Learning Study Habits

slingersjily

  • Posts: 2
A teacher I know has given me a gaming challenge and wants me to create a game which will teach her students good study habits and test taking skills while entertaining them at the same time.

I am in the very early stages of development and already I am concerned about keeping the interest level high while somehow managing to work in good studying habits which don't really lend themselves to graphics well.

The concept I am beginning to developing is sort of an old school Goonies style game. Which combines action, quests, and maybe throws in some puzzles.

Instead of saving their fellow Goonies the player will have to rescue fellow students from their own bad studying habits. Potential quests given to the player might involve retrieving books, or study material, gathering equipment needed for a test. Potential dangers the player will have to avoid could include tv, pits of disorganized papers, caffeine, zombie students who were up too late studying.

As I said the concept is really in the beginning stages but I would really like some feedback. Will this be interesting enough for college level students? Any ideas or suggestions would be very helpful.

Hectate

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  • Posts: 4643
Not to derail your concept but I do want to point out something; a "collection" type game will not necessarily teach the players good study habits. Perhaps if you change the design to something else it might be more effective?

For example, your comment on "zombie students" puts me in mind of a game design where the goal is to pass a test. You give the player a "Knowledge" bar that fills up as they study, and drains when they don't. The goal is to have the Knowledge bar high enough to pass a test later on. Meanwhile they have additional factors available to them that impact the Knowledge bar in different ways.
1. Fatigue state: if they chose to stay up late and study the night before a test, anything they "learn" during that session is lost faster. This simulates how ineffective a "cram" session is compared to repeated and regular study.
2. Good things like being in class, passing quizzes (like the "final test" but lower reqs), etc all cause a small percentage of the current knowledge to become permanant (it can't be lost by the constant "drain" of forgetting). That's the best knowledge :)
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Patience is a Virtue,
But Haste is my Life.
Proud member of the League of Idiotic Stencylers; doing things in Stencyl that probably shouldn't be done.

slingersjily

  • Posts: 2
Yes I have thought of this.

The problem I see with that sort of game design is it mirrors real life too much. The goal of the game isn't just to help teach them good study habits. Its to keep their minds active and engaged while they are learning about good study habits. It should be fun for them.

While I am certain the sort of game you are describing would be a better teaching instrument a part of me thinks the students would be rolling their eyes and completely disengaged from it. I'm doing some focus group work today so I'll throw this out there and see how the target students react.