by Robert Kim
The subject of game-based learning is a growing topic in education. It can often be a heated debate on whether games or game-based learning is effective in the classroom. Research has looked at what makes a game effective and what characteristics of gamin can be applied to learning. Perhaps most well-known are the 31 learning principles derived from games suggested by James Gee in his book What Video Games Have to Teach Us about Learning and Literacy (2003). Despite the research into what makes video games great, there have been few examples of great games that apply these principles in an educational setting. The idea of game-based learning restricted by the fear that games are intended to replace teaching. It could be that the ideal learning game has not been developed. It could be that it depends on the learning application. It should be that the learning principles derived from games need to be applied to learning design. One aspect of games related to learning is Just-In-Time Learning.
Just-In-Time Learning can be defined as having access to knowledge right when you need it. In the traditional education setting, we are provided with a mass
amount of content over a scheduled period. Ideally, learning content is available to learners right when they need it most. You could say that Just-In-Time Learning got its start with video games. Looking back to the most iconic video games, you’ll surely recognize that Nintendo delivered the NES to almost every household. Players that were dedicated to beating their games may have looked for help when stuck on a challenging level. The Official Nintendo Player’s Guide (1987) was a book full of strategies for Nintendo games. This and secret codes and game tutorials or walkthroughs were hot in demand – especially when a player needed it most.
Now, you’ll find this type of support in online forums dedicated to games or even specific categories within a game. A search or forum post will return almost immediate help. Not only is this Just-In-Time Learning, but it also shows the power of communities for feedback, support, and learning. You’ll find in the professional world; this type of learning has grown. Employees are connected and often reach out for support. Professional Networks allow individuals to connect with like-minded others. Crowd sourcing extends the outreach even further. This shows how the principles from game-based learning apply.
The Future of education is video games
How does this work in a traditional educational setting? It doesn’t. It’s not allowed. Can you imagine when a student needs an answer for a test and asks a friend? They would get penalized for cheating. Shaffer, Squire, Halverson, and Gee (2005) point out that while games are the future of education, they are difficult to adopt in the classroom because schools were designed to teach
a standardized curriculum to a large audience. Shaffer et al. (2005) even suggest that school is increasingly seen as irrelevant by students after primary grades, and that students will go on to learn effectively from games. The authors challenge that good games based on “sound theories of learning and socially conscious educational practices” are not yet available and need to be made.
While a truly immersive learning experience game is possibly out on the horizon, the principles of effective learning based on game design can make its way into the classroom or other educational setting. Just-In-Time Learning does that by providing learning content at the right time – when it’s needed most. In fact, research has been done to look at when that time is. Killi and Morrison (2015) examine the timing for optimal input and how courses can be designed around peak moments when motivation to acquire knowledge is high. Timing the delivery of content can enhance effective learning. Constructing a curriculum designed to build up to these peak moments would work well in the classroom.
How can we create moments of peak motivation?
There is a lot going on in the moment when the learner is highly motivated to find an answer. Look closely and you’ll find we have a natural driver of motivation that stems from not the knowledge that we have, but from what we do not know. This is curiosity. Curiosity has great potential as an intrinsic motivator for student learning (Pluck, et al., 2011). Original research has been carried out by George Loewenstein and what he identifies as Information Gap Theory (Lowenstein, 1994). Lowenstein identifies curiosity as a strong intrinsic motivator for learning that can be identified as the gap between “what I know and what I want to know”. Curiosity is naturally a feeling or thought associated with learning. As evidenced by Kang et al. (2009), when presented with an information gap, which was then satisfied by an eventual answer, participants were shown by MRI that the reward and memory regions of the brain were strongly active. Pluck et al. suggested ‘gap fill tasks’ as activities to utilize this natural approach to learning where students are presented with these gaps of information and the task to fill those gaps.
The presentation of a question and students not knowing the answer or getting the answer wrong is a prime time for this information gap. Bruff (2009) identifies this moment as a “time for telling” or the moment when students are ready and able to learn about the topic. As if being presented with a puzzle, students become curious to find out the answer, and this becomes the perfect time to tell them to satisfy that curiosity. Bruff identifies this tactic useful in formative assessments from quizzes to conceptual understanding or critical thinking through delivery of a classroom response system like iClicker or PollEverywhere. Not a game itself, but an adaptation of effective learning principles taken from game-based learning.
Vazquez (2020) offers an approach to this theory - Going Virtual How to Create Student Curiosity in Remote Instruction Courses - where he employs a strategy of combining reflection, discussion with a gap fill task utilizing polling software as well. The idea is that the information gap theory is naturally a strong motivator, but combined with individual commitment to answers, discussion and the gradual elimination of possible alternatives results in making curiosity stronger and the eventual answer more meaningful. In discussions, a question is posed, and students select their responses. Discussion follows providing support for those answers, then further discussion removes possible incorrect solutions) effectively closing the gap. When the eventual answer is finally revealed it becomes more meaningful and memorable.
While we may have to wait to see a prime example of an educational game, we can find many applications of game-based learning in the classroom where the instructor and instructional designer construct an ideal learning environment with game principles in use. Just-In-Time Learning seems like an easy and powerful approach to do this.
References
Bruff, D. (2009). Teaching with classroom response systems: Creating active learning environments. John Wiley & Sons.
Gee, J. (2003). What video games teach us about learning and literacy!(2003). Computers in Entertainment CIE, 1(1), 20-20.
Killi, S., & Morrison, A. (2015). Just-in-Time Teaching, Just-in-Need Learning: Designing towards Optimized Pedagogical Outcomes. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 3(10), 742-750.
Pluck, G., & Johnson, H. L. (2011). Stimulating curiosity to enhance learning. GESJ: Education Sciences and Psychology, 2.
Shaffer, D. W., Squire, K. R., Halverson, R., & Gee, J. P. (2005). Video games and the future of learning. Phi delta kappan, 87(2), 105-111.
Vazquez, J. [Jose Vazquez]. (2020, April 14). Going Virtual How to Create Student Curiosity in Remote Instruction Courses [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/UIcVl7_joOA