The Use of Games as an Instructional Method

Gregory McLeod

Basic math skills are what I teach on the community college level and are essential in the daily lives of most people. Most of the adults whom I teach have fundamental math skills to function in life but may have acquired some of that knowledge through trial and error and/or unguided modeling. I find that a majority of my students function well in the real world but tell me they don’t see many connections between math concepts and that real world. Additionally, many students tell me that they don’t enjoy math like they did as a young child. So I feel obligated and thus committed to not only teach them basic math skills and concepts but to also build connections with what I teach to them to their world and in a manner that is exciting and unforgettable. Using games as an instructional method in my classroom gives me an opportunity to make connections while providing exciting ways to teach basic concepts and encourage cooperative participation. Through my readings and research, I explore several theories and concepts behind games as an instructional method to understand it more as a credible method of instruction and how to implement it within my curriculum. While doing so, I do not attempt to analyze whether the use of games should be the only instructional method of choice for I do feel that in math, learning is best gained from the use of a variety of methods. However, I do feel that because games are highly adaptive to the real world, are inherently fun to play and require a level of cooperation, they are more effective than traditional instructional methods.

My rationale for the use of games as an instructional method as stated above is based upon several theories that I feel are true about learning. The first is that students learn better when they can relate the concepts presented to their real world and experiences. Games can be easily adapted to the experiences and background of the learners as well as to the given environment. This adaptability allows adult learners to connect to the concepts taught by attaching them to their experiences which gives them deeper and more permanent understanding (Boud, 1985).

My second idea of what is essential to successful learning is that students learn better when their experience is pleasurable and engaging rather than passive. Games are inherently fun in that they arouse within us a sense of competitiveness and play on our desire to win. Often, instructors and game designers incorporate rewards within the gaming method that increases the motivation of the learner to succeed. Also, regardless of the concept taught, games can be designed to appeal to the playful nature of learners. This playful nature helps reduce the learner’s anxiety, retain their interest and makes the concept less intimidating which in turn promotes greater interaction (Baker, 1999).

Thirdly, I believe that learners understand concepts better in an interactive and cooperative setting as opposed to working alone. In order to successfully participate and benefit in a game, learners must understand the directions and procedures of the game as well as how to properly interact with other participants of the game. This is vital in the effectiveness of games as a tool for delivering instruction to learners but it also helps guide learners by elevating strategic thinking and developing the necessary social and communicating skills to be successful participants in the game (Baker, 1999).

Adaptability
A benefit of using games as an instructional method is that games can be played under many conditions without restrictions of time, place, weather, or differences amongst learners. Furthermore, games can be modified and adapted for different settings, intended outcomes, curriculum, learners and other variables where they can be made appropriate for, or regardless of, race, gender, religion, economic class, and culture. A great advantage of a well-organized game is that it can be adapted to highlight and practice diverse concepts and skills to a variety of learners in a multitude of environments.

In traditional instructional methods such as lecture and discussion, the quality of learning is dependant upon many variables that may not be easily controlled and thus can impede with learning. Instructor motivation and intentions, learning environment and setting, method of communication, as well as the cultural, religious and socio-economic backgrounds of participants can impact the learning process to a large degree (Brozik, 1999). For example, I had a college professor with a highly pronounced accent that made it difficult to understand him through his lectures. As a result, I did poorly in the class, retook the class under a different professor and did extremely well. On the other hand, I feel that using games can eliminate certain variables like heavy accents that may interfere with learning or be flexible enough to adapt to these variables to maintain a high level of effectiveness. In the case of my professor with the severe accent, he could have used a game where his role was as facilitator, shifting the focus of the instruction on the game and concept being taught rather than on him. Notwithstanding, I also feel that because of the adaptability of games, they often can be used to follow any of the philosophical approaches to adult education. Games can be manipulated and altered in a way to teach certain fundamental beliefs, promote social reform, as well as to accomplish other objectives. Using an example of how games, particularly simulations, can adapt to the environment, Cantor (1992) cites that through the use of simulation, employees of a nuclear power plant can learn how to operate a nuclear control room through a computer-controlled simulation device. In this environment, the use of simulation is likely the most appropriate method of training as opposed to lecture, practicing through trial and error or any other method.

Another good example of the adaptability of games is the Grube method. This is a game in itself where the learners not only participate in the playing of the games but also help design the games. This shifts the sense of responsibility of learning away from the instructor to the student but not only that, it gives them a greater sense of ownership of the process. Additionally, the learners have the opportunity to use and implement prior knowledge and experience into the design process that many researchers and educators like Grube (1994) find attractive since it combines with the experiential method. In fact, Grube combines these two learning methods that he determines offers the best methodology for teaching and learning which is similar to the belief that I share that a combination of instructional methods offers a better opportunity for learning opposed to a single method. This also supports my argument of the adaptability of games since individual or group learners can actively adapt and design the game based on their environment and liking. As an added benefit, it offers the instructor the luxury of acquiring immediate ideas and suggestions for improvement.

Thus the adaptability of games to any given environment, situation or variable allows the instructor or learner to create an experience that models a scenario that is more meaningful and real for the learner. So I believe that as an instructional method, games are not only effective in the delivery of instruction to adults but also highly effective as a reliable vehicle for the transfer of that instruction through its flexibility and adaptability.

Fun
An advantage of games and simulations is that learners are given the opportunity to be active participants rather than passive recipients of information. When something is fun to do, we generally are more willing to be involved and are less hesitant to try it. In fact, institutions and corporations have become more willing to try games, simulations and role-playing as training activities to enhance learning. It has been found in fact that these “playful approaches” can and do produce more powerful solutions to traditional corporate training methods (Thiagarajan, 1996).

Through his research, Baker (1999) found that through the use of playing cards, he could create a variety of games in his math classroom. He found this to be a low cost and simple way to convey powerful mathematical concepts. Further, he realized that cards span many cultures and are a popular social recreation. Through the use of these cards as an instructional tool in games, he discovered that the games provided a more relaxed, rather enjoyable and less intimidating alternative to the traditional teaching methods.

To most people, the understanding of losing or failing in the game is not as threatening to our psyche because we know it is “just a game.” This may not apply to all games, especially games involving a lot of money and are designed to be intimidating like “The Weakest Link” but I specifically refer to games used for the purpose of teaching a concept. Knowing it is “just a game” may help to ease anxiety and intimidation to the point that the learner is comfortable enough to practice games sometimes making mistakes, learning from those mistakes and correcting them (Brozik, 1999). Furthermore, through group games, they can learn from one another through the spirit of competition. While anxiety is replaced with competitiveness through the motivation of being rewarded, the main point is that a concept is learned and perhaps learned in a way in which it will be retained more vibrantly as compared to a more formal method in a rather static setting.

Although some games carry with them a certain seriousness about them, we still find them inherently fun, challenging and rewarding if only intrinsically. Nevertheless, it is this fun nature about games that present concepts in a different light from traditional methods of teaching. We shouldn’t consider the concept or game any less important because of the fun side of it, rather we should see the “fun side” of games as an important aspect of encouraging participation from learners who otherwise would be intimidated. Further, I believe that because the games are often reward-oriented and that the use and basic understanding of games is common within every aspect of society, we have a certain affinity to them as compared to other methods of instruction.

Cooperation
As an alternative to more formal instructional methods, games provide an informal and non-intimidating focus for interaction among a variety of learners. Thus games lend themselves to social interactions and create relaxed environments while promoting critical analytical skills. Cooperative learning has an inherent value in itself and the use of games involving groups often relies upon cooperative learning for success. This helps to build social and psychological benefits for learners essential to society and the workplace as well as providing useful feedback to the instructor. These benefits give the use of games a distinct advantage over traditional instructional methods in the classroom. In a cooperative learning environment, learners feel more comfortable since the responsibilities and risks are shared amongst the group. Successfully learning to participate and cooperate in a helps to build self-confidence that many students lack when faced with well-defined concepts (Baker 1999). Thus, games can help build social and communication skills as well as being a powerful method in an entertaining way. In my math classes, I try to incorporate activities that involve group work including games like word problem mysteries. In groups the students share their own ideas of the mystery with one another based on their own perspectives and experiences.

In looking at how games facilitate learning, Hough (1996) determines that learners actually remember more vividly through their interactions with other people than through the analytic tasks in the game itself. This supports the idea that the participation in the game itself positively affects learning through the inherent cooperative learning aspect of games. Thus, the use of games as an instructional method has the added benefit of enhancing communication (Brozik, 1999) and behavioral skills in addition to teaching particular concepts.

Even in single player games, cooperation is in effect. When there is only one participant, that participant is motivated competitively by the reward of winning and often by the “act of winning” itself. And because games have rules that must be followed, the individual participant must cooperate within the parameters of the game itself. In addition to cooperation and competition, games foster a sense of discovery within the learner and encourage critical and strategic thinking (Heimlich, 1994).

As Instructors
Games offer alternative or supplemental methods that are generally considered more “user-friendly” than more formal and abstract instructional methodology. As instructors, we can create our own games or adapt existing games to our specific needs. We can accomplish this by not just asking what do we want the learners to “know” from the activity but also what we want the learners to experience during the activity. And after the activity is completed, reviewing the game and its objectives is just as important as the game itself since it connects the game to the concepts for the students and strengthens understanding (Heimlich, 1994).

It is important to consider both the short-term and long-term effectiveness of simulations. In his analysis of training in the business management world, Hough (1996) concluded that games and simulations have a greater impact on knowledge, interest, and motivation when compared to the case study method. What was surprising though was to find that the level of complexity of the simulation did not really affect learning. It was also determined that compared to the case study method, games and simulations were equal in teaching factual knowledge but was superior at teaching conceptual knowledge.

Perceived Limitations
There are, however, some perceived drawbacks to games as a method for instruction. First of all, developing assignments that properly evaluate concepts learned and the consistency of those assignments may be difficult to maintain. This is largely due to the flexible nature of games. It may be impossible to create a standardized approach to evaluating the success of the game itself and the knowledge of the student. Additionally, the games could produce mixed results. For example, using the Grube method, learners are given the opportunity to design a game based on certain expectations. Since the outcome is dependent upon the design of the game, you risk having to evaluate each game on its own merits since no two games will likely be alike. Thus, the evaluation process will be painfully inefficient.

Secondly, in my environment, games perhaps may be more appropriately used in a limited way, complementing other methods of teaching math on the community college level as opposed to being the primary methods of instruction. This is due to the restrictions I face from departmental and system-wide requirements. Additionally, other restrictions such as time and budget may limit the use of certain games.

Lastly, a potential drawback to using the gaming method could be the main reason why most people enjoy them. They enjoy them because they’re fun. This is good because people are more motivated to do things that are fun (according to my own experiences) and people generally have an innate desire to win. However, this competitiveness creates winners and losers where for the losing participant could lose confidence. Furthermore, the fun nature of the game may hide inadequacies within the content of the lesson, slow down the learning process of the faster student and move too fast for the slower student.

Conclusions/Implementation
As an instructor, my goal is to deliver instruction to learners in the most effective and meaningful way. And, I feel that the use of games as an instructional method can help me to accomplish this objective. Through research and my experiences, I find that games help establish connections for students between the concepts and the world by adapting to and modeling real world situations, in the teaching of a variety of concepts in an exciting and informal way, and motivating students through the use of rewards and competition.

There are numerous ways I can incorporate games into my teaching of math on the community college level. One specific way will be as follows: I first establish my objectives for the game with the learners and offer them a choice of several manipulatives like playing cards, dice, and dominos. After dividing the class into groups, I let them vote or flip a coin to see who gets which manipulative. Then I let them design a game completely on their own and let them administer the game to the other group(s). In my opinion, this will actively engage them in a spirit of cooperation with a certain sense of ownership, give them a chance to build and adapt a game to their liking while having fun throughout the experience.

Here, I have presented, based on my findings and own experiences, the belief that games are highly effective for building critical thinking skills through real world modeling, communication skills through cooperative interaction, and motivation through a sense of enjoyment and competitiveness. If appropriately used and implemented under any given environment, games could be the most effective and appropriate way to teach and the best way to learn.

References

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