Final Exam Questions Continued

I am sitting here in my classroom.  It took me close to two weeks from the end of school to finally have the desire to come in here and work on this stuff.  For the first time in my 12 years of public education I was INCREDIBLY ready for the end of the school year.  On the last day of school, when I finally walked out of the building I didn’t really care if I ever walked back in.  Teacher burn out is real and I was there…..heck I still am there.   For anybody who doesn’t think that it is real you need to walk in the shoes of an educator for an entire school year, not one day or week but all year.  I heard it best described like this……..If you work in an office and you want to “zone out” for a few minutes….nothing happens, nobody says a word, nobody even knows.  In any school, a teacher can never zone out.  Never…..a teacher has to be mentally on…..all the time.  That can make the job arduous.

Ok, enough from my soap box.  Final Exam questions about the Munich Conference and the similarities between Nazi Germany and Communist Russia.  The stats did not change when adding in my two additional classes.  Roughly 60% of students got the questions about the Munich Conference and around 78% got the question comparing Germany and Russia. 

Next on my agenda is to make it to the store to buy Civ IV and learn it so I can possibly incorporate it into my curriculum next year.  Or maybe second semester next year.  Although I have to admit gaming in the classroom will be a bit more difficult next year.  I have my class rosters for next year and my classes are huge.  It will be difficult to game like I have with 29 in a class.  I am not even sure our lab has 29 computers but all of these hurdles can be overcome with a little creativity.  This job is never the same…it is always interesting.

I probably won’t be posting much over the summer.  I will put up links to articles I find that are of interest.  Maybe some thoughts about Civ after I get into it.  But overall, I am taking a mental break.  My mind only has a couple of nurons firing at this point and I think they will be better spent on golf, cheap cigars, and the four ladies in my life!  (my wife and three daughters)  Have a great summer!

Final Exam Questions

Today was a final exam day and after grading the first set of exams I have some more data to share.  First, I used the exact same multiple choice questions that I used from my post test.  They were inserted chronologically into my final exam.  Question 1:  What was the Munich Conference?  and Question 2:  What are the similarities between Nazi Germany and Communist Russia?  You can scroll down to earlier post if you want to see the questions and answer choices word for word.  67 exams have been graded at this point 60% of them got the question about the Munich Conference correct.  79% of the students got the question about Nazi Germany and Russia correct.  Conclusions:  retention rate is well above average.  Especially on question 2.  I was expecting a higher percent correct on question one, especially since they scored considerabaly higher on the post test.  I have two more sections yet to take the final.  I will post those numbers tomorrow afternoon.

Article

Here is an article on gamasutra’s serious game site about my use of Making History.

Final Exam and Making History

School is approaching the end here at Oak Hill High.  We have 9 days of school remaining.  As I have been working on my final exam for the year I figure I will continue with the testing of my kids about the information that they were exposed to by playing Making History.  Of course since both of my groups have now played the game I have lost the control group and game play group status.  However, I am going to test all of them on the final exam.  I am going to use the Map of 1938 Europe and the two multiple test questions that I put in an earlier post.  Then we can check for some retention of that material. 

Muzzy Lane Press Release

Muzzy Lane posted this press release yesterday.  It gives a short summary of the testing I did in my classes.

Addiction to Gaming

Now that we have finished up playing and the tests have all been taken, my classes have settled back into the “normal” routine of education.  I will have to admit that the past two weeks have been a blast.  The fun comes from many areas but most importantly the level of engagement that I have had with most of my students over the past two weeks has been higher and more productive than normal.  Now that we are settling back into the classroom, and not the lab, I am seeing the same things from students that I did prior to game play.  One thing that almost all teachers struggle with, especially this time of year, is motivating the unmotivated.  The game brought out a level of fun and motivation that is difficult to acheive during the final weeks of school.  I also think that the statistics that I have posted show that not only did we have fun but students engaged in the educational process learn better.  This can be addicting. Students wanting to learn is addicting because not all have a strong desire.  But when they do, it makes teaching fun.

Control Group Writing and thoughts.

I asked the control group to write a paragraph on “Was the Munich Conference a success or failure?”  The control group struggled with this writing.  The answers were centered around these difficulties:

1. The Munich Conference was confused with other events such as the Hitler/Stalin pact.
2. The main idea from the Munich Conference of giving the Sudetenland to Germany was not understood.
3. Many students did not even attempt to answer the question.

As I read through the answers I feel very safe in saying that a connection was made by the game play group that was not made with the control group.  The understanding of the Munich Conference was real to the students who played the game.  It is a necessity that during the game play that students understand it and that is the focus of the scenario that we played.  The control group, who covered the material in the traditional manner did not get it.  Of course, high performing students did.  Mid level students performed as mid level students do.  Some got it some did not.  And lower level students performed as they normally do.  This just leads to the thought that if I cover the material in the traditional manner, I will get traditional results.  Some students are made for the structure of school.  The regiment is good for them and they perform admirably.  Those that don’t for whatever reason, because there are many, will continue to struggle.  What is exciting, is using the randomness of a computer game to motivate the student that does not perform well in school.  As a teacher, that what it is all about.

Comments about several items

Geography:  I did not go through and compile what the recognition rate of individual countries was after the game play.  However, after a quick flip through of the papers I feel very safe in saying that the recognition of countries involved with the Sudetenland Crisis were up.  Czechoslovakia was well recognized after game play.  There is also an increase in recognition of Poland, Germany, and France. 

General feelings about Making History.  I did put a survey question on the post test for the game play group.  Asking simply if they would like to play a game like Making History in another class.  The answers were overwhelmingly in favor of doing so.  This brings up some philosophical thoughts.  Does the use of the game teach kids that learning can be fun or that a student will only learn if it is fun?  Or is it a statement about our educational system?  I have spoken about this in the past.  State testing, corporation testing, state curriculum, corporation curriculum and many other factors are actually what drives the classroom.  When do we have time to have fun?  36 chapters in my book and 36 weeks in a school year.  Do the math…..there is little time for fun if we are going to cover everything we are “required” to cover.

Other games:  After a conversation with a mom who has a 2nd grade child who plays Civ I went shopping.  I almost took the plunge and bought Civ IV but I passed for some reason.  I will surely get it soon.  I was thinking about using it next year.  In order to do that I have to 1.  learn the game much better than I know now.  2.  Change my thought process on a computer game needs to be able to be finished in class.  3.  I need to find some money to buy copies for my classes.  I read a bunch of stuff Kurt Squire has done with Civ and I think I can make it work in my classes.  Muzzy Lane is also working on a Revolution to Republic content pack for Making History.  Don’t know the release of that but it is something that will easily fit in my world history classes.

Quotes from Students

These quotes are from the game play group.  They were asked after the game play to write on the difficulties of leadership and the qualities that a leader should have.

Male Student 1:  “It’s a lot of responsibility being the leader of a country.  you have a lot of things to pay attention to.  You have to keep the economy up, make it grow if possible.  you have to build your military:  armies, naval fleets, and air force.  In order to do that you have to raise taxes and spend less money on other projects such as education, unemployment, health, and industry.  While doing all these things you have to keep everyone happy.  Which was by far the hardest thing to do in this game.”

Male Student 2:  “The greatest quality is education.  With proper knowledge, a leader can cause a country to prosper while at war.  One of the greatest difficulties is appealing to every wish of the citizens of your country.  Another quality is a good staff.  If a leader is not kept up to date on the issues surrounding him/her, he is not fit to make proper decisions to benefit the people as well as the country.  Another great difficulty is monetary issues.  proper tax levels as well as the spread of spending levels is essential to the support a country’s leader receive.”

Female Student 1:  “There was so much to worry about as the leader of a country.  There was always something to do and something that needed to be fixed.  It was pretty much impossible to keep everyone happy.  Being the leader of a country you have to be very patient and try not to get too stressed.  You have to think about what is best for your country and the outcome of things.”

Female Student 2:  “To be a leader you have to have a lot of patience because it takes a lot of time to make a country prosper.  Also, you need to have good morals and a sense of mercy and justice.  Hitler didn’t have those (and neither did a boy in class LOL) so they both had a lot of countries who were really mad at them.  you also need to have charisma so you can win the support of your people and other countries.  One of the things that was really difficult in the game was trying to keep everyone happy.  In order to raise wages, you had to take money from health or education, etc.  It was also hard to figure out what it would take in order for another country to accept our agreement.”

Reading what students say on paper after the game is great.  I believe the thoughts expressed in these four examples show the depth of understanding that can come from the use of a tool such as a computer game.  Can I achieve this level with out a game?  Sure I can.  People have been doing it for years.  But I would also like to say that 100 years ago we all rode horses to the general store.  I can still get there by horse today but the car is much better.  These times…..they are a changin.

So I changed my mind MORE STATS

As I was walking out of my classroom today, I grabbed the pile of papers, just in case, and brought them home.  Well my wife and I have been running some numbers since my kids have been in bed.  What an exciting life I have on a Friday night! 

Item #1  In post testing only two muliple choice questions were asked of both groups.  They read 

What was the Munich Conference? 

1. The meeting where Germany demanded all of Czechoslovakia.
2. The meeting where Britain and France offered Czechoslovakian Sudetenland to Germany.  (correct answer)
3. The meeting where the Soviet Union suggested that Germany and the USSR divide Poland.
4. The meeting where Hitler decided to invalde Poland in 1939.

Control Group Correct answers:  55.172%  Game Play Group  93.442%

Question 2:  What did the governments of Nazi Germany and the Communist Soviet Union have in common?

1. They controlled all official media.
2. People who disagreed with them were punished and sometimes killed.
3. They wanted to control territory in Eastern Europe.
4. All of the above. (correct answer)

Correct Answers Control Group:  72.413%  Game Play Group:  81.967

Item #2:  In both pre testing and post testing both groups were asked to list three reasons for the start of WWII with a brief explanation for each reason.  There is certainly more I can do with this one but as of right now…..in the Control Group  34.48% of students raised their score from the pre test to the post test.  As for the Game Play group:  67.21% of the students raised their score.

I am not a expert in statistics unless it has to do with points allowed by my defense on the Oak Hill Golden Eagle football team.  But what I am seeing here is the game players are doing better on assessment.  I will make mention of the fact that the control group scored very well on the multiple choice question about the similarities of the Nazi state and the Communist Russia question.  Why, I can only imagine that it came from class discussions that the game players did not get on the topic.  But that is really just a guess.   I certainly find the results of this very interesting.  I will have more comments next week and maybe some more analysis of data. 

Oh, and by the way, The Mighty German Dictator from yesterday emerged from his dark bunker to find that France had essentially run out of troops and the Nazi flag was still flying.  Luckily for me the scenario ended before the UK could finish what they had started which was the anihilation of their teacher and the German State.

Control Group is now playing

For those of you who have been following this from the beginning, my control group now has had their hands on the game for two days now.  It was a much anticipated event.  They were ready to play.  I had several students show up on Tuesday this week and were asking if we got to play that day….unfortunately for them it was our post test day.  But on Wednesday we finally started and we continued today.  It has been much easier on me this round of play.  Having information fresh in my mind from my first groups playing has made my library of working knowledge much better.  One funny story from today…..I had one team of two girls yesterday, who was assigned to play Germany.  One gal took control yesterday but she was absent today.  So when I was asked by the remaining girl to come help her figure some things out……I couldn’t resist.  I initially showed her a few things, sent a treaty or two, gathered some natural resources through strong arm tactics etc…then I walked away.  When that turn was over I had to go back and check how my decisions had played out.  So again I helped her do some things in the game that I was relatively certain would work.  Through our (ok my) workings Germany was not in need of any natural resources and our military had at least 20 units in production.  We had plenty of oil, arms, textiles and consumer goods to fill all of our needs.  Three turns in to the day….I finally sat down at the girls computer and assumed my rightful place of dictator of Germany.  The girl was loving all of it…..due to the increasing size of our military and the evil laughter that seemed to be coming from her teacher.  We invaded the Sudetenland and started our conquest.  Anschluss…..Lebensraum……..no…..we wanted it all.  At the end of the day, we were saving the game and students wanted me to read the world events before we logged off.  Well, all of those stinking sophomores declared war on Germany.  Every one of them.  They knew I had taken control of Germany and they all teamed up against me.  So, tomorrow I think I am in big trouble.  I don’t think I have the military to ward off the UK, France, Italy, and Russia.  Time is running out on my attempt to make Europe the new German State.  However, it was great to see all the other teams unite against me and coordinate their efforts.  It took some planning on their part and they had to do it quickly.  So as I gather in my bunker in Berlin tomorrow at least I will have the comfort that my students can coordinate a multi front attack on their teacher.  Is education really this fun?  We all left the computer lab laughing, trash talking, and actually looking forward to tomorrow.  Please don’t spread that around.  I would hate for someone to find out we were having a good time;-)

On a more serious note.  I will post tomorrow with as much data as I can.  The loads of papers I have now have some reasonable amount of organization to them.  (thanks to a couple of study hall kids)

Some Data From my game playing group

First I have to admit that I have too much information and not enough time in the day to pour over all of this.  It is certainly interesting and I am working on all of it but the paper trail is long and arduous.  Anyway, not hard stats here just general statments.  In the game play group-geography retention is up.  Generally scores are jumping up 2-4 points.  Looking at the maps students are generally picking up the countries that are played in “The Politics of Appeasement.”  Also, scores are going up in the question of “name three causes of WWII.”  In the pre test students sometimes mixed in WWI information.  That is essentially gone from the post test.  Also, a fair amount of students put Germany invading Poland–which is obviously is true but not covered in the game scenario that we played.  Students are picking that up from classroom discussions that we had about when WWII really started versus when it started in the game.  Also students had two multiple choice questions on the post test.  1.  asking to identify what happened in the Munich conference and the other question was to identify similar aspects of Nazi Germany and Communist Russia.  Students generally performed very well on those two questions.  Students also had a pre writing about WWII and then a post writing.  Those writings are very difficult to express in terms of hard data.  Part of the writings were to describe the qualities of leadership and the difficulties in leading.  The answer that students wrote before game play were simple and shallow.  Many students answers after play were considerably more thought provoking.

I will post more as I get some data crunched!

Some Early Results

I have been busy today grading some post test.  Let me say that I have stacks and stacks of paper on my desk.  Somebody should be able to figure out some interesting things from all of this.  I hope I can…….Anyway, I have been grading the geography portion of the test.  The post test was exactly the same as the pre.  Same map/same directions.  Students knew a post test was coming but I did not give details as to what was on it.  Here are some results from one class.  19 students took both the pre and the post test and here is how each did on the same geography section.  The number is the difference of their score on the pre test compared to their post test.

1. +3
2. +3
3. +3
4. +2
5. +1
6. +3
7. +2
8. -1
9. +1
10. +7
11. -2
12. 0
13. 0
14. -1
15. +2
16. +10
17. +9
18. +2
19. +2

This is much as I thought it would be.  I found the same things last year when we played but I did not pre test them.  I will post more as I get them done today.

Debriefing and Writing

Now that we are back at school I finally get to spend some quality time with my students talking about the game.  First, we discussed the real history of 1938-39 Europe.  Making sure students walk away with an understanding that the conflict of the Sudetenland did not immediately lead to WWII.  During those discussions we talked about why the USSR and France did not honor their treaties with the Czechs.  It was a good discussion.  Which then lead us to a discussion that if Europe would not have used “the politics of appeasement” what might have happened?  This scenario did play out in a couple of the games and Germany was soundly defeated in their quest for the Sudetenland.  The discussions were good.  When the discussion was approaching somthing that seemed like school work, I ended it.  One of the great things about using a game in the class is that kids look at it as a game.  I don’t hide the fact that they are expected to learn from the process, but if I approach it right our discussions are about the game–not history class.  The mentality is different and those students who shut down in a discussion will gladly talk about the game. 

Second-the post test is coming up tomorrow.  I am still finalizing what the students will see on the test.  Also, after our discussion today, I then gave students a writing assignment.  This writing is also an important part of the post play assessment.  Kids are writing about three prompts.

1. Was WWII inevitable?  Please explain your answer.
2. If you could change the outcome of The Munich Converence-what would you do to try to bring peace to Europe?
3. After playing Making History-now describe the qualities it takes to lead a country and explain the difficulties that a leader faces.

All answers are opinion and students can recieve full credit for following simple rules.  Write in complete sentences.  This is not a time for text message jargon.  Also, fully explained answers are required for full credit.

Monday–NO SCHOOL

Today is another no school day for us.  We have had a 4 day weekend due to the mild winter that Indiana had and the fact our calendar puts make up weather days on a Friday/Monday around Easter.  It has made for a nice little break. 

I am working on my post test but I may have to delay it a day.  I have a good friend whose mother passed away on Saturday so the arrangements for her will probably cause me to miss a bit of school.

With that being said, I am excited to post test and see what kids are picking up.  I fully expect students to perform better on geography.  I also think the causes of the war will be more aparent to them and probably stick better than with the control group.  Time will tell.

I was out over the weekend looking at COTS games.  I was trying to find something that could potentially be used in my class.  I haven’t had any luck as of now but any suggestions would be welcome.  Civ is a possibility but I think much too difficult to integrate quickly and easily in my class.  Sim City is also a possibility but again too time consuming.  Maybe that is just me though.  I can’t play a sim game of that nature and not want to play for hours on end.

Check back in a couple of days and I should have a post test report.