Reinforcing+Effort+and+Grading+with+Games

Teaching with Technology: Reinforcing Effort and Grading with Games Hello Benavidez Technology Community Members!

This week we will look at “Reinforcing Effort”, from “Using Technology with Classroom Instruction and “Grading with Games” from the video “Big Thinkers: James Paul Gee on Grading with Games.” Both of these topics are thought provoking and will encourage you to make changes in practices.

We all want our students to be successful. But sometimes, many of us are baffled as to how to get them to work hard and want to achieve. The key lies in reinforcing the effort that our students put forth. “Research shows that the level of belief in self-efficacy plays a strong role in motivation for learning and achievement. (Schunk, 2003). Pitler states that “The instructional strategy of reinforcing effort enhances student’s understanding of the relationship between effort and achievement by addressing their attitudes and beliefs about learning.”

We have all heard our students say “I can’t” when we knew that they could if they just tried. Many of our students don’t come from homes where they are encouraged to try or rewarded for any effort displayed. That is why Pitler recommends that teachers “explicitly teach students about the importance of effort and have the students keep track of their effort and achievement.”

Pitler published a rubric created by a teacher that defined what proficient effort looked like in the following areas: class notes, attention, participation, homework and studying. Many times we tell students that they need to put more effort into their work, but we need to specifically define what that effort should look like.

Many of us shy away from letting our students play games in the classroom. What many of us don’t realize is that game playing is an effective assessment tool. When a student doesn’t respond correctly to a game question, it is the same as if they got it wrong on a quiz or exam. Games are quick, fun, formative assessments that give us instant information on the student’s progress in mastering an objective.

According to James Paul Gee in “On Grading with Games” a video on Edutopia.com, “A video game is essentially an assessment, giving you feedback as you learn.” I am not limiting the games to video games as many of us may feel uncomfortable incorporating video games in the classroom, but there are many other forms of games that may be played in large and small groups that can be used to assess student mastery and reinforce skills.

Our students are subjected to many forms of formative and summative assessments and feel the stress of those assessments. Frequent game “assessments” would relieve some of their stress and provide them with the opportunity to demonstrate knowledge in a non-threatening, fun activity.

Resources:

“Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works” Howard Pitler, Elizabeth Hubblell, Matt Kuhn and Kim Malenoski http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-james-gee-video