for the UW Ethical Decision Making course. Reproduced with permission of Greg Andres, University of Waterloo.

Instructor Feedback

As suggested in figure 14, Andres rarely provides an absolute response, preferring to encourage discussion with the aim of getting the students to continue reflecting on the issues after the coursework is complete.

Figure 12. Screenshot: Game 7.2 setup in the UW Ethical Decision Making course. Reproduced with permission of Greg Andres, University of Waterloo.

Given the way the course content is built out, individuals can overzealously race ahead and complete all game elements. Doing so provides the short-term boost of topping the leaderboard—the “look at me!” factor, as Andres terms it. Yet this phenomenon of racing ahead also limits the opportunity to build peer interaction in the games and game elements. Conversation on discussion boards in online education tends to flag if students are not moving lock-step through the materials. Andres recalls the lack of high-quality discussion about the scenarios as a disappointment. “So they play the game and there’s a moral in the story (usually conveyed in his feedback) and I was hoping that this would translate into discussion board discussions, but not so much.”

One exception to the general lack of discussion-board activity was in connection to one game scenario where, ironically, a lack of clarity (arguably, poor instructional design) provoked interactivity. Andres explains, “There was some discussion on the discussion boards—not as much as I’d wanted. There was one particular game that they were annoyed with. They were like, ‘What’s the point of it?’ So I was like, ‘Here’s the point,’ and they were like, ‘Oh, OK.’ But of course I made the games so that they are kind of vexing, so it frustrates some, and it’s like, ‘Now you’re irritated and frustrated, now you’re ready to listen.’ ”



Download



Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.