Abstract
This chapter outlines the creation and implementation of a third-grade student-initiated, teacher-directed game design project. The project was initially undertaken to address challenges faced within the classroom, including students’ lack of interest and confidence in math and the math program itself. The students decided that they would like to adapt Dungeons and Dragons for their classroom project, which presented a unique opportunity to integrate the content and skill objectives in math, social studies, and writing into the design and play of the game. Students decided which elements of the game to adapt, what steps to take to achieve these goals, and how to play their game. The teacher provided materials, asked questions, and assessed the students’ progress to ensure that these cross-curricula goals were achieved. While all of the students benefited from engaging with this project, significant positive outcomes were observed in many students who struggled in math, reading, writing, and social interaction.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Cadwell, L.B.: Bringing Learning to Life: A Reggio Emilia Approach to Early Childhood Education. Teacher’s College Press, New York (2002)
Crawford, K.: Vygotskian approaches to human development in the information era. Educ. Stud. Math. 31, 43–62 (1996)
Donaldson, M.: Children’s Minds. Fontana, London (1984)
Driscoll, M. P.: Psychology of Learning for Instruction. Allyn & Bacon, Needham, MA (1994)
Lewin-Benham, A.: Powerful Children: Understanding How to Think and Learn Using the Reggio Emilia Approach. Teacher’s College Press, New York (2005)
Macintyre, C.: Enhancing Learning Through Play: A Developmental Perspective for Early Years Settings. David Fulton Publishers, London (2001)
Morris, S.: The heroes of Hesiod: A monster slayer adventure. Wizards of the Coast. http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4dnd/monsterslayers (2010). Accessed 1 Oct 2010
Randel, J.M., Morris, B.A., Wetzel, C.D., Whitehill, B.V.: The effectiveness of games for educational purposes: A review of recent research. Simul. Gaming 23, 261–276 (1992)
Reiber, L.: Designing learning environments that excite serious play. In: Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Australasian Society for Computer Learning in Tertiary Education, Melbourne, Australia (2001)
Satterly, D.: Piaget and education. In: Gregory, R.L. (ed.) The Oxford Companion to the Mind. Oxford University Press, Oxford (1987)
Vygotsky, L.S.: Mind and Society: The Development of Higher mental Processes. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA (1978)
Wertsch, J.V., Sohmer, R.: Vygotsky on learning and development. Human Dev. 38, 332–337 (1995)
Wood, D.: How Children Think and Learn, 2nd edn. Blackwell, Oxford (1998)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer-Verlag London Limited
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Carter, A. (2011). Using Dungeons and Dragons to Integrate Curricula in an Elementary Classroom. In: Ma, M., Oikonomou, A., Jain, L. (eds) Serious Games and Edutainment Applications. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-2161-9_17
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-2161-9_17
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-4471-2160-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-4471-2161-9
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)