October 22, 2014
Using Gaming Principles to Engage Students – From Douglas Kiang
This post first appeared on Edutopia.

1. The Story Dynamic: Wrap Them Up in the Story
Some of the best games have engrossing stories full of memorable characters and following time-honored patterns from mythology and narrative fiction. Gamers play games such as The Last of Us and the Bioshock Trilogy because they see themselves in the role of the hero, undertaking a journey. In any project-based curriculum, the story is the process. The product is the ending. Who’d want to see the just the last ten minutes of a movie? Or read just the final chapter of a book? When it comes to games, books, and movies, we’re usually much more interested in how the characters got there than where they end up. Rather than assessing the final product, find more ways to grade the process. Ask kids to keep a journal of their personal reflections as they work on a project. Ask them to write about their learning process:- What was surprising?
- What was challenging?
- Where did they get stuck?
- How did they get unstuck?
- Who helped them?
- Whom did they help?
> Read the full post on Edutopia.
