Students in Dr. Nicole Pfannenstiel’s summer Games and Writing class crafted blog posts exploring play theory. Over the next several weeks, we will share their theory posts in this space to offer a variety of perspectives on play, games, and writing, written by current graduate students in the MA and M.Ed. English programs.
The Value of Studying Games as a Graduate Student
By: Quinn Haldeman
Many people have preconceived notions that games should only be reserved for family board game night or middle school boys playing Xbox. The conversation regarding game-based learning is highly researched and offers a significant depth of ideas, something I did not realize until taking Writing and Games at the graduate level. Games show us how the mind can be shaped through the intentional design of activities, and how traditional power dynamics can be shifted through the playing of games.
Chapter 1 of The Handbook for Games-Based Learning outlines how games are designed to offer cognitive development, layers of engagement and motivation, important social interactions, and emotional connections for learners. As someone who rarely plays games, especially ones that have complex designs, it was difficult for me to understand how a game can shape the thinking of those who play it. However, even the most simple games can offer the player a meaningful learning experience. Within games, the thought process behind the player is what is valued. This idea can be translated to any context. When asking high school students to write an essay, we try to structure their learning to assist them through the process. When a chef is making a dish, they diverge from the recipe and use their individualized thinking to expand upon the determined process. Throughout the process of playing a game, the learner makes important decisions that shape their development in all areas mentioned above.
Throughout the learning process, games can offer experiences for the novice learner to become the expert, successfully shifting traditional power dynamics as explained in Chapter 7 of The Handbook for Games-Based Learning. Games can teach us how to navigate various discourse communities through socialization. Steinkuehle and Tsaasan emphasize that, “Collaboration is an indicator of expertise. Learners who have achieved mastery can be identified in their forms of contribution” (187). Gamers, just like anybody starting something for the first time, start as novices. Through collaboration with members of the discourse community and more practice at the skill, they achieve a level of expertise and can therefore make more significant contributions. The same process is true of a graduate learner. When applying to Millersville, I was asked how I plan to contribute as a student and member of the profession. Throughout even the beginning of my academic career here, I have been continually asked to contribute unique ideas to my work. Gamers, just like graduate learners, are expected to uphold the value of their own ideas to make the community develop in a meaningful way. Game designers and professors are no longer the singular holders of authority within their discourse communities as learners create knowledge and become experts in their own creative and individual ways.
Studying games allows us to understand the thought processes of learners and gives value to the learner’s identity within a discourse. The intentional and engaging design of games can lead scholars to consider how a learner constructs and contribute their knowledge to advancing the community. Games need to be seen as important ways to foster meaningful learning.
Works Cited
Jan L. Plass, et al. Handbook of Game-Based Learning. The MIT Press, 2020. EBSCOhost, research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=61068a5f-b45d-35a2-b20c-c980f03d5301.