Runninghead:DOMAINBLITERARYANALYSIS

DOMAINBLITERARYANALYSIS
ElijahWilliem

NationalUniversity

InpartialfulfillmentfortherequirementsforTED690

ProfessorJohnson

June23,2016

DOMAINBLITERARYANALYSIS

ABSTRACT

Thefollowingpaperanalyzestheuseofeducationalvideogamesasformsofassessmentinthe
classroom.Asasupplementtotraditionalassessments,thesevideogamesgivethestudentsa
chancetodemonstratemultipleskillswhilegivingtheteachersevidenceofstrengthsand
challenges.Thearticleanalyzedhereistitled,TestingEmbeddedinDigitalGamesYieldsKey
DataEmbeddingassessmentsintodigitalgamesencouragesstudentstoseefailureasan
opportunitytolearn,educatorssay
.
Thearticlediscussestheclassroomimplementationand
receptionfromteachers.

DOMAINBLITERARYANALYSIS

ARTIFACT3:LITERARYANALYSIS

Assessmentisverycrucialforeverystudentintheclass,butmanyofthewaysweassess
areantiquatedmethodsortheytestonlyoneaspectofastudentslearningabilities.Itishelpful
tohavemoreholisticassessmentsthantrue/falseexams.Withtheriseoftechnologyinthe
classroom,newopportunitiesforassessmenthavegrown.

Thefollowingarticle,TestingEmbeddedinDigitalGamesYieldsKeyDataEmbedding
assessmentsintodigitalgamesencouragesstudentstoseefailureasanopportunitytolearn,
educatorssay,isalookintohowgamescanassessstudentswithoutstudentsknowingthatthey
arebeingassessed.Thegamesdiscussedinthispaperallowthestudentstousecreativeand
criticalthoughttosolvemultistepproblems,butinthecontextofgameplay.Theteacherisable
toassesswhilethestudentsplayandlearn.

Thearticlebeginsdescribingthesegamesas,"aknownquantityinafreshwaveof
seriouslearninggamesthatbridgethegapbetweeninstructionandassessment.(Education
Week,2014).Inthegameaboutpollution,thestudentsmustroleplayasmayorsand"balance
thegrowthoftheircitieswithenvironmentalimpacts(2014).Astheywork,theteachers
dashboardgivesconsistentassessmentdata.Thestudentsmustengageinstrategiccityplanning
andproblemsolving.Asthestudentsworkwitheachotherthroughadigitalinterface,theyare
assessedinrealtimeandthatisahugebenefit.Becausethestudentsareperformingmultistep
processes,theycanbeassessedonmanydifferentlevels.JoeWise,theassociatedirectorfor
NewSchoolModelsandCurriculumatGameDeskstates,"Continualfeedbackthatallows

DOMAINBLITERARYANALYSIS

teacherstoindividualizeinstructionandinterveneonarealtimebasisis"kindoftheholygrail"
ofembeddedassessments.Iwouldagreewithhimbecausetheassessmentiscontinuousandnot
lookingforjustoneskill.Whenstudentsareassessedformathusingawrittentest,theyare
beingassessedfortwothings:Therightanswerandthethoughtprocessbehindtheanswer.
Thesegamesgivethestudentsreallifetasksinasimulatedworld,wheretheycanusetheir
naturalknowledgeandlearnedknowledge.Thestudentsmustcombineskillsandknowledge
fromdifferentsubjects.

Tothestudents,itissimplyagame,butfromaneducationalperspective,thisisfantastic
formofassessment.Becauseitisasimulatedworld,thestudentsareabletoengageinproblem
solvingopportunitiesthatmaynotpresentthemselvesintherealworld.Thestudentsareableto
demonstratetheirnaturalintelligence,instincts,skillsandknowledgethattheyhavelearnedin
theclassroom,alltosolvetheproblem.Becausethisisaformativeassessment,ateachercan
followthedataateverystepandlooknotforjusttherightanswer,butthestepsofreasontoget
tothesolution.

TheschoolIworkatusesalotofdigitalassessmentprogramslikeiReadytogivethe
studentsmoreexposuretoconceptslikemathandlanguagearts.iReadyusesshortgames
betweenlessonsasmotivatorstokeepthestudentsengaged.Thestudentsareexcitedby
collectingpointsandfinishinglessonstogetbacktothegames.Afterseeinghowthestudents
reactedtothelessons,IcandefinitelysaythatIagreewiththeauthorsthatthesetypesofgames
offerengagement,andthebenefitforeducatorsisthatasincorrectanswersaccrue,thestudents

DOMAINBLITERARYANALYSIS

endupattemptingmoreofthesametypesofproblemstobuildtheweaknessintoastrength.
EvenwithiReadywhichisnotasextensiveagamingexperienceasthegamesmentionedinthe
article,thereisactiveassessmentandthestudentsworkhardtosucceed.Thegamescreate
meaningfullearningexperiencesforthestudents.Asthearticlestates,Teacherscommonly
reportthatgameswithembeddedassessmentsencouragestudentstolookatfailureas
opportunityawayofthinkingthatwillservethemwellastheygrowup(2014).Thestudents
takeprideinthegamesandtrytoperformattheirtoplevel,andthathelpsgivetrueassessment
data.Studentsarelesslikelytoguessortakeshortcutsonthesegamesbecausetheyareworking
withclassmates.ThestudentswilllearnfromtheseexperiencesandIbelievethatgivensuccess
inthisforum,thestudentswillbemorelikelytohavemoresuccessinthecoresubjects.At
schoolIhaveseenstudentsworkingonMinecraftingroups,engaginginontaskdiscussion,and
problemsolving.Byharnessingthepowerofeducationalgames,therecanbearevolutionin
howwereachthestudents.
Ihaveseenthepowerofgamesforeducation.Thereissuchroomforgrowthinthisarea.
Gameswillneverreplacetraditionalassessments,theyjustofferanotherviewintoastudents
abilities.Usedinmoderation,thesegamesgivestudentsachancetoworkonrealproblemsina
simulatedworldandgettoapplytheirknowledgeandskills.Thesegamesofferchancesfor
studentstosolveproblemsandbuildconfidence.Thesegamescanhelpthestudentsoftoday
becometheleadersoftomorrow.

DOMAINBLITERARYANALYSIS

REFERENCE

TestingEmbeddedinDigitalGamesYieldsKeyDataEmbeddingassessmentsintodigital
gamesencouragesstudentstoseefailureasanopportunitytolearn,educatorssay.(2014,
March13).
EducationWeek
,
33
(25),36.Retrievedfrom
http://ezproxy.nu.edu/login?url=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA362568
270&v=2.1&u=nu_main&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=421f6457d3ffb7a9df47df11c0cd
f255