Antonio Ferreira Randi, M., & Faustino de Carvalho, H. (2013). Aprendizagem através de Role-Playing Games: uma Abordagem para a Educação Ativa. Learning Through Role-Playing Games: an Approach for Active Learning and Teaching, 37(371), 80–88.
Effective learning
"transmission of knowledge" may be useful for situations such as remembering facts and concepts at a low level and rote memorization.
Despite the fact that some teachers are capable of delivering highly motivational lectures, this style is somewhat ineffective at constructing high-level content associations and at providing students with the necessary professional skills.
Teachers are challenged with developing tools that engage students and increase active participation and critical thinking rather than emphasizing rote memorisation of scientific concepts and facts.
National Research Council’s standards for scientific teaching: These standards postulate that “student understanding is actively constructed through individual and social processes”. Encouraging group work and peer discussions, along with other cooperative strategies, may lead to better student learning outcomes.
Consistent with the Vygotskian perspective that learning is built socially through participants’ interaction with each other throughout the process of assimilating new knowledge
These strategies are also consistent with Ausubel’s theory of meaningful learning, in which the student learns by meaningfully adding new knowledge to the network of concepts that he or she already knows, leading to better learning and facilitating progress.
There are several strategies for encouraging student involvement in the learning process that are designed to enhance student comprehension through team learning, le- ading to the development of cooperative skills. Examples of these strategies include problem-based learning, small group discussions, the use of theater or role-playing, and the use of concept maps
Games are also used to promote student involvement in active learning, and role-playing games (RPGs) are one type of group-based game used across all le- vels of education
Typically feature fantasy, mystery and clear rules and goals, allowing the player to exert a degree of control over the process. All of these components are related to creating an immersive environment that facilitates learning
RPG: A game in which a person (in this case, the teacher) tells a story that is enacted by the players who are given roles as the various pieces of background information. Challenges related to the story are then presented and must be addressed by all participants. These skills are tested during the game to decide if the character succeeds in his or her attempt to perform a task that solves the problem or overcomes the challenge.
The whole team must win together: there are no losers in this kind of cooperative game, ensuring that nobody is excluded or feels excluded.
Effects of the study
78.4% of students considered RPG an effective tool for learning
81% of students responded that they would use this method in a classroom
85.3% of students answered that they worked well in groups
Students preferred the RPG-based classes to the lecture-based classes - although this was not unanimous
88.6% of students indicated that RPG-based classes should be used as a complement to lectures.
Peer discussion allowed them to address misunderstandings in a more meaningful way
Some students who did not participate in the RPG-based classes voluntarily offered the information they were afraid of missing material or not learning effectively by participating in a class different from a lecture.
Discussion
Proposes RPG as an effective methodology - Contrasts previous reports suggesting resistance by both students and teachers.
Acceptance is assumped because the RPG encourages cooperation and active participation by the students
Greater student interaction, and as a consequence, we may expect better performance in their construction of knowledge.
Can proceed in various different directions, in contrast to the more direct line of thinking generated in a lecture or reading a book.
Gives students pathways to consolidate the new knowledge learned.
Confirm the occurence of peer instruction
Peer explanations may help them to understand concepts, actions and decisions. Serves as a powerful exercise in meta cognition.
Teacher is better able to assist students by pointing out and correcting misconceptions that arise during the class and by giving clues that help solve the problems.
If students have the opportunity to understand why their answers are wrong and to discuss them with the teacher, they have a greater chance of making conceptual changes that help them to learn.
Average grades between the RPG-based group and the reference groups in the formal evaluations were the same, but students considered RPG-based classes better learning opportunities than lectures.
We believe that active participation in constructing new concepts and connections on the topic being taught produces the opinion that this methodology is better for learning.
For an RPB-based class to progress, active participation by the students is essential and this also emphasized their responsibilities for their own education.
Should be used in addition to lectures. The reasons for this conclusion are not clear, but we may argue that resistance to new methodologies might constrain their participation. This resistance has been reported by Abeyratne, discussed by Larsson, and is supported by reports from some students that declined to participate in RPG-based classes. They said that they were not comfortable with learning using an unknown methodology.
We argue that as teachers are trained and gain more experience with the RPG method, they will produce better results in terms of the students’ quantitative performance.
The involvement of the student with the class content via the RPG is a factor that may lead to better performance in medium-term retention of knowledge
This application of knowledge was achieved via peer discussion or by searching through books, rather than by passively listening to the teacher
could result in an effective learning process and information comprehension by the students, leading to the integration of the new content into the student’s previous knowledge network
Students had the opportunity to gain a different perspective
This methodology gives the students the opportunity to understand and acquire the skills that underlie simple specific knowledge acquisition, such as working in a team, conflict resolution, and problem solving by peer discussion
Limitations
Teaching using RPGs was a greater challenge. Teachers had to be very well prepared because students tended to ask more questions when actively participating than when passively listening
The cooperative learning experience is
influenced by the teacher’s discourse
An RPG-based class of- ten covers less material than a lecture-based class.
We believe that the increase in comprehension and the inspiration to seek more knowledge compensate for this limitation.
Teachers tend to be orthodox and reluctant to change their teaching style
this type of class may improve the acquisition of skills such as cooperation and creativity while fostering a sense of belonging because of the intrinsic aspects of RPGs.
RPGs require players to act together and in a coordinated fashion to succeed at the proposed challenges, which aids the social construction of knowledge.