Level Up Learning: How Education Professor Brian Girard Transforms Classroom Success Inspired by Gaming

Creating a lively classroom community can be tough for teachers, especially after the pandemic. Brian Girard, an education professor, wants to change that using game-like strategies.

While using games in education isn’t new, Girard’s method stands out. Instead of traditional games, he focuses on integrating game-like elements, such as simulations and competitions, into teaching. This helps ignite students’ motivation to learn.

As the chair of educational administration and secondary education and this year’s Gitenstein-Hart Sabbatical Prize winner, Girard plans to research how game-like learning impacts secondary history classrooms. His goal is to help teachers connect students more deeply with the material.

For Girard, the goal isn’t about playing games for prizes but about the learning experiences that come from these activities.

“Game design offers valuable lessons for teaching,” Girard says. “Both game designers and teachers aim to capture and hold attention, which can be quite challenging.”

He believes that when students have a say in their activities, like in a simulation or role-play, they become more engaged. For instance, during Model UN, students take on roles and interact with one another, leading to real consequences like drafting a resolution. Their decisions can change the outcome, reflecting how real-life scenarios work.

Through interviews and classroom observations, Girard will look into how social studies teachers use these game-like elements to engage students, build understanding, and enhance skills. His findings aim to develop educational strategies that boost student motivation and highlight the importance of social interactions in learning. This will also aid his future collaborations with student teachers at TCNJ and educators throughout New Jersey.

“We want to mimic real-world situations that can lead to unpredictable outcomes,” he explains. “One aim is for students to leave social studies feeling like active, informed citizens who can make a difference.”

The Gitenstein-Hart Sabbatical Prize is made possible by the generosity of former TCNJ president R. Barbara Gitenstein and her husband, Don Hart.

— Emily W. Dodd ’03