Game Brain: Making the grade into a game

By Brian Diefenbach
Western Herald

Picture this: instead of being graded in class, you level up, like a character in a video game.

It sounds weird and intriguing, but one professor at Indiana University is giving it a shot.

Lee Sheldon, a game design professor, replaced the traditional letter grade system in two of his classes with experience points (XP).

XP is typically used to track player progress in roleplaying games. Completing quests, fighting, and item collection add points toward a character’s XP. After accumulating a set amount of points, the character “levels up” and is granted access to more powerful items abilities.

Students started in the courses at level one, the equivalent of an F grade. They gained XP by completing assignments, taking quizzes and exams, and giving presentations. In essence, looting dungeons and fighting monsters are substituted for class work.

Sheldon told Australia’s iTnews, “the elements of the class are couched in terms they understand, terms that are associated with fun rather than education. There will always be a portion of the class who will not be motivated to learn no matter what an instructor may try. Those that are not as involved, one or two out of a class of forty, are pretty much drifting through life anyway thanks to factors the classroom can’t really address.”

Sheldon argues that a similar measure of achievement could be applied to the workforce.
Clearly defined goals for workers, providing incremental rewards, and balancing effort and reward are all hallmarks of gaming, school, and work.

Sheldon’s colleagues at Indiana University have questioned whether his system would work in classes unrelated to video games. This is a legitimate concern. After all, not all educational techniques can apply to every class.

For example, mass lectures seldom issue research papers. It wouldn’t be feasible for the professor to grade that many papers. The time and paperwork to keep track of students’ grades is daunting, so attendance is usually ignored as well.

As a telecommunications professor, Sheldon’s method seems best suited to communication courses. As a Western Michigan University School of Communication minor, I’ve had plenty of classes that require projects and feedback between classmates and the professor.

The man clearly knows a thing or two about structured work. Before his work in video games and education, Sheldon was a writer and producer for “Charlie’s Angels” and “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (instant nerd cred right there!) among many others. He has written and designed 18 games and is currently working on a Nintendo Wii title.
A small class size would be the best place to introduce the XP system. There are fewer students to keep track of, and the professor can more easily communicate with them one-on-one. With a new system, there’ll be plenty of confusion and explaining to do. Some collegiate “scholars” can’t even figure out the simple grading systems used in most classes today.

Of course, there are also issues with using such a system for a limited number of courses. How would a student’s accumulated XP translate into the school’s regular accreditation system? Would the entire school need to convert? How do you standardize levels? Can an English major graduate at level 40, while a business major needs to be level 50?

Perhaps I’m making too literal of a conversion from video games to education. Still, it’s good to see that some educators are at least experimenting and innovating. Our current education system certainly isn’t flawless, and even the parts that do work could still use improvement.

Currently, all-A students are considered nerds. Some students are content to pass with Cs and Ds; they don’t care as long as they are granted a degree. In video games, there’s a stigma to numbers. A level 12 player feels inferior to a level 20 player (gameplay-wise, they are).

How else do you explain the gamerscore system used by Microsoft’s Xbox Live? While many people pursue achievement points simply for the challenge, a great many do it just to augment their score. They don’t see themselves as “obsessive,” but elite. The gamer that everyone aspires to be.

Of course, it’ll take more than a psychological game with numbers to motivate student achievement. The sad fact is that no matter how hard we try, some students will always be left behind for any number of reasons.

That’s one of the major problems with the U.S. government’s “No Child Left Behind” program. Instead of helping schools that need it most, the government punishes those that don’t output high enough test scores.

If, by some weird twist of fate, we instituted Professor Sheldon’s XP system in our schools, how would we keep the low-level kids from falling behind? There are a lot of serious and trivial questions raised by such system.

Still, I wouldn’t mind seeing more widespread experimentation with Sheldon’s system. Even though my formal education is coming to an end, maybe I’ll see it in use in the workplace someday.

Now, how many points for washing the boss’ car?

Brian Diefenbach, a copy editor and columnist for the Western Herald, is a senior majoring in graphics and printing science. For more Game Brain, visit WesternHerald.com.

Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=15980

Posted by HeraldAdmin on Mar 24 2010. Filed under A & E, Weekend Scene. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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