Forum Discussion
Game Concept - your thoughts?
I have an idea for a knowledge-testing game. The attached image captures the gist; the ghosted out "Answer" signs are meant to show that they will appear when the Learner correctly answers or matches, and the little car will move forward to the next sign when each question is answered correctly
The order matters because it's testing knowledge on how to handle a situation in which the order of steps taken matters.
I want to use this game as a way of teaching what the steps are, not testing Learners' memory of what we told them the steps are. I envision offering a list of the steps they can choose from. If they get it wrong, they can try again. Ultimately, when the Learner gets to the end, they will see a literal road map of how to handle the situation, with all the right steps, in the correct order.
Is this too complicated a method to introduce steps? I don't want the course to be a bunch of yakking at the Learner. I want to pull them in right away, exercising what they do know to have this discovery experience of "oh..this is how I'll handle the situation.."
I appreciate any thoughts on this. Thank you for taking time to read.
6 Replies
This would be considered a "constructionist" approach and could certainly be a valid way of approaching learning. The constructionist approach allows the learner to discover things and try to make sense of how the new knowledge works or how it may fit in with the knowledge they already have. This allows the user to "fail" in a safe training environment in order for them to learn and also to get that moment of discovery as they finally get it.
If I may suggest, since you are not giving the learner the information upfront, allow the learner a chance to repeat until they can get it right, and/or offer hints if they get stuck/frustrated, and possibly tell them upfront that this is for practice and learning and they will not be "penalized" if they don't get it done perfectly the first time.
Thank you, KendalRasnake-1;
I plan to allow the learner to try, try again. I envision a list of answers that they can choose from, worded in such a way that it feels to them like a progression of "first this, then that."
Would it be OK to give them extra answers, or would that be too close to a penalty? My purpose in this is to keep the Learner engaged until they answer all questions with their thoughtful mind, rather than by seeing that there are two answers and two choices left which they can answer by process of elimination rather than by evaluating the answer choices critically.
I think the extra answers could be good as long as they are plausible. We often use plausible distractors on quiz questions and this could avoid ending up with only two answers for the final two questions as you mentioned.
If your intention is to give this to the learners as a sort of pre-survey/"what do you already know" assessment, I think it's a good approach to also offer the answers in a mixed order (with maybe one or two "close" wrong answers; just be sure to specifically address why these are the wrong answers when you get to the appropriate point in the material). But even if you simply did this as a drag-and-drop (with the terms scattered around the track), I think it would work well.
JHauglie;
My plan is not to test them on what they've been told, but to use this game as a way of helping them to understand what they will do. Prior to the game, we will say something like: "in this situation, you will work with another person. They have responsibilities and you have responsibilities. As manager, you will manage the entire situation, including ensuring that the other person does their part."
From there, my hope is that our Learner will, yes, select the right steps in the right order, but that they will also understand the steps to choose, based on what they've been told their responsibilities are.Rather than: "here are 10 things you will do, 1, 2, 3...10. Now here's a quiz to test whether you remember all 10."
I hope my intended idea is a good learning experience...it looks awesome in my imagination!
😀
Your idea is great—simple, engaging, and perfect for teaching ordered steps. The car/map mechanic makes learning active, not passive. It’s not too complicated as long as the design stays clear.
