Collaboration

There are several components that make games effective learning tools. One primary tenant of cognitive growth championed by the great psychologist, Vygotsky, is collaboration. He argued that collaboration allows for discussion and reflection which in turn promotes metacognition and self-regulation. Games in the classroom allow for excellent opportunities for collaboration not only among students, but between the students and their instructors as well.

Scaffolding

Teachers can help enable their students to successfully complete difficult tasks through scaffolding. For example, a teacher can provides selective help to enable students to do activities they could not do on their own. Then, as students become more competent, the teacher can gradually reduce and eventually withdraw the support. Vygotsky supported the use of scaffolding as well as other external processes such as peer tutoring and student collaborations. He argued that the use of external aids can greatly influence the internalization of concepts that are critical in cognitive development.

Scaffolding has demonstrated definite benefits for learners. It is also an inherent characteristic of games. The players are provided with the resources and instructions that are necessary to successfully achieve the final goal of the game, yet the specific instruction is student-led. Therefore, in order to successfully scaffold students’ cognitive development, classroom games should provide students with enough guidance and structure to complete activities that they would not have been able to accomplish without assistance.

Self-Efficacy and Confidence

As students are able to complete activities that had previously been beyond their academic and cognitive abilities, they may experience an increase in their confidence and self-efficacy. Self-efficacy can be defined as one’s judgment of their ability to perform a task within a specific domain. Research focusing on student self-efficacy has shown the importance of learners’ goals, beliefs, and strategies for learning. In addition, students with high self-efficacy are more likely to seek help, resist negative feedback, and are able to overcome obstacles to improve their performance.

Using Games in the Classroom

Games within an educational setting are able to blend many of the positive attributes discussed above into a productive tool for student learning. They are fundamentally engaging and collaborative, and provide ample opportunities for scaffolding, all within an environment that encourages student’s self-efficacy through a low-stakes, playful environment.

Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York, NY: Freeman.

Bruning, R., Schraw, G., & Norby, M. (2011). Cognitive Psychology and Instruction. Boston: Pearson.