Track Game Progress with Graphs
If you’re using educational games over a period of time, ask your students to track game progress with graphs. Whenever a game is played, direct students to record their scores and a variable that should impact their score. For example, on the first day, have students play the game without using any specific strategies. The next day, teach a strategy and have students incorporate it into their game play. On the following day, teach another strategy and have students either use it or a combination of the two strategies that have been taught. Finally, have students generate their own strategies and use them during game play.
If students are playing the games in pairs, have them take turns using the mouse to play and recording the strategy that they used to meet each challenge in the game. Have students create a simple chart to use to record the number of times they employ a given strategy during a game.
Using their scores,and their records of strategy-use, have students create graphs that depict the impact of different strategies on their performance.