RPG's and Academic Performance - or My hours spent playing Traveller are vindicated!

How Tabletop Role Playing Games Affect Student Academic Performance Author: Johansen Quijano Cruz

Making Learning Fun...putting the Fun back into learning through the use of RPGs.

The premise of this article is that Role Playing Games (RPGs) such as D&D have been around since the mid-70s but they have not had many studies nor been used in such functions as ESL.   This article is about one such study wherein Caribbean Spanish-speakers utilize RPGs in order to facilitate the learning of a foreign language, specifically English.  The author states clearly in the Hypotheses and Study Questions section, (pg 6)

The main hypothesis of this study is that student exposure to tabletop role playing games results in a higher academic performance in part of the students.

The data collection and method of analysis is obtained through standard scientific method.  With that in mind the author uses data from two groups of 5 students each whom are exposed to traditional curriculum in English 101.  The control group has a period of SSR (Sustained Silent Reading) to bolster the curricula.  The experimental group utilizes the same time-period in the form of an RPG.  The final test is a question from each of those two periods.  The control group is asked questions regarding their reading, whereas the RPG group is asked quesitons regarding their RPG.  The formula utilized is basically a percentage delta between a base amount of knowledge gained, quantified through the use of test results, and the base knowledge.  The study takes a test at the beginning of the study for the base, then at the end of the stimulus educational modality utilized.  Finally the two are compared to determine which has a greater delta:  traditional study or RPG study.

The data found shows an increase from RPG studying vs traditional study.  The testing shows a greater delta between the two favoring RPG studying.  This is supported by the increased interactivity and enjoyment factor in RPG studying.  The testing shows an average increase delta approximately twice that of the traditional curricula group.  Another interesting data point is the RPG group started with a base knowledge below the traditional group, however finished with a delta far greater.

I have one major concern and that is the small number of the studies.  I understand that 5 is a better group to manage, and there could have been other factors, but that amount is relatively low and I would like to see a larger study performed as a follow up.

The result should come as little surprise to anyone that has studied gamification.  We could talk about neural pathways and pleasure centers and reward theory, but it is a fairly well-accepted norm that most people learn better when they are enjoying the material, or even just enjoying themselves.  Therefore utilizing RPGs as another tool in the educators tool-box is supported in this article.  There is another element of note - RPGs are merely a codification of existing games that virtually all children, cross-culturally, participate.  Again, we can talk about modelling and other such activities, the benefits and the need for them as a learning tool, but it’s important to note that these “games,” classic “let’s pretend” type games have been in use far longer than RPGs, standard curricula or really most of our society’s history.  Utilizing a tool that closely mimics an existing social modality is just efficient use of societal norms.
Scholarly Critique #5

You mean my gaming books aren't just for fun?

Role-playing Games Used as Educational and Therapeutic Tools for Youth and Adults by W.A. Hawkes-Robinson


The premise of the article regards the therapeutic and psychological benefits of Role Playing Games (RPGs.) The author takes some time in describing the nature and methods involved in RPGs as well as a few examples. The overall thesis is that RPGs are a vastly overlooked and highly beneficial therapeutic and educational tool. It is of note that Role Playing exercises are also mentioned and discussed; however, the author wishes to delineate, or at least expand the class of RP exercises to include RPGs.

The data collection was from both anecdotal evidence, the nature of which is likely first, second and third hand accounts, as well as information gathered from psychological journals and experts. One such expert points out the benefits of RP and by extension the additional benefits of RPGs in that it is not just a therapeutic tool, but also has a level of enjoyment. Further, even though there is universal scorn for those that engage in RPGs, it is rightly pointed out the nature of these activities is inherently social. There is a diagram presented by the author that points to RPGs being not only social and recreational, but educational and therapeutic as well.

The methods of analysis is in utilizing the studies and the anecdotal evidence to draw certain conclusions. The author does a good job of bringing in scientific evidence to support the various premises. As with any scientific paper, it is vitally important to follow rigorous methodology and I believe the author has adhered to this modality. Further, as previously stated, the author invokes some more casual references, however I believe they are frequent enough in our common cultural consciousness, that the elements are fair to bring up. It is important to note the comments point out not only the positive elements, previously discussed, but the negative elements, for example obsessive behavior in relation to RPGs.

The data is laid out in logical sequence, from bringing up the well-known common negative understandings of the society to RPGs, to the positive benefits of the activity. The author follows a standard point, counterpoint methodology throughout. Bringing up something negative, then defeating the argument using studies and evidence is used. Another interesting element is the educational element brought forth in the socializing and use of language. The easy summary is that RPGs are grossly underutilized due to the aforementioned negative implications, the negative stigma and any number of other well-known negative connotations bestowed on RPGs and their participants. This is followed up by positive effects and the studies which support these positive effects. In the end the positive is easily portrayed as outweighing the negative stigma.

I found it interesting the author spent as much time on the negative as they did. I understand this is likely a subject that is personal to the author, and I further understand the need to bring up the most commonly accepted social stigmas around RPGs. However, I feel the author dwelt a bit too long on repeatedly pointing these out. That said, with the advent of video game’s popularity and social acceptance, as well as such activities as fantasy football and other sports-related strategy games, RPGs should be able to easily take a similar place of acceptance in our society. Already we are seeing therapies that include VR and other tech-related endeavors which heretofore would have been entirely considered too “techy, nerdy, or geeky.” Add to this the natural tendency toward gamification we have seen over the last ten years and these are all tools which the therapeutic and educational associations should strongly consider employing.

To put a fine point on it, let’s dispel some of the stigma. The author points out sessions of 6-8 hours for RPGs. I would challenge anyone that feels RPGs are not similar to other, more socially-acceptable games, to analyze in an anthropological modality the vast similarities between this activity and say, a double header wherein the participants root for their team, keep track of scores and statistics and interact the entire time. There is a popular meme that states fantasy football is D&D for sports fans. I believe this article helps support that statement. More importantly, the article points to a more recent trend in education, wherein rpgs are being used to enhance curriculum, provide more cooperative and social opportunities for learning, and hit that ever-present but elusive ideas about critical thinking and 21st century skills for students. I know I am always hitting the internet, books, and other devices to research background on a new character. History, science, reading, math, art, even music (yes, some of my characters have set-lists, quit laughing)...they all get plumbed thoroughly to create this new character. 

Scholarly Critique #4
 

Chocolate Covered Broccoli - Critique on The World According to Edu-Larps: The Analog Learning Games

"Kids can see through games that are made for educational purposes, games made for class work." — Ian Harper, game developer

I am a gamer. I have played video-games since Pong (dating myself here), and Tabletop RPG's since the first edition of D & D. What I love about games could fill a novel. If I could have played games in school, I would have been overjoyed; however, I loved learning just as much, reading particularly. I learned, though, because I was expected to learn. It is just what you did. My parents emphasized the importance of school. I didn't question why I was learning what I was learning until high school. Now as a teacher, I find I have to figure out how to create chocolate covered broccoli - hiding learning in something more palatable, something that seems desirable. I am not the only one. 

Something I noticed, though, in the years I've been playing and running analog (tabletop or pen and paper) RPG's, I tend to research, a lot, scads, when I am developing a game or a character. I have to utilize everything I know about organizing, presenting, acting, dreaming, etc. in order to create a believable world or a playable character. I have to know what they know, or at least know where to find that information. Hey, isn't that self-paced learning? Roleplaying Games in this sense are narrative media, interactive simulations that require the highest order of learning, synthesis.

In the article I chose to review, The World According to Edu-Larps: The Analog Learning Games, Sande Chen discusses the use of LARPs, or Live Action Role Playing (games) in an education setting. While this article is more a synthesis of others' research, it struck me as being well organized and researched, as well as well written encompassing the gambit of ideas surrounding improving educational environments through game-play including making them more informal and conducive to creative thinking and problem-solving.

Cheng places an emphasis on the components that take place outside of the game itself and posits a differing experience between analog and digital game experiences for learning based on differing social interaction opportunities with the games. Overall, games provide an environment where the "self-directed drive to learn" or intrinsic motivation, is more easily cultivated by teachers if students are within a non-coercive learning environment, more similar to an after-school program than a classroom. However, there is a missing component in most video-game playing that is present in analog gaming - peer communication and easier access to what she refers to as the meta-game or the "active discussions and social interactions between players outside the game," also known as affinity spaces. 

In addition to the self-directed learning components, Cheng also cites exactly what I have experienced myself as a rpg player, the acquisition and improvement of soft-skills--leadership, teamwork, confidence building, agency, and learning empowerment. While these occur somewhat within video-game play, they are far more engaged within tabletop play and interaction.

The combination of "improv theater with the game mechanics of tabletop rpg's" allows for narrative character progression and interactive storytelling. However, as Cheng discusses, this can be a hard sell to the education system. One of the key problems she discusses is the inability to do hard assessments. Video games are much more conducive to this assessment aspect of the education system. 

Particularly meaningful in this article was the evidence that the edu-larp curriculum seemed particularly beneficial to children with ADHD, Autism, and other challenges. Today's learning world is vastly different from the one I started in. Raw, easily regurgitated and assessed information is not the most important indication of learning, nor is it what is needed in the real world. Rethinking what indicates valuable, meaningful learning and the methods we use to assess needs to change and is the take-away from Cheng and those research sources referenced in this article. Though less dry of a read and more enjoyable to process than the last two articles, this was much harder to really evaluate. 

On a side note: She gives a great resource for card games designed with learning in mind.
Some of these look amazing.

Article Location

MMORPG's,WOW, and Scientific Habits of Mind

Critique 2: 
Scientific Habits of Mind in Virtual Worlds by Constance Steinkuehler and Sean Duncan

‘Science is built up of facts, as a house is built of stones; but an accumulation of facts is no more science than a heap of stones is a house' John Dewey

John Dewey lists the Scientific Habits of Mind as:

1) Logical thinking

2) Quantitative analysis

3) Deductive reasoning

4) Proper questioning


5) Reliance on sound evidence

I find this list to be reminiscent of the list I use for teaching Studio Habits of the Mind: Engage/persist, envision, observe, express, reflect, explore. Both of these lists, commonalities and all, are the foundation of critical thinking and inquiry. We would not have science nor the arts without them. For this reason, this article really struck home some of the fundamental ideas I've been struggling with as a teacher. These things cannot be successfully evaluated on a standardized test, we're testing only the heap stones. 


Premise: Constance Steinkuehler and Sean Duncan propose that games-based learning and the communities they stimulate may be a viable alternative to create the scientific citizenry we need. Their research based empirical evidence from studying the MMORPG, World of Warcraft, concerns the potential for video-games and their forums to successfully foster and encourage the in-depth development of Dewey's Scientific Habits of Mind.  

Data Collection: good data sample and data scrubbing (extraneous info removed, with subject specific tags listed on spreadsheet) 1087 different posters.

Methods of Analysis: Steinkuehler and Duncan used a combination of a priori assumptions about the forms of scientific reasoning such virtual spaces ought to generate. Their goal was to focus on the actual scientific processes used not the "stones," hence they eliminated aspects that were content knowledge specific, and concentrated on looking at Scientific discursive practices (social knowledge construction, idea building, counter argument use, data/evidence use, alt explanations of data, and ref outside sources), systems and model-based reasoning (systems based reasoning, understanding feedback, model based reasoning, model testing/prediction, mathematical mod and computation), and tacit epistemology (Absolutist, Relativist, Evaluative knowledge types). From the data graph listed in the article, the most frequently used aspects of discursive thinking were Social knowledge Construction, Building on other's ideas, Use of counter arguments, and the Use of data/evidence. Systems based reasoning & understanding feedback were the most frequently used categories for systems/model based reasoning. Finally, the Evaluative thinking, where knowledge is processed by evaluation and open argument, was the tacit epistemological method most often used by the forum posters. 

Comparing the results of the study to Dewey's list, the forum posters engaged in all of the five habits. From my own forum discussions, it would be impossible to be taken seriously without this. Heated debates are the norm within these groups, mirroring the sort of tenacity and logical debate found in most philosophy debate clubs. 

A look at the data: According to Steinkuehler and Duncan, most conversations in the data set forum begin with a theoretical question (about game mechanics or game play), followed by an offering of evidence and a series of responses to discuss this theory. Often there is also an offering of an alternative hypothesis which is then discussed and debated by the group - the epitome of scientific discovery. Ironically enough, gamers sound a whole lot like scientists when in a heated debate about their content. 

In conclusion, this article gave academic evidence to what I've experienced within the totality of the gaming community, (not just video-gaming): Gamers, on the whole, love to debate and will debate fiercely, with evidence, provide alternative theories with evidence, question, deduce, and give you hours of quantitative as well as qualitative analysis on the latest game they are playing. Gamers can be a very discerning lot, refusing to shell out that wad of cash for a substandard game. These players rely on the forums to not only get better, but to delve as deep as they can to experience a virtual world. Observation is as necessary as breathing within these realms unless you want to be called a newbie for the next month. Evidence is king on the forums or you will be trolled unmercifully. All in all, the article is well written, if a little dry, scientifically evidenced with solid data and data collection methods, and I can see it being easily replicated with another game. A good piece. Even the hubby enjoyed this one. See you in the forums.

Full Article: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.405.1850&rep=rep1&type=pdf

SC: Cycle 1 - Who knew MMORPG's could be fun and useful

Scholarly Critique - Cycle 1

Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games or (MMORPG’s) are a passion of mine. I have beta tested many, played some until their servers whirred their last, and escaped into their international worlds on many a weekend night. MMORPG play is different for every game, but what they all share is the potential social space for people to come together. I prefer European servers to American servers, and West Coast of America if that is the only choice, mostly due to the wide variety of languages and cultures I’ve encountered. Hence, the interest in this article.

Isara Kongmee, Rebecca Strachan, Catherine Montgomery, and Alison Pickard from Northumbria University – Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, authored an article called Using Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) to Support Second Language Learning: Action Research in the Real and Virtual World. Their premise: to evaluate how the environment within MMORPG’s works as a physical safe environment for English as a Second Language (ESL) students to practice their language skills absent of the controlled aspects of a standard classroom. As a teacher that sees five dedicated ELL classrooms each week and dozens of other students that would fall into this category, I am intrigued by the idea of using an MMORPG to perpetuate a practice space for trying out the language with little pressure to be right as they might feel with a school setting. Also, as a student of Anthropology, I find the potential cultural interactions within MMORPG’s from the perspective of using fellow players as face-to-face practice and cultural immersion in the language to be a useful approach to teaching and learning language.

For this study, Kongmee, et al., performed active research, taking part in the MMORPG’s with the Thai native speakers, using MMORPG’s to facilitate their English language learning in a multitude of ways, both within the games and in the classroom, including having the players use language from the game, including quests and dialogue, as models for their own writing. Socially, the game provided not only a practice place within the game, but also a shared common background of experiences for the students to utilize in their classroom to further reinforce their language acquisition and practice. To me, this seems reminiscent of project based learning, as the learners are immersed within one theme and everything revolves around that set of ideas, the game.

One commonality among many players of MMORPG’s is the concept of using avatars for anonymity. Here “the learners used their avatar names to lower their identity. This helped enhance their confidence and allow them to make mistakes and learn from them,” without fear the mistake would be associated with them personally. (Kongmee et al., p.4) This in turn creates an environment where students have more confidence in utilizing tools, such as game manuals, chat boards, and in game chats with less fear of embarrassment for not having complete command of the language.

Speaking from personal experience, much of the MMORPG community is more than willing to assist novice players as well as non-native speakers in learning a shared passion, the game. Gaming is a universal way to socialize. In that socialization, the students participating in the research project got to experience the best way to learn, pleasure learning. Also, within this method, using MMORPG’s as the teaching tool, students were able to be more self-directed and self-paced, while still having the impetus to work as a team towards in game goals. By doing this, their language skills improved, as evidenced by growth of two levels on the ELLIS language pracment3 test. Each student helping the other ones just by virtue of shared common tasks and language building resulted in more investment in their own learning, better learning engagement, and a system that provides positive reinforcement that differentiates for multiple people.

One thing that struck me as particularly meaningful was how the different characters and character occupations/roles the students chose contributed to their different experiences in language learning. Being the healer in any game requires far more opportunities for player to player rapid communication, while choosing crafting affords a more measured, slower paced opportunity to communicate with buyers. The choice of warrior provided the student more ability to help his language learning peers with real world information pursuit and greater participation through asking questions for his group within the game’s virtual community. As the students changed around the character types they chose as avatars, they expanded their learning and cultural interactions.

There were a few problems I saw within the research study, including small sample size and the researchers being the language teachers as well. Also, there was only one subject’s test scores used as evidence to support their theory. I wonder how the other students performed on the test. Though the evidence is thin, I think their theory, that MMORPG’s are a useful tool for supporting second language learning is sound, though it would benefit from more subject observations and testing. Though I agree with their final conclusion, MMORPG’s are a significant way to facilitate learning used in conjunction with classroom settings, due to insufficient evidence and subject data, I feel they failed to support their theory sufficiently.