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harpy
2010-08-22, 09:09 PM
I'm about to start a certification program to become a social studies teacher which utilizes life experience as one element in the certification process. Basically you can fill in some gaps in the certification process by finding equivalencies with life experience.

One thing that I want to draw upon is nearly 30 years of gaming, particularly roleplaying games. I've been the main GM in my gaming circles all these years and it isn't lost on me that there are many overlapping skills that both GMs and teachers use. Between prep work, modeling ideas and scenes, presenting material in a coherent format, and even making assessments of the players... all of these things are done by also by teachers.

There is a lot more to my background that will help towards the certification, and the program itself puts me right into several practicums so that I can have a chance to practice and demonstrate skills as an educator. Still, I just can't pass up all of these years of GMing as a pertinent skill to add to the overall portfolio.

What I'm wondering is if anyone knows of any papers, websites or other resources that detail the whole issue of the educational merits of RPGs, and or gaming in general. While I'm going to make the case myself based off of my own experience, if there are other sources I can cite then all the better.

darkpuppy
2010-08-22, 09:15 PM
oh, man... I remember there used to be a lot of articles on this theme by Andrew Rilstone, a vicar/priest who RPed and wrote articles for Arcane magazine (I really miss that mag...) ... but I really can't remember any offhand... If you want one which brings across the point, but in an amusing manner, Dork Tower did one early on that illustrates the point, albeit with a typically Dork Tower perspective (problem solving: LET'S GET HIM FOR KILLING THE PARTY! and Teamwork: I'LL HOLD HIM DOWN)

But, to be serious, the benefits are manifold, but vary from group to group. Teamwork and other social skills, math skills, literacy skills, memory, problem solving... the list goes on...

The Rose Dragon
2010-08-23, 01:38 AM
You can learn foreign languages by playing them? I know I did.

WinWin
2010-08-23, 01:44 AM
There is a lot of colloquial support for the idea that RPG's can assist in literacy, numeracy and socialisation. I suggest you broaden your search to include games in general. Particularly developmental influences.

Chrono22
2010-08-23, 01:55 AM
I'd say one of the best skills you can bring away from DMing is leadership. More specifically, DMing can allow you to develop time management and interpersonal skills.
Edit: I DID read the OP, and I'm looking for such papers now... I bet if you dug up some old dragon or dungeon articles, you could find publications about the educational benefits of RPGs and D&D.

Aotrs Commander
2010-08-23, 06:14 AM
Don't know of any specific papers, but I know that Rolemaster certainly helped my mental maths speed drastically. I started playing it at age 10-11 with a group of adults - adult engineers at that. I started out having to scribble it down on a sheet of paper, while everyone else did it in their heads. Now, twenty years later, I'm the fastest of the lot of us.

I second Chrono22 on the DMing and organisational/interpersonal skills thing too.

Jornophelanthas
2010-08-23, 06:41 AM
I once read an article by a professor at MIT that dealt with roleplaying and its therapeutic value.

Turkle, Sherry. "Constructions and Reconstructions of Self in Virtual Reality." Mind, Culture, and Activity, 1, 3, Summer 1994. (Reprinted in Electronic Culture: Technology and Visual Representation, Timothy Druckrey (ed.). Aperture Foundation, 1996 and Culture of the Internet, Sara Kiesler (ed.). Hilldale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1997.)

(See especially the case study of Julee, and footnote 3 may offer a good reference.)

It can be found (legally) here, at the author's professional website: http://web.mit.edu/sturkle/www/publications.html

Judging by the titles of other books and articles by the same professor, some of those could also be of interest to you, although the emphasis is more on computer-mediated virtual reality than actual roleplaying.

(Please note that I am not affiliated with MIT or professor Turkle in any way. I attend a different university in a different country and have never met this professor.)

DabblerWizard
2010-08-23, 09:49 AM
OP - If you live in the US, you should be able to find journal articles that talk about the benefits of gaming. Many libraries (especially university ones) have access to pdfs and hard copies of journal articles, as well as access to numerous journal article databases.

You will likely want to find an education database (e.g. Education Research Complete), or a psychology database (e.g. PsycINFO).

Here are a few articles you might like, that can be easily found on PsycINFO:

Bobby Hoffman, Louis Nadelson
"Motivational engagement and video gaming: A mixed methods study"
Educational Technology Research and Development, Vol 58(3), Jun, 2010. pp. 245-270

Sara de Freitas, Mark Griffiths
"Online gaming as an educational tool in learning and training"
British Journal of Educational Technology, Vol 38(3), May, 2007. pp. 535-537

the humanity
2010-08-23, 12:42 PM
when I was in 1st grade, my history teacher had a RPG in which we were Californian gold miners. we divided into mining camps and tried to outdo each other with the amount of gold we could pan. that is California history. it was the coolest thing ever.

valadil
2010-08-23, 01:36 PM
I don't have a link anymore, but I remember an article about a church who decided to investigate D&D. Basically a number of concerned parents called up their priest because they wondered if their children were practicing satanism while roleplaying. Contrary to stereotype, the priest did some research and gave D&D a try. He watched the kids play and found that not only was it harmless, it was beneficial as well. Now the church offers space for gamers to play.

The particular benefits they found were more applicable to elementary schoolers than what you're going for. I think they mentioned that the kids picked up quite a bit of vocabulary (polymorph in particular) and that it helped their math skills. I don't think the article went into detail on how it helped them socially or creatively, but it's a worthwhile read if you can find it.

dsmiles
2010-08-23, 01:39 PM
I don't have any articles or written references, but i was teaching my kids 4e this summer, and I used the dice to teach my youngest (going into 1st grade this year) basic addition and subtraction. The older ones (11, 10, and 9) honed math skills, and learned about the concept of teamwork and what happens if you "split the party." :smalleek:

Satyr
2010-08-23, 01:55 PM
I have zero experiences with the American school system and the particular literature, but from my experiences as a teacher(-to-be) roleplays are a didactic and by themselves can be used to make some concepts -e.g. various agendas of different groups and resulting conflicts, or systematic issues more feasible.
It is a bit more relaxing form of class and due to its novelty factor and comparable freedom it was very popular with my students.
This doesn't always work with every subject of course, but when I used this method to explain the Treaty of Versailles, where small work groups took the role of various nations' diplomats and had to negotiate; it worked very well,way beyond my expectations, both for the long-term understanding of the topic and for the participation of the class.

TheThan
2010-08-23, 02:24 PM
Off the top of my head:

Reading
Reading comprehension
Basic math (add, subtract, rounding, fraction etc)
Thinking out side the box
Storytelling
Teamwork
Ability to win/loose graciously
Dealing with multiple personalities
Solving disputes between two people
Playing by the rules
Leadership

dsmiles
2010-08-23, 02:25 PM
Dealing with multiple personalities

This was an issue for you in childhood? :smallwink:

Naia
2010-08-23, 03:20 PM
I'm a teacher too and have definitely learned A LOT from DMing that I use in my everyday work. In addition to what everyone else said:

Creativity
and
Improvisation, improvisation, improvisation! (these kids are as bad or worse as players at derailing your carefully laid plans...) :smallamused:

As for what the OP was actually asking for - sorry - I am of no help :smallfrown:

ScIaDrd
2010-08-23, 03:50 PM
An interesting question, you have here, certainly.
For me It ïs the ability to act within an established conceptual framework, and making stipulations, and rules that depend on others and various guidelines, and closing any loopholes. Legalese, basically. Homebrewing as a pastime, way more often than you actually get to play, will do that to you. :smallamused:
My mum even laughs at me, that all that brewing twists my brain and I actually use that pedantic rule writing skills in real life, pondering how to improve warning signs and the like. It ´s quite fun.
And oh yeah, creative writing. Having to write a more or less realistic personality in a few pages makes you improve a lot. And of course, vocabulary. 'Resplendent' is now my favorite smart-sounding English word. *pats his Exalted book lovingly*
...
:smalleek:
Oh, you wanted actual academic resources?
Havethese (http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/melbourne01/pdf/papers/bellm.pdf) two (http://www.google.com/books?hl=cs&lr=&id=4meAFnexIMoC&oi=fnd&pg=PA126&dq=Studies+about+academic+merit+of+roleplaying&ots=6KyUVlA4_I&sig=rqVACbWT7gUNNwCcIXf5ziIPPec#v=onepage&q&f=false) papers.

Dr.Epic
2010-08-23, 04:26 PM
OMG, if you teach a class like a DM I'll praise you and laugh my ass off. Have the entire class role for initiative when they arrive in class and go around asking them in that order question relevant to the topic and award in class XP. Their grade would be determined by how many times they level up. I may have to become a teacher just to do this. Roll an attack to see if you fill in the correct circle on a multiple choice test, and if you roll a high enough spot/listen check you won't be surprised for a pop quiz. I am having far too much fun with this idea.

TheThan
2010-08-23, 06:16 PM
This was an issue for you in childhood? :smallwink:

came out completely wrong.

meant dealing with multiple personality types. Though I do admit, it did read pretty funny.