D&D in education? [Archive] - Wizards Community

D&D in education? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Prime32
02-04-08, 01:51 PM I have heard stories from a few places (this forum, and a Dragon editorial) of D&D being used as an educational tool. While I am not a teacher myself, I know a principal, and I am curious about the best way to use D&D (or roleplaying in general) in such a fashion, since I can see how it could have great potential.

The first thing I came up with was that after a class has learned about Egypt, they take part in a mini-campaign in which a generic bad guy wants to steal a mummy's brain to mind-control people for some reason. Anyone who paid attention will know that the brain is removed in mummification, and will have an advantage in stopping him. Eventually, inevitably, the mummy comes to life and starts scaring people. A simple cipher (which a child can break) written on the wall says that the mummy can only be defeated by bronze weapons, at which point an NPC shouts "Bronze? What will we do? I only have a forge, some copper, some tin, and six other metals!" :P
Mojo_Rat
02-04-08, 02:36 PM My guess Is that if it is used as an education tool it is likely in the home. I have a friend that uses it for his sons math skills. The Game iself Involves alot of quick math charts and tables and social interaction. Which is all Theoretically education worthy skills.

However the game has or used to have stigmas against it that would likely make it hard to introduce in a school enviroment.
Krusk
02-04-08, 03:09 PM The only place i have ever heard of it being used to teach was on middle school level math classes.

I have heard of schools having DND clubs which meet after school though.
Orchomenos
02-04-08, 03:39 PM Writting and reading lessons are always better when a child likes what he writes/read. And what better way to interest him than making him part of the story?

Of course, I wouldn't base entire lessons on that. But it's a great parascholar activity.
Bleeding_Eyes
02-04-08, 09:51 PM It would be great for problem solving skills, and logical excersizes.
pigknight
02-04-08, 09:58 PM Its good for 1st-3rd grade math, that's it, don't give me the whole "good for problem solving" thing or "it build literacy" (don't mean to flame if I sounded like I let off a flame strike), because seriously roleplaying in school would make the parents go "what is our child learning" and you need to be able to read to play DnD (the only words I ever learned from DnD is Constitution and Dexterity), but a hack-n-slash campain would be just random math problems back to back.
Orchomenos
02-05-08, 08:48 AM you need to be able to read to play DnD (the only words I ever learned from DnD is Constitution and Dexterity),
Beside Constitution and Dexterity, if DnD help develop the taste of reading, that's already a plus.
Prime32
02-05-08, 01:01 PM the only words I ever learned from DnD is Constitution and Dexterity
There was a Dragon editorial where the writer remarked at how much he had improved his vocabulary through D&D - from words like "heirophant" to being able to spell sorcerer correctly (fewer people can do it than you think).
Shiftkitty
02-05-08, 03:57 PM My husband had a problem with addition and subtraction, but not multiplication and division. Go figure. Anyway, he was assigned the task of Party Bookkeeper in order to give him more chances to use those basic math skills (he was 13 at the time). As well as a dramatic improvement there, his penmanship, which had been atrocious, is now much better.

In a fit of stupidity, when his teacher found out he had improved these skills not through traditional methods but through that game, she refused to give him any credit for his improvements and said he needed to find better ways to spend his time. 17 years later we're still trying to figure that one out.
stargate525
02-05-08, 04:08 PM In a fit of stupidity, when his teacher found out he had improved these skills not through traditional methods but through that game, she refused to give him any credit for his improvements and said he needed to find better ways to spend his time. 17 years later we're still trying to figure that one out.

Let me help.

You made the teacher feel impotent, that HEAVEN FORBID a student do something other than the exact way you told him to, becuase using something better and more efficient will bring about the apocalypse.

Yeah, some teachers can be that A.R.
LSMFT
02-05-08, 05:25 PM Its good for 1st-3rd grade math, that's it, don't give me the whole "good for problem solving" thing or "it build literacy" (don't mean to flame if I sounded like I let off a flame strike), because seriously roleplaying in school would make the parents go "what is our child learning" and you need to be able to read to play DnDYeah, a little role play to engage students isn't probably going to get noticed, but you break out a d20 or even breathe the words dungeon or dragon, you're going to find yourself trying to explain the "benefits" of D&D to a hostile school board and the long-ago debunked myths of D&D's link to the occult and satanism are still prevalent enough to impose a serious penalty on your Diplomacy check.

(the only words I ever learned from DnD is Constitution and Dexterity), Seriously, how many times had you heard anyone ever use the word eschew prior to the feat with that name? Maybe I was more ignorant when I started playing than you were. For me add Charisma, melee, initiative, so many others just from the game rules themselves. Don’t even get me started on the books I read only because I’d played the game.

But no matter what value there is to the game, that doesn’t mean it has a place in formal education.

Personally, I think having to DM for a room with 30 middle schoolers would be akin to some punishment found only on the lowest levels of hell and thus reserved for only the worst criminals.
Einvaldurinn_mikli
02-05-08, 05:57 PM Its good for 1st-3rd grade math, that's it, don't give me the whole "good for problem solving" thing or "it build literacy" (don't mean to flame if I sounded like I let off a flame strike), because seriously roleplaying in school would make the parents go "what is our child learning" and you need to be able to read to play DnD (the only words I ever learned from DnD is Constitution and Dexterity), but a hack-n-slash campain would be just random math problems back to back.
Then you obviously haven't read the books all that thoroughly(It's obvious from your English that you are not just that pro). I, for example, have acquired a quite extensive vocabulary for a non-native speaker and I owe a large part of that to Dungeons and Dragons.

There was a Dragon editorial where the writer remarked at how much he had improved his vocabulary through D&D - from words like "heirophant" to being able to spell sorcerer correctly (fewer people can do it than you think).
I have that issue. I too thought of it when I read that post. It's very true.
darth_borehd
02-05-08, 07:43 PM When I was in 5th grade, the teacher used 0-ed Basic D&D to teach mythology. Our was divided into groups and the adventures were re-creations of Greek myths. We would learn about the various monsters and each group would make decisions on how to deal with them. There was also some problem solving involved and the teacher encouraged creative solutions. We would learn later how the real myth went.

We also played a "pen & paper" RPG based on the Oregon Trail game where class groups were wagon trains of pioneers going west. The first group to arrive in California won.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Prime32 02-04-08, 01:51 PM	I have heard stories from a few places (this forum, and a Dragon editorial) of D&D being used as an educational tool. While I am not a teacher myself, I know a principal, and I am curious about the best way to use D&D (or roleplaying in general) in such a fashion, since I can see how it could have great potential. The first thing I came up with was that after a class has learned about Egypt, they take part in a mini-campaign in which a generic bad guy wants to steal a mummy's brain to mind-control people for some reason. Anyone who paid attention will know that the brain is removed in mummification, and will have an advantage in stopping him. Eventually, inevitably, the mummy comes to life and starts scaring people. A simple cipher (which a child can break) written on the wall says that the mummy can only be defeated by bronze weapons, at which point an NPC shouts "Bronze? What will we do? I only have a forge, some copper, some tin, and six other metals!" :P
Mojo_Rat 02-04-08, 02:36 PM	My guess Is that if it is used as an education tool it is likely in the home. I have a friend that uses it for his sons math skills. The Game iself Involves alot of quick math charts and tables and social interaction. Which is all Theoretically education worthy skills. However the game has or used to have stigmas against it that would likely make it hard to introduce in a school enviroment.
Krusk 02-04-08, 03:09 PM	The only place i have ever heard of it being used to teach was on middle school level math classes. I have heard of schools having DND clubs which meet after school though.
Orchomenos 02-04-08, 03:39 PM	Writting and reading lessons are always better when a child likes what he writes/read. And what better way to interest him than making him part of the story? Of course, I wouldn't base entire lessons on that. But it's a great parascholar activity.
Bleeding_Eyes 02-04-08, 09:51 PM	It would be great for problem solving skills, and logical excersizes.
pigknight 02-04-08, 09:58 PM	Its good for 1st-3rd grade math, that's it, don't give me the whole "good for problem solving" thing or "it build literacy" (don't mean to flame if I sounded like I let off a flame strike), because seriously roleplaying in school would make the parents go "what is our child learning" and you need to be able to read to play DnD (the only words I ever learned from DnD is Constitution and Dexterity), but a hack-n-slash campain would be just random math problems back to back.
Orchomenos 02-05-08, 08:48 AM	you need to be able to read to play DnD (the only words I ever learned from DnD is Constitution and Dexterity), Beside Constitution and Dexterity, if DnD help develop the taste of reading, that's already a plus.
Prime32 02-05-08, 01:01 PM	the only words I ever learned from DnD is Constitution and Dexterity There was a Dragon editorial where the writer remarked at how much he had improved his vocabulary through D&D - from words like "heirophant" to being able to spell sorcerer correctly (fewer people can do it than you think).
Shiftkitty 02-05-08, 03:57 PM	My husband had a problem with addition and subtraction, but not multiplication and division. Go figure. Anyway, he was assigned the task of Party Bookkeeper in order to give him more chances to use those basic math skills (he was 13 at the time). As well as a dramatic improvement there, his penmanship, which had been atrocious, is now much better. In a fit of stupidity, when his teacher found out he had improved these skills not through traditional methods but through that game, she refused to give him any credit for his improvements and said he needed to find better ways to spend his time. 17 years later we're still trying to figure that one out.
stargate525 02-05-08, 04:08 PM	In a fit of stupidity, when his teacher found out he had improved these skills not through traditional methods but through that game, she refused to give him any credit for his improvements and said he needed to find better ways to spend his time. 17 years later we're still trying to figure that one out. Let me help. You made the teacher feel impotent, that HEAVEN FORBID a student do something other than the exact way you told him to, becuase using something better and more efficient will bring about the apocalypse. Yeah, some teachers can be that A.R.
LSMFT 02-05-08, 05:25 PM	Its good for 1st-3rd grade math, that's it, don't give me the whole "good for problem solving" thing or "it build literacy" (don't mean to flame if I sounded like I let off a flame strike), because seriously roleplaying in school would make the parents go "what is our child learning" and you need to be able to read to play DnDYeah, a little role play to engage students isn't probably going to get noticed, but you break out a d20 or even breathe the words dungeon or dragon, you're going to find yourself trying to explain the "benefits" of D&D to a hostile school board and the long-ago debunked myths of D&D's link to the occult and satanism are still prevalent enough to impose a serious penalty on your Diplomacy check. (the only words I ever learned from DnD is Constitution and Dexterity), Seriously, how many times had you heard anyone ever use the word eschew prior to the feat with that name? Maybe I was more ignorant when I started playing than you were. For me add Charisma, melee, initiative, so many others just from the game rules themselves. Don’t even get me started on the books I read only because I’d played the game. But no matter what value there is to the game, that doesn’t mean it has a place in formal education. Personally, I think having to DM for a room with 30 middle schoolers would be akin to some punishment found only on the lowest levels of hell and thus reserved for only the worst criminals.
Einvaldurinn_mikli 02-05-08, 05:57 PM	Its good for 1st-3rd grade math, that's it, don't give me the whole "good for problem solving" thing or "it build literacy" (don't mean to flame if I sounded like I let off a flame strike), because seriously roleplaying in school would make the parents go "what is our child learning" and you need to be able to read to play DnD (the only words I ever learned from DnD is Constitution and Dexterity), but a hack-n-slash campain would be just random math problems back to back. Then you obviously haven't read the books all that thoroughly(It's obvious from your English that you are not just that pro). I, for example, have acquired a quite extensive vocabulary for a non-native speaker and I owe a large part of that to Dungeons and Dragons. There was a Dragon editorial where the writer remarked at how much he had improved his vocabulary through D&D - from words like "heirophant" to being able to spell sorcerer correctly (fewer people can do it than you think). I have that issue. I too thought of it when I read that post. It's very true.
darth_borehd 02-05-08, 07:43 PM	When I was in 5th grade, the teacher used 0-ed Basic D&D to teach mythology. Our was divided into groups and the adventures were re-creations of Greek myths. We would learn about the various monsters and each group would make decisions on how to deal with them. There was also some problem solving involved and the teacher encouraged creative solutions. We would learn later how the real myth went. We also played a "pen & paper" RPG based on the Oregon Trail game where class groups were wagon trains of pioneers going west. The first group to arrive in California won.