TY - JOUR
T1 - Learning for a reason
T2 - Supporting forms of engagement by designing tasks and orchestrating environments
AU - Gresalfi, Melissa
AU - Barab, Sasha
PY - 2011
Y1 - 2011
N2 - This article discusses the ways that tasks and classroom cultures can be supported through the design of online immersive games. The authors focus on a mathematics unit in which students become statisticians who must understand the contextual implications of using particular mathematical tools in analyzing different data sets and reflect on what their tool choice reveals about practical situations. Through these designs, the goal is to illuminate four types of engagement: procedural, conceptual, consequential, and critical. These new opportunities to learn and to experience the consequences of decisions have the potential to change the way that students experience school. Rather than simply complying with school practices because they are important, such curricula can create opportunities for students to truly appreciate what they are doing, and why.
AB - This article discusses the ways that tasks and classroom cultures can be supported through the design of online immersive games. The authors focus on a mathematics unit in which students become statisticians who must understand the contextual implications of using particular mathematical tools in analyzing different data sets and reflect on what their tool choice reveals about practical situations. Through these designs, the goal is to illuminate four types of engagement: procedural, conceptual, consequential, and critical. These new opportunities to learn and to experience the consequences of decisions have the potential to change the way that students experience school. Rather than simply complying with school practices because they are important, such curricula can create opportunities for students to truly appreciate what they are doing, and why.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84855769757&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84855769757&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/00405841.2011.607391
DO - 10.1080/00405841.2011.607391
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84855769757
SN - 0040-5841
VL - 50
SP - 300
EP - 310
JO - Theory Into Practice
JF - Theory Into Practice
IS - 4
ER -