Adaptive Learning: How Story Games Teach Teachers

I’ve recently been thinking a lot about how designing games and running them offer a unique approach to designing and running courses for students. I was working on game design, and it helped me think of a way to explain how story-telling games do a very critical service for teachers, helping them become fellow learners alongside students, focus on and listen to their students’ needs, and adapt their approach.

It also got me thinking about what you can and can’t plan for, both in the rules of games and the writing of curriculum - and even what you SHOULDN’T try to structure or design.

Let me explain.

I was working on a little resolution system for my game - a list of “Triumphs and Troubles” or “Successes and Setbacks” that tie to a character’s Drive or Downfall. These would be mirrored by lists attached to a scene’s “Drama” - situational wins and losses that are more external than internal.

Say your character has the “Hard-Headed” Downfall - here’s a quick list of good and bad outcomes from rolls in-game that might help students learn to use their character’s personality to develop story (a critical element in writing many early writers struggle with!):