Educational Benefits of RPGs?

[harpy]

I'm about to start a certification program to become a social studies teacher which utilizes life experience as one element in the certification process. Basically you can fill in some gaps in the certification process by finding equivalencies with life experience.

One thing that I want to draw upon is nearly 30 years of gaming, particularly roleplaying games. I've been the main GM in my gaming circles all these years and it isn't lost on me that there are many overlapping skills that both GMs and teachers use. Between prep work, modeling ideas and scenes, presenting material in a coherent format, and even making assessments of the players... all of these things are done by also by teachers.

There is a lot more to my background that will help towards the certification, and the program itself puts me right into several practicums so that I can have a chance to practice and demonstrate skills as an educator. Still, I just can't pass up all of these years of GMing as a pertinent skill to add to the overall portfolio.

What I'm wondering is if anyone knows of any papers, websites or other resources that detail the whole issue of the educational merits of RPGs, and or gaming in general. While I'm going to make the case myself based off of my own experience, if there are other sources I can cite then all the better.

 

[Umbran]

I recall a few folks around here talking about writing such papers, but I'm not aware of any making their way into any peer-reviewed journals.

I don't think "educational benefits of RPGs" is quite the right angle to take. That's like talking about the educational benefits of paper and pencils - the tool does not confer a benefit on it's own, it has to be used properly to gain that benefit. So, looking for use of RPGs as an educational tool might be a better angle for your search.

 

[Hand of Evil]

See: WWW Virtual Library --- Role Play and Role-Playing Games: Education and Training

 

[Nameless1]

Yeah, this is not what I expected to read after seeing the title. I was preparing myself to write about my experiences so far in medical school with role-playing being a pretty core activity in the curriculum.

I have no idea about any literature on the benefits of non-curriculum directed role-playing of the type that goes on in basements everywhere. Sorry.

 

[TarionzCousin]

Have you learned the difference between "lose" and "loose? Between "rogue" and "rouge"? No?

Neither have most gamers.




Good luck! Public speaking is often listed as the Number One Thing most people don't want to do in their jobs. It is also one of the main things that scares off many would-be teachers.* You should be able to explain that you have a great deal of experience in that area.



*I am a former teacher and business trainer myself. Currently I am relying upon my fall-back skills (Finance and Accounting) but hope one day to return to the land of Power Point Presentations and Pop Quizzes!

 

[Deset Gled]

Here are two books that may be helpful:

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Potential-Catherine-MacArthur-Foundation-Learning/dp/0262513609/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1282656294&sr=8-2]Amazon.com: The Civic Potential of Video Games (John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Reports on Digital Media and Learning) (9780262513609): Joseph Kahne, Ellen Middaugh, Chris Evans: Books[/ame]

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Video-Games-Learning-Literacy-Second/dp/1403984530/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1282656294&sr=8-13]Amazon.com: What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and…[/ame]

The first one is available for free download on Kindle.

They're based on video games, not RPGs, so it's not exactly what you're looking for, but there are many parallels that can be drawn between the two. You should probably be able so cite these books with a tiny amount of stretching. Just be sure not to turn your assignment into an edition war.

 

[Umbran]

Currently I am relying upon my fall-back skills (Finance and Accounting) but hope one day to return to the land of Power Point Presentations and Pop Quizzes!

Blech! Power Point is not a teacher's or trainers friend.

 

[nedjer]

Blech! Power Point is not a teacher's or trainers friend.

Which is pretty much the heart of the matter, as education in general is pretty confused over where they're going with active learning. Many Heads and Principals see a smartboard and a Powerpoint as quite the thing, because they can be used for interactive learning - but usually serve to reinforce traditional teacher-led learning, which reassures HTs and Principals that there was nothing wrong with the way things were done in the past.

Following from that many schools will tell you they want active learning, case-base learning, roleplaying, design gaming and critical thinking skills, but they have great difficulty a) meaning what they say b) acting on it c) linking this to roleplaying games.

Consequently, you could talk of active learning, etc . . . and it would go down well up to a point . . . only to torpedo all your efforts by 'activating' interviewers' underlying, probably stereotypical, views on roleplaying games.

There is one way to go about it, but you need to focus on applying RPG skills to curricular contexts, e.g. I run a roleplaying exercise called Shark Island with hundreds of school kids every year. They have to use roleplaying, critical thinking and design gaming to 'play', which involves taking the part of a scientist putting proposals to the island's council about how to use the resources available to them to develop and sustain the island.

The principle resources are three types of sharks and plenty of roleplaying and discussion results. E.g. they come up with theme parks, sell left over shark bits as jewellery, get into heated debate with developers . . .

This is readily accepted with little mention of roleplaying, because the skills used are tied to the curriculum and assessment of the curriculum. So, if you can't explain your experience in terms of how it relates to curriculum and assessment, it might be best not to mention roleplaying games specifically.

p.s. There is almost no published research specific to TRPGs, because it's not considered a good move academically.

 

[Umbran]

Many Heads and Principals see a smartboard and a Powerpoint as quite the thing, because they can be used for interactive learning

My gripe is quite the opposite - Powerpoint is designed to make standard "I stand up here and talk" easier for the presenter. It tends to be less interactive than a simple white/blackboard, which at least engages the student more with a fundamentally more dynamic and potentially interactive presentation that canned Powerpoint provides.

Which is not to say that principles and heads don't see it as potentially interactive - just that they've largely got it wrong. :/

 

[GregChristopher]

I was strongly encouraged to use Powerpoint when teaching in graduate school. I thought then and still do now, it is content-destroying software. It reduces complex thought to caricature.

Don't use it. Seriously.