Adult Learning Theory and Game Design
Overview of six popular tenets of Adult Learning Theory
and the
applicability of these principles as they apply to Game Design
Adapted from http://frank.mtsu.edu/~itconf/proceed00/fidishun.htm accessed November 15, 2008:
1. The Learner’s Need to Know
Adults need to know why they should learn something. Under the more standard pedagogical model, it is assumed that the student will simply learn what they are told. Adults, however, are used to understanding what they do in life. They want to know the reason they need to learn something or how it will benefit them.
Comment: This is equally true in Game Design. If intended to be more than simply recreation or entertainment, the need to know how the interaction will relate to real-life is paramount.
2. The Learner’s Self-concept
It is the job of the adult educator to move adult students away from their old habits and into new patterns of learning where they become self-directed, taking responsibility for their own learning and the direction it takes. Technology is a perfect path for the facilitation of self-direction. The ultimate ability of initiatives such as web-based learning to be non-linear allows an adult to follow the path that most appropriately reflects their need to learn. It becomes extremely important for those who are designing technology-based adult learning to use all of the capabilities of the technology including branching, the ability to skip sections a student already understands, and multiple forms of presentation of material which can assist people with various learning styles. All of these can be used to permit students to follow a path of learning that most appropriately suits them.
Comment: Gaming is an ideal medium to introduce and encourage self-directedness. The motivation which can be manifested within a gaming experience can foster improved appreciation for technology in general and assist in overcoming typical barriers which exist within historically instructor-led learners.
3. The Role of the Learner’s Experience
Adults have had a lifetime of experiences. [It has been argued that] These make adult learners more heterogeneous than younger learners and also provide an additional base of knowledge that can and should be used in the classroom or technology-based learning experience. Adults want to use what they know and want to be acknowledged for having that knowledge. The design of technology-based instruction must include opportunities for learners to use their knowledge and experience. Case studies, reflective activities, group projects that call upon the expertise of group members and lab experiments are examples of the type of learning activities which will facilitate the use of learners’ already acquired expertise.
Comment: Particularly as it relates to massive multiplayer online gaming (MMOG), the social aspects which may be leveraged in such environments and the genuine team-based play which can spell success or failure is an ideal example of incorporating this tenet.
4. A Student’s Readiness to Learn
Adults become ready to learn something when, as Knowles explained, “they experience a need to learn it in order to cope more satisfyingly with real-life tasks or problems.”[i] It is important that lessons developed in technology-based opportunities should, where possible, be concrete and relate to students’ needs and future goals.
Comment: Personal relevance is key to a successful gaming experience.
5. The Student’s Orientation to Learning
Adults are life, task or problem-centered in their orientation to learning. They want to see how what they are learning will apply to their life, a task they need to perform, or to solving a problem. Technology-based instruction will be more effective if it uses real-life examples or situations that adult learners may encounter in their life or on the job. Allowing flexibility in the design of a lesson will permit student input on issues that need to be addressed in a class. If students can bring real-life examples of school discipline challenges to a chat session in an online course on behavior management they will be anxious to participate and gain the practical experience which will help them to do better at their job.
Comment: Gaming can effectively bridge the reality/simulation gap.
6. Students’ Motivation to Learn
While adult learners may respond to external motivators, internal priorities are more important. Incentives such as increased job satisfaction, self-esteem and quality of life are important in giving adults a reason to learn. If any of these can be related as part of technology-based instruction adults will respond more positively.
Comment: Why else play games? The internal motivation elicited through successful game design plays directly to the adult’s need to accomplish more than just get a good grade.
[i] Knowles, Malcolm S. 1980. The Modern Practice of Adult Education; From Andragogy to Pedagogy. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Cambridge Adult Education.