1. Get on Board:
Using Games to Promote 21st Century
Becky Palgi and Joshua Hostetter ✦ February 4, 2012
ECU Librarian to Librarian Networking Summit

2. Standard 1:
inquire,
think critically,
gain knowledge.

3. Learning and
playing games
can help students...

4. develop knowledge in a
curricular subject area.

5. make real-world
connections.

6. use prior knowledge
as a context
for new learning.

7. adapt strategies
to unique situations.

8. “Our group explored Metro and learned
how to play it by reading most of the rules
and learning as we go. We had to figure out
the point system by reading the rules, but
we figured out how to connect our track
pieces by playing the game. This process
would help us in life with recipes. We might
have to read the ingredients, but we would
know how to mix it together as we cook.”
– Tyler P. on Metro

9. “[The game] helped us learn the
geographical boundaries of Ancient China.
We also learned when the dynasties came to
power and ended. We learned leadership
skills and what it takes to run an army. We
already knew the dynasties of the game.”
– Tyler B. on China: The Middle Kingdom

10. “Our game allowed many different ways to
win. you could go on offense and take out
walls and reputation points while building
your pieces of the great wall, or you could
go on defense and build your great wall and
keep it safe while adding reputation
points.”
– Jonathan D. on Chang Cheng

11. Standard 2:
draw conclusions,
make informed decisions,
apply knowledge to new situations,
create new knowledge

12. Learning and
playing games
can help students...

13. construct new
understandings.

14. use various strategies
to draw conclusions.

15. apply strategic knowledge
to future situations.

16. collaborate with
others.

17. decode an opponent’s
strategy.

18. adapt strategies
to unique situations.

19. “We each agreed that the game made us think deeper
despite its easy appearance. We had to keep changing
our plans based on what the player before us had
done, and we kept getting frustrated. The hardest
part about the game was learning how to play and
trying to figure out who won each end, but after we
got the rules straight it was a lot easier and we all had
fun.”
– Arianna R. on Gang of Four

20. “For this game you had to figure out what your
opponent is trying to do and in the future, like if you
own a business, you can use the same strategy to find
out what the rival businesses are trying to do to help
their business or impair yours.”
– Carolina K. on China: The Middle Kingdom

21. “When China was building the Great Wall of China,
many people tried to destroy the wall. That's what we
were doing, trying to take down the wall [built by]
other players. If we didn't own that certain part of
the wall, we wanted it destroyed!”
– Erin D. on Chang Cheng

22. “My group decided that this game required players to
evaluate which events were coming up in order to
know what necessities to acquire. For example, if a
drought is coming up, you want to get rice so that you
can feed your people without having to loose any. The
game taught you how to prepare for things in life.”
– Julia R. on In the Year of the Dragon

23. “Players had to share ideas to make well thought out
plans. Players also had to look back on previous
moves to see how your enemy worked and thought. We
had to share goals because say we are all fighting to
neutralize one enemy, but if we are all trying to fight
each other, we can not effectively neutralize the
player without sharing the common goal.”
– Chris L. on China: The Middle Kingdom

24. “Our game, Power Grid, required players to think
ahead a lot, and guess or analyze where the players
could buy houses or power plants and figure out how
to stop them from winning the game. Also, you had to
keep up with a lot of resources. Trust me, it is WAY
easier to explain how to think ahead in the course of
playing this game than DOING it!”
– McKenzie G. on Power Grid

25. “The game is all about strategy. You need to know
things about the action cards so you can not only use
them but keep other people from using them by
canceling theirs out.”
– Kaitlyn C. on Chang Cheng

26. “[You] had to decode strategies to be able to change
your battle plan in time to save your armies, and
through that you could learn to be a good strategist
and leader in the real world. You also had to view the
scene and see all the pieces and realize the best way
to attack and conquer the land the most efficient and
well-planned way.”
– Chris L. on China: The Middle Kingdom

27. “In this game it often helped to try to memorize the
opponents previous moves to try to get an idea of
what their gaming strategy is. For example if
somebody attacks a lot then their strategy during the
end game will probably involve brute force, so in
order to counter them you would have a large amount
of soldiers in a province that they have to go through
in order to beat you. It also helped memorizing the
opponents army cards so you know their special
abilities.”
– Jacob N. on China: The Middle Kingdom

28. Standard 3:
share knowledge,
participate ethically
as members
of a democratic society.

29. Learning and
playing games
can help students...

30. collaborate in order
to increase understanding.

31. develop
leadership skills.

32. become motivated
to share
beyond the classroom.

33. assess how well
they are learning
to learn more
effectively.

34. “In the Year of the Dragon helped my leadership skills
because I was basically the unofficial leader. I help
everyone with the rules, told them what was going to
happen, and good ways to try and win. I'm not a good
leader and don't like telling people how to play a
game, but I think this helped because none of us really
knew what to do, so I read the instructions.”
– Hannah K. on In the In the Year of the Dragon

35. “Metro definitely made you fail a couple of times, but
it also left room for revision in your strategy. Every
time you played you would think of other ways to get
from your station to central station in the longest
way. There are other variables in this situation, which
one of them is probability. You would learn all of the
track pieces and figure out your next move if any of
them came up. So you would always remember to try
to find a different place to put it next time.”
– Maria J. on Metro

36. Standard 4:
persue personal
and asthetic growth.

37. Learning and
playing games
can help students...

38. mentally organize
information for recall.

39. become motivated
to improve their skills.

40. “To mentally organize for this game you had to look
at the events to prepare for what was going to
happen. For example, by looking at the events and
seeing that a tribute was coming up, you would
determine what action cards to pick. For an upcoming
tribute, you would want to buy a tribute so that you
don't have to get rid of any people.”
– Julia R. on In the Year of the Dragon