Game-Based Learning

This website discusses the paedagogy of teaching with games and offers a series of examples for using games with entry-level geoscience students. Game-based learning (GBL) is described as using competitive exercises to challenge students in a way that motivates them to learn better. Games are characterised as competitive, engaging, and offering immediate rewards. The games come in a number of different formats, including: video games (digital GBL), board and card games, scavenger hunts, and role-playing games.

The website is part of the "Starting Point" collection of paedagogic resources and teaching materials for faculty teaching entry-level geoscience. "Starting Point" and the related paedagogic service (click here for access) are designed to bridge the gap between teaching and paedagogic research by providing specific examples of the use of each paedagogy in the specific discipline of interest. The site was developed by Carleton College's Science Education Resource Center, with funding from the National Science Foundation of the United States.