Teaching Assistants' Training Program

Description

This workshop will outline the educational benefits and practical components of Game Based Learning (GBL). While gamified teaching typically connotes the use of contests to motivate student learning, not all GBL involves competition. Dungeons and Dragons, for instance, is not a zero sum game; no one character wins or loses. In many virtual and tabletop role play games, characters collaborate together, problem solve, and even use “meta-gaming” to shift in and out of character to strategize possible outcomes. The same practices can be applied to post-secondary teaching in order to support learning outcomes and motivate student buy-in. Drawing on principles of GBL, this workshop will introduce participants to a range of practical strategies and activities (including specifical educational technologies conducive to online GBL) to support individual students and motivate a community of learners to collaborate in play-as-learning.