Collaboration scripts for mastership skills: online game about classroom dilemmas in teacher education

Abstract

Serious games are seen to hold potential to facilitate workplace learning in a more dynamic and flexible way. This article describes an empirical study into the feasibility of an online collaboration game that facilitates teachers-in-training to deal with classroom management dilemmas. A script to support these students in carrying out such practical tasks, independent of teacher intervention and in collaboration with peers, was designed and worked out in both a face-to-face and an online version of a ‘mastership’ game. After assigning and discussing practical dilemmas during a small group play session, solutions are worked out individually in the form of small advisory reports, and assessed by both teachers and peers (co-players in the group). Learning effects were measured and satisfaction was questioned for 9 players that played the online version and 10 players that played the face-to-face version of the game. Results show that the collaboration of students on classroom dilemmas can indeed be successfully facilitated by this script, and that learning results do not differ for both versions. The latter holds potential for offering online and more flexible ways of workplace learning. Especially, students playing the online version reported needs for simpler structure and clearer task instruction. The optimal level of structure in collaboration scripts, therefore, appears an issue for further study.

Keywords:

• serious games
• scripted collaboration
• classroom dilemmas
• teacher education

Acknowledgements

This study was carried out as an activity within the ‘Learning Media’ program of CELSTEC (Open University of the Netherlands), and activity within the Lectorate ‘Workplace Learning and ICT’ (NHL University of Applied Science, The Netherlands). Authors and developers from both institutes worked closely together during development of the online version and this study. We express our thanks to both institutes for their funding, and to NHL students for participating.

Notes on contributors

Hans Hummel works as an associate professor at the Open university. He also works as lector at the NHL University of Applied Science where he leads the Workplace learning and ICT program. His main research interests focus on electronic learning environments for professional learning.

Walter Geerts works as teacher-researcher at the NHL University of Applied Science. He teaches didactics and was the chief inventor of the mastership game. He carries out PhD research into videocases for the acquisition of professional teacher skills.

Aad Slootmaker works as a senior programmer at the Open university. He was the chief software architect of the EMERGO toolkit to develop and distribute serious games for complex learning, also being the topic of his PhD research.

Derek Kuipers works as teacher-researcher at the NHL University of Applied Science. He teaches communication and multimedia design, and carries out PhD research into serious games and factors that enable transfer to professional practice.

Wim Westera works as full professor at the Open university where he leads the Learning Media program.