Gene Rummy Released!

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$35.99 (+shipping)

Gene Rummy is now available! Both the Full and Novice versions are available for purchase now!

Gene Rummy is a bunny-themed card game that helps teach the basic principles of Mendelian inheritance.
We’ve all heard the idiom: “breeding like rabbits”.

Well, here is a card game that brings it to life!
No smell, no fuss, no need for cages!

Here’s a visual way to learn the jargon and the basic principles of Mendelian inheritance while playing a fast-paced card game.

$24.99 (+ shipping)

Gene Rummy is a variation of Gin Rummy, which is one of the most popular card games of the mid-20th century, and still popular today. Here at Mink Hollow Media, we’ve been looking for a way to combine our expertise in teaching and science with our decades of first-hand experience playing around with coat colors in rabbits. We think you will enjoy our take on this classic card game, and invite you to learn about the principles of Mendelian Genetics and Inheritance along the way.

Find out more at the game site.

Source: http://minkhollow.ca/gene-rummy/

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We Are Finally Ready (Almost) – Gene Rummy

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It’s been a long time in development, but I am thrilled to announce that we are finally in the last stages of development. There is one more set of tests to complete, one more set of adjustments…

It should be ready in about a month.

As soon as it is published, I will make purchasing information available on the Gene Rummy site.

There will be 2 versions available:

  1. The Novice Game
  2. The Advanced Game

The Novice Game includes only two gene series (black/brown and dense/dilute), while the Advanced game includes four. The rules of play are the same for both, but the scoring is a little different.

Stay tuned…..

Source: We Are Finally Ready (Almost) – Gene Rummy

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Worth Sharing: ‘Collaboration’ Creates Mediocrity, Not Excellence, According to Science | Inc.com

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Boy, can I relate to this:

A recent study published in Applied Psychology has now confirmed that a collaborative work environment can make top performers–the innovators and hard-workers–feel miserable and socially isolated.

The problem is that rather than seeing a top performer as a role models, mediocre employees tend to see them as threats, either to their own position in the company or to their own feelings of self-worth.

Rather than improving their own performance, mediocre employees socially isolate top performers, spread nasty rumors about them, and either sabotage, or attempt to steal credit for, the top performers’ work. As the study put it: “Cooperative contexts proved socially disadvantageous for high performers.”

Source: ‘Collaboration’ Creates Mediocrity, Not Excellence, According to Science | Inc.com

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[Gameful Learning] Table of Contents for Gamification 101

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Here is the current Table of Contents for Gamification 101 (Book 1)

Gamification 101: An Inquiry Based Journey

Part 1 – Background

  1. Prologue
  2. What s Gamification?
  3. A Description of the Course

Part 2 – The Journal

  1. Reflecting on Previous Versions
  2. Module Maps
  3. Scoring
    1. It All Adds Up
    2. On The Randomness of Grades
    3. Death to Deadlines
    4. 5 Ways to Make Marking Easier
    5. Breaking Molds
      1. Prior Work
      2. Double Dipping
      3. Collaborative Exams
  4. Questing
    1. About Those Quests
    2. The Iterative Quest
    3. Other Chain Quests
    4. New Quests
  5. Getting the Course Up and Running
    1. Submission and Grading System
    2. What Does a Gamified App Need to Be?
    3. Efficient Marking That Doesn’t Short-change Students
  6. ShowTime
    1. The First Few Weeks
    2. Mid-Term Reality Check
    3. Reaching Out to My Students
    4. The Home Stretch

Part 3 – End Game

  1. Bona Fide Criterion-References Assessment
  2. Lessons Learned – Again

Part 4 – Supplementary Materials

  1. Endnotes
  2. Quest List
  3. Quest Log
  4. Master Grade Book
  5. Brief Primer on Google Sheets
    1. Sheets Basics
    2. Linking Sheets Together
    3. Doctopus
    4. Mail Merge
  6. Glossary

Thoughts?

Source: gameful-blog:table_of_contents_for_gamification_101 [Gameful Learning]

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[Gameful Learning]: TWO BOOKS

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I’ve decided to split my new book into two parts.

Book 1 working title – Gamification 101: An Inquiry Based Journey

~ 150-200 pages; likely retail price: under $30

This book is written as a kind of journal that describes the process I went through while setting up and running a fully gamified course.
It is meant to be both guide for people who want to get a course up and running quickly as well as for those who are still trying to decide if this is something they want to do so they can see what’s involved.

Book 2 working title – Gamification: A Practical Guide for the Classroom
will take a more ‘structured’ approach and will include more in the way of supporting research and theory.

~ 350-400 pages; preferred retail price: under $50

See: Table of Contents

Thoughts?
Source: gameful-blog:two_books [Gameful Learning]

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New Book: Choosing and Using Digital Games in the Classroom: A Practical Guide

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I am thrilled to announce that my book is now available. This book is full of lists and practical advice on how to use games in the classroom. It takes you from the theories that underpin both learning and teaching with games to the practical application of these theories. There are dozens of strategies for using games in the classroom and templates to help you design and build lesson plans for single classes or entire courses.

For some sneak peeks – including some of the many images – try here.

Springer Site (includes both hardcover and eBook versions)

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The Clark-Kozma Debate in the 21st Century

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For a long time now, this paper has been the most popular paper on my academia.edu collection, and I finally figured out why……

© K.Becker 2016

© K.Becker 2016

Turns out, this paper is required reading in a number of courses, both at the undergrad and the grad level. Cool.

This paper takes a fresh look at the Clark/Kozma debate from the perspective of 21st century new media technologies in general and serious games in particular. After a brief re-cap of the key elements of the debate, a relatively recent article by R.E.Clark is summarized that brings serious games into the conversation. Clark’s allegations are addressed and the case is made that digital games form a distinct medium that can not easily be lumped in with other educational technologies. The author draws on over a decade of personal experience teaching with games to move the debate to the next level and offer some recommendations for when and how games can be used effectively in formal contexts.

snap02859Becker, K. (2010) The Clark-Kozma Debate in the 21st Century , CNIE Conference 2010, “Heritage Matters: Inspiring Tomorrow” Saint John, New Brunswick, May 16-19, 2010.

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Formative vs Summative vs Confirmative vs Predictive Evaluation

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0101-evaluation

© K.Becker 2016

Confused about the difference between summative and formative evaluation? Did you know there are two other kinds of assessment that we rarely talk about in education? This image from my upcoming book shows where they typically apply in the development lifecycle.

Robert Stakes analogy for formative vs summative evaluation is one of my favorites: “When the cook tastes the soup, that’s formative. When the guests taste the soup, that’s summative“.

  • Formative evaluation tends to focus on the process and normally takes place during development and  before the intervention has been deployed.
  • Summative evaluation normally takes place after deployment and focuses on its overall effects.
  • Confirmative evaluation is normally performed after the summative evaluation has been complete for some time, and its purpose is to confirm that the instruction is still effective weeks, months, and even years later. This is rarely done in formal education, partly (but not entirely) for practical reasons.
  • Predictive evaluation takes place before the instruction is even developed. This kind of evaluation can help us decide whether or not to proceed with a project before we have devoted too much time or too many resources to back out. It can also give us information we need to know to be able to proceed with confidence.
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