Hi Sally,
Thanks for the web site information. I looked at it and you are right it has many good ideas that instructors can use.
Gary
Dr Meers,
Something that I have done is opened my class (or returned from a break) with some sort of brain teaser. I break up the class into different groups and the first team to get the correct answers gets some extra credit.
The brain teaser has to do with the material covered. For example, a math problem in math class or a creative solution problem in management class.
Josefer
Hi Josefer,
Good idea. I have found that people of all ages like to play games that challenge them. In addition, they are learning as well. The best of both worlds.
Who says you can't have fun in the classroom, even with non-traditional learners.
Gary
One game used in our medical assisting courses is to divide the class into teams and play jeopardy with review questions for tests. One instructor has used this with several classes, and the students seem to really like it; and they are preparing for their exam at the same time.
Hi LaVerne,
I use a Jeopardy game in my classes as well and the students do really enjoy it. The one I have is a Power Point one that allows me to fill in the subject areas, questions, points, etc. On the screen it looks just like the game show.
I will be glad to share it with you if you don't have a copy of it for yourself.
Any game you can use to generate a sense of learning and involvement for the students works. The students become engaged in the learning process without hardly realizing it.
Keep looking for game formats that you can adapt to your instructional setting. This way you can use a number of different methods of helping your students learn and review your course content.
Gary
Hi Joseph
We play serval different games in my class.
Forms of Jepordy, Bingo, a musical toss game.
For Jepordy: just make question relevant to the subject you are teaching.
For Bingo, Write at least 25 words, have each student make a bingo board using those words, then ask questions that have those words for answers.
Finally, the musical toss game. Have the students sit in a circle and have a ball of some kind (soft). Have the students start to toss the ball around play the music. Stop the music and have the student with the ball answer the question.
These are just a few game we play, good luck!
Karin H.
I also teach Medical Assistants and we play many games. My students enjoy playing our own version of Win, Lose, or Draw/Pictionary. We use this game with medical terminology and spelling. Students always remember the silly pictures someone drew and this helps them remember the term.
Hi Cari,
Who says adults can't have fun. Isn't it amazing how involved adults will get into games and competiton? Sounds like you are playing this approach to the maximum. Keep up the good work.
Gary
I agree. We purchase bags of candy and play Jeopardy. For every answer that is answered correctly, we pass out a piece of candy and the results are amazing. These are adult students, too!
Anything that is a positive reinforcement works!
Hello Dr. Meers,
I find your approach interesting. I will use this idea in class next this week.
Thanks.
Hi Andres,
Let me know how it works for you. I am always interested in feedback on how approaches like this work for faculty throughout the country.
Gary
Hi Joseph,
I have used several games in the past,but the two most popular games by far were flash cards or
simply breaking the class into groups during a chapter review and rewarding the group with the most points.
I teach an advanced class in statistics and we use a "statapult" which is a catapult designed to toss a ball some 3 feet. There are several settings on the device for distance andthe challenge to the students (in teams) is to hit a marked area that is about 10 inches long about 3 feet from the device.
Their goal is to be in the range area and to be as tight a grouping as is possible. Although no "prizes" are awarded, the difficulty of hitting the mark, the competition and the success of being the "Top Gun" Team makes for a rowdy but enjoyable event and brings the teams and class together.
Hi Herschel,
Sound like a great activity. I only wish we had had something like that when I was taking stats. It give your students a "hands on" application of how stats work. I think it is a great teaching tool.
Gary
In an online classroom games are not that easy to do. However I have found some techniques that work to illustrate points. Consider the following:
Really Neat---PLEASE RESPOND....IT IS WORTH YOUR TIME...
ANSWER THE FOLLOWING WITHOUT DOING ANY RESEARCH--JUST REPORT WHAT YOU THINK IS TRUE: NO RESEARCH--THIS IS AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE..
A person is more likely to be a victim of homicide than of death by diabetes. True or False?
Kathryn
AWESOME!
I really appreciate each of you "playing along" with me this week. The truth is diabetes is much more deadly than homicide. In 2002, diabetes was responsible for 224,092 deaths, and murder was responsible for 16, 229 deaths.
For those of you who got it right, are you in the health field? Does a close friend or family member have diabetes? Typically the students who know the correct answer have some relationship with the health field or know someone who is diabetic. Without this knowledge, we are subject to the world we know. Each night on television, the media will bring us the tragic story of the drive-by shooting that claimed the life of someone. Hardly ever do they tell us the death of Ms. X as a result of complications of her diabetes.
See how strong the media's influence is on us?
Kathryn
For more information on each see:
http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/DDTSTRS/template/ndfs_2005.pdf
http://www.ojp.gov/bjs/homicide/tables/totalstab.htm
CLASS: PLEASE RESPOND...
JUST TYPE IN WHAT YOU READ....DO NOT THINK ABOUT IT, DO NOT AGONIZE OVER IT...JUST READ THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE QUICKLY AND THEN TYPE WHAT YOU READ...
PARIS IN THE THE SPRING
In psychology this term is called "top down processing." It refers to the impact our experiences have on our perception. We "expect" to see "Paris in the spring" so we overlook or simply do not perceive the second "the".
Our thinking (cognitions) impacts our perception of an event.
Consider the following research Subjects in a study watched a video of a car running a stop sign and hitting another car. Subjects were then divided into two groups. Those in Group 1 were asked, "How fast was the first car going when it hit the second car?" The subjects in the second group were asked, "How fast was the first car going when it smashed into the second car?"
Which group estimated about 20 miles per hour faster? Why?
Yes, Group 2 estimated about 20 miles per hour faster than group 1 because their perception was manipulated by the phrasing of the question, "smashed" vs "hit".
Our perception of an event is often altered by our preconceived notions, and even our occupations. For example, police officers are better at telling when someone is on drugs than a normal lay person because he/she has experience with people on drugs. In United States v Ortiz, 422 U.S. 891 (1975), the Supreme Court ruled police officers are better qualified than the average person in the street to evaluate certain facts and circumstances. So, what might not amount to probable cause to the average person on the street might be sufficient for probable cause for a police officer because of the officer s training and experience (Del Carmen, 2004).
Kathryn
Hi Kathryn,
Thanks for the excellent suggestions and instructional strategies for online learning. I know these strategies will give other participants many ideas they can use with their classes.
Gary
I'm not a gamer. I usually build excitement in the class by having each table come up with 5 questions. I preassign which table will get to answer the questions. 1 time around and see if there are any ties. Then have a question shoot out.
I would imagine that games like Taboo or Catch Phrase might work well--basically, any game in which players are required to use descriptive terms to guess the word being described. It is a good transition into encouraging students to be mindful of each other and what the speaker's main idea might be.
The process of involvement for the adult learner is extremely important. One of the most successful techniques that I had incorporated into my instructional strategy has been the use of games and out of all the games that IDUs the most rewarding when is bingo. It functions quite similarly to the game itself
The idea of games for the adult learner is probably one of the best ways for not only the adult learner, but for the students in the classroom to apply the knowledge they gained over a particular class or semester. I devised many years ago, a system using a bingo game for a course in what's known as sanitation and safety which involves several key terms that have to be memorized in order to pass a certification test. In advance of the test I prepare specialized bingo boards that have the solutions to the word that's being asked on them in the students are placed in teams using the bingo boards in the first person to spot the correct answer gets credit for the team.
