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C A T H E R I N E FA H E Y, M L I SS A L E M S T A T E U N I V E R S I T Y

M A R C E L A Y. I S U S T E R , M L I SM C G I L L U N I V E R S I T Y

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GAMES AND INFORMATION LITERACY

Learning through gamesVS

Games that teach mechanics or test knowledge (scavenger hunts, library

Jeopardy)

THE GREAT INFORMATION LITERACY GAME AT SSU• Designed for Summer Bridge Academy 2015

○ Program for Students on Conditional Acceptance (6 weeks)○ Information Literacy Course (1.15 hs a week x 5 weeks) taught by

librarians.• No class prep between classes• Teams investigate a topic or “mystery” in depth, gaining access to

research tools as they advance levels.

CHOOSING YOUR AUDIENCE• Who is your

audience?• What kind of skills do

they have?• What is their

attention span?• What are their

needs?

SETTING LEARNING OBJECTIVES• What is the overarching

goal?• What do you expect

participants to learn?

Keep it simple and realistic

THE NEW ACRL FRAMEWORKSix Frames:• Authority Is Constructed and Contextual• Information Creation as a Process• Information Has Value• Research as Inquiry• Scholarship as Conversation• Searching as Strategic Exploration

CHOOSING THEMES• Vehicle for learning skills • Makes the game

interesting• Stay current• Look for links with your

institution and/or audience

WRITING THE RULES• Inspiration from casual games

(Angry Birds, Solitaire, Candy Crush)

• Mechanics to reinforce learning, not to learn game mechanicso Level basedo Collaborative/Co-operative

(player with player, not player vs. player)

o Harry Potter House Cup Rules for classroom management

DEVISING A SCORING SYSTEMInspiration from existing source

evaluation models: CRAAP, SMELL• Adaptable• Scalable• Winnable

CHOOSING YOUR MEDIA AND PREPARING MATERIALS• Public domain images

o Google Images - Usage Rights filtero Flickr - Creative Commons filtero Wikimedia Commonso https://pixabay.com/o http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/o http://search.creativecommons.org/

• MS Publisher is your friend• Google Docs is also your friend• Stationery stores

.. .GO!

REACTIONS

SCORING• Using a rubric, students rank sources

o Good sources get more points• Scoring done by other teams

o Peer assessmento Student-led learningo Flipped classroom

• Teams had to be able to justify why their scoringo Accountabilityo Knowledge of materials

PRIZES• DO NOT make it all about

the prizes• They do not need to be

expensive• The next level is the

reward

SUCCESSES• Game was implemented by three other

librarians• Game can be easily used in subsequent

years (just change the themes)• High levels of student engagement• Ownership over learning• Serendipitous learning led to valuable

lessons• Covered the entire curriculum• Immediate assessment

Oh, I get why we are doing

this!

I can't use my cellphone, I'm in the library

class!

LESSONS LEARNED• Playtest. Playtest. Playtest. • Describe the mystery scenarios

more fully• More focused themes• Monitor time carefully• Coordinate rules and prizes with

other librarians

BONUS ROUND

CREATE YOUR OWN GAMEPlanning • Who are your players? • What do you want to accomplish?

– What is Winning? – What are they Learning?

• How much time do you have?– One-shot class vs. semester?

Constraints: • No Trivia Games• Playable with pencil & paper (and library computer)

QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? CONCERNS?

COLLABORATIVE GAMES• Pandemic

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/30549/pandemic• Escape the Room Games

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real-life_room_escape

CASUAL GAMES• Solitaire/Patience

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patience_(game)• Candy Crush Saga

http://candycrushsaga.com/

CLASSIC LIBRARY GAMES• Scavenger hunts – e.g. Library Amazing Race

http://www.geneseo.edu/~costello/website/Amazing%20Race_lesson.pdf

• MLA Jeopardyhttp://web.arc.losrios.edu/~library/mla_jeopardy.ppt

• The Library Game (gamification of library usage and services)http://librarygame.co.uk/

GAMIFICATION IN LIBRARIES• Designing Gamification in the Right Way. (2015). Library

Technology Reports, 51(2), 29-35.• Gamification in Education and Libraries. (2015). Library

Technology Reports, 51(2), 20-28.• Walsh, A.(2014). The potential for using gamification in academic

libraries in order to increase student engagement and achievement. Nordic Journal of Information Literacy in Higher Education 6(1): 39-51.

GAMES IN EDUCATION• Faiella, F., & Ricciardi, M. (2015). Gamification and learning A

review of issues and research. Journal Of E-Learning & Knowledge Society, 11(3), 13-21.

• Holmes, J. B., & Gee, E. R. (2016). A framework for understanding game-based teaching and learning. On The Horizon, 24(1), 1-16. doi:10.1108/OTH-11-2015-0069

THANK YOU!C AT H E R I N E FA H E YC FA H E Y @ S A L E M S TAT E . E D U

M A R C E L A Y. I S U S T E RM A R C E L A . I S U S T E R @ M C G I L L . C A