Dr Nadolny: News and Reviews

WHO Radio Interview

8/25/2018

Who knew radio spots could be so much fun? This weekend I was interviewed by Sue Danielson at WHO Radio. We talked about the benefits of game-based learning and what parents can do to encourage game play at home.

Listen to the short Q & A by clicking on the play button to the right.

The Step Model of Game-based Learning

8/25/2018

I developed the Step Model when re-designing my large undergraduate course. This model is only one way to design a GBL environment. In this model,

Content knowledge and skills increase in difficulty and build upon prior learning.
Each course "level" includes adaptive feedback and assessment with opportunities for re-learning and re-taking of assessments.
Student can earn rewards quickly in the beginning, with opportunity for failure early in the course. Rewards are more difficult to earn at the end of the course, and failure notification occur more quickly.
The course is situated in a narrative context with a smaller and larger goals.
The model takes a step pattern to reduce cognitive load and motivation issues for students who are not invested in the course.

Interested in learning more about game-based learning for your own projects? Get in touch!

AgEd Games and Simulations: High School

8/15/2018

Summer is almost over and the excitement for the new school year has begun! Each semester, my preservice teachers ask me for games and simulations in their own secondary content areas. This summer was my time to curate resources for each of my STEM groups. Below is the list I created for AgEd, and I have to be honest with you, most of these were new to me! It was a great experience to just sit down and search. Below you will see a variety of games, including board games, digital games, and even VR games.

In the news! Iowa State University

7/30/2018

Math Games and Simulations: A curated list for secondary education

7/16/2018

It seems like summer just begun, but I am already getting ready (and excited) for the next academic year. Every semester my students ask me for examples of games or simulations in their own content areas. Since I teach 13 different content areas, it is quite a challenge to stay on top of 'the best of the best'. I set a goal this summer to tackle this request for the STEM areas I teach: science, math, agriculture education, and family and consumer science. Here is the first Symbaloo list, mathematics games and simulations! Am I missing an important resource? Let me know!

SITE 2018: Notes from the Digital Games and Simulations SIG

3/20/2018

We are very excited to see you at SITE 2018 in Washington, DC. Here are some important items for review:

Our SIG meeting will be held on Tuesday during lunch, from 12:45pm to 1:45pm.
Have you been participating in the development of our Game-based Learning Syllabus? It's not to late to share your favorite topics and readings: https://www.researchgate.net/project/Game-based-Learning-Syllabus
Want to join the SIG leadership team? It is a rewarding activity where you will get to connect with your peers, guide the games and simulations presentations for SITE 2019/2020, and choose special projects for the SIG. We will be holding an election for co-chair, a 2-year position. Send Larysa Nadolny (lnadolny@iastate.edu) or Jana Willis (willis@uhcl.edu) a paragraph about yourself, your experience with SITE, your current position and your reason for wanting to be a co-chair. We will collect the nominations and have a digital vote during the SIG meeting.

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