Wednesday, February 21, 2018

Quest-Based Learning

This semester I have the pleasure to be enrolled in EDTECH 563, Quest-Based Learning.  One of our introductory activities was to read through a white paper that outlined the basic principles underlying Quest-Based Learning.  We were then challenged to think about how we could use this approach in developing and delivering our own curriculum.

There is a quote from the paper that really resonated with me, "Teachers in a quest-based approach do not assign letter grades to completed quests. Dismissing the industrial paradigm approach in favor of a digital age sensibility, teachers either approve a quest because it meets all expectations or return the quest to the student for revisions and re-submission.  Just like video games, quest-based learning supports multiple attempts without punishment to promote learning from mistakes" (Haskell, 2013). I love this idea of taking the focus away from letter grades and putting emphasis on learning and progress. I find it interesting that as a 5th grade teacher I can very much visualize this approach to learning being the norm in my classroom, but as a graduate student I am still locked into the old pass-fail, A or F mentality. I appreciate that EDTECH 563 is being conducted in a quest-based approach.

As I was thinking about how this could look in my classroom, my mind went to math. Math is a subject that even by 5th grade many kids struggle with confidence and often adopt the "I'm not good at math" or "I can't do division" attitude as soon as it is time to pull out the math notebooks.  One of the biggest reasons for this is that many students enter 5th grade missing some key foundational concepts that will allow them to be successful with 5th grade math standards. A quest-based approach could be a great solution to this problem. It is nearly impossible to get through all of the 5th grade standards themselves in a school year assuming that you don't have to go back and reteach earlier grade content or fill holes so to speak.  Using a quest-based approach would allow students to work at their own pace while reviewing and reinforcing foundational skills that would support their learning in 5th grade.

I don't feel that I am deep enough into my own learning about quest-based learning to discuss exactly how a project like that would look, but at this point I could see that being a very real application for quest-based learning in my classroom.

Rebecca

Haskell, C. (2013). Understanding quest-based learning. White paper. Boise State University.