Programs, materials and techniques

Abstract

In the last few years, instructional games designed to teach a wide variety of skills and concepts have appeared in the educational marketplace. What is true of all other areas of educational materials is true of games; some are excellent and some are a waste of time. First, we discuss programming considerations in the use of games, and we recommend Pearson and Marfuggi's guidelines for selecting and developing learning games. One unwarranted assumption teachers often make is that all children know all the “game-playing skills.” It's not true! Consequently, we discuss the Pacemaker Games Program, which is designed primarily to teach just such skills. Finally, we evaluate six math games, considering Pearson and Marfuggi's major points and some things we think are important to evaluate before you spend money for a game. There are many classroom situations where the use of an instructional game may increase motivation and, therefore, further the learning process. However, caution must be exercised whenever an instructional game is selected to be used in educational programming. Briefly, there are two major factors to be considered when utilizing games in instructional programming. The first is determining when the game should be used. As a teacher, be sure whether your intent is to teach skill acquisition or to provide practice opportunities for previous teaching. Some games are designed to serve as a vehicle for the initial learning experience. But most instructional games are more effective and appropriate when used to provide practice as opposed to being used to teach the initial acquisition of new behaviors. Second major considerations are the general game format used and procedure for playing the game. Some games are so physically attractive, and the game process so interesting, that actual content may be only of secondary interest to the students. If the game is to be of instructional value, the actual mechanics of play must always remain secondary to the instructional process. Fortunately, many instructional games now exist which strike a comfortable balance between content and game process.