Genius Hour Week 1: Initial Research

Research on the topic of role-playing games (RPGs) has been going well over the past week.  I found some good sources in the form of written articles, videos, and podcasts.  There has clearly been a lot of research and attention put on this topic, and so far I have only just scratched the surface.  One particular example stood out to me which was in the form of a podcast.  It was a Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) podcast (interview starts at 21:50) where the hosts interviewed Kade Wells, a Grade 9 Texan teacher who used D&D to teach reading, writing, and critical thinking skills in his language arts classroom.  Kade Wells went on to present his experiences and his findings to the 2015 World Literacy Conference in Austria.  Wells goes on to explain the significant boost in the confidence and performance of his students which he attributes to the active use of D&D in the classroom.  Although I could not find an article or a transcript of Wells’ presentation, he does go into detail discussing how it worked in his classroom during the podcast.

I have also learned some serious distinctions some people make when discussing games in the classroom, specifically the differences between simulation games and role-playing games.  Csenge V. Zalka in their thesis presented to East Tennessee State University outlines some key differences.  Firstly simulation games are based in real world events or scenarios while RPGS are focused on fictional or fantastical settings.  Secondly simulation games are often constructed to be done in groups competitively while RPGs focus on the individual character and how they cooperate with others to overcome challenges.  Thirdly the teacher when running a simulation game merely observes and facilitates, unlike in a RPG where they actively shape the narrative.  Fourthly with simulation games most of the information students need are provided to them, unlike RPGs which require more research and data management in preparation (Zalka, p.15-17).   

For the most part I agree with these general distinctions between simulation and role-playing games, however I must disagree with the first point.  There are many RPGs out there that deal with real world events and scenarios that contain all the same aspects of cooperation, strong narrative construction, and preparation.  The definitions and history of simulation games and RPGs offered in Zalka’s article will certainly be useful going forward.  This article also offers a few sample games which the writer says can be adjusted for grades K-12 (p.60-68).  I will read through each of these more closely to determine if they would work in a classroom.  

These were the two sources that most stood out to me in my week of research.  I found both to be quite informative, as Wells offered some insightful comments on his own experiences using it in his class, and Zalka offered a more detailed academic analysis on the topic.  For now these two sources seem excellent in informing my decisions as I go on with this project.  Over the next week I will continue to do more research and focus on narrowing down the sources I intend to use to help create my own method of integrating RPGs into the classroom.  I still have many questions, answers to which many not be easily found in articles.  Such as how does one run an RPG with a group of 30 people playing?  How can one successfully integrate the RPG into all subjects so it is not relegated to just history and language arts?  And how do you best get students to buy into the concept?  I hope to find the answers to these questions in the coming weeks, and likely come up with more questions to ask.  I’m looking forward to seeing what the final product might look like.