A series of interesting decisions: from game design to project-based learning

What can great video games teach you about great teaching?

This week, I want to write about a book that’s been on my mind, and a recent job which involves project-based learning. The more I thought about these two areas, the more similarities I noticed. Any teacher, learner, or instructional designer could do worse than look to great games for inspiration. This is especially true in task-based and project-based learning contexts. How exactly can games help?

Learn from the best: Sid Meier’s “Memoir!”

The book I’ve been reading for the past few days is from one of the most accomplished computer game designers in history. Sid Meier’s games, such as the “Civilization” series or “Pirates!”, are universally acclaimed – and great fun to play. “Memoir!”, his recent book, tells his life story through the lens of the games he designed.

For anyone interested in digital creativity, there are many fascinating episodes to discover in the book, so I won’t spoil it too much. I will, however, focus on two key lessons I picked up from Sid’s story so far, as I believe they are important for learners, teachers, and educational publishers.

The first important insight is Sid Meier’s definition of a game as “a series of interesting decisions”. This, to him, was what made good games worth playing. Simple interactivity won’t do, and neither will a complex AI engine which requires minimal input from the player. For Sid, a game worth playing involves us by making us choose often, and in an intriguing manner.

Defining games in this way means that it’s also possible to determine what a “bad” or “boring” came could look like. For Sid, the problem with many games is that they feel too much like work. A good flight simulator game isn’t supposed to teach us everything we need to become a pilot. It’s just there to help us feel like we can be one! What’s the use of adding realism, multiplying the widgets and features on our screens, if the final result feels like a chore and not like fun?

So, there you have it: good games involve interesting choices, and will dose realism carefully, lest they become too tedious. How does this translate into projects designed for learning?

Project-based learning, and how to do it better

There are several ways in which you can define “project-based learning”. The default definition found on Wikipedia will tell you that a dynamic, inquiry-based approach is key to this mode of education. At the same time, though, focusing on the word “project” would also lead you to its workplace definition: a project is any piece of work which requires a series of steps (or tasks) to complete.

And just like that, both of Sid Meier’s lessons begin to make sense. When designing project-based learning, there would seem to be a way to steer away from the “work-like” definition and towards the more dynamic, questioning style. And computer games, as seen by the likes of Sid, could be a guide along that path.

This helps me a lot these days. One of the tasks on my plate is to design a series of small projects and teacher notes for children learning English. The projects won’t take long, but the challenge remains – how to make them interesting?

The answer Sid Meier would give: help kids and teachers make interesting choices, and stop the projects from descending into a series of mundane tasks.

Let’s see if this answer can be expanded.

Game design in learning design: some interesting questions

There is, of course, no universal solution for every instructional designer. What works for my young English learners (I hope!) won’t work for adult bankers, and vice versa. But every teacher, educator, or learning designer could probably do with a few good questions when doing their work. Here is a list I came up with, in no particular order.

• Why should anyone care? What’s the reason for your learners to complete this project? What would compel them to engage in what you planned? The motivation can come from different directions – but if it’s not strong enough, can you tweak your project until it really shines through?
• How will everyone interact? By this, I mean interacting with other learners, and with the learning materials. Is there a more exciting way to build the interactions? Do the current patterns appear too dull – and if so, is there a way of changing them?
• What is the goal, and is it attractive enough? Any game worth playing has this worked out. What are you trying to achieve – and will it be worth achieving? If your learners are promised a long, multi-stage project with little in the way of reward (emotional, intellectual, etc) – then can this be remedied somehow?
• What if your project was twice as big? What if it was cut by half? This is another one of Sid Meier’s ideas. There is sometimes no time to go through small, incremental changes. Halving things, or making them twice as large, can get you exciting results faster. Are your learning projects going to be more exciting when they grow – or shrink?

I hope you’ve found these ideas useful, and perhaps you’ll work with them to start approaching your learning projects more like games, too! If you’re keen on finding out more about game design, then I really recommend Sid Meier’s “Memoir!” to start with.