For those of us who are at Triseum and the LIVE Lab at Texas A&M, we can attest to the countless hours of research, collaboration and testing that go into our game development processes. And while all of the results and interactions during development lead us to believe we are producing impactful games, the ultimate testament to the effectiveness of our games comes from those on the front lines–the instructors and students who are interacting with our games as part of the teaching and learning experience. We recently had a chance to sit down with some of our users and their feedback was inspiring. The opportunity for game-based learning and faculty is very promising and this is what faculty have to say.
ARTé: Mecenas encourages art history exploration and application:
“I think that the direct benefit that students received was learning without realizing they were learning.”
-Kelly Donahue-Wallace, Art History Professor, University of North Texas
“We started off introducing [the game] in classes in lieu of quizzes and also other assignments, and [students] really appreciated having that at the end of each week as opposed to other assignments they found to be less engaging and exciting. They really enjoyed it and seemed to apply the material better in class.”
-James Hutson, Associate Professor Art & Design, Lindenwood University
“It stuck in a different way and not in a ‘regurgitate on a test’ way.”
-Cynthia Meersman, Art History Student, Texas A&M University
Variant: Limits gives students a fresh new perspective on calculus:
“People in general are willing to bang their heads in a game where they generally roll their eyes and groan in a classroom. It’s stretching the students and challenging them to realize where the concepts can show up.”
-Rob Eby, Professor of Mathematics, Blinn College
“Homework doesn’t give you a second chance, but in the game, if you put in one wrong [answer] and change it, you can actually see the change in the game.”
-Alexander Rosen, Chemistry Student, Texas A&M University
“I’ve taken courses for limits and calculus and pre-calculus math, and I learned more from this game than I ever did in those. I saw in the lectures how they did it and then doing it in the video game really immersed me in it and allowed me to learn and think about it in lots of different ways.”
-Ethan Ritchie, Physics Student, Texas A&M University
“Because I was playing a game it helped me retain the information. I wasn’t just sitting in a lecture, I was actually engaging and looking at the game and finding out the information for myself. It definitely stuck with me more, definitely – I remember playing a game, I don’t remember the lecture of limits.”
– Jack Norman, Software Engineering Student, University of Texas
Hearing first-hand how our games are being used in the classroom and how they are helping boost engagement validates game-based learning and the incredible impact it is having on the education experience. Bring on the game-based learning revolution!