Elizabeth McKinney

Critical Introduction to: Giving up on Understanding John Doe: Challenging

Education Standards and Methods in the 21st Century
My project begins with the story of my own attempt at creating a roleplaying game (RPG) called Understanding John Doe, with the intention of
introducing a new teaching method for college-level using a role-playing
game. The story continues with my growing frustration and how that project
ultimately failed. This experience, however, led me to a new, even more
exciting endeavor: thinking about how my failures play a role in my
education. I realized that I've learned a lot from the times that I've failed
even more than I've learned from the times that I succeeded on my first try.
This realization caused me to think further about the role failure plays in
education in general. American society looks down on failure, which means
most people avoid it at all costs. Because of this negative perception, they
also won't learn anything from their mistakes.
While my main objective for this project is to inspire a move towards
gaming in the education system, I also want to encourage my readers to
understand the importance of failure in everything that they do. Failure can
and should have a positive effect on an individual's life. One way to make
failure positive in an individual's education is to ensure that they learn from it
instead of being punished for failing. Games not only make effective teaching
devices, they also provide a safe place for students to fail without serious
consequences.
Context

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Thus, my project looks at the separate, disciplinary conversations of gaming,
new media, and education, but I also argue that failure is an intersection of
or a linking mechanism between these distinct conversations.
In gaming, failure is seen as a way to restart, but the knowledge from
the failed experience is retained. This gives the player an even greater
chance of succeeding in their next attempt. Anastasia Salter, a professor at
the University of Baltimore, is most interested in educational games, and did
an interview with Academic Commons about "Games with a Purpose." In the
interview, Salter says "failure is part of the learning experience, not an end
outcome" (Games with a Purpose). Gaming offers failure as a chance for
players to pause, take a step back to consider their methods, and restructure
their plan for completion. In terms of education, learning by process gives
students a chance to develop a project just as most professional work is done
with drafts and revision. By viewing education as a continuous process
rather than as separate steps to a defined end goal, we give students more
opportunityand therefore increase the likelihoodto succeed.
In new media, failure is seen as an opportunity for innovation. When
one idea doesn't work, the individual takes a step back to consider their
options and restructures their plan for completion. Perhaps for this reason,
the term "new media" is difficult to define. Because media is constantly
changing and adapting and evolving, the easiest way to explain new media
is to call it a conversation between types of digital technologies that can be
accessed on a variety of electronic devices by anyone. New media especially

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focuses on the social aspects of these digital tools. Therefore, as the social
conversation changes, the new media technologies change. As one product
fails to please society, a new one is already taking its place, because the
inventors and innovators in this field are constantly learning from their
mistakes.
My capstone argues that in education, failure equals shame. Students
are told they are expected to succeed and that failing grades will be
punished, and strict guidelines are used to determine what constitutes a
failing grade or a passing grade. Even the way the grading system is
structured, with possible grades being A, B, C, D, or F, gives students the
impression that failure is unacceptable. Students are given four passing
letter grades and one failing grade, but the failing grade often constitutes
more than 50% of the numerical grade. By showing students there are four
passing grades that, combined, make up less of the total than one failing
grade, teachers are showing them failing is a black and white scenario.
In my paper, I argue that these three larger conversations are
connected through their useor their potential useof failure. I also present
suggestions for how failure can be used to enhance the outcomes of the
three conversations.
Although my bibliography for this project is lengthy, there were a few
sources that held slightly more significance for my capstone. One of the
sources that was most central to my project early on was the article "Are
Video Games Good for Learning?" by James Gee, which was written for the

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keynote address at the Curriculum Corporation 13th National Conference in
2006. In the address, he explains the features of a game that best enable
learning and why. The article was the first one I read that got me really
interested in using a role-playing game as a teaching tool.
My research on Gee lead me to Kurt Squire and Constance
Steinkuehler, who worked with Gee and also wrote about using games as
educational tools. In the article "Changing the Game: What Happens When
Video Games Enter the Classroom?" Squire analyzes his own use of video
games in his classes in order to present a criticism of the current education
system, which he says focuses on social control rather than on learning.
Another (albeit older) source, "The 'Banking' Concept of Education" by Paulo
Freire, also discusses the idea that the education system has turned into an
exercise of power and control rather than a system that encourages learning.
The banking concept Freire presents became central for my argument in
terms of the shortcomings of the current education model, and why this
model needs to be adjusted.
Steinkuehler's article "The Mismeasure of Boys: Reading and Online
Videogames" argues that although video games (and other similar digital
devices) have a bad reputation for distracting children from other activities
like reading, that is not actually the case. Instead, video games encourage
reading in gamers, but it might not be reading print texts. Her evidence can
be connected to what Jesse Stommel discusses in his teaching philosophy:
neuroplasticity, or the idea that the brain can develop new neurological

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pathways in order to be the most efficient. When we, as the human race,
began to read fewer print texts and more digital texts, our brains began to
adapt to respond to these digital texts. Thus, we're not reading less, we're
reading differently. Steinkuehler and Stommel's discussions further fueled my
conviction that a change is needed in curricula.
Process
In the spring of 2013, I completed a capstone project, the game
Understanding John Doe, in a professional writing course, "Studies in Literary
and Cultural Theory." In the game, players assume the role of the id, ego, or
superego and respond to various scenarios that occur in the life of the
game's subject, John Doe. During the summer and fall of 2013, I began to
revise the project in expectation of presenting in the fall. While revising, I
realized the game content I had wanted to incorporate was too complex for
the pen-and-paper RPG structure I had chosen. While revising, I tried to find
a way to make the content and the form match. I added new objectives for
players but that still didn't improve the game, so I started to add a digital
component so players could see their choices acted out. I was unable to
accomplish this as well, however, because the choices the players had were
not predetermined and were basically unpredictable.
All of these roadblocks and frustration led me to give up on developing
this game. By the time I reached this decision, it was the spring semester of
2014 and I needed a new capstone project. I began to think about what I
learned from my initial project failing, and how that affected my education in

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other ways. These thoughts lead to the inception of this project, a critique of
the modern perception of failure and the current education system.
Department Outcomes
Although my project fulfills all of the departmental capstone outcomes, there
is one in particular that I wanted to point out. One of the outcomes requires
the exploration of the interactions among social and/or cultural contexts. My
project discusses the interaction of gaming culture, social use of technology,
and the cultural and social implications of the current education system, as
well as the cultural and social implications of the changes I propose to the
current education system. For example, gaming culture includes a wide
variety of subcultures, including but not limited to video games, table top
games, and role playing games. All of these subcultures play a role in my
project. Furthermore, the changes I call for in regards to education would
break down the social and academic hierarchy our society has held dear for
so long. In order to challenge these cultures and intertwine them together, I
must first show the role they play individually in my project.

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Works Cited
Gee, James Paul. "Are Video Games Good for Learning?" Curriculum
Corporation 13th National Conference. Adelaide, Australia. August.
2006. Keynote Address.
Salter, Anastasia. "Games with a Purpose: Interview with Anastasia Salter."
Transformations Sept. 2013. Web.
Squire, Kurt. "Changing the Game: What Happens when Video Games Enter
the Classroom?" Innovate 1.6 (2005). PDF.
Steinkuehler, Constance. "The Mismeasure of Boys: Reading and Online
Videogames." Wisconsin Center for Education Research. University of
Wisconsin-Madison, 2011. PDF.
Stommel, Jesse. Teaching Philosophy. Web.
<http://www.jessestommel.com/Teaching_Portfolio.html>

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Giving up on Understanding John Doe: Challenging Education Standards and
Methods in the 21st Century
Understanding John Doe
In the spring of 2013, I took a course called "Studies in Literary and Cultural
Theory," in which I had to complete a course project with very little
restrictions other than page length; the most important component to the
assignment was narrative theory, because the course centered on a
discussion of this approach to reading and understanding literature. I came
up with the idea to develop a role playing game (RPG) that would teach
introductory level psychology to college students. I was planning on using
this project for my senior capstone, so I wanted to incorporate my double
majors (professional writing and creative writing) as well as my minor
(psychology). Additionally, I wanted to develop a project that would be
interesting not just for myself, but for the professors who would read the
project and for the students who would eventually use it. I called my game
Understanding John Doe. There are many types of RPGs, but I eventually
decided to make a pen-and-paper RPG, because this would effectively
incorporate psychology, writing, and narrative theory. Pen-and-paper RPGs
require a game narrator, who leads game play in a structured, interactive
story format. I thought this type of RPG would be the most effective because
it allowed the professor to have a facilitating role while ensuring the students
had an equally or even more active role with plenty of control over what
happened in the game.
I threw myself into my project, which truly felt like a project instead of

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an assignment because it was exciting and fun and, at the same time, it was
teaching me about so many different topicsgames, RPGs, narrative theory,
and psychology. More than that, it was going to help students learn in their
psychology classes, so I wanted to work on it and make it the best it could
be. I also intended to sell this game commercially, so that professors
nationallymaybe even internationallycould use Understanding John Doe
in their courses.
The basic storyline follows one character, John Doe, who faces different
representative, life-like scenarios and struggles to respond to them. These
scenarios were designed to give players examples of events that might occur
in their own lives, because this would help the students better understand
the objectives and apply the concepts they learn through the game to
situations they might face one day (the full list of scenarios can be found in
Appendix A). For example, the opening scene finds John trying to decide
whether or not to go to work:
John Doe wakes up on a Tuesday morning. He doesnt want to go to
work, but he has an important client meeting at 10am. If he stays
home, he will miss the meeting and lose a big client for his company. If
he goes to work, he will be in a bad mood but will get the client.
The game players, after being split into three teams, would be given the
character of id, ego, or superego1. The game narrator would introduce the
1 The id, ego, and superego are three parts of the psyche, as developed by
Sigmund Freud. These three parts counteract each other and act as a moral
guide. The id is impulsive and pleasure-driven while the superego is highly
moral and socially conscientious. The ego, in a normally functioning human,

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character, John Doe, and then each team rolls a set of dice and the highestrolling team is given the opportunity to respond to the scenario, which is
then explained by the game narrator. When the team has developed a way
for John to react, their answers are given a score. The scores are based on
creativity and accuracy in regards to their character (the rubric can be found
in Appendix B). Once a score is given, the teams roll the dice and the next
scenario is presented to them. My goal for developing the game this way was
to provide an interactive, realistic way for students to learn, because an
individual is more likely to learn a concept rather than a fact if he or she can
see how it applies to real life, even if the scenario is fictional.
I tested the game in the literary and cultural theory class in order to
receive feedback from actual students. Based on their commentswhich
focused mainly on the narrative structure of the scenarios and on the way
the rounds were organizedI revised the narrative so that it would be more
cohesive and directed and I adjusted some of the technical aspects of game
play to allow each team to give a response in every round, rather than just
one team answering. I spent so much time with this one project that by the
time it was due, I was burnt out. Although students are encouraged to
continue working on their capstone projects over the summer, I let myself
take a break from working on it and promised to return to it in the fall.
However, because I was expecting to present this project in the fall of
2013, I took the project back up at the end of the summer, and I began to

is the balance between the id and superego.

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have my doubts. I knew this project needed to be nearly perfect by the time I
presented it in December, but I was having difficulty with how the story
progressed from scenario to scenario. I also thought I would never be able to
successfully market this game, because it lacked depth. I decided to add
"filters" to Understanding John Doe, which would require players to consider
how their character would influence John to act if he had a certain mental
disorder or if he was invoking the use of a specific ego defense mechanism.
For example, if John had posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), how would he
act if he was in a car accident? The players would need to understand the
psychological effects of PTSD on an individual and how this disorder would
cloud, or put a filter over, John's judgment.
Again, after spending some time on this aspect of the game, I realized
it wasn't working how I wanted it to work, for a number of reasons. The
combination of unplanned responses and a predetermined plot, along with
the scoring method, was very complex and difficult to account for. I also
knew that students tend to learn better when they have visual, realistic
examples. So I decided to forego the filters and add a digital component by
showing a video of John acting out the students' responses. I wanted players
to be able to see their choices acted out. I hoped this would help students
not only understand the concepts behind the game, but that it would also
help them remember the concepts long after their psychology course ended.
Somewhere around this time, I found out I would not be presenting this game
as my capstone project in the fall of 2013, only because I had completed the

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project as a sophomore, so the project could not be considered a "senior"
capstone. Nonetheless, I wanted to continue working on it, so I pushed
forward with the video components.
I quickly ran into another road block, this time with the digital
component. At this point of game development, players had an infinite
number of options for their responses to the scenarios. I couldn't possibly
anticipate how the players would respond, so I couldn't develop a video
showing John acting out their answers. Therefore, I considered preparing
three responses and having the teams choose which response best fit their
character. This would allow me to have the video responses ready to show
before game play began. I also knew, however, that this would ruin the game
as a game. I had essentially turned my game into a slightly more
entertaining multiple choice test. I was taking the creativity out of the game,
which was the reason I first decided to create Understanding John Doe.
Nothing seemed to be working out the way I wanted it to, which was very
frustrating.
The chain of events that led up to an overwhelming sense of
frustration also led to me giving up on Understanding John Doe as a longterm project. I couldn't figure out how to make the game successful, so I
deemed it a failure and tried to move on to new projects. When I grasped
onto this goal of designing an RPG, I never dreamed of failure, so the
decision to give up was somewhat terrifying. I had spent so much time and
energy on this project that it seemed like a waste to throw it all away.

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Additionally, I felt as if I couldnt fail, because of the standards that had been
set before me by the education system. Receiving any grade lower than a
"C" in a course would be shameful and could cause me to fall behind my
peers in areas such as grade point average.
Fortunately, I was able to salvage at least one lesson from this game:
failure is not always a bad thing, and even when it is, it can lead to an even
greater success. Risn O'Gorman and Margaret Werry attempt to describe
the components of failure, addressing both negative and positive
perspectives, in their article "The Anatomy of Failure," saying, "if failure is
symptomatic, it is also diagnostic, pointing us to the thing we have to
change" (106). In my case, I was able to turn a disappointing plan for an RPG
into a new perspective on failure and education. Although I was aware of
similar situations in which people had turned a mistake into something
better, it wasn't until my own experience that I learned first-hand that failure
can lead to a process of learning, growth, and improvement with a better
outcome than the original project would have had. The realization that
resulted from my own failure led me to question the common education
standards and expectations in our society, as well as what role failing plays
in the education system.

The Positives of Failure

We use our successes to impress others and to move one step closer to our
final goal, whether that is wealth, love, fame, or any number of other ideals.

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But we are not taught how to learn from our failures. It's very likely that
we've all heard popular sayings about learning from our mistakessuch as
"what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" or "to err is human"but we
don't, as a society, do this, because outside of these quotes, failure is
shamed and discouraged. Even through the quotes, though we find some
form of comfort or release from anxiety and disappointment, we also lose the
ability to learn from or think critically about failure as a generative
phenomenon.
Moving on from clichd, appropriated phrases, individuals need to
understand the significance of critically and objectively analyzing failure. By
analyzing mistakes and their significance, we can better understand the
context of the failure and will more adept at handling the next opportunity
that arises because of the original failure. This failure doesn't have to be the
individual's own error, though it would ultimately be easier and more
significant for that individual to consider their own mistakes. For example, I
was well aware of Thomas Edison's famous quote about inventing the light
bulb: "I have not failed. I've just found 1,000 ways that won't work." I had
also heard of instances when a popular commercial product was created
through a failed ideapenicillin or post-it notes, for instance. Nonetheless, it
wasn't until I tried to invent my own product that I realized how beneficial
failing can actually be. I hadn't invented one bad game; I had invented a new
way of looking at games and education through critical and objective
analysis of my mistakes. I learned that this kind of analysis can also lead to

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better creative projects when I read Sara Bailes' book on the topic of failure
in theater performance titled Failure and Representation. In it, she argues
that failure on stage can lead to a more creative, more beneficial overall
theater experience. In the introduction to her book, Bailes writes "a failed
occurrence signals the unpredictable outcome of events where a successful
instance might, by comparison, be considered exclusive, prohibitive, and
militated by mainstream values" (2). When we fail, we open ourselves to
new, even unexpected opportunities. When we succeed, it is on society's
terms; we have succeeded according to the mainstream standards. Failing
gives us the opportunity to step outside of these boundaries and into
guidelines of our own creation.
There's no easy way to explain what failure is, because it can mean so
many different things, depending on the context and the individual(s)
involved. The Oxford English Dictionary, for instance, lists four main
definitions for "failure" and three for "fail." Joseph Williams attempts to
define this controversial term in his article "The Phenomenology of Error," in
which he discusses the phenomenon of how we, as critics, distinguish
between which errors of grammar and usage to scorn and correct and which
to allow. He says there is "great variation in our definition of error, great
variation in our emotional investment in defining and condemning error,
great variation in the perceived seriousness of individual error" (155). On the
other hand, Bailes attempts to define failure less as a strict definition and
more as a representative term (4) and explains that our "capacity to fail" is

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the likelihood that we will be unable to complete a task as well as we
intended (7). Though many have tried to define or explain the concept of
failure, or error, or mistakes, each definition has a different resonance with
each new individual. Because it is difficult to describe such an abstract term,
it is helpful to understand failure's synonyms: failure can mean to err or to
make a mistake (which have negative connotations), or it can mean to
experiment, to play, or to take a risk (which typically have more positive
connotations).
O'Gorman and Werry argue "failure is productive because it demands
redress. In failure we are forced to think critically, to reimagine, to make
something new" (105). They are attempting an explanation similar to Bailes
in that failure opensforcesus to new opportunities. They further
describe failure as "diagnostic" in that through failure, we are able to see
exactly what went wrong, so we know what we need to fix (106). I went
through this process multiple times with Understanding John Doe, and each
time at least one aspect of the project improved. Additionally, by accepting a
complete failure with the game, I was able to consider on a larger scale the
effects of failure, RPGs, and education. I was especially influenced by Bailes
while working on this project. In the introduction to her book, she says:
Part of what I wish to suggest is that we cannot "do" without failure, in
both senses of that expression (we cannot make, nor can we manage
without). Its practicable potentiality enables us to go on, and we go on
because failure is a driver in the attempt to continue, even when

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interruption or disorientation or inoperativeness are constituent
features of continuation. Failure is a function of doing; and when we do
(or make or invent) we invent the horizon for the capacity to fail. (12)
Most of my life had been spent proving to everyone around me that I could
succeed with any project that was thrown at me. I constantly took on more
responsibility than I thought I could handle. After having so much expected
of me for so long, it was difficult for me to be able to realizeand accept
that something I had attempted had actually failed. But what surprised me
the most was that I was propelled forward by this failure. Bailes insists that
no one is ever above failure and, in fact, no one is ever without failure. Her
statement made me finally understand that failure is inevitable, but that
doesn't mean it is inevitably negative. O'Gorman and Werry say "failure can
be change by another name. Yet we often fail to change. More often still, we
fail to recognize both (110). When we fail to recognize failure or the
opportunity to change, failure takes on the negative connotation that has
become the normal social perspective.
There are, however, several aspects of culture that embrace failure
and learn from it, such as theater, as explained by Bailes. The gaming culture
(a branch of new media that emphasizes computer and video games and
their impact on society) is also one that wholeheartedly acceptseven
welcomesfailure and the opportunity to learn from mistakes and errors. As
the gaming world expands and becomes more mainstream, it's easy to see
why students are often more attracted to games than their studies: they can

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mess up, they can fail, without serious consequences. It's also important to
understand how games can be used as educational tools. In his article "From
Content to Context: Videogames as Designed Experience," Kurt Squire says
one of the critical traits of games, particularly video games, "is that they are
organized around doing;" they are "functional" (22). Actions, plans, and
strategies are emphasized in games, rather than rote memorization. This ties
back to Bailes, when she says "failure is a function of doing; and when we do
(or make or invent) we invent the horizon for the capacity to fail" (12). We
can infer, then, that learning from failure and learning from games are
fundamentally connected, and should be considered together in terms of
constructive education. I would even go so far as to say that games should
be incorporated into every school curriculum, particularly in the humanities
within early school years in order to teach students from an early age that
failure is acceptable and inviting.
Video and Role-Playing Games
In order to understand how a video or role-playing game can be used as a
teaching device, it is important to first understand just what a game is.
According to Celia Pearce in her article "Towards a Game Theory of Game," a
game is best defined as "framework for structured play" (144). However, in
the article "Role-Playing: A Narrative Experience and a Mindset," author Satu
Helio presents the following definition for a game: "an interactive structure of
endogenous meaning that requires players to struggle toward a goal" (66).
These two definitions, although fairly different, offer a good explanation for

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what exactly a game is: a structured interactive visual narrative that
necessitates players reaching a final goal or outcome by their own volition.
Understood in this way, games can be considered similar to a class, because
both involve the use of specific, separate assignments that work together to
lead a student or player to a final goal or outcome. A course has a curriculum
with individual assignments that, together, make up a student's final grade.
A game, especially an RPG, though it has plenty of side activities, has
specific assignments that each character has to complete in order to "win."
In a game, however, a player does not have to win; they can play for as long
as they want, doing whatever sort of activities they want, and still feel
accomplished. More importantly, they can still learn from unstructured,
unregulated play, which gives students the ability to learn in their own,
individual way and maximize on these learning opportunities. A course
requires a definite end with a specific outcome, and if a student does not
achieve this outcome, there are specific consequences.
Games are needed in the classroom because students are not getting
enough out of their education, but it's not because they're dumb or lazy. It's
also not entirely the teachers' or the curricula's faults. The faultor rather,
the causeis in the students' brains. The way that students learn is changing
because the brain is changing. Many traditionalists think games are causing
a negative effect on individuals who use technology frequently. For example,
the "displacement hypothesis" says "if teenage boys were playing video
games less, they would be reading print text more" (Mismeasure of Boys 3).

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Constance Steinkuehler disputes this theory in her article "The Mismeasure
of Boys: Reading and Online Videogames," arguing that "reading is not an
activity replaced by videogames, but rather it is an integral part of what it
means to participate and play" (4). Continuing, Steinkuehler compares four
studies in order to prove her theory that text in games is not only connected
to but should be used to encourage reading among students.
Jesse Stommel, a professor of digital humanities at University of
Wisconsin-Madison, quotes Gary Small, who confronts this issue of
technological learning as well, from a different perspective:
The current explosion of technology not only is changing the way we
live and communicate but is rapidly and profoundly altering our brains.
Daily exposure to high technologycomputers, smart phones, video
games, search engines like Google and Yahoostimulates brain cell
alteration and neurotransmitter release, gradually strengthening new
neural pathways in our brains while weakening old ones. (Teaching
Philosophy)
The process of creating new pathways in the brain, or "neuroplasticity," that
Small discusses and Stommel expands on is critical to the integration of
video games into curricula. Because students are using technology such as
video games outside of school more frequently now than students did in the
past, their brains are creating new neurological pathways devoted to
developing ways to be more efficient when playing video games. The brain is
focusing on these new neural pathways, which means it is turning away from

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the pathways that had been utilized previously for other activities (reading
print materials, for example) that had been incorporated into the classroom
in other words, the brain deletes outdated, unused pathways (Rugnetta,
Encyclopedia Britannica Online). These new pathways that focus on visual
learning are impacting what students are doing in the classroom. This does
not mean students are dumb or lazy; they are simply learning in a different
way than previous generations who did not have easy access to digital tools
such as video games. Therefore, we need to incorporate these digital tools
especially gamesinto course work more fully. Stommel, too, comments on
the evolution of students in his teaching philosophy: "the student 2.0 is an
altogether different animal than the student 1.0." Because of this, Stommel
asks "shouldn't we, ourselves, evolve into teachers 2.0" (Teaching
Philosophy)?
One way to become a teacher 2.0 and keep up with the student 2.0, is
to use gameswhether video games or RPGsin the classroom. Games
allow players to experience multiple perspectives or points of view by having
the players switch between any number of available characters. Squire
argues "games allow us to bend or temporarily dismiss social rules in order
to try new ideas and identities" (Changing the Game 6). This concept of new
identities is particularly useful in history classes, as students can assume the
role of both parties in a conflict, and thus be able to understand two sides of
history. For instance, Squire used a game called Civilization III in his high
school history classes. He found that students who did not succeed in a

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traditional education system were the ones who did the best in the gamebased system. These students were the ones who preferred "hands-on"
learning, which "is how learning occurs everywhere but school and, again, is
precisely how workers are asked to learn in the new economy" (Changing the
Game 8). In other words, if we want to prepare students for a particular
career, we should train them with hands-on learning.
Another example is my game, Understanding John Doe, used in a
psychology classroom. Students assume the role of John's id, ego, or
superego and complete challenges as their character, and play the game
with this new identity. By adopting new characters or identities, students
forget their social roles and the rules surrounding that role, which opens
them up to new ideas about the concepts they are learning.
Games also provide the opportunity for realistic, modern role playing,
which gives students a chance to experience situations that could occur in
their own lives. In fact, Eric Mallin, in his article "On Game Playing and the
Uses of Uncertainty," argues
the soul of the game, its deep instructional value, lies in the players'
exposure to multiple viewpoints and circumstances: to unpredictable
persons and their variable, conflicting desires, to outcomes dictated by
history but also by whim, and to the curiously crucial place occupied by
those signs you cannot read reliably, which when personified take the
apt name, in this game, of 'the indeterminates.' (131)
The indeterminacy and uncertainty Mallin discusses in his article are closely

McKinney 23
connected to the hesitancy to fail. When we are uncertain of an outcome, we
are hesitant to take a risk because we don't want to fail and face shame.
Some educators may be hesitant to use RPGs as a teaching device because
they cannot predict exactly what will happen in the game, and they cannot
always accurately predict the ultimate outcome of the game. Because of this
uncertainty, the possibility of failure is intimidating and can be a cause for a
rejection of educational games.
Mallin's claims about education can also be connected to the
traditionalist view of education, or as Paulo Freire calls it, the "banking
concept of education" (257). Freire's article "The 'Banking' Concept of
Education" explains this term in detail and offers a new educational concept
that he demands become the norm: "problem-posing education" (262). The
banking education sets up strict boundaries for teachers and students,
separating each into their own distinct category and requires them to stay
separated. This means the teacher is in charge and the students quietly obey
(Freire 258). Problem-posing education presents students with the ability to
communicate freely with their teacher; this allows the students to teach and
the teacher to study (Freire 262). RPGs work as problem-posing education,
because they can set up challenges for both students and teachers to both
learn and teach from. Squire, too, discusses similar education models, saying
the skills required by the game curriculumproblem identification,
hypothesis testing, interpretative analysis, and strategic thinking
more closely align with the new economy than does the 'factory' model

McKinney 24
of curriculum that privileges following directions, mastering pre-defined
objectives, performance on highly structured tasks, and intellectual
obedience. (Changing the Game 8)
Students learning from a problem-posing education system develop the skills
they need to solve real world problems, rather than the predetermined
problems presented in a closed environment. Of course, another reason
educators are hesitant to use games is that it can be difficult to assess
students. With the banking method, it is easy for teachers to say "this is the
right answer and this is why you're wrong." With games, a teacher must be
able to say "you did not complete this assignment the way I had thought you
would complete it, but you approached it from a different perspective, so you
did technically complete the assignment." Teachers are giving up control of
their students, in a sense, and many are uncomfortable with doing so, but
games "provide models for thinking about problems where theres not only
one right solution," according to professor Anastasia Salter in an interview
with the editorial board of the Academic Commons (Games with a Purpose).
Another reason games should be incorporated into the classroom is
because they utilize failure as a learning tool by "[offering] a sliding difficulty,
and a space where failure is part of the learning experience, not an end
outcome" (Salter). When a player makes a mistake in a game, they are given
the opportunity to restart and try again. In a classroom, when a student fails
an assignment, they are not usually given another chance to earn a better
grade. Games ensure that students learn over a process, and they learn how

McKinney 25
to produce an outcome, rather than learning just the outcome.
Mallin lists the benefits of using games in the classroom that he has
discovered through years of teaching with his own RPG: improved
involvement from students, self-directed learning, and collaborative,
productive learning. Mallin then closes his article by appealing to teachers,
encouraging them "to provoke and observe a greater range of their students'
abilities, and to test their own tolerance for indeterminacy in the classroom"
through the use of games (133). While teachers may be reluctant to
incorporate games into their curriculum because they do lose some amount
of control over what their students are doing for the assignment, it is
important for them to do so in order for them to learn from this experience
as well. Students also experience uncertainty because "the game insists on
the multiple and contested meanings" of the text or concept being studied
(Mallin 130). However, this uncertainty as well as increased participation
causes students to become more "[engaged] with the works . . . because the
students challenge themselves and one another" with the game (Mallin 130).
Games provide students a plethora of opportunities, the most important of
which being autodidacticism. The teacher is there to facilitate the
development of new neural pathways. This does not mean educators should
be passive. Rather, they should be more actively encouraging
autodidacticism by challenging students ideas and work on a peer-to-peer
basis. Freire says "the solution is not to 'integrate' them into the structure of
oppression, but to transform that structure so that they can become 'beings

McKinney 26
for themselves'" (259). An education should provide students with a way to
develop themselves into the person they want to be, not a member of a
hierarchy imposed by those who are considered more knowledgeable.

The Pedagogy of Failure

We have learned by society's exampleor been brainwashedfrom a young
age to be afraid of failure: mistakes are crippling, errors are devastating, and
we should avoid letting our blunders ever be found out. We have not learned,
as a society, that "to fail" is also "to experiment" and "to play." We see this in
business ventures that don't succeed, causing the entrepreneur to declare
bankruptcy. We see this in the workplace, where one mistake can cause an
employee to lose their job. We see this in sporting events, because if one
person makes a mistake, he or she lets down the entire team. But most
importantly, we see this in the classroom, where an error or a lack of
understanding or even a different perspective can result in a failing grade for
a student. While this wasn't a problem with the education system
traditionally, it is becoming a problem today, and there are many
constitutional factors.
The biggest problem in this situation is the pressure the school
systems put on getting an "A" grade or on having a high grade point
average. In order to receive an A, students have to follow directions exactly,
relieving them of any opportunity for creativity, or learn facts that they
quickly forget. Bailes gives an example of this from a theatrical perspective:

McKinney 27
memorizing one line of a text produces one outcome. Forgetting the exact
wording, however, leads to multiple possibilities, "such as paraphrasing,
improvising text that leads in another direction, standing in silence,
reinventing the text through gesture, and so on" (2). By learning the idea
behind the memorized line, the actor would be more likely to paraphrase the
quote or use gestures to make the point, saving the integrity of the
statement. If the actor had just memorized the words, though, he would be
more likely to stand in silence or try to improvise a new line. Bailes goes on
to say "failure in the realm of performance can be understood as generative,
prolific even; failure produces" (2-3). By failing to learn basic facts but
understanding bigger ideas and concepts, students are able to succeed
outside of inside-the-box scenarios.
Therefore, instead of memorizing facts, students should learn concepts
and apply them in a realistic situation. This means standardized tests are not
efficient or productive. Squire, too, points to this argument against
standardized tests when he says
Contemporary pedagogical practice, which breaks problems down into
bite-sized, easy-to-learn pieces, often creates a sense of "learned
helplessness" in students (particularly high school students) who only
encounter short, solvable problems with all necessary information laid
out in front of them. Games, on the other hand, present players with
complex holistic problems. (Changing the Game 5)
Teaching students to follow formulas and strict rules for assignments does

McKinney 28
not teach them to think for themselves. This is why games are so important:
they give students an opportunity to apply what they have learned to new
situations. Squire interviewed his students to determine what they learned,
what they struggled with, and how gaming worked as an educational device.
The interviews revealed "the learning that occurs through playing Civilization
III is less about the 'names and dates' of factual history, but rather about
developing interpretive lenses which can be used for historical analysis, such
as the causes of colonization" (Changing the Game 16). Straight historical
facts dont teach someone about history. Rather, methods of historical
figures, governments, and nations teach students about history. Studying the
methods rather than isolated instances helps students understand and learn
how to apply the processes and methods. The current education system
gives students predetermined challenges and teaches them how to
overcome each specific situation. Educational games teach students how to
look at a situation with many variables and determine the best way to
overcome the challenge.
Another problem with the education system is that teachers aren't
adapting their syllabi for the student 2.0, and these students are bored.
Technology plays a huge role here. The traditional educators, teachers 1.0,
generally can't or don't keep up with advancements in technology, so they
teachers aren't incorporating these advancements into their course work.
Bailes addresses the issue of traditional versus modern ways of thinking by
saying

McKinney 29
A prescriptive definition of success appeals to conservative ideology
and the normative ambitions that consolidate its ideals, whilst the
altogether messier undisciplined tactics that failure permits contribute
to an anti-conformist ideology, one that seeks to redefine and loosen
the boundaries that determine lived experience and representations
that chase after it. (2)
By embracing failure, we are letting go of traditional bondages of society's
expectations, which are holding us back from an infinite number of
possibilities. This is very difficult to do, of course. We have been sculpted
throughout our lives to fit into our dictated role within society. Bailes believes
the poetics of failure is only exposed through "the willful disruption of
preordained conventions" (11). Even when we have to courageand ability
to challenge these traditional roles with modern ideas, we falter. Williams,
author of "The Phenomenology of Failure," both negates and validates his
argument by admitting his article may be "an exercise in futility. In these
matters, the self-conscious report of what should be counted as an error is
certainly an unreliable index to the unself-conscious experience." He
continues by also admitting that people's "zealous defense of" their
argument and rules "feels more authentic than our experience of the same
items in unreflective experience of a text . . . it simply feels more authentic
when we condemn an error and enforce a role" (165). In other words, people
stick to the traditionalist method of education because they are
uncomfortable with failure and change. However, part of failure is being

McKinney 30
uncomfortable, because we will never learn if we are comfortable with what
we are doing.

A Call for Failure

Fallor ergo sum. St. Augustine
I err therefore I am.

Bailes argues "in art and literature failure opens up a fruitful, tragicomic
ground where subversion and resistance can be tried out or rehearsed" (3). I
argue to take this a step further: any academic field, not just art and
literature, canand shouldbenefit from failing in academic-driven games,
in ways that open up nearly endless opportunities for individuals to subvert
and resist the mainstream ideal for strict, regulated success. Robert Biddle,
Sebastien Caquard, Birgit A. Woods, and Claire Dormann also call for this
change in their article, titled "Role-Playing Games in Cybercartography:
Multiple Perspectives and Critical Thinking," saying
we believe that re-embedding knowledge within human perspectives
can stimulate players to learn in the emotional and imaginatively
reconstructed reality. By reshaping the stories we live by and capturing
these many different points of view, we can keep evolving critical
thinking, questioning our aims and assumptions, and redefining how
we think, understand, work, and play. (Biddle et. al 56)
The authors are talking about learning through the use of multiple
perspectives in games, but this idea can also be applied to failure, which

McKinney 31
Bailes insists is necessary to the comprehension of human activity, but also
to the development of human consciousness" (23). Through failing, we better
understand our activity; through failing as another person (a game
character), we receive a new perspective on an activity, and therefore gain
new knowledge. In other words, we need failure in order to grow. One of the
most beneficial ways to experience and grow from failure while still learning
effectively is through video games or RPGs, because they provide a safe
environment without ridicule for failing and with an easy opportunity to try
again. Failure should not be negative or scary or embarrassing. Failure should
be generative and refreshing and provide at least one new perspective. And
it can be all of these, as long as an individual is willing to open themselves
up to experience the positive side of failingas long as an individual is
willing, in the words of St. Augustine, to be.

McKinney 32
Works Referenced
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Poetics of Failure. New York, NY: Routledge, 2011. 1-30. Print.
Biddle, Robert, Sebastian Caquard, Birgit A. Woods, and Claire Dormann.
Role-Playing Games
in Cybercartography: Multiple Perspectives and Critical Thinking.
Cartographica 41.1 (2006): 47-58. PDF.
Carr, Nicholas. "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" The Atlantic. The Atlantic
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Developing a Role playing Case Study as a Teaching Tool. Print.
Duckworth, Angela Lee, Patrick D. Quinn, Donald R. Lynam, Rolf Loeber, and
Magda Stouthamer-Loeber. "Role of Test Motivation in Intelligence
Testing." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the
United States of America 108.19 (2011): 1-5. PDF.
Freire, Paulo. The Banking Concept of Education. 7th ed. Ed. David Bartholmae. New York: St. Martini Press, 2005. 256-67. Print.
Gee, James Paul. "Are Video Games Good for Learning?" Curriculum
Corporation 13th National Conference. Adelaide, Australia. August.
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McKinney 33
Granic, Isabela, Adam Lobel, and Rutger C. M. E. Engels. "The Benefits of
Playing Video Games. American Psychologist 69.1 (2014): 66-78. PDF.
Helio, Satu. "Role-Playing: A Narrative Experience and a Mindset." Beyond
Role and Play:
Tools, Toys and Theory for Harnessing the Imagination. By Markus
Montola and Jaakko Stenros. Helsinki: Ropecon Ry, 2004. 65-74. PDF.
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(2009): 125-134. PDF.
Marino, Matthew, et al. "Students' and Teachers' Perceptions of Using Video
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Complex World

McKinney 34
of Adolescent Literacy: Myths, Motivations, and Mysteries." Harvard
Educational Review 78.1 (2008): 1-35. PDF.
O'Gorman, Risn, and Margaret Werry. "The Anatomy of Failure."
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(2012): 105-10. Web.
O'Gorman, Risn, and Margaret Werry. "On Failure (On Pedagogy)."
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17.1 (2012): 1-8. Web.
Pearce, Celia. "Towards a Game Theory of Game." First Person. Ed. Noah
Wardrip-Fruin and
Pat Harrigan. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2004. PDF.
Porter, Adam L. Role-Playing and Religion: Using Games to Educate
Millenials. Teaching
Theology & Religion 11.4 (2008): 230-235. PDF.
Rugnetta, Michael. "Neuroplasticity (biology)." Encyclopedia Britannica
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Salter, Anastasia. "Games with a Purpose: Interview with Anastasia Salter."
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Testing and Choice are Undermining Education, by Diane Ravitch.
Capitol Reader July 2010: 1-8. Web.
Shirky, Clay. "Why Abundance is Good: A Reply to Nick Carr." The Atlantic.
Web.

McKinney 35
Squire, Kurt. "Changing the Game: What Happens when Video Games Enter
the Classroom?" Innovate 1.6 (2005). PDF.
Squire, Kurt. "From Content to Context: Videogames as Designed
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Virtual Worlds." Journal of Science Education Technology 17.6 (2008):
530-543. PDF.
Stommel, Jesse. Teaching Philosophy. Web.
<http://www.jessestommel.com/Teaching_Portfolio.html>
Tychsen, Anders, Michael Hitchens, Thea Brolund, and Manolya Kavakli. "The
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Action Role-Playing Games: Control, Communication, Storytelling, and
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Tychsen, Anders. "Role Playing Games Comparative Analysis Across Two
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Interactive Entertainment (n.d.): 75-82. PDF.

McKinney 36
United States. Department of Education. "Digest of Education Statistics
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32.2 (1981): 152-168. PDF.
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Teaching of Composition. Logan: Utah State UP, 2004. Print.

McKinney 37
Appendix A: Understanding John Doe Scenarios
1. John Doe wakes up on a Tuesday morning. He doesnt want to go to
work, but he has an important client meeting at 10am.
a. If he stays home, he will miss the meeting and lose a big client
for his company.
b. If he goes to work, he will be in a bad mood but will get the
client.
2. If he goes to work (Tuesday), That same day, if he stays home: the
next day (Wednesday), John is invited out for drinks by Jane, his
attractive co-worker, but he already promised his mother he would
have dinner with her.
a. If John goes out for drinks with Jane instead of having dinner with
his mother, his mother will be disappointed, but John and Jane
will have a good time, until they wake up the next morning
awkwardly and with hangovers.
b. If John goes to dinner with his mother instead of having drinks
with Jane, he will not get a second chance with Jane, but his
mother will be happy.
3. John is on a strict diet, but when he has dinner with his mother, he
notices a dessert that he really wants. OR: John is on a strict diet, but
while he is at the bar with Jane, he sees a high-calorie beer that
sounds really good.
a. If John gets the dessert/beer, he will enjoy it, and had more, but
feel guilty later and eventually give up on his diet.
b. If he doesnt have any of it, he will still crave it, but he will stick
to his diet and eventually lose the weight he needs to lose.
4. The next day at work (Wednesday or Thursday), John is feeling bad
because of [fill in the blank from one of the two previous scenarios
(broke his diet, hungover, missed out on Jane, etc.)]. One of Johns
supervisors, Bob, makes a rude comment about Johns appearance and
attitude to another co-worker, Tom. John just happens to be walking by
at the time and overhears the comment, and since he is already in a
bad mood, the comment makes him very angry.
a. If John angrily confronts Bob, there is a good chance the
argument will result in a fight and John is suspended.
b. If John does nothing about Bobs comment, Bob will continue to
bad-mouth John and he will be in a consistently bad mood at
work, not to mention his self-esteem will drop even lower.

McKinney 38
5. The following Monday, John finds a loophole in his companys
accounting software that would allow a person to take money out of
the accounts without being noticed for some time. The program was
created by Bob. If John went to his supervisor about Bob earlier, John
should think that his supervisor wont believe the glitch is real. If John
didnt go to his supervisor about Bob, his supervisor will bring it up if
John goes to talk to him about the glitch, which will force John to
explain the situation to his supervisor.
a. If John decides to take the money, he could get caught and end
up in jail. If he tells his supervisor about the glitch, he would be
thanked but probably not get any reward.
b. If he fixes the problem himself, he wont get any recognition, but
no one will be able to steal from his company.
6. After dealing with the glitch in the system, John wins a ticket to a
concert (Saturday). His favorite band will be performing, but the show
is in the middle of a work retreat he just told his supervisor he would
attend.
a. If John goes to the concert, he will disappoint his co-workers and
supervisor and wont learn about changes in the company.
b. If John goes to the retreat, he will miss out on an once-in-alifetime concert.
7. The day of the retreat/concert, Johns mother goes to the hospital after
suffering a heart attack.
a. If he goes to the retreat/concert, he wont be with his mom.
b. If he goes to the hospital to be with his mom, hell miss the
retreat/concert.
8. While leaving the hospital/retreat/concert, John sees an advertisement
for TV he wants. However, he is saving money so he can buy a house
and move out of his parents, but TV costs of what he has saved up
so far.
a. If John decides to buy the TV, it will take him even longer to
move out of his parents house.
b. If he decides to not buy the TV, he will have to continue sharing a
TV with his parents, which he does not enjoy.
9. [Regardless of the outcome] (Even though hes not going to buy it, he
wants to look at it, so), John walks into the store to buy or look at the

McKinney 39
TV and finds a wallet on the ground. There is a little more than $100
inside it and an ID, so he knows who it belongs to.
a. If John takes the wallet, he will have extra money, but someone
will lose quite a bit of money.
b. If he turns the wallet in, he will not have the money but will feel
good about himself.
10.
As a result of (not attending) the retreat, John has a project (that
involves a lot of money) for work due in two days. He is also taking an
online class and has a big project (worth 20% of his final grade) due
the same day. The class is required for his degree. He cant get both
done by their deadlines.
a. If John focuses on his class project, he will get a good grade, but
will face repercussions at work.
b. If he focuses on the work project, he will fail his project.
11.

John decides to:

a. Do the work project: he adequately completes the project, but he
ends the class with a low C. Jane is impressed with his work
presentation and decides to give him another chance. She
invites him to go skiing with her.
b. Do the class project: he loses $3,000 dollars in goods for his
company. He ends the class with a high B. Jane notices he has
been feeling sad and wants to cheer him up, so she decides to
give him another chance and invites him to go skiing with her.

12.
Ski trip: John hates the cold, hes bad at skiing, and it is too
expensive for him. However, he really likes Jane and he feels bad about
screwing up their first date.
a. If he goes skiing, he will be uncomfortable most of the time and
mostly unhappy, but he will enjoy spending time with Jane and
their relationship will advance. He will most likely have to borrow
money from his parents.
b. If he does not go skiing, Jane will want to know why. She will not
be happy no matter what his answer is and this will set back
their relationship again.
13.
John decides to not go skiing. The next Wednesday, John decides
its time for him to ask Jane out. How does he ask her? (points for
creativity come here)

McKinney 40
a. She tells him she met someone on the trip and doesnt want to
see John anymore.
14.
John is on his way home from work on Wednesday and is upset,
so he is not paying very much attention. He is in a car accident at a 4way stop. He thinks he had the right of way, but hes not sure because
he wasnt paying attention. The other man in the collision says he was
the one with the right-of-way. There were no witnesses. The cops and
insurance companies need to know whose fault it was.
a. If John takes the blame, hell have to pay for everything.
b. If John refuses to take the blame, the two men will end up in
court.
15.
John is on his way to court when he picks up a lottery ticket that
was on the ground. He realizes the numbers on it are the winning
numbers for the jackpot that was announced that morning. Does he
collect the money or find the owner of the lottery ticket?
a. If he collects the money, he will pay off the court fees and ticket,
retire, and buy a home on an island. He lives happily ever after.
b. If he finds the person who bought the ticket, he will be richly
rewarded, will buy a nice home for himself, and live happily ever
after.

McKinney 41
Appendix B: Scoring Rubric
1-2
3-4

5-6

7-8

9-10

Accuracy

Response
does not
accurately
represent
the teams
character.

Response
has one or
two factors
that
correspond
to the
teams
character,
but has
more
factors
that do not
correspond
.

Response
has
several
factors
that
correspond
to the
teams
character,
but also
has
several
that do not
correspond
.

Response
mostly fits
the teams
character,
with one or
two factors
that do not
fit.

Response
is
completely
accurate
concerning
the teams
character.

Creativity

Response
just covers
the basics
of the
scenario
and does
not add
anything
to the
scenario/st
ory line.

Response
covers the
basics but
includes
one-two
factors
that add to
the story
line.

Response
covers
more than
the basics
of the
scenario
and adds
to the
dynamic of
the game.

n/a

n/a