Learning is Fun:

games

application ideas

other resources

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Outside Website (can also be used within WebCT)

	Crossword puzzle assignment. Good for learning terms/language.
	Connecting related pieces of info. Ex. History – date, people, event country - if all is coming out in a game they will have a visual reference for these things they are relating – enhances retention. If the students relate the information to something, then they will remember it.
	After lecture – last 5-10 min, the instructor can give students a game to reinforce the major points of the lecture.
	At beginning of semester – can use games to reinforce orientation information or to gather feedback from students.
	Roll-playing/immersion (adventure games) – good for a language class. Quandary (see Games handout) is a good game for this.
	Jigsaw puzzles. Good for recognition exercises – put together an object and then identify it (through a quiz, in class or through email). Can also, using some software, provide a “secret word” or phrase after the completion of the puzzle. This type of game can also be relaxing/de-stressing.
	20-30 students. Divide the class into teams (or can be individual) and have them compete. This would work well if students meet in a lab. Enlivens the learning environment.
	For some particularly difficult material or in a situation where students need extra points, an instructor might require them to complete different games that deal with the material that is causing a problem. See this Toolbook example: http://www.csus.edu/uccs/acadtech/tools/demos/toolbook/binarysearch/ie4/index.html?dhtmlActivation=inplace. This example is not a “game” per se, but could be invaluable to a student.
	May want to choose games that give scores, so students can see progression & improvement with practice.

	Use a one-question quiz to administer extra-credit points. If the student played the game, they will know the answer to the question. For example, “What is the secret word? (Hide a word somewhere)”, “What color was the shirt that the girl was wearing?”
	If need be, create a few different versions of a game and selectively release them to students. This would be valuable if you are incorporating a secret word, phrase or picture that the student would need to accrue extra credit.
	If you ever have need to a dice-rolling function, this is possible using a WebCT quiz. Create a quiz that randomly selects from a pool of 11 questions; each question is actually a number – from 2 to 12 – representing a dice roll. To make this more realistic, associate an image of dice with the correct number of pips displayed to match the number each question displays. Each students will most likely “roll” a different number. How can this function be incorporated? We will leave that up to you, since we do not have a concrete answer! We do have some ideas, however. The function could be used for the following: Administrative purposes – assigning projects, creating groups, assigning specific roles within a team or deciding on dates for specific assignments. Approaches to problems individually or within a team Teachers developing a lesson plan – put all the pieces together at the end Different paths to learning – a student would be responsible for imparting information that they’ve learned and ‘teaching’ it to peers. Ex: distributing different plant diseases to review – the students would present their findings to the class Approaching an assignment with different theoretical approaches – can be combined for a group project In addition to “dice”, images of coins, an eight-ball, or multi-sided die could be used. The possibilities could be endless….