Education Through Playing – Without The Exam
Education Week recently reported that a version of the popular SimCity computer game geared to students, dubbed SimCityEdu (@SimCityEDU), has been released. Unlike many computer games in education, SimCityEdu has an embedded evaluation system that allows teachers to track students’ understanding of what the game is trying to teach. 3,000 data points are tracked, allowing for extensive real-time assessment.
SimCity is a game that places the player in the role of a mayor of a large city. The player is expected to found and build a city, like maintaining its infrastructure, adhering to a budget and maximizing the happiness of the citizens. Mayors of simulation cities have to deal with providing utilities, such as water, power and waste management, and establishing an appropriate level of taxation. The education version of SimCity requires the players to balance the growth of their cities with environmental concerns.
The SimCity Pollution Challenge consists of six exercises or missions increasing in complexity. Each mission has a goal of growing the city’s infrastructure and increasing its economic vitality while minimizing the environmental impact. The beauty of Pollution Challenge is that each mission has multiple solutions. The exercise is a method of both enhancing a student’s problem solving skills and learning facts and concepts.
The ability to provide an assessment of how the student/player is doing has been lacking in many games in education, contributing to the resistance to adopting them as a part of a system of learning. SimCityEdu seems to fill that gap. It is suggested that it will be the first of many such learning games.
One other advantage of having a game with a built-in assessment system is that it allows the students to learn from their failures. It also allows teachers to quickly identify students’ strengths and weaknesses, allowing them to adjust their education regime to the needs of the individual student.
