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Video Games and Education. What Homework’s Biggest Enemy Has to Teach Us About Teaching. George and Dylan Woodbury. Grading System. Grading System ( old way). Start at perfect score ; take away Motivates by punishment/fear. Grading System ( gaming ideal). - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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VIDEO GAMES AND EDUCATIONWhat Homework’s Biggest Enemy Has to Teach Us About Teaching
George and Dylan Woodbury
GRADING SYSTEM
GRADING SYSTEM (OLD WAY)Start at perfect score; take away
Motivates by punishment/fear
GRADING SYSTEM (GAMING IDEAL)Start at zero, reward from there
Motivating by reward/accomplishment
Players want to grow and get better
GRADING SYSTEM (GAMING IDEAL)Points important – make
performance in game better
Player is not reminded of missed points
GRADING SYSTEM (NEW WAY)Start grades at zero, award points
for homework, tests, etc.
Points important in class – knock points off final
Students indirectly motivated to do homework, study, and LEARN
METHOD OF LEARNING
METHOD OF LEARNING (OLD WAY)Use of lecture and reading to
teach
Students are taught to solve problems before trying
If fail to master material…
must move on
METHOD OF LEARNING (GAMING IDEAL)Players use scientific method to
tackle problems
Form strategy/predict solution based on prior knowledge
Try solving problem
FAIL, repeat until success
METHOD OF LEARNING (GAMING IDEAL)Failure is essential to learning; not
punishing failure allows students to freely try things
Game waits for mastery before progression
METHOD OF LEARNING (NEW WAY)Online homework does not punish
failure
Quizzes can be retaken
Tests can be retaken for some points if failed
ENCOURAGING POSITIVE BEHAVIOR
ENCOURAGING POSITIVE BEHAVIOR (OLD WAY)Not really a worry
Curves and planned extra credit
Actually DEMOTIVATE students to try their best
ENCOURAGING POSITIVE BEHAVIOR (GAMING IDEAL)Unique ways of solving problems
are rewarded with bonuses
Exploration is rewarded with secret worlds and items
Doing well (epic wins) rewarded with bonuses and powerups
ENCOURAGING POSITIVE BEHAVIOR (NEW WAY)Give rewards to promote good
behaviors
Rewards turned in for benefits
Need balance of expected and unexpected rewards
MY GRADING SYSTEMI wanted to create a grading
system that was not just a translation of the standard grading scale.
TEST GRADESTests are graded pass (70% or
above) or fail.Pass = 1 Point, Fail = 0 PointsHomework and quizzes do not
directly count towards a student’s grade, but instead can be used to “level up”.
LEVELING UPStudents who have satisfactory
online homework scores (90% on each assignment) and online quiz scores (70% on each quiz) level up and have a chance to earn bonuses.
BONUS EARNED70-79% on test: 2 points (instead
of 1)
80-100% on test: 3 points (instead of 1)
I give my students a gold coin if they earn 3 points on a test.
MASTERY LEARNINGLeveled up, but failed test:
Students can retest the following week for 1 point
POINTS AVAILABLE25 points available before final
6 tests (up to 3 points each)1 test is doubled4 points for final review quiz/homework assignment
100 points from final exam
GRADESA: 100 pointsB: 88 pointsC: 76 points
RESULTSOnly 1 drop from 47 students
(98% retention)3 students did not take the finalA: 15 B: 8 C: 5 D: 4 F: 1433% A’s, 61% Success
COMMON FINAL RESULTS43 of my students took a common
final exam, along with 101 students from different classes/instructors.
COMMON FINAL RESULTS65% scored 60 or higher (control:
37%)35% scored 80 or higher (control
7%)Mean: 12.5 higherMedian: 14 higher
(Median was greater than Q3 for control)
SEMESTER 2Intermediate Algebra
Mean score increased by 6.4 pointsMedian score increased by 11 points
Elementary AlgebraMean: 77.2 Median: 81.5Q1: 75
CHANGES ON THE WAYI am increasing the required
points for A, B, & C by 4 points.
CHANGES ON THE WAYI am adding a second point
category to accommodate +/- grades.
THIS SEMESTER – THROUGH 4 EXAMSTypical Exam: 24 leveled up, 15 did
not
Leveled Up: 87/96 passed the chapter exam (91%)
Did Not Level Up: 37/59 passed the chapter exam (62%)
Retest: 5/9 passed the retest
POTENTIAL PROBLEMSA student could over rely on the
online learning aids or have assistance from a tutor/classmate to level up.
POTENTIAL PROBLEMSThis grading system is so
different from what students are used to that I have to constantly remind my students at the beginning of the semester.
WHY DOES THIS WORK?“Your students are working hard
because they have no idea how they are graded.”
WHY DOES THIS WORK?Students are doing their
homework the right way, for the right reason.
CONTACT INFORMATIONEmail: [email protected]
Web Site: georgewoodbury.com
Blog: georgewoodbury.blogspot.com
Twitter: @georgewoodbury
