Having examined three possible solutions in the previous section, our group has chosen the first possible solution as the most viable. This solution will now be examined and developed in more detail. The solution we will examine was stated as:
During the development of our project, all group members used a shared Google document to plan the process of this project. This included a pre-planning process where we brain stormed possible problem ideas. Through guidance from our course instructor this was refined into the problem we have proposed. Once we had refined the wording and parameters of the problem, research led us to the development of several solutions including the proposed solution we are now expanding upon. Before reading further on this page, it might be prudent to examine the conceptual framework sections of this website to see how the idea was illustrated in a conceptual graphical organizer to help visualize the path towards a solution.
We drew from multiple sources in our comprehensive research to support the proposed solution. We also drew from not only education based research but also Computer Science research to add a multi-disciplined approach (see references page).
The proposed solution involves the development of games that include a surrogate competition. Surrogate competitions use virtual surrogates or substitutes to compete against other players (Chen & Chen, 2013). As highlighted by Chen & Chen (2014) there are two different types of on-screen characters to represent players. Avatars and pets have both been used in surrogate competitions and are beneficial in learning content through games as players can relate to their daily lives (Chen & Chen, 2014). We have created a tiered surrogate solution to address our problem that can be used in our teachable areas (Computer Science, Mathematics, History, and English). We could develop multiple versions of a digital game for our teachable areas that can accommodate our tiered surrogate solution. We are hoping that students will enjoy playing multiple versions of a game that contains the same learning content, which may pique their interest in developing their own games using an online platform. By developing a tiered solution, we can accommodate students who have exceptionalities, high achieving students, and students with a wide range of emotions (anxiety, introverts, and extraverts) as they can choose which version of the game best suits their individual learning needs.
Tier 4: Competitors (students who are fully invested in competing with each other)
Tier 3: Semi-competitive (students who are interested in competing with others on occasion)
Tier 2: Surrogate competitors (students who use and compete against other surrogates)
Tier 1: Non-competitors (students who cannot or prefer not to compete against others)
Students can move up or down from tiers based on their experience with the learning content being covered using the digital game or based on how comfortable they feel about competing against their classmates. Students will learn the same content through each tiered version of the game. All students will receive the same amount of information about the learning goals and the tasks of the game. However, this information will be presented differently in each tiered version of the game. Competition-based learning (CBL) will be utilized in the Tier 4 version of the game. CBL refers to learning content through a structured and competitive environment (Van Nuland et al., 2015). Students that play the Tier 3 version of the digital game enjoy competition however, they also enjoy non-competitive learning environments as well. These students can reveal their identities to their classmates or can remain anonymous depending on student preference. If students remain anonymous, their results will not be revealed to their classmates. This should eliminate any damage to their confidence (Chen & Chen, 2013).
Students who use the Tier 2 version of the game will play by using a surrogate to compete against other players. Competition is still an aspect of this version of the game but at this tier, their surrogate will be competing for them. This should remove negative feelings as students may feel that their failure was due to a lack of effort instead of a lack of ability to learn the content or to complete the task in the game (Chen & Chen, 2013). Players that engage with the Tier 1 version of the game will not participate in a competition as competitions are not always necessary in educational games (van Eck & Dempsey, 2002). By playing this version of the game, students will learn the content in the game through their preferred learning style which can accommodate students with exceptionalities (Hwang, 2012).