Quote: "playing to learn is perhaps more in line with a cognitive approach to thinking and reasoning (Bransford, 1979; Gardner, 1985). According to such a view, cognition is conceived as something that happens in the mind. Learning then, is about the development of mental structures and processes."(Arnseth, 2006)
Reflection: I just completed an Educational Psychology course last semester so this quote sparked my interest. I strongly agree that the study of games in education follow a cognitive model of educational psychology. Matching up games to the level of cognitive development of a student will aid in the successful transfer of knowledge between student and game.
Other quotes I found interesting:
"The basic thrust of the more positively laden arguments are that, since computer gaming seems to be such a motivating and rewarding experience, games might be a way of making learning more fun and pleasurable, and, by the same token, more effective and relevant (Kirriemuir & Mcfarlane, 2004). What is more, since games give the player an opportunity to act in a multimodal and interactive environment, games might foster active learning, or learning by doing." (Arnseth, 2006)
Concluding remark: "By paying serious attention to how players make sense of what they do, including the resources they draw on in the process, I believe that we as educational researchers can provide more realistic accounts of what computer gaming is about, how computer games might be used in order to facilitate learning in schools, and what, in fact, people learn when engaged in activities of computer game play." (Arnseth, 2006)
Link: http://www.oecd.org/edu/ceri/39414787.pdf
I did a web search on cognitive learning with video games and found this article. It is relevant to our current studies and provides a look at some of the numbers the author found.
Reference:
Arnseth, Hans Christian. "Learning to Play or Playing to Learn - A Critical Account of the Models of
Communication Informing Educational Research on Computer Gameplay." International Journal of
Computer Game Research. Vol.6.1 Dec 2006.
Excellent study! The numbers are impressive! This would be a good article for a literature review on the cognitive effects of video games!
ReplyDeleteI always enjoy reading everyone else’s quotes because I like to see what others find important in the same reading. I too was intrigued by your first quote. I thought back to my Education Psychology course when I read the passage. I also agree that “playing to learn” is a cognitive approach. The quote about making learning more fun is also a good choice. As teachers, or future teachers, we know the importance of getting your students involved and making learning fun is a great way to make that happen. I also like the way you ended your post. The last quote pretty much sums it up.
ReplyDeleteThe article you chose was interesting. It defiantly fit in with this week’s reading. Thanks so much for sharing!
Wow you made a great point in your posting. I never thought of the benefits of matching the cognitive level of the student and with the complexity of the game - that is a great idea. It is so important that we teach our student to enjoy the learning process. If we allow students to play games that are in fact helping them to learn then we can let the students think they are just having fun while they are in fact learning.
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