Robert,

This is a very interesting study that I would love to see expanded to a larger group of participants. As educators, we know that students learn more and are more engaged when they are having fun. These two games fit this nicely. I assume these are traditional face to face classes? My interests are in CATs for the online classroom and it would be great to find a way to fit games in to this platform as well. Hopefully you will continue to study the effects of using games as CATs in your classrooms for further discussion. Thanks for sharing.

Rick

Robert,

I enjoyed reading your study, as I have been an advocate for using games and other more engaging techniques in the classroom. The on-line environment is especially challenging since direct contact between student and faculty is hampered. Your results were certainly promising, although the sample size was limited.

My question for further study would be in the area of student age and differing generations. Data that determined how each generation would respond to different types of games would be helpful information. In the on-line college setting, these questions would immediately become relevant.

Again, great job, and a good read.

Rob Krise

Robert,

Interesting study which was enjoyable to read.  I am advocate of CATs and use different versions in online classes.  What you have proposed and studied seems to be best suited for traditional classes. 

Question 1 in the World Series of Religion was the groups used in Tic-Tac-Toe the same as the World Series of Religion? 

Question 2 there seems to be a development of group dynamics and team spirit which may also have been a contributing factor to learning.  If the students were submitted to games which were individual, would the end results have been different?  This area alone could use further study.

Assessment is the process of identifying specific and measurable goals, collecting and analyzing evidence that indicate the extent to which the goals have been met, and identifying and implementing changes to enhance achievement of the desired goals.  I see and agree that the games is beneficial to stimulate and motivate student learning.  Your study is a great platform for further study.  Look at individual games, not group, and see what impact this might have.

Great points in the paper, easy to read and interesting.

I have found games in the online classroom to be a great way to keep students engaged in learning. I have never taught in the face to face environment myself, but I know many faculty who in some form or another uses games to help them teach. It breaks up the monotony of the day and sometimes getting the students out of their chairs to partake in the game can be helpful. Online of course this is different but I have created jeopardy style games as well as more of a multiple choice game where they earn points and many students have expressed how much they enjoyed it and I saw an improvement in their assignments. I agree with Rick in that it would be good to see this study conducted on a larger scale.

Alexis Register

Robert,

Thank you for your time in writing this interesting study!  I am a big believer in using games and "fun activities" in the classroom as a means to increase student engagement.  In the games reviewed, I especially liked the World Series of World Religions game as that seemed to be a little more creative and offered an element of strategy. 

To echo a few other reviewers, expending this to a larger data group would be beneficial though I think the point was adequately made.  I am rather passionate about technology integration into learning (both traditional and online).  Was technology used as a means to facilitate/enhance these games?  I would be curious to know if there would be an appreciable increase in engagement between non-technology games and technology integrated games.  Or, perhaps a comparison of the use of games as an engagement tool verses the use of technology as an engagement tool.

I think these are great tools to use and I see them being useful in both the online and traditional classroom format.  Nice work and thank you for sharing!

Brian Clark

Robert,

Thanks for sharing your insightful work on the use of games as a classroom assessment technique.  I often use games in the traditional classroom, but have not tried them online. After reading your paper, I am considering integrating games in my online classroom.

In your research, you discussed how games can impact learning, at least in part, by increasing social interaction. My primary concern, and suggestion for further research, is whether the use of games increases social interaction in an online classroom to the same degree as they do in a traditional classroom. Along the same line of inquiry, are there techniques in addition to games, that are effective for increasing social interaction online?

Tony Hoffman

Hello Robert,

I would agree that learning is very social and I would like to use more games in an online envoronment to increase student engagement. I find it difficult in an online laearning environment, becaus e a potluck dinner would be virtually impossible; however some other kind of reward might be a solution in this case. I especially appreciated the team concept in your baseball game; since I find that many students have a competitive streak. Recently, I used the "team" concept as opposed to a group concept which seems mundane to speak. Students aften verbalize dread when they are mandate to do group work. In changing the language to "team", there seems to be more enthusiasm and participation . The instructor acts as a coach to all of the teams, and the group leader acts as captain.

Your examples are relevant to student engagement, and I would agree that further study is needed to evaluate classroom assessmnet techniques. I would be interested in more studies on CATs using games for an online learning enironemnt. Thank you for sharing.

Joanne Senn

The paper presented a good discussion on the study and the results of the two separate groups. I do find games in the classroom to be an effective manner in increasing student engagement as well assessing student learning. I have used a couple examples in the classroom. The Jeopardy game PowerPoint template is a good example. Comparing two groups of the same content a timeframe shows the effectiveness of the increased engagement. I wonder what would be the outcome if the group with games did not have a potluck?

One thing I would recommend is the addition of a few more recent articles. Bulger, M. E., Mayer, R. E., Almeroth, K. C., & Blau, S. D. (2008). Measuring Learner Engagement in Computer-Equipped College   Classrooms. Journal Of Educational Multimedia & Hypermedia, 17(2), 129-143., Deviney, D. E., Crawford, J., & Elder, K. L. (2012). Classroom antics: Fun with a purpose. Journal of Instructional Pedagogies , 1-7.  Retrieved from http://www.aabri.com/manuscripts/121406.pdf,, Trowler, V., & Trowler, P. (2010). Student engagement evidence summary. Informally published manuscript, Department of Educational   Research, University of Lancaster, York, UK. Retrieved from   http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/studentengagement/StudentEngagementEvidenceSummary.pdf

are examples of articles that I have read and used in exploring similar topics of student engagement and adding games ot the classroom. These could further support your foundation and show more recent examples..

Hello Robert,

Thanks for sharing such an interesting study! It is a great idea to have a formative assessment in the form of a game that the students can find fun and engaging!  I think a study like this could fit into the online realm as well using a game such as "Jeopardy".  Swinton actually asked the question that I was thinking of in his earlier post. This pertains to the effectiveness of the classroom assessment games if they were completed by an individual such as in the online environment.  Swinton makes a great point with the question of what actually triggers the interest in learning, the games or camaraderie of the groups or teams. This could be great future study using one group of individuals and one of teams both playing the same games to see how the results differ.  Nevertheless, it is very beneficial from a teaching standpoint when students can be engaged or having fun learning the material! Great study with many interesting points and possible topics for future research. Thanks!

-John

Hi Robert,

Nice work on your paper. I think that students enjoy games in the classroom for the most part. However, I find that it is the same 5 - 10 students who participate in such activities. I wish there was a way to get more students to open the "fun" posts in the online enviornment. I see how this could work in the traditional classroom almost perfectly because instructors can put students in groups where they are almost "forced" to participate. Overall, your concepts are solid.

Hi Robert,

The title of your paper caught my eye, as I come from a background education in the primary grades. My first thought was, "What's so innovative about using games to assess students?" In early childhood, this is something we do, both formally and informally, each day in our classrooms. As I read on, I realized it truly was innovative because most teachers of middle, high school, or adult students, do not see any value in this type of assessment, or even instruction. 

Your study validates the message that I try to convey to educators of students of all ages. It doesn't matter how old the students are, their learning styles do not change. All students, preschoolers all the way to adults, like to be engaged and have fun, as you stated in your paper.

I believe you have tapped into an unresearched subject. I would love to see your study expanded and include some hard-core data numbers!

Blessings :)
Amy Christopher

Hi Robert,

Though I have not used games in the online classroom, I certainly believe in their effectiveness.  

Currently I am reading identity theory and other elements of social psychology and would like to see further longitudinal research be completed on the effectiveness, not only in for the educational side, the relational side as well with games implemented within the classroom.  It would seem the inclusion of games into the classroom would further strengthen the bond between classmates fostering relationships, albeit through cyberspace, throughout their collegiate experience at GCU.  

This study would have to track students throughout their program highlighting many variables.  

This is a wonderful study and with many future applications.

Thanks for an interesting read!

Josh

Great idea, Robert!

I love to use games as an advocate of CATs. However, this is challenging in a non-traditional learning environment. I ahve been looking for possible ways to introduce games in class to lessen stress and encourage 'fun' to understand each other. I have a great 'buy-in' into your idea of including games in class. Thanks. Moses

Hi Robert

I think this is a great topic and definitely worthy of disseminating to the public.

I was only able to see what appears to be a brief (or very long abstract). Is there more?

How many participants did you have? Were they randomly assigned to the two groups?

I'd like to see a more clear operational definition of the DV (final review?). 

I would think you'd be able to reduce variance if you had more questions in the assessment.

Keep up the good work!

cheers~
stephen

Hello Robert,

I enjoyed reviewing your study on the use of games as a means of fostering engagement and retention in the classroom. You identified some of the issues that might impact the validity of the study as it relates to potential differences in the student population, such as prior socialization, age, backgrounds etc.  I would be surprised, if these could all be controlled for, that your results would be markedly different.

I teach on-ground courses for our local Sheriff's Department and must admit that law enforcement officers can be a difficult group to get engaged in the classroom environment.  I have used a "Jeapordy" type game as a method of content review and to spur further discussion.  I found that in spite of the seemingly somewhat "jaded"attitudes often displayed in the classroom, once the game was introduced, there was a distinctly improved level of participation.

I observed some of the same changes within the student population that you described. There was a cohesion that was palpable among the various groups competing against one another. The discussions became more  animated and assisted in delving deeper into the course material.

I would fully support using games as an effective tool in the classroom.  I currently facilitate online courses here at GCU, and would welcome any further information or study results, as it might relate to that teaching envirionment.

Thank you for your work on this study.

Robert, I enjoyed reading about the 21^st century application of gamings in the virtual online learning environment. I often wondered about how such as strategy would be implemented and its effect on student learning. Your proposal clearly explained the what, why, how, and when of the specific games applied and utilized by students in your course. Well done observations and documentation of the process and results in one course.

I am thinking that if the virtual gaming was conducted in a second course with similar results, coupled with this study's initial findings, the combined evidence would be even more robust and irrefutable. Would also specifying whether the five week course was an undergraduate course help readers to better understand its implications and limitations at that level and recommendations for future studies to be conducted at the advanced Masters and doctoral level courses? Since the gaming results indicated that the retention of students' learning were reinforced with the winning team earning a reward (pot luck); one suggestion would be to discuss and link Skinner's reinforcement theory to explain how the students' behaviors and learning were conditioned.

I am impressed by the results that empowered student social team interactions and retention of the learning concepts at various stages during the five-week course. Your study is unique and will contribute to the scientific community. Thank you for explaining it so well and the time that went into producing this study!

Robert,

I would agree that games have their value in learning environment. I believe that we need to use a pedagogical approach in this strategy, in order not to come  as "childish" with adult learners. After looking at this again, was there any consent for this study by the participants? Just a thought.

Thanks for your work and submission.

Joanne

Robert,

Thanks for your work on this. I find the World Series especially interesting, and I wonder if there is more discussion you could include from your observations. Did students comment on these games (formally or informally) in terms of their own learning and engagement? Did you see an improvement in more formal assessments in the class that used this game? I'd also be curious to see the students reflect on their experience of playing the game and learning. Their reflections might help confirm more forcefully the conclusions you've drawn and may also show that students perceive additional benefits from the experience.

Jen

Robert,

Thanks for conducting this study.  These are some great preliminary results that indicate games as classroom assessment techniques may result in greater retention of information.  As I was reading the study, I was wondering what classroom assessment techniques were used for the group that did not use games.  Another aspect of this study to consider is that perhaps the CAT chosen for the other group was not as strong as the games used, but are other non-game CATs stronger than game CATs?  From your description of the games, each one took 20-30 minutes in which students were "quizzed" on course content.  It would be helpful to describe the CAT chosen for the other course in order to determine if the duration of games may have influenced the increased scores.  This study could be repeated using various other non-game CATs to check if CATs that are games are truly better than most other techniques, or only better than the particular CATs used for the one class in this study.  Don't forget to share the sample size in the methods.  I see there were two classes, but I don't see a number of participants.  When teachers read this it will help them to know if this applies to a large lecture class or a smaller class setting.  Class size may be another area to research further, as well.   Thanks!

Shelley

Hi Robert,

I love this concept and see the applicability in engaging students with course content in the face-to-face learning environment. I've used it a few times and found similar results to what you found. The use of games with Who Wants to be a Milliionaire and Jeopardy are also easily adapted to the online world.

Like some of the other reviewers, I was curious about the actual sample size as well as more specifics on how you collected observations and analyzed them. I understand that you observed and that this wasn't a scientific study, but more information about what you observed for, how often you noticed it in each group, and how that information was used to reach your conclusions might be helpful to the reader.

I'm wondering what your plans are for replication and if you might want to make your recommendations for future study more specific?

I'm glad that you're exploring this concept more and enjoyed reading your manuscript!

Doug

Hello Robert,

I enjoyed reading your study and was delighted to see that games are a positive influence on how students approach and engage the class materials. I did find the study informative in that the games used and the results presented in your study provided me with an insight on how this method does indeed improve retention and team spirit among the students. I would however liked to have seen a little more on how the other study group did with their experiences. Were you able to note frustrations, lack of interest in engagement or a disconnect with the overall group that you could use to contrast the overall experience between the two groups? You did mention that the games did in fact affect the camaraderie that developed with the group, but it would have been interesting to have a little more insight on the emotional side of the second group and a background on how the materials were delivered to the second group. As an online instructor I am always looking for ways to improve the delivery in my classrooms and I enjoyed your article as it did inspire me to consider a similar approach for my classes. This is a great article and I enjoyed reading your research!   

Hi Robert, 

The use of active learning techniques is proving to be an "education asset" as your student noted.  Having used the team approach in nursing education, I have noted the increased sense of team, especially if the teams stay static as the type of game changes.  

I am curious-what were the teaching techniques used in the other class?  Were both courses at the same time of day? I know these variables are not controllable, but anecdotally, it has an effect on the energy and personality of some classes.  

Did you use any 'rewards' in your class?

Thank you for the interesting article. 

Stephanie

Robert,

this is a very interesting idea. Games will intuitively make a class more fun and engaging overall. However, the bigger picture is: will they help engage the learners that are usually not engaged during traditional-lectures and are not performing well in the class? While it is impossible to answer this question objectively, a paragraph with in depth observations by the instructor would be a good addition to the  manuscript.

The other comment I have is that qualitative studies always disregard numbers, but in this case it will be interesting to know the size of each group, and comparing the attendance record of one class versus the other. In fact, a pitfall of group games is that outspoken students get to be more engaged and vocal while more timid learners might end up giving up on the games (and attending the lectures).

Overall, the study is great and the manuscript is skinny, but adding a few in-depth observations and a little quantitative explanations should make the paper more complete.

Thank you for reading this and for your work,

Filippo

Hi, Robert! This is extremely interesting! Wow! Twenty-three percent higher on the survey! In the onlline environment, I have never played games with the students. However, I would love to incorporate games in some way. I think it could be done. Thanks for sharing your research!

Susan

Dr. Vaughan,

Thank you for a relevant exploration of the presented phenomena.  Please find some more feedback meant to enhance the manuscript as follows:

-       More description of the sample may be helpful.

-       This seems to be based on a qualitative methodology, what is the design followed?

-       In the sentence, "…The group that used games as a classroom assessment technique scored an average of 23 percent higher on this final review…" it would strengthen the findings if you provide the rest of the percentages.  For instance, what was the baseline, and how did you find out that it was 23% higher?  A descriptive statistics table may be helpful.

-       In the section of Instructor Observations it would be helpful for the reader to appreciate the method and systematic observation followed, so noting it would be helpful. 

-       In the conclusion, the statement, "…but it does indicate that there may be some correlation between social engagement and retention of course content…" could be misconstrued as if some level of correlation was found.  If a correlation analysis was conducted, then it would be helpful to report the values yielded.  If a correlation analysis was not conducted, then reporting the descriptive statistics may help the reader appreciate how games may have influenced improvement.

I hope that this feedback is helpful and thank you for the opportunity to review your manuscript. 

Kind regards,

Genomary Krigbaum, Psy.D.

Robert,

I enjoyed reading your paper. I have been an advocate for using games in the classroom. I would like to see the study expanded to include computer based games to use in both the ground and online classrooms. Also, a study to determine the impact on children as well as adults. This study was very interesting in the final outcome with the 23% increase in the final score for the students who played the game. I also found the social aspect to be interesting. The students that played the games and had the potluck, did they feel a better connection to their classmates than the students who didn't play games? Very interesting study.

Thank you for sharing your research,

Chris 

Thank you for your study. Very timely topic in our age of social media and constant interaction. I have used similar techniques in the traditional classroom, but not in the on-line environment. I was encouraged to see the results of the study and the increase of productivity resulting in information retention. Thank you for your work in this field, which is encouraging me to look further into implementing similar techniques in my on-line courses. The discussion forums provide a means to interact, but I will have to continue thinking through this process to see how it would work.

Daniel

Hi Robert,

Thank you for sharing your study results using games.  I think this was a great way to review the weekly concepts for your class.  The games were short (20-30 minutes) with well defined criteria for 'scoring'.  The students seemed to be engaged in the process and your informal review showed more learning in the 'game' group.

It would be interesting to see how games could be utilized in an on-line learning environment. I think the asynchronous nature of on-line learning would make it challenging, but certainly not impossible to implement.

Martha

Robert,

I enjoyed reading your study about incorporating games into traditional classrooms to enhance engagement. It makes sense that the games helped encourage students to build relationships with their classmates, and this, along with the regular review of course content, led to increased student learning. As you said, the students also spent time reviewing on their own to prepare for the games, which was another positive outcome of incorporating games.

In terms of assessment, the games provided a means of formative assessment for you, as you observed the responses of the students. At the same time, you were able to reteach when an error occurred. The games also provided self-assessment for the students, hopefully informing their study and preparation time for the course.

Were the games played every day during the 5 weeks of the course?  If the game took 20 minutes or so, how did you spend that time with your students in the class without the games? I'm curious to know if they also had a review of the content, in a non-game format, or was the additional time in the non-game class spent on instruction?

Thank you for sharing your work!

Becky

Robert -

I appreciate that you found a way to obtain objective data about games in the classroom.  Students, as you pointed out, get competitive which facilitates wanting to know the information so that their "team" can win.  Tic, Tac,Toe is one possibility. It would be nice to try other types of team games to look at games in general or just specific games that will facilitate learning.  Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy and Taxi driver might be interesting to do research on.  

The next question is - how can games be used in the on-line classroom.  We have assignments and gradebook points established with no flexibility. Would a game that does not reward the students with points be effective? How would this be structured.  I would like to see some research in this area.

Diane

I found your study particularly intriguing, and suggest that there are several relevant options for future research projects. It might be interesting to examine how the incorporation of games into the course curriculum compares from one type of course to another. For example, do games "work" better in psychology courses than in math courses; my personal experience in conflict analysis and resolution courses, has been that they require a very high level of interactive participation by the students which not only included games but also role plays. It might also be interesting to investigate whether certain games might be gender-oriented where the Tic Tac Toe game could be classified as "neutral," while the baseball game could be classified as more familiar to males than to females which could influence the outcome.

Mary Ann

Thanks for sharing this study. I really enjoyed reading about how games in the classroom can increase student engagement.  I liked the tic-tac-toe game, and I wonder how I can use this game for the online class that I currently teach. 

Just one minor suggestion:  While it is evident that this study was conducted in a face to face class, you may want to consider adding an intro sentence under the "Methodology" section of the paper to clarify the method of instruction that was used.

For future studies:  I would be interested in the impact of games on retention of course content especially for online courses.

Robert - I found it very interesting to read your study- thank you for sharing. The simplicity of the games to me was a good idea.  I, like many others would like to see the use of these games in an online environment.  If a study could be conducted in the online environment and the results compared would provide some interesting data and also may provide more valuable information which could be utilized in the further development of online CATs. 

Robert, thanks so much for sharing your study with us. As a teacher in both the K-12 arena and for GCU, I have had some exposure to a range of students who have benefited from the use of interactive games for the purpose of enhancing the learning experience. I have seen more research on the benefit as it applied to younger learners. So, it was interesting to see your study involving older participants. I would like to see how the same methodology would work with even older adults. That would be an interesting participant group in my opinion as I wonder how the 40-60 age group would react to this type of learning. Would they benefit or would they not? 

Robert,

Thank you for sharing this interesting study.  As an educator of children and adults, I find that incorporating games into the curriculum helps to increase social unity and student engagement.  Ultimately, this will increase student retention of material learned. 

It would be interesting to expand your study to the online classroom setting.

• I am curious about what does more recent literature state about game theory?
• You also mentioned "three components of adult learning" and I would be curious to learn more about these in your literature review.
• In your methodology you mentioned how the teacher would be performing the observations and for me this creates an automatic bias because the teacher may have their own views of what they want to see. In addition the teacher should be focusing on content delivery versus observation. It would be curious to know if other delivery aspects changed, in the teacher, because of the use of game theory and the student reaction.
• With the class which did not use games, did they have any type of review at all, or was it just lecture?
• When it comes to evaluation, what does engagement mean, what are its levels?
• It might be interesting to do a pre- and post-survey of the students to determine their ideas of their own level of engagement and determining their own sense of team.
• Since the one team had a potluck was this by their own  suggestion or did it come from somewhere else? If it came from somewhere else did the other class have the same opportunity to hear this message? 
• As you close out you mentioned the game class did 23% better on their final review. I am curious if they would have performed 23% better than the other class on a pre-test as the one class may just have more knowledge overall and maybe just test better than the other class based on demographic information, such as, the gaming class were Gen Y and the other class was more Gen X/Baby Boomers.

Hi Robert,

I enjoyed reviewing your article. You have included good evidence to why we need to include more games in our teaching.  As a teacher of Early Childhood Education, I stress this a lot in my classes and it is nice to see how well it applies across all age groups. 

I like that you found the social-emotional benefit of the activity, as well, in that a sense of "team" developed during the process. We all benefit from feeling we have a place in the community.

I think it would be great to continue this study with a larger group. I would suggest you have a group that prepares their own games, too.  When I teach face to face classes, that is the assignment I give before their final project or exam. This way the students are getting even more practice with the course material and it turns into a "fun" study session.

Best of luck with your research.

Deb Martinez

Robert I enjoyed your paper thoroughly. Isn't it interesting that something happens from the time of being a child to becoming a teenager to becoming an adult; the idea of learning through games is somehow lost? After a while, the learning structure changes from trying to fully engaged the students through different means to a more ridged style of pedagogy. Your paper highlights the fact that teaching through games can still be done with adults, and dare I say should be encouraged, in order to teach and review concepts. Most of us are familiar with the different types of learning styles (kinesthetic, audio, visual, and a combination of the three), and games have the ability to incorporate all three while playing to our students different learning strengths. Not to mention the statement you made that the students would prepare themselves for the games that further highlight the idea that the students are more engaged in the learning process. Great article Robert and thank you for sharing your ideas with us.

Best Regards,

Anthony Brown

Hi Robert -

Thanks so much for your article!  As an online instructor and a elementary school classroom teacher I am always on the look out for ways to better engage my students and to assess them at the same time.  The techniques utilized in your study have my brain in overdrive about ways to incorporate the concepts into my own classroom practices. 

Take care / K. Norris

Robert,

Robert,. While I have used games in counselling sessions for years with some success; your article has expanded my thinking. I teach online classes and can see the value of using games not only as an assessment tool but also in building community, which can be more challenging in an online format. I wonder if older students would be as receptive to the game format as younger ones  and if different games would be more effective than others.

Thanks for sharing your ideas, Janice

Robert,

Thank you for sharing this interesting research. I am encouraged to consider games as tools in face-to-face and online instruction. As a reader, I would like to see an expanded literature review. A more detailed treatment of the literature related to CATs and innovative approaches to learning would provide the appropriate context for your research. 

Robert,

After reading your paper, I am concerned that no other formative assessments were mentioned with respect to your "control group". In the course of a five week class, there needs to be some form of instructional strategies applied, and I do not see those discussed within the context of your work. Even if the teaching strategies remained relatively equal, other than the inclusion of games, these should have been listed. I suppose the biggest concern is that games took 20 minutes to complete. What was going on with the control group at this time? Were they provided a structured or unstructured learning activity.

Overall, I like the concept of your research; however, there are too many variables unaccounted for at this time.

Thanks for sharing your research.

Sincerely,

Ron Summerhill

Very interesting CAT and use of games for adult learners.  The comparison and style of games chosen was simple and different than jeopardy.  The teamwork is a skill that is important for adult learners in the job market.  It would be interesting to know if there was any study questions at all for the other classroom. Was the class at the same time of day but a different day?  These factors may interfere with learning.  

Overall, the presentation of the games and data were interesting and the concept is  excellent.  

Robert,

Thank you for your work on this article. Based on your title indicating the "innovative" use of games, I thought this article would be about video games or include some sort of technology integration in the classroom. While these games seem to be motivating for students, I am left wondering what other games could be adapted for both the traditional classroom and the online classroom. I think you are off to a great start here, and would like to see your ideas developed more thoroughly. I might suggest including more current studies in your paper, as the most current study referenced was from 2006. I applaud your efforts to engage your students and improve not only the classroom climate, but students' learning! Nice work!

Hi Robert,

This was a very interesting study you did and I can see the utility of it. I thought the introduction, description of games, instructor evaluation and review were well done.  I just have a couple of suggestions.  You could more clearly explain that the class with games and class without games were two different sections of the same class (i.e. one class at 10am on Tuesday, Thursday and the other class at 10am on Monday, Wednesday).  Also, I think if this study is repeated, it would be much stronger if you provided the set of 10 questions at the beginning of the class as well as at the end of the class.  Doing this would allow you to test if there is a significant difference in how much learning took place between the two groups.  I also attached a copy of the article with some grammatical corrections. Great job on an interesting study.

This was an informative article that gave me some insight into the use of games which I did use in my 15 years of teaching traditional classes but have not used in the online environment (which is my sole teaching platform at this time).  I am going to give this concept more thought and research to use in possibly use in my classrooms.

This was an interesting article. I teach at the high school level and I utilize games to promote student engagement. I find games is a great way to informally assess my students. I teach cohort classes too and will incorporate games into my lessons. It would be beneficial for this study to be expanded to a larger population. To support previous comments, I would suggest collecting data that represents student achievement. Perhaps you could complete a pre and post assessment to determine academic growth.

Robert,

I love the idea of Tic Tac Toe! It's one that I never incorporated into my courses but I plan on it now. I use Jeopardy when I teach F2F classes and find it quite helpful for students and fun for everyone. 

The only suggestion I have is that you referred to the paper as a "brief literature review" on page 3, but I feel it's more an empirical study since it's your own primary research. 

I do have a question about the World Series game. If the essay question is incomplete or partially correct, how would you advance the bases? Just planning in advance.     : )

Cheryl 

Hi Rick, This is a very intriguing approach to increase student engagement and promote retention of the course materials. The use of games has an immediate reward; people naturally want to win and feel a measure of success when they succeed. I used games with youth groups several years ago and had tremendous success in getting them engaged in the Bible study. I appreciate the pains you went through to establish a level field for comparison of the results. This brief paper should prove beneficial to all who take the time to engage its concepts.

Ron Steadman, Grand Canyon University

Robert,

This was a very informative study and I enjoyed reading it.  I truly believe that the use of games as classroom assessment techniques are invaluable and students do enjoy them.  In my teaching experience, I have used various forms of study games such as Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune in the online setting.  Many students enjoy the competition between teams and the feeling of being a winner.  Who doesn't!?  Plus, these games aid in student learning; the ultimate prize of being a teacher.  Your study should provide immense benefits to those who are new in teaching, especially in the online world!  Thank you for sharing!

There were just a few minor mistakes with wording and APA formatting.  I tried to attach my feedback, but for some reason it will not attach, so I have provided a description below:

Abstract: omit the word "with" in: 

At the end of the two courses, a final review was held to determine the level

of student engagement with and retention of the course material

Page 3: 

To be clear and concise in delivering this message to the audience, consider rewording this sentence to say: Leonard and Delacey (2002) note that learning can be enhanced through a fun, social activity.

Page 3:

The first group spent five weeks studying the course content for Western Religions without the use of games as classroom assessment technique. To be consistent say "as a classroom assessment technique" or "as classroom assessment techniques".

Page 5: Should read "indicate"

This limited study does not conclusively indicated that games are the only reason for improvement on the final review of course content, but it does indicate that there may be some correlation between social engagement and retention of course content.

Page 6:  Reference - Should be a period after the publication year as highlighted below.

Merriam, S. B., Caffarella, R. S. & Baumgartener, L. M. (2006). Learning in adulthood: A comprehensive guide.San Francisco, CA: John Wiley and Sons.

I hope you find this helpful,

 Nikki