I typically get mixed comments about games, some positive and some negative.Conversely, I usually get good comments about crosswords and puzzles.
Greetings to all!
Great comments and suggestions! Students are appreciative of a variety of teaching styles and I have found that games have been well received -if done well and have some type of prize at the end. I always reward everyone, the winners just get to pick out of the prize bag first!
I've had good luck with group work in developing games for classroom use.
I encourage others of you to share your best designed and most well-received classroom game.
Good job!
Jane Davis
FD107 Facilitator
I agree Tim. Anything that will change from the traditional lecture is a great way to keep the students attention. This also seems to help them learn the material more in depth.
Sorry, but I disagree. The students I deal with always comment on the stupid games some of the other instructors want them to play. They hate them. I have never in almost 5 years had a student tell me they liked anything like you describe. Maybe you're dealing with a younger group than I am.
Raymond -
Yes, all you really need to do it open up your mind and think of games you like to play. Even checkers can be a great review game on a white board. Each move requires answering a question.
Lou Russell
I agree with Steve, puzzles and such aslo helps as a review to the material
Laurie -
Feel free to drop me a note if you have challenging places in courses you teach, and I'd be happy to share some ideas for fun ways to teach these learning objectives.
Lou Russell
This sounds like a very creative approach to engaging students in instruction. The closest thing I've come to this is in teaching in the area of Organizational Development. There are a lot of good experiential exercises available to help reinforce some of the major appoints, e.g., on the topic of group dynamics.
Accelerated Learning is not a new concept. Any activity that challeges the student to use more than one of his senses is this type of learning. Learning games are a great way of reinforcing the learning, but a simple break in the traditional lecture with an activity that involves students in a physical or mental way can be useful also. These short breaks refocus the students interest and add another dimension to the learning input.
Ekan -
I like to take common games like "The Game of Life" or card games and convert them to the content I am teaching. It takes a little time, but the students love it and you can use the games over and over.
GameShow Prep is another great resource to use (www.learningware.com) for teaching content using common television game show formats.
Lou Russell
Games could be fun. Sometimes I use games for my students to develop the a way to go into the mind of a patient. Games are food for the mind; they are like puzzles, you have to develop a strategy based on your understanding of the game and then implement it to win or solve the puzzle.
Dear Brenda:
I am glad that you are using games in your classroom to help the students have more fun and learn more. Can you map one of your games to the information on Multiple Intelligences?
Lou Russell
students love games in my classroom.
Joseph -
That's a great idea. I think electronics concepts would have many analogies to moving people or people moving things.
Lou Russell
We've used people as props for electrical theory. Have them sprint from point a-b and record their time, but chairs in the path and sprint again, record time, sprint back to a and continue process adding chairs. Talk to runner and identify what is occurring as they condut from a-b. They feel tired, hot as does a conductor against resistance.
Steve,
You are obviously a gifted instructor. I appreciate your candor. Here are some 'board' games I've used and how I applied them. I am not enough of an expert in your topic (it's been 25 years since my last physics class) so I hope this helps. I'd love to hear how you apply them.
Lou Russell
Hi Lou,
Currently using water flow through a hose or pipe is an effective way of teaching ohms law however I am not sure how to use a game like Clue or Risk as a foundation for a game that the students will get benefit from. I would like to learn more how to create a game based on other recognized games to create a learning activity.
Steve -
Yes, I completely agree. The word games are a great way to learn terminology without lecture. It has been a long time since I studied ohns law, I did a little wiki research and found this:
"While the terms voltage, current and resistance are fairly intuitive terms, beginning students of electrical engineering might find the analog terms for water flow helpful. Water pressure, measured by international units in pascals (and commonly in units of pounds-force per square inch), is the analog of voltage because establishing a water pressure difference between two points along a (horizontal) pipe causes water to flow. Water flow rate, as in liters (or gallons) of water per minute, is the analog of current, as in coulombs per second. Finally, flow restrictors such as apertures placed in pipes between points where the water pressure is measured are the analog of resistors. We say that the rate of water flow through an aperture restrictor is proportional to the difference in water pressure across the restrictor. Similarly, the rate of flow of electrical charge, i.e. the electrical current, passing through an electrical resistor is proportional to the difference in voltage measured across the resistor." Seems like you could teach it using water flow and measure as an analogy?
For engine component identification, it seems like self-discover would work. For example, make teams, give them terminology and engine reference materials and have them race to find all the parts correctly.
The games work best when they are as close to the real context they will be using (real engines, for example) as possible. The water isn't 'real' but a bit more safe!! Let me know what you think.
Lou Russell
