1. MODELLING A ROLE-PLAYING GAME AS A UNIT OF LEARNING TO ENCOURAGE COOPERATIVE LEARNING
Laura Mancera, Silvia Baldiris, Ramon Fabregat, David Huerva
{lmancera, baldiris, ramon,
A3H, 29/09/09 Nice

2. Outline Approach Motivation Collaborative context
Phases of a cooperative lesson
Games applied in the classroom
RPG
Cooperative RPG lesson
IMS-LD
Scenario
Conclusions and future work

3. Aproach
Use Role-Playing Games as a strategy that encourages cooperative learning supported by the IMS Learning Design specification.

4. Motivation College teaching is undergoing a paradigm shift.
Teaching must be in accordance to nowadays challenges:
Adapt to changes successfully
Perform teamwork effectively
Take decisions appropriately
Communicate efficiently
...
The new teaching paradigm needs to add specific activities to the process of teaching in order to develop these collaborative competencies
Highly valuated student competencies

5. Collaborative context
A cooperative context of interaction amongst students can help to develop the required competencies.

6. Collaborative context features
Positive interdependence: Group members realise that they can’t succeed unless everyone succeeds.
Individual and group accountability: The group must be accountable for achieving its goals but each member must be accountable for contributing her share of the work.
Promotive interaction: the members share resources and help, encourage and praise each others efforts to learn.
Interpersonal and small group skills: groups cannot work effectively if members don’t have the needed social skills.

7. Collaborative context features
Group processing: Group members discuss about how they are achieving their goals and maintaining effective working relationships.

8. Phases of a cooperative lesson
1. Make Preinstructional Decisions
2. Explain the Task and Cooperative Structure
3. Monitor and Intervene
4. Evaluate and Process
Explain the academic assignments to students
Monitoring each learning group
Feedback about the activities.
Formulate Objectives
Intervene when needed in order to improve taskwork and teamwork
Decide the size of groups
Explain the criteria for success
Assign
Students to groups
Structure positive interdependence, individual accountability
Assign
roles, room, materialls
Explain the expected behaviour
Emphasize intergroup cooperation

9. Games applied in the classroom
Games applied in the classroom have become a well accepted proposal amongst teachers and students to promote cooperation.
Technological innovation has enabled the development of virtual environments which involve:
Virtual learning communities
Interaction through collaborative activities

10. RPG
A Role-playing Game (RPG) is a special type of cooperative game which:
encourages reading,
builds vocabulary,
encourages teamwork,
builds problem solving habilites and
promotes creativity and imagination

11. RPG phases
1. A Game Master (GM) prepares a fictional setting and a set of rules in which players can act out their roles.
2. Players create characters whose roles they will play in the game and write in a “Role Record Card”.
3. GM begins the game defining the setting and characters. Players describe their characters actions and the GM describes the outcome of the actions.
4. The game continues until the characters meet the last challenge.

12. RPG goals
Solve the situation proposed in a cooperative way which favours interaction and teamwork.
Even in the players’ roles motivations are different they should have a common aim.
If players don’t work together they won’t be able to succeed

13. Cooperative RPG lesson
Definition and assignament of roles
Topic definition
Objectives definition
Process definition
Master
Instructions
Resources
Collaborative
Competences
Learning Style
Teacher
Activities
Roles
Role 1
Feedback
Execution
Role 2
Students
Role 3

14. IMS-LD
IMS Learning Design (IMS-LD) is a widely accepted specification which enables the modelling of learning scenarios.
Core concept of LD:
Regardless of pedagogical approach
a person gets a role in the teaching-learning process.
In this role, she works towards certain outcomes
performing activities within an environment

15. IMS-LD Characteristics of the roles Activities to be carried out
Characteristics of the environment
Specific learning scenario
Unit of Learning (UoL)
Define
IMS-LD models

16. Conceptual Structure of an IMS-LD

17. Particular scenario: Project development
Cooperative task: Carry out a SW development project
Roles:
GM (Teacher)
Client
Project manager
Analyst
Designer
Programmer

18. Particular scenario: Project development

19. Conclusions and future work
We presented a process to describe RPG as UoL in order to support Learning Coopeartion.
The project management scenario UoL will be proposed in courses of the UdG.
Working on measuring the students collaboration level.
Working on being able to generate RT adaptable IMS-LD automatically given RPG specifications

20. Thank you. Questions?