Social Studies 7 Role-Playing Game: "A Brave New World"
Inquiry question: Will transforming Social Studies textbook content into a computer RPG increase student engagement and test scores?
Introduction
After my first few days at my practicum placement, I noticed my male students were using their Chromebooks to constantly involve themselves in online games. Students would do this both in and out of class time and proved itself a sizeable classroom management issue. Since most of the games they played were rudimentary (some as simple as clicking a cookie) I wondered if they would play any game, even if it meant learning class content.
I knew of a program called RPG Maker MV that allowed one to create their own role-playing game (typically containing a story line and levelling system). After purchasing the program on Steam, I set out to create a Social Studies RPG that incorporated curriculum content and class concepts |
Social Studies Elements
Most of the chapter content from the student's textbook was weaved into the game to cover curricular outcomes and act as a study resource for the chapter exam. Additionally, mini quizzes were placed at a few key moments in the story line and required completion before students could continue their quest.
The first chapter of the game follows the story line of a French sailor who was thrown from Jacques Cartier's ship amidst a storm. Your character sets out in "A Brave New World" to find his crew but ends up getting involved with the local Mi'kmaq tribe and starting a life of his own as a father of one of the first Métis. The second chapter of the game follows a coureur de bois and descendant of the main character from the first chapter. On a fur run from the local Wendat camp to a trading post, you run into trouble with the Haudenosaunee and eventually begin talks that led to the events of The Great Peace of 1701. |
RPG Elements
RPG games typically incorporate a number of systems to enhance gameplay such as levelling systems, equipment, character statistics, battle systems and puzzles. "A Brave New World" incorporates all of these elements in an effort to maximize engagement with gameplay and content. A variety of cut scenes, enemies, mazes, and battle mechanics like blindness, knockouts, and poisoning were just some of the components introduced to the game to enhance the experience and increase engagement.
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Challenges
Aside from RPG Maker MV costing money (over $88 full price), there were many new things to learn when getting familiar with the program that costed precious time. These time strains included:
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Results
The game was hugely successful in engaging my students and some even continued playing the game after the chapter exam had passed. Oddly enough, it was the girls that really got into the game as opposed to my target, the boys. The site I used to distribute the software was https://itch.io, which allowed my students to access the game via browser at any location. This site offers an 'Analytics' page for your game, which tells you how many people have viewed the page and how many have played the game. Using this I was able to track my student's browser plays over time and ensure my students were engaging with content.
Students in the class: 20 Page Views: 90 Browser Plays: 75 Regarding exam scores, the results were inconclusive as to whether the game served to increase the average. Chapter 1 Exam Average Score (no game created): 75.53% Chapter 2 Exam Average Score ("A Brave New World" Part 1): 66.82% Chapter 3 Exam Average Score (no game created): 71.5% Chapter 4 Exam Average Score ("A Brave New World" Part 2): 82.12% |
Concluding Remarks
As long as my students were playing the game I could be assured that they were engaging with Social Studies content and practicing literacy, which attended to English Language Arts outcomes on top of Social Studies outcomes. Moreover, due to the battle system, the game also incorporated numeracy and attended to Mathematics outcomes. The game will remain online and will be readily available to my teacher mentor, staff, and students, which will serve a valuable resource for teaching Canadian history into the future.
Social Studies SLOs: 7.1.1, 7.1.2, 7.1.3.2, 7.1.3.4, 7.1.3.6, 7.1.3.7, 7.1.4.1, 7.1.4.2, 7.1.5.1
7.S.1.1, 7.S.1.5, 7.S.4.6, 7.S.7.7
English Language Arts SLOs: 7.1.2.2, 7.2.1.4, 7.2.1.8, 7.5.1.5
Mathematics SLOs: Develop number sense 2 and 6
Social Studies SLOs: 7.1.1, 7.1.2, 7.1.3.2, 7.1.3.4, 7.1.3.6, 7.1.3.7, 7.1.4.1, 7.1.4.2, 7.1.5.1
7.S.1.1, 7.S.1.5, 7.S.4.6, 7.S.7.7
English Language Arts SLOs: 7.1.2.2, 7.2.1.4, 7.2.1.8, 7.5.1.5
Mathematics SLOs: Develop number sense 2 and 6