Gaming and the Classroom: A Trip Down Memory Lane

Here is a topic I can really sink my teeth into! Games have been a part of my life since 1985 when my dad brought home an original NES. I still remember back when we first tried to play a two player game of Super Mario Brothers, and we could not figure out who this Luigi character was and why he was not moving. Being the genius that I was at age 3, it took me a half an hour to figure out that you had to plug in the second controller...

While I have learned from my video game mishaps, video games were a major part of my life up until the last few years due to my doctoral program. I still try to play, but lately I have not been able to even spare 15 minutes of a weekend. Just in case my readers are curious, I thought I would include a list of my top 10 favorite games of all time just so you can see where I am coming from. I love all of the Super Mario Brothers games, so I will leave them off the list since there are so many. In no particular order...

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Super Metroid
Resident Evil 4
Bioshock
Mega Man 2
Fallout
Super Tecmo Bowl
Final Fantasy 3
Earth Bound
Chrono Trigger
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!
TMNT 2
Duck Tales
Secret of Mana
Banjo-Kazooie
Pikmin 2

OK, top 16 games...

In reading the commentary by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi dealing with flow, a lightbulb clicked in my head as to why I like playing these games. As an experiment for my EIT class, I set aside an hour to play a game that I have never played before. I thoroughly enjoyed the first Bioshock game, and I had always wanted to play the second. Up to this point, I have not been disappointed. In fact, my hour turned into 6 in no time. The following is a look at most of the categories contained in the flow as related to Bioshock 2.


One of the major hooks that I enjoy about gaming is the story. I think about gaming as a more involved book. I am constantly wanting to know what will happen next. Bioshock 2 sucks you in from the start. As the player, you are basically alone in a vast city built underneath the ocean. There are other characters to interact with, but most of them are so far gone as far as sanity goes that not much talking is done. The city used to be a thriving community, but has sinse been left in ruin. The feeling of being on your own and exploring this unknown location is what does it for me. This is similar to how I felt about the first 3 seasons of Lost when the island and the places on the island were such a mystery. When looking at the parts of the flow, this takes care of the following categories:


Action and awareness are merged
Distractions are excluded from consciousness
Self-consciousness disappears
The sense of time becomes distorted
The activity becomes ‘autotelic’ – meaning it is an end in itself


Bioshock 2 is a combination of linear and open-ended exploration. I enjoy this about a game because while I feel like I can go almost anywhere and explore, I know what my main objective is keeping me on track. How I go about that objective is usually up to me.


There are clear goals every step of the way


Bioshock 2 has many ways of indicating your progress. For starters, you have a health meter letting you know your status. Windows also pop up indicating whether a goal was achieved or botched. This feedback is generally subtle, but enough to let you know how you are progressing.


There is immediate feedback to your actions


I will admit that the challenge versus frustration topic is one that I have mixed feelings about. Bioshock 2 is very forgiving, in the sense that your death does not set you back as much as you would think. If you run out of health, you are transported to the nearest chamber and are resuscitated with little penalty. While I do appreciate this, the difficulty can seem easy at times. On the contrary, any game in the original Mega Man serious would make most kids nowadays cry because of the sheer challenge. I have grown up in both eras and probably prefer the more difficult, but that may just come down to the type of person you are.


There is a balance between challenges and skills


As a teacher, I carry over my experience with games into the classroom. Students enjoy games being tied to their learning. I can say this confidently as a user of games for 7 years in the classroom. There are many challenging, problem-solving games that I like to use to get the students thinking. Some of these games include Liquid Measure 2, Bloxorz, and Cargo Bridge. These games are very challenging but fair, invoke large amounts of thinking to succeed, provide immediate feedback, are able to hold a student's attention. While I can tie each of these games into some sort of mathematical topic, they are not necessarily content specific.


This is one of my problems with gaming in education. When I want something specifically related to a mathematical topic, the games available are bland and boring. About the only one of the flow's bullet points hit in most of these educational games is the feedback. In looking at a previous post by Scott McLeod, I was embarrassed to see that the first picture of a game in this blog about "games sucking" is a game I use to try to hit computation standards. Good old Math Baseball! I don't know if there is anything terrible about Math Baseball, but it certainly does not invoke the flow out of my students. It is my hope that someone will create better educational games that students can get into and enjoy. 


As an avid, or formerly avid gamer, I fully believe in the power of games to provide a proper challenge, set clear goals, give instant feedback, and immerse students in a world outside of their own. I will continue to support gaming in hopes that others will catch on. What are your thoughts on gaming in the classroom? Do you see this as a viable learning tool for education? What are the views of individuals without a gaming background? I know a lot of my fellow teachers see games as educational fluff.