Alumni Association University of Michigan Winter 2010 : Page 39has fun with the class and allows students to go in their own directions, arriving at different solutions for the same problem. Students enjoy the class because they’re encouraged to take creative risks. Murphy believes, “They can only learn if they’re allowed to fail.” Re-imagining School School of Education: Video Games & Learning Students who feel guilty when they take time from studying to play the latest Xbox release are delighted with this class, where video games are part of the homework. “What the class is really about is trying to understand what makes a good video game so engaging,” explains Associate Professor Barry Fishman. “Why do we want to play it and keep playing it? How can we make education just as engaging?” Students select a Mac, PC or console game to play all semester and keep diaries tracking experiences and theorizing about what makes the game educational. They design an educational game, integrating what they have learned from readings on motivation and learning theory. Among the fundamentals they’ve discovered: Games are good at teaching you how to play them—all you need to know is built in. You can adjust the level so you aren’t bored or frustrated. And the game is available whenever you want to play it. “Can we use these principles to teach students more effectively?” Fishman asks. “Our goal in the class is not to make school into a game, but to take what we know about effective game design and then re-imagine school environments to make them more engaging.” The professor uses technology to turn a large class into a small seminar. Students craft reactions, often playful in tone, to assigned readings and post them on a class Wiki, where they read and critique each other’s comments. They text a polling site, www. polleverywhere.com, to vote on favorite comments, and top vote-getters read their reactions, launching a discussion. Guest speakers, sometimes the authors of class readings or game designers, pay virtual visits to class, discussing approaches and answering questions. Through this participation, those who plan to pursue careers in education learn ways to use technology in their own classrooms. Students, mostly juniors and seniors, come from LSA, engineering, business and other parts of the University as well as education. “The class gave me a new perspective,” says LSA senior Garri Aronson. “Video games, which are usually perceived to have no educational value, could actually be educational.” Top 25 Enrolled Classes Fall 2009 We chose the classes described in this article based on an informal survey of students and staff within U-M’s schools and colleges. For an official list of the classes that have the highest enrollment, we turned to the Office of the Registrar. Course Number English 125 Mathematics 115 Chemistry 130 Psychology 111 Chemistry 210 Statistics 350 Chemistry 125 Chemistry 126 Chemistry 211 Economics 101 Cultural Anthropology 101 Mathematics 215 Mathematics 116 Biology 171 Spanish 232 Biology 173 Engineering 101 Physics 141 Spanish 231 Mathematics 105 Mathematics 216 Engineering 100 Physics 140 Physics 241 Course Title College Writing Calculus I Enrollment 1,700 1,621 General Chemistry: Macroscopic Investigations and Reaction Principles 1,578 Introduction to Psychology Structure and Reactivity I Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis General Chemistry Laboratory I General Chemistry Laboratory II Investigations in Chemistry Principles of Economics I Introduction to Anthropology Calculus III Calculus II 1,492 1,380 1,376 1,358 1,342 1,280 930 812 804 751 Intro Biology: Ecology and Evolution 745 Second-Year Spanish, Continued Introductory Biology Laboratory 677 675 Introduction to Computers and Programming Elementary Laboratory I Second-Year Spanish Data, Functions, and Graphs Introduction to Differential Equations Introduction to Engineering General Physics I Elementary Laboratory II 673 670 640 620 618 603 568 555 Michigan Alumnus • Winter 2010 • umalumni.com | 39 Publication List |
