Effective Teaching

“The Effective Teaching” section of the online book, How People Learn, describes the effective teaching methods of Barb Johnson, a very popular sixth-grade history teacher. Apparently, this teacher’s methods were effective because she taught history in a way that made the subject matter relevant to her students. However, I inferred from the article that the authors felt that we should not expect most history teachers to employ similar strategies because they lack the requisite “wide range of disciplinary knowledge” (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2008, p.145). However, I wonder if certain technological tools could help mitigate this problem. For example, I know that the folks involved with the Education Arcade at MIT used the Never Winter Nights game engine to create Revolution, a situation-based, multi-player learning game, based on historical events in colonial Williamsburg (Haas, 2008). As they assume roles of period characters and grapple with major conflicts as well as mundane issues of the period, I can easily imagine that Revolution makes this period of American history more relevant for many students.

Nonetheless, I am also aware of the persistent reticence of educators to employ this type of technology. While attending a class at Bloomsburg University, prompted by a request from a local school administrator, my professor asked our class to contact the administrator if we had any ideas for innovative learning concepts.
After confirming that the local school had an adequate number of computers and unrestricted online access to download the program, I suggested that they use Making History: the Calm and the Storm, a turned-based strategy video game, to teach a component of high school history. Muzzy Lane Software, a well-established educational software company, designed Making History to accommodate the time constraints that are inherent in high school classrooms. Making History also provided supporting documentation that included various resources to augment the material presented in the game environment (Making History, 2008).

I explained to the administrator that, by playing the game, students could investigate prewar scenarios relative to certain European domestic distractions and political policies based on appeasement, non-intervention, and isolationism that contributed to the outbreak of WWII. This historic period included some of the most intriguing, controversial, and repercussive historic events that culminated in a calamitous war. Moreover, this topic is especially relevant to students, since some in the United States government evoked this historic sequence of events to justify engaging in the current war with Iraq.

Initially, the administrator was enthusiastic about the idea. The topic was appropriate, the cost of licensing the program was within the school budget, and the computer hardware was available. Inexplicably, to both of us, the teaching staff in the history department at his school would not even consider the idea. I can only assume that while the teachers said they wanted new ideas, in reality they were insufficiently motivated to act on concepts that were significantly innovative. Therefore, it seems to me that, in addition to student motivation, effective instructional design needs to address teacher motivation as well.

Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L, & Cocking, R. R. (2008). How People Learn: How Experts Differ from Novices. National Academy Press. Retrieved September 12, 2008 from: http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=6160&page=17

Haas, J. (2008). Revolution. The Education Arcade. Accessed October 25, 2008: http://www/educationarcade.org/node/357

Making History (2008). Making history: The calm and the storm. Accessed October 25, 2008: http://www.making-history.com/