Teachers finding games give a leg up on learning

Thanks for the link, Dana.

Experts say part of the appeal of learning through gaming is that students don’t see failing at the game as the same type of failure as getting an answer wrong in class or on a worksheet.

Ms. Joyce has witnessed this.

“They are not embarrassed. They are just more determined to get to the next level,” she said.

She finds students remember material better when they learn it through a game rather than her repeated drilling.

Educators say that teaching students to create video and computer games about academic subjects also helps them to learn.

Creating a game requires students to break down and analyze the academic concepts they want to teach in the game. They also learn critical thinking, graphic design and spatial awareness in creating the games, said Lauren Hinish, a technology coach at Propel.

“If you are learning to program a game about fractions then you are learning about programming and fractions at the same time. You are also doing addition and subtraction,” said David Touretzky, a research professor of computer science at CMU. —Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.