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Project name: Games and Simulations for Situated Learning the Liberal Arts Classroom
Project leads:
Summary: Games and simulations are an exciting and frequently debated topic among instructional technologists because of their potential to recreate traditional pedagogical concepts in an exciting way. Learner-centered and learner-driven activities such as collaboration, visualization of complex concepts, and connections of concepts between classes and disciplines are some of the useful effects in many of today’s commercial, as well as “serious games” and simulations. Taken together, these provide educators with opportunities to create a new kind of pedagogy founded on the concept of situated learning. In this method of teaching, students are placed in an environment and are provided with tools and guidance from the game and the professor in order to identify problems and solutions.
The project will introduce the learning potential of games and simulations in general, provide demonstrations of successful uses of games in the classroom, and include hands-on training for the participants. Participants will experience the games and simulations from the perspective of the instructor as well as the learner. The project will conclude with participants forming groups based on shared ideas for future pedagogical uses of the technology, including gaming across campuses as part of clubs or collaborative classes.
Intended outcome: The participants can expect a theoretical background of games and simulations along with examples in different fields; in addition, ample time will be given to provide the participants with experience in the environment along with guidance from the presenter and others.
The project will use the information collected from the participants the evening before to suggest groups of common interests and potential collaborative projects. These groups will meet to discuss the steps needed to create these projects and opportunities, and to share information on implementation on their campuses that will be useful to the group as a whole. The project will collect information related to overcoming perceived technical, administrative and pedagogical issues at the participating institutions. The information collected, having begun as a practical guide for instituting games in different fields at different institutions, as well as a directory of technologists, librarians and professors interested in games and simulations will, become an evolving resource for use by all NITLE institutions. It will also form a basis, for proposals to present at the NITLE 2008 liaison summit and CNI Task Force Meeting in the spring of 2008.
Project timeline:
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