Could the future of education be game-based assessment?

Educational games can provide assessment without tests. As players engage in immersive environments we can record their interactions without pausing for tests. This is because every in game action can be recorded and give us a complete footprint to their learning progress. Games allow us to assess skills we otherwise couldn’t assess using traditional multiple-choice assessment. Assessment of things like creativity, collaboration, and persistence are possible using data from game play.

Games are already embedded into the lifestyle of most students. The latest Pew research tells us that 97% of students aged 12-18 play some kind of digital game. Therefore, this is a natural activity that can be harnessed without fear of pressure.

The fundamental processes of assessment in games can present a problem. The player/student produces a work product in response to a problem, educators then evaluate this product based on rules and assign a score. Educators accumulate these scores into an overall score, and then use that information to present the next task. These are the same fundamental processes found in assessment in education!

Data analytics games can provide streams of data that allow us to assess process as well as final outcome. We can understand how a student came to an answer, not just the end result. Giving educators a way to provide better feedback to the student and gives them a better understanding of how students progress. We at Fun Atomic have been working on Data Arcade in collaboration with EdGE at TERC to do this very thing and hopefully have started the beginning of more serious educational content in games. 

If you are interested in our educational data analytics for your games then please don't hesitate to get in touch at https://www.funatomic.com