Concrete Practice: Learner-Created Games
What Is a Learner-Created Game?
A Learner-Created Game is a review activity, usually in a game format, in which learners take the roles of creators, leaders, hosts, players, timers, and referees. As obvious as this type of concrete practice may seem—yes, learners can create and lead their own review games—it’s interesting to note how often the trainer ends up creating and leading the game.
Even though most trainers know the value of participatory games in reviewing learned material, it is still difficult for many of us to step aside and hand over the game creation and leadership to the learners. Sometimes that isn’t our fault. Learners expect us to take the leadership role in a review game; after all, we know what the game will be—they don’t.
If trainers were totally honest, though, we would probably acknowledge that it’s fun (and an ego boost) to be the game leader and call the shots, so to speak. Again, the challenge for us is to break our own long-held habits, step aside, and let the learners create—and lead—their own games.
In his book Design Your Own Games and Activities (2003), corporate trainer and gaming guru Sivasailam (Thiagi) Thiagarajan calls learner-created games “framegames.” He defines framegames as “templates for the instant creation of a performance-improvement activity” (p. 8). As such, this template or frame becomes the game’s structure, which learners use when they create their own games. Thiagi’s book abounds with framegames.
Most of television’s game shows are examples of framegames as well. In the United States, some of these game shows are: Jeopardy®, Hollywood Squares®, Wheel of Fortune®, Family Feud®, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?®, and Deal or No Deal®. The structures of these game shows are general enough to be used with just about any topic.
Of course, you need to set some guidelines for Learner-Created Games so that participants have a structure that makes the game work better for everyone. Here are a few suggested guidelines:
• Game purpose. Make sure learners know the purpose of the game and how it ties to the learning outcomes of the training. This means that you need to think about how effective a particular game will be as a learning tool for all learners before you decide to include the game.
• Frame the game. Explain to learners the general structure of the game (examples: game-show format, pencil-paper, card game, collaborative versus competitive, or team versus individual). The frame also includes what will be expected of the participants and the group or individual accountability.
• Leadership rotation. Instruct learners to rotate game roles (leader, host, referee, timer, players) so that everyone has a turn to both play a role and play the game.
• Collaboration versus competition. As I mentioned in the chapter “Brain-Friendly Training,” when collaboration is emphasized and competition is de-emphasized, most people learn better, at least at the beginning of a learning experience. This is not to say that competition should be eliminated from concrete practice. Instead, it means that, whenever possible, use some elements of collaboration as part of the competition. For example, when participants compete as teams instead of as individuals and team members are allowed to collaborate on game-show answers, everyone participates and learns.
• Game duration. Before the game, determine how long the game will last, the level of participation (for example, everyone participates at the same time or learners rotate participant roles), and the criteria for “winning” the game. Often, games can have many winners, instead of just one person or group.
• Post-game discussion. Create a list of questions that learners will discuss after the game is over. During the post-game discussion, learners reflect on and talk about what they learned from the activity itself. Examples of post-game discussion questions:
• What was the most important thing you learned from playing the game?
• What was something that surprised you during the game?
• What was a pattern or interesting element that you observed?
• What did you learn about the game content that you didn’t know before?
• What information from the game can you use after the training ends?
• What suggestions do you have that would make the game a better learning experience?
• What are some variations to this game that would be useful if you played it again?
• How could you use a game like this at work to help you remember new information/skills?
What Does a Learner-Created Game Do?
When learners create, lead, play, host, and referee their own learner-created game, they
• Increase their understanding of the content learned.
• Translate what they know into practical application.
• Create unique ways to move the knowledge or skills into long-term memory.
• Help others review important information or skills in a wide variety of ways.
• Self-correct and peer-correct any misconceptions or mistakes.
• Own the game and the content the game is based on, meaning that they have more of a reason for wanting to learn and use it than just the trainer telling them that it is important to know.
Getting Ready
• Materials: Provide standard training materials, as well as any other materials specified by the table groups. Most groups will need index cards, writing materials, markers, construction or other colored paper, card stock, chart paper, and other game-making materials.
• Setup: Learners will determine what the setup is for each game.
• Group Size: Learners also determine the size of groups playing the game.
• Time: The amount of time needed to create and then play the game may vary from group to group. You can determine the time allotted, or learners can do this, within the general time frame of the training.
Five Learner-Created Games
1. Card Games
Before learners or table groups create their own card games, give them examples of games, either on a printed list (see below), a chart list, or verbally. Learners then do the following:
• They work in pair, triads, or table groups to create the card games.
• Each pair, triad, or table group creates a different card game using index cards as the game pieces.
• Each group also makes a game instruction card and an answer key card. When the groups finish creating their card games, they exchange games with other groups (or with pairs/triads).
• The groups play each other’s games and exchange games again, if time allows.
• After the games are over, each group holds its own post-game discussion. Or you can ask for a volunteer to lead a whole-group discussion about the games.
Listed below are some Card Game examples for learners to read and use:
• Twenty Questions. Prepare a set of about a dozen game cards. On each card, print a topic-related question and answer and the number of points the card is worth. The instruction card reads: “Choose a game leader. The leader reads each question and calls on the person who first raises his hand to answer it. If the answer is correct, that person is awarded the points. At the end of the game, the person in the group with the most points wins. You can rotate the leader role so everyone has a chance to play.”
• Myth or Fact. Prepare a set of about two-dozen game cards. On each card print a topic-related statement. Some of the statements are myths and others are facts about the topic. On a separate index card print “MYTHS” and on another print “FACTS” in large letters. Make an answer key card, or print the word MYTH or FACT on the back of each card. The instruction card reads: “As a group, discuss and sort the statement cards into two piles: MYTHS and FACTS. After you sort the cards, use the answer key (or turn the cards over) to see whether you sorted them correctly. Give your group a point for each correct card. Let the whole group know your score at the end of the game.”
• Put Them in Order. On each card, print a statement that describes separate steps in a topic-related procedure. Make an answer key card too. The instruction card reads: “As a group, discuss and agree on the order in which the steps occur, as described on each card. Put the cards in order. Then check your group’s choices with the answer key. Give your group a ‘high five’ if you put the cards in the correct order.”
• Fill-in-the-Blanks. On each card print one factual statement but with one or two important words left out. Put a point value on each card. On the back side of each card, print the word or words that were left out of the statement. The instructions card reads: “Lay the cards, statement sides up, on the table. Each person in the group takes a turn choosing one card and verbally reading and completing the statement by saying what words he thinks go in the blanks. He turns the card over and checks the printed answer against his own. If he is correct, he is awarded the points. The person with the most points wins.”
2. Grab and Gab
This is a variation of the game Grab That Spoon in The Ten-Minute Trainer. For this game, each table group creates a printed list of a dozen or more items. The listed items can be
• Questions and answers and point values for each topic-related question.
• True and false statements about the concepts learned and point values for each statement.
• Concepts that are topic-related and point values for each concept.
The game procedure is as follows:
• Place an object in the middle of each table group and within easy reach of all the game players at that table. Besides being an important part of the game, the object will be the final prize for the person in the group with the most points. Objects can be topic-related or metaphorical. Some examples are a company baseball cap or tee-shirt, a mouse pad for a computer class, a small bag of candy for a customer service class (a metaphorical reminder to be “sweet” to customers), a toy that represents something used by the company, a stuffed animal, a rubber brain (Grab That Brain?), a Koosh® or Nerf® ball, or other objects.
• One person in the group volunteers to be the game leader (group members can rotate this role). The leader reads the question, statement, or concept.
• After the leader reads the item, the first player to grab the object must do one of the following:
• For a question—Answer the question.
• For a statement—Decide whether the statement is true or false. If it is false, give a reason why or reword it so that the statement is true.
• For a topic-related concept—Verbally define, explain, or give an example of the concept.
• After the person who grabbed the object finishes talking, the reader (or the group) decides whether his answer, his true/false assessment, or his definition/explanation is correct. If he is correct, the leader awards him the points.
• The player puts the object back in the middle of the table and the next round begins. The group plays the game until time is called. After the game is over, the participant with the most points wins the Grab and Gab object as a prize.
3. Cooperative Jeopardy
The problem with traditional Jeopardy® (as played on the television game show) is that only one person from each team actually plays the game. And the traditional game is a contest of speed more than knowledge; the person who hits the buzzer the soonest gets to state the answer. Traditional Jeopardy also has the players stating the question in response to a reading of the answer.
With Cooperative Jeopardy, everyone in the teams plays, and every team has a chance to answer the questions and win the game. Furthermore, two or more teams can win. Instructions:
• All learners create the question and answer cards for the game and give the cards point values for the difficulty of the questions.
• Three learners volunteer to be the host, timer, and referee. The referee will walk around the room and check each group’s written answer.
• The host collects the cards and begins the game by reading aloud one of the questions.
• All table groups will have fifteen seconds (twenty or thirty seconds, if the question is a difficult one) to discuss the question, agree on an answer, and write the answer on an index card.
• Once each group finishes writing, one person stands up at each table (this person has to be a different person each round, and the person may not stand until the card has been completed).
• When the timer calls “Time,” only those standing with a card to read can read their cards aloud.
• The referee makes sure that the cards have the answers written on them. The standing players take turns reading their cards aloud. The host tells them whether or not their answers are correct and awards points to the table groups with the correct answers.
• If there are any disagreements about what is or is not a correct answer, the referee has the final say. For each round, there can be more than one table group with the correct answer, and these groups are all awarded the same number of points.
• If an answer is partially correct, the referee may decide to award that group partial points.
• One member of each table group needs to keep track of the group’s points. At the end of the game, the group(s) with the most points wins.
• The host gives out small prizes, if available. Or, in lieu of prizes, the winning group(s) receive standing ovations or rounds of applause from the other table groups.
4. Ball Toss
Learners can create all sorts of review games with any kind of small, soft, throwable objects: Koosh® or Nerf® balls, beach balls, stuffed animals, bath sponges, small pillows, and balloons, to name a few. Plus, a Ball Toss is a great way to get participants up and out of their seats when they have been sitting too long. Here are three Ball Toss variations:
• Ask, Answer, Toss. Learners work in collaborative groups. Each group creates three or four topic-related questions, each with a certain point value. One group asks another group a topic-related question. The second group works collaboratively to answer the question. If the answer is correct, a group member tosses the ball into a container of some sort (trash can, bowl, bucket, bag, or small hoop) in order to win the card points. If the answer is incorrect, another group may have an opportunity to answer the question and toss the ball. Groups take turns asking questions of each other. A different person in each group tosses the ball each time so that everyone participates. The group with the most points wins the game.
• Ask, Toss, Answer. This variation is similar to the one above, except that there is no container in the Ball Toss activity. Instead, one group asks a question and tosses the ball to a second group. If the second group answers the question correctly, the group is awarded the points. Then the second group poses a question for a third group. Rounds continue until each group has had a turn at asking and answering questions and tossing the ball.
• Answer, Toss, Ask. As in traditional Jeopardy, each group creates three or four topic-related answers, each with a certain point value. The Ball Toss continues like the variation above, with the difference being that groups must state the question that goes with the answer.
5. Group Scavenger Hunts
Learners can do this activity during the training, or between training sessions if the training lasts more than one day. The activity can also be a Warm-Up variation (see Warm-Ups in Part One of this book). Instructions:
• Each table group makes a scavenger hunt list of ten (more or less, depending on time) topic-related items to find.
• Table groups exchange lists and the game time begins. Groups can work together or can divide up the list to find the items within the time allowed.
• The group (or groups) that finish finding/doing all the items before time is called are the winners.
Scavenger Hunt item examples:
Your Turn
Try your hand at a Concept Map of your own Learner-Created Games.
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