To find out if
students can benefit from certain after school activities, Dr. Silvia Bunge, a
neuroscientist, got permission from an elementary school in Oakland, California
to coordinate 75-minute sessions twice a week. The sample of children in the
Bunge investigation came from a poor demographic in the Oakland area with
average IQ scores of 90.
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Bunge and her
graduate students were trying to determine if reasoning ability would improve
from a regimen of these activities using a standardized measuring instrument
before and after eight weeks. Unexpectedly, the average reasoning score for the
seventeen 7-9 year olds (ten boys and seven girls) improved 32%!
The group also enlisted
another group of 7-9 year olds (eight boys and three girls) in a similar time frame
to ascertain increments in an entirely different brain function: processing
speed. That group's improvement after eight weeks went up 27%.
So, what were these special
activities that elicited such enormous gains in brain function?
They were predominantly
card and board games! For the reasoning aspect they used the card games SET, Push
Hour, and Qwirkle. For the speed processing phase they used the card
games Spoons and Speed and the board games Blink
and Perfection.
The investigators
were simply trying to ascertain if ordinary card and board games could improve
specific brain functions (reasoning and speed processing). While educators are
more concerned about the mastery of content areas in our children, they are
nevertheless triggering a wider assortment of brain-related functions.
Reasoning and speed processing are among them. [1]
A number of
researchers have weighed in on the efficacy of old-fashion board game inclusion
in the classroom and find them to be an effective means to transmit or review
content. However, in the last ten years there has been an explosion of
electronic devices at all age levels, and learning is often coming from the
swiftness of hyperlinks and videos on a small phone display. This contemporary
technology is mobile, immediate, and massive in scope.
You do not have to
go to a library to access volumes for knowledge but can do a search and get a
long list of links that have your code words highlighted. And even if those
hand-held phones are off limits in school, rest assured the students are all
over them at the sound of the closing bell, and not for academic purposes
either. Their brains go into hyperdrive as they check out messages and Facebook
postings. It is addicting and many are at it for hours at a time. Dr.
Leonard Sax, noted psychiatrist and author, feels that texting has replaced
talking and that girls in particular do not develop a well-developed sense of
identity during the crucial teen years. [2]
It means, too, that this
generation will likely find sitting through a class more boring than we did unless
it allows for the same rapidity as the search vehicles and text messaging. This
includes reading assignments or novels at home. We were accustomed to sitting
through a series of classes a generation of ago because we had the attention
span and patience to endure the instructors' pace. There weren't alternatives. Many
of us sat through quite a few 50-minute lectures, survived without an iPod, and
went on to be successful in our endeavors.
But that was then and
now is now, and young people have choices in what sensory information is directed
to their brains (especially after school lets out) along with the portability
to get it from any venue. Many schools have adapted to the new 'learning' and
outfitted entire student bodies with laptops. There is a concerted effort to
update pedagogy and take advantage of the tech savvy of students, many more
current than their teachers (who go through long in-services to keep up to
date).
How about the Bunge
result? Improving reasoning and speed processing in the brain many percentage
points in just eight weeks is unusually impressive using just board and card
games. Would the incorporation of such old-fashion amusements be a relevant
tool in a classroom? Can cognitive
development witnessed by the Bunge team occur in the major disciplines:
mathematics, science, social studies, English, and world languages? I believe
it can.
From the educational
perspective, board games provide a level of engagement that enhances several
important cognitive and social functions:
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· Sustain concentration and develop attention
span.
· Derive enjoyment and thrill.
· Cooperate with others by waiting for the next
turn.
· Retain information.
· Strategize based on the actions of the
participants.
· Communicate moves and intentions as warranted
by the game rules.
· Make choices and take risks.
· Perform a task to completion.
· Bloom's taxonomy: Recall, Interpret,
Implement, Analyze, Evaluate, Create
It is an impressive
list and any educator would be pleased to have their charges manifest them in
their classes. Play is natural for children because it stimulates the pleasure
center in the brain through the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine. The
social interaction with participants sets off this process, and the
simultaneous use of cognitive functions becomes part of the reward-pleasure
system. Moreover, playing the game stimulates dopamine release, which helps the
child sustain attention to the completion of the task. This motivates the child
to continue playing, along with the reinforcement of the above bulleted cognitive processes.
It is a win-win situation.
The bottom line is
that children want to play and science has shown that supplemental instructional
strategies are available to meet that need and effectively teach content. What
was relevant a decade ago as quality instructional practices might not work to
meet the immediacy of stimulation children have grown accustomed. The fact of
the matter is that incorporation of lessons that touch the brain's play button
can be very satisfying for all parties. A multiple number of teaching devices
(lectures, quizzes, videos) can continue to serve the instructional needs of a
classroom but inclusion of board and card games can meet that need too as well
as increase the motivation to learn.
The question arises:
can a teacher implement gaming in a class to teach content and maximize the
benefits listed above? Certainly using
any of the voluminous popular commercial board games (including Scrabble, Monopoly, Risk, Clue, and
Mastermind) should improve cognition but it may not please parents and
administrators if that was a staple in a teacher's lessons. They are not
relevant to most subject areas in school. They are commercial board games. However,
can the board games be content specific so they can serve a purposeful need in
a subject?
There are a number
of online sites that have a broad range of templates similar to the commercial
games that can be downloaded and edited to suit a teacher's needs. There are
sites that are content specific, too. Add to that, a number of teachers have
modified the commercial games to their specific subject and posted them online.
The games can be
adapted to use their pieces, cards, and board layouts to perform any number of
tasks along with the rolling of dice or movement of an icon. In other words the
specific tasks associated with your course can be performed in a game format to
move icons or accumulate items either by the prompts listed on the board or on
a card. For example:
· State an answer to a question
· Solve a math problem
· Write one or more sentences using proper
grammar.
· Evaluate a written piece.
· Multiple Choice
· Fill in the blank
· True or False
To teachers:
The Bunge team saw
an incredible spike in reasoning and speed processing by simply allowing the
Oakland children to play card and board games. Such increases occurred when
those students were spending just
20 hours (1.25
hour/session x 2 sessions/week x 8 weeks) of games coupled with their classroom
experiences of
160 hours (5
days/week x 8 weeks x 4 hours/day) during that eight week interval.
This current generation
of students is immersed in a technology that lures them daily. It has added the
element of immediate gratification in the sphere of stimuli for children, and
schools are contenting with this wave of information management. I feel that
educators should take advantage of the simplicity of card and board games since
they are a means to promote cooperation, motivate, sustain attention, and teach
content.
To parents:
Board games are an
excellent cognitive enhancer that will have a carryover to both social
interaction and academic avenues. The expense is minimal considering the significant
brain development that transpires. Do not hesitate to purchase complicated
games as your children become more game-savvy. Enter them into tournaments in
your area. Play with them and have their friends come by and be part of the
action.
References
[1] Bunge, S., Mackey, Hill, Stone, Differential effects of reasoning and speed training in children, Developmental Science, Volume 14,
Issue 3, pages 582–590, May 2011
