Learning from the Game
The Life Preservers game acts as a good teacher, guiding learners to think about questions of evolution and adaptation in a carefully designed order. Far more is available to be learned than just the answer to the specific questions, but by following the guided train of thought, learners will become accustomed to new ways of thinking about species and how they are adapted to their environment.
Although game play essentially involves answering questions, the pedagogy is more complex than a simple trivia game. Learners explore a carefully selected content domain (part of the Tree of Life containing only selected critters). They are guided to answer questions in each round that guide them to think about key concepts in evolution. Each round is reinforced by a narrated, animated cut scene that reiterates the key learning concepts.
The important learning in the game is actually the questions, NOT the answers. Today's close adherence to teaching what will be on standardized tests means only concepts appearing in national and state standards matter. Thus, that the first bird adapted from therapod dinosaurs around 150 million years ago is not relevant, but “the basic idea of biological evolution is that present day species developed from earlier distantly different species” is on the test.
Although game play essentially involves answering questions, the pedagogy is more complex than a simple trivia game. Learners explore a carefully selected content domain (part of the Tree of Life containing only selected critters). They are guided to answer questions in each round that guide them to think about key concepts in evolution. Each round is reinforced by a narrated, animated cut scene that reiterates the key learning concepts.
Vygotsky believed social interactions “create our cognitive structures and social interactions” (Palincsar, 1988). Higher mental processes are co-constructed during shared activities. Piaget sees social interaction as creating disequilibrium, offering input that challenges existing beliefs and forces learners to either assimilate consistent ideas or accommodate inconsistent ideas by adapting their cognitive schemas. Life Preservers applies these ideals.
The alien invasion rounds apply pedagogy approaching the ideal of constructivism, involving the learner/player in making sense of what they observe and manipulate. The learner/player constructs knowledge, drawing their own conclusions.
