Jeremiah McCall (he/him)

Gaming the Past Gaming the Past [McCall, Jeremiah] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Gaming the Past

PS If you've never heard of GTP (or thought it too expensive -- I sympathize) it's on sale on Amazon right now

www.amazon.com/Gaming-Past-... /9

Still on sale!

Okay I completed this thread from yesterday for interested folk

Hi historical game interested folks!
Saw abstract for research article -- it suggested affective engagement w/ historical content increased using particular games vs a text but knowledge test scores better w/ text.
Okay let's shift from article i've-not-read to that principle 1/ 🧵
🗃 #AncientBluesky

And then, a far better learning goal (in addition to the really useful but often fickle affective engagement) is to
- Analyze agency in systems
- Analyze systemic models (i.e. games) of the past
- Critique modern media and how media shape messages

But more importantly, what do YOU think?
8/

I don't want my students to simply receive information uncritically from ANY source. So this goes back to my long term Gaming the Past point. Gameplay should be accompanied by teacher guidance both in purposeful play & meaningful analysis and critique. Teachers should mediate in a history class. 7/

So not only do we KNOW video games aren't great for fact acquisition & retention, we KNOW that is not a particularly worthwhile goal for history teachers. Addition: idea that game should "teach" facts uncritically is part of same error: the idea that worthy education is abt pouring information in 6/

(Continued 🧵) Sam Wineburg demonstrated APUSH kids often did better on factual tests than PhDs (not in US history) and STILL did not have basic historical skills of the PhDs. Factual retention & reproduction of facts as "knowledge" is NOT historical thinking. 5/
🗃️ #AncientBluesky

1st being a historian and teaching historical thinking is not about fact-knowledge transfer. Go back to Sam Wineburgs early 1990s articles
(Whoops have to go grocery shopping, will work on this later) 4/

This has been an objection to gameplay and analysis in history classes for decades (way back it was just critiquing social studies simulations but same critique). But there are SO MANY problems w/ focusing at all on "knowledge acquisition" if that means anything like "fact recall" on a test 3/

IMHO checking in pedagogical gameplay and debrief in history for affective engagement vs knowledge test scores (depending on what counts as knowledge) misses a 🔑 point. We know, we really know, deep systems play & countefactuals & debrief do not improve "knowledge" recall on tests. WE KNOW THIS 2/ 🧵

Hi historical game interested folks!
Saw abstract for research article -- it suggested affective engagement w/ historical content increased using particular games vs a text but knowledge test scores better w/ text.
Okay let's shift from article i've-not-read to that principle 1/ 🧵
🗃 #AncientBluesky

Don't fall for the board game propaganda dmac is lying to you His interpretations of board games being successful educational resources in past years are purely selective and should be scrutinized. Be metacognitive. Be great. -- Whistleblower duckling

Delighted one of last year's Honors 10s, now an 11th grader, felt safe and bold and witty enough to write this on my board while I started a round of RTTA: Bronze Age with this years 10s

(note: I'm DMac, and I clearly taught her my vision of what history is quite well! I'm proud!)

Have you ever thought, really thought, abt games abt history, wondered how you'd define that, how they present the past, how you might understand them more deeply?
Well my friends, you're in luck! Check out the entry "History Games" in Encyclopedia of Ludic Terminology
(shameless self promotion)

Some tidbits about the new game. (NOTE: prototype art and not final!)

So a student can design a game with an unappealing choice of mechanics and still do very well on the assignment, by design.

Of course all those comments are for boardgames. Twine choice-based histories don't suffer the limitations of gameplaying experience 3/

But there is no question that you are right. The more games they have played, the easier it probably is for them to design. But again I'm assessing not only on the effectiveness of the game models but students' own critical sense of where their game is and is not historically defensible. 2/

Fantastic question! So I try to schedule student project so that they've played some board games first. Then I provide some quick examples of game mechanics implementations of history (using HPS). Finally, I'm increasingly trying to help them brainstorm bc innovation is not what I am after 1/

and
2) 2) Depends on whether the groups make for better observation and note taking and learning the game. That depends on students in question

Again this is all substance for Gaming the Past Second Edition
1) Not sure why a student would get to opt out of certain pedagogies and assessments. Do they get to not do the labs in science? Do they get to not read the book in in-class reading time?

1) Games are the wrong tool for teaching and reinforcing basic objective content
2) No; students should be guided to play purposefully and analyze games as historical simulations and models. They cand do this whether they win or lose the game.
3) Not prepared to take a stance on this at the moment.

So this falls more under Gaming the Past Second Edition. Though it focuses on historical video games, the pedagogy (except for the logistics of using board games) is the same. But quick answers anyway, because I appreciate the questions!!

This is amazing!

Friends, l'm getting closer to manuscript _Designing Historical Games for Classrooms: A Practical Guide for Educators_
Doing last big add-content read-through edit on paper.
Anyone want to help inspire w/ a comment or (even better) question abt book & what it's all about? (reskeets?)
#gamingthepast

Gaming the Past Gaming the Past [McCall, Jeremiah] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Gaming the Past

Hey Gaming the Past Second Edition is on a pretty good sale on Amazon. 35ish instead of 51ish

Gaming the Past Gaming the Past [McCall, Jeremiah] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Gaming the Past

Hey Gaming the Past Second Edition is on a pretty good sale on Amazon. 35ish instead of 51ish

Hey @kurtishanlon.bsky.social did you see my JapanLab post from the other day?

Btw @tkinias.historians.social.ap.brid.gy haven't forgotten your 4x question. Picking at it on gtp, almost assuredly an article idea someday

That's very kind of you to say! Thanks!

Friends, l'm getting closer to manuscript _Designing Historical Games for Classrooms: A Practical Guide for Educators_
Doing last big add-content read-through edit on paper.
Anyone want to help inspire w/ a comment or (even better) question abt book & what it's all about? (reskeets?)
#gamingthepast