Social Constructivism: Games
and SimulationsSocial Constructivism: Games
and SimulationsGames challenge students. They are fun, and many educational games also call for collaboration and group action. The increased use of games and simulations in education in recent years reflects the change in teaching styles toward a more constructive way of learning. Students are allowed to make independent choices, and to quickly see the results of those choices. All games and simulations are not constructivist, however. Some are really little more than tutorials or drill activities that allow the student to make only limited choices. Others, based on constructivist models of learning, are quite open. They give students a great deal of flexibility in how the game or simulation is played. Many also let the students make decisions about what is to be accomplished.
Consider the examples below. Which would you consider to be "traditional" games or simulations that give the student relatively little flexibility. Which would you consider "constructivist" games or simulations because they give students choices both in terms of both deciding what they want to do and how they do it? You can read the explanation of how these programs work or, in some cases, download a version of the program to try it out on your computer.
Examples
The next screen is the main menu of this demo program. From this menu, learners may choose to go to the "head-to-head" menu, get on-line help, go the the puzzle creation menu, or simply listen to the solution to the puzzles.
In this software there are a few features that allow users to customize to their likes. For example, the following control panel gives the ways to display and choose sounds and pictures, and the volume control. The response to a correct answer is set to be "Yeee Haaa!!" for this example.
As shown on the following player preferences panel, learners may choose different configuration setups such as ambient animation shown, scenery parts displayed, and background on.
With the Incredible Machine, learners may try out or create bouncing, spinning, floating, falling, squirting, exploding, jumping, and sparking puzzles. Children have to use their ingenuity to solve over 150 different puzzles.
Learners may also decide to play in the "Free Form" mode to build their own puzzles with the parts provided as shown on the following screen. With over 100 animated parts, there's no limit to what they can create once they get started. Children can use their imagination to construct clever cause-and-effect contraptions with working pulleys, levers, conveyor belts -- even gravity and air density, while gain knowledge and common sense at the same time. Afterwards, they can challenge friends and family with the puzzles they have created.
Learners may decide to challenge their friends "head-to-head" in a "crazy solution" competition as shown on the following screen capture. It displays the time used and other information for children to compete with each other on the computer.
To try out this demonstration program you must click on timdem.exe in the programs/machine/ subdirectory on ET-IT CD-ROM through File Manager or Windows Explorer.
Click here to know about installation.
As shown on the following screen, learners may choose to explore whole numbers, fractions, decimals, geometry, or simply take up challenges from the computer. They may also choose from difficulty level three through six. Multiple levels of difficulty and customizable content mean kids of different ages and abilities can choose the appropriate content for themselves. Players decide how much, how fast, and in what sequence they will fulfill the task. Learners must munch or be munched in this fast-paced interactive game. The action and fun with Muncher and Troggle helps to builds confidence.
To use this program, learners simply move a lively Muncher around a 3-D grid while avoiding six "wild ‘n’ wacky" Troggles (or play "Troggle-free" to hone those math skills). Math facts answered correctly can accrue points for a spot in the Hall of Fame.
This program has the content that parents demand and the great graphics, animation, and sound-effects kids love. Multimedia can aid students in working out their own mental models after playing one educational games after another. Designed to let players learn science and history while having fun, Math Munchers Deluxe is a good game for this purpose.
The between game breaks as shown on the following screen capture are fun to play.
To try out this trial program you must click on mathmund.exe in the programs/mathm/ subdirectory on ET-IT CD-ROM through File Manager or Windows Explorer.
Click here to know about installation.
Additional InformationURL: http://www.cs.colorado.edu/~corrina/WebQuest/
URL: http://www.ibm.com/stretch/eos/index.html
