I hear and I forget.
I see and I remember.
I do and I understand.
Confucius

Learning Theory

Clearly games are fun, but there is more to their appeal than that. Games impact upon us at a psychological level.

Interaction

We need to be stimulated. Eric Berne – the father of Transactional Analysis – states our senses need to be stimulated for us to function correctly.  Also, probably like animals we prefer ‘to work for’ rather than ‘just be given’. Scientists have studied contrafreeloading, where animals show a preference working for food rather than simply eating out of a bowl. Games satisfy these needs.

Narrative

Games are often built around stories. Stories are engaging, spark emotions and are memorable. They allow us to see different perspectives and explore cause and effect. See ‘the power of stories and Narrative based learning’.

Challenge / Goal

Games feeds into human reward system. We are wired to seek things out; this can be in intrinsic (pleasure and accomplishment) and extrinsic terms (money and recognition). Games work in both way: intrinsic (fun plus high scores and new levels) and extrinsic (leader boards).

Score / Status

Eric Berne states that we hunger for recognition. It reinforces our identity and sense of belonging plus our self-esteem is bolstered. Games can provide status. Indeed – in the world of competitive games – the very best are celebrities and millionaires!

Immersion

In addition to narrative, immersion is product of Flow. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi developed the concept of Flow,  which he states arises from a balance between challenge and skill level. When we are in Flow, the hours fly by – a state that gamers often experience.

Simulation Games

Experiential Learning

David Kolb published his learning styles model in 1984 where he outlined 4 stages to experiential learning. We have hacked the theory in terms of games based learning and overlaid Honey & Mumford’s learning styles.

  • Concrete Experience – (new or a reinterpretation) = Play
  • Reflective Observation (considering what was experienced) = Ponder
  • Abstract Conceptualization (reflections are built into an idea) = Piece Together
  • Active Experimentation (testing the new ideas) = Practice

The 4P’s provide a framework to enable people to learn and develop skills. They are also the ethos behind our programmes and products.

Learning through Play

East-Riding-away-day2

Away day in East Riding.

Learn by Doing AND Being

Clearly doing is an important aspect of learning and one that is often unappreciated. A robust Games Based Situated Learning Model, though, goes beyond doing. It needs to encapsulate the beingness of a situation.

Our Games Based Situated Learning model is built on the interaction of Learn by Doing AND Learn by Being. Plus, it recognises that games need to allow for reflection, that learners need input from facilitators and that games need to support assessment.

This model has been tested by us in hundreds of workshops including many thousands of delegates.

Learn by Doing (Skills):

  • Actions, activity, engagement, team working and so on.

Learn by Being (Knowledge):

  • Environment, values, attitudes, society, diversity, culture and so on.

Reflection, Support and Assessment:

  • Learners need to able to reflect and make tacit knowledge explicit. They need to be able to build abstractions.
  • Facilitators (experts) need to guide and nudge learners as and when required.
  • Assessment should be built into the programme to provide immediate feedback, but also to stimulate further learning.
We have built on the work of Herrington and Oliver on situated learning and multimedia. They suggest that to marry up to the theory, programmes need to:

  • Provide authentic context
  • Provide authentic activities.
  • Embed expert performances and model processes.
  • Provide multiple roles and perspectives.
  • Support collaborative construction of knowledge.
  • Provide coaching and scaffolding.
  • Promote reflection to enable abstractions to be formed.
  • Promote articulation to enable tacit knowledge to be made explicit.
  • Provide for integrated assessment.
It was very interactive and as you got put into different role plays, and interacted with other groups, you got to think about various issues from different points of view – Policy & Planning Officer Mersey Travel.