How could a game have taught your favorite topic in school?

[J T]

Hopefully you guys can come up with some creative answers to this.

I'm interested in how games could make learning more fun, and possibly do a better job than traditional text and instruction. My area is the psychological sciences and I'll have more to say on that later, but get creative and share your thoughts on a video game that could teach the major skills/concepts of your area of expertise.

To aid in thinking:

What are the goals of your profession/area?
What are the methods to achieve those goals?
How can that be gamified?

[Curlypaul]

Well I'm a software engineer, so solving logical problems is the main task I face each day.

I thought Chu Chu Rocket did a pretty good job of that. Each problem had a logical solution, personally I traced backwards from the goal until I reached the start point and with some trial and error on the harder levels.

I also thought the original Sim City taught me a lot about urban geography and the general dynamics of a town. Reading a map is important for many other games. Resource management is another that crops up a lot.

All games are some sort of learning experience - the game presents you with the need to learn a new skill to progress, you master it and move onto the next challenge. To try and work academic subjects into here, they have to be covered in a vale of fun.

Sorry, I don't think is quite what you are after but I'm not really one of those people that brim with ideas, I create solutions that make other peoples ideas real. Interesting topic though.

[Menegrothx]

History can be taught by bringing it to life via video games. The game can be a funny adventure game (like Day of the Tentacle with the founding fathers), a more serious puzzle solving/adventure game (for example solving murder cases in 19th century London or just before/during WW1 in some European city, it could be something like this) a RPG or a strategy game/RTS. Anyway you do it, the student gets a more tangible picture of what life was like back then, which makes it more intresting to many. It will feel like playing any other game, except that you're learning new stuff about the historical perioid the game is set in just by exploring the game world like you'd do in any other video game.

Resource management, practical and strategic thinking and other such skills can be learned by playing competitive Player versus Player games. RTS and strategy games like Starcraft and Hearts of Iron, certain FPS games and MMORPGs like World of Warcraft.

I'm sure vocational schools could use these type of games to train their students

[ninjainspandex]

bubble bobble taught me how to eat healthy foods

[Gamerforlife]

I've heard of shooters being used by military. I think Full Spectrum Warrior was some sort of military training made into a game. I actually own that game for the Xbox just out of curiosity

From wikipedia:

"Full Spectrum Warrior relates to the Army's program of training soldiers to be flexible and adaptable to a broad range of operational scenarios."

Also from wikipedia:

"The game has been adapted by psychologists to assist veterans from Iraq overcome the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder."

More info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_Spectrum_Warrior

For history or literature purposes, I like how games like Dynasty Warriors 3 let you PLAY through the events of the Romance of The Three Kingdoms novel

[Menegrothx]

I've heard of shooters being used by military.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America%27s_Army

[elmagicochrisg]

We've got Shenmue for that...

Could use Mario is Missing for geography...

[Tempest]

On an overt level, NiGHTS encourages a person to reach for their goals despite adversity. On another level, it prompts psychological growth through its use of Jungian concepts, like individuation (the collection of the children's dream energies represents the integration of the different parts of the psyche). I might have to upload my essay on the matter.

[BoringSupreez]

My favorite school subject is history, and Civilization 3 taught me some. The Civilopedia is full of background information on every thing in the game, and I believe I've read the entire resource in the time I've played the game.

SimCity 2000 and 3000 taught me the basics of balancing a budget and how taxes work for a government.

[Luke]

It depends on how people learn, and personally, I don't see video "games" teaching us squat. Interactive drills on the other hand may work for some, but not all. As you already know, some people learn by audio, others by visuals, combinations, or different routes.

I learn best by teaching what I have learned. This doesn't really translate to video games. But, to answer your questions:

1) I'm a director of e-commerce. My goal, as any job in business, is to maximize shareholder wealth. So if there is a game based on excel, it would be a good learning tool.

2) To achieve this goal I use pricing strategy, forecasts of the economy and seasonal shopping trends, survey the customer base, develop sales and marketing strategies, utilize social media, improve on content management, develop websites that are SEO friendly, handle customer service issues, website maintenance, track our competitors, decide what products and colors are trending, look for company acquisitions,and that's just the beginning.

3) Unless you are me, you don't want this gamified and probably can't. It's real life, and the game can end at anytime without explanation.

If I become an invincible drug mule, super detective, wizard, gangster, plumber, elf, vampire slayer, dolphin (most unlikely), or a space harrier I'll get back to ya.

This is a question best left to athletes if you ask me. The only games that actually work in the military are left to those flying drones. Some athletes memorize playbooks by playing Madden. That's fine with me. But I don't want my surgeon practicing his/her skills on a DS.