Play
in an academic setting has been met with much skepticism,
but I continue to argue that student response and
interest spikes when these types of games--more
specifically in this case the design concepts of the
games--can be utilized in the classroom or even an
individual assignment as a starting point. This
can mean a lot of work (more work than the usual load)
in the planning stages. Dependent on the level of
institutional support and the network of colleagues and
contacts required to pull some of these ideas off, the
instructor can have varying degrees of success.
Admittedly, one of my games tanked pretty quickly due to
my lack of experience. I don't regret my decision
to do the game, bust as it was, because my willingness
to play with the traditional format of my class rewarded
me with student investment that I had not seen in a long
time. Instructors simply need to build the
labyrinth, and students will willingly enter it. |