The Persisting and Difficult Educational Problems Challenge Master Addresses, and the Supporting Science
Article by Michael F. Young, Ph.D., Learning Scientist
Challenge Master is a mobile app designed to nurture students’ critical thinking skills to try hard and to persist in the face of difficulties, both in school and out. It helps students to reflect on their video gaming experiences and transfer the same attitudes and goals forward into their classroom activities. It is designed to help students develop their challenge mindset from games into a challenge mindset for school.
To be successful in life you should learn to work hard and take on challenges that others cannot. This is a critical component of expertise in many fields, and a hallmark of creativity everywhere. While it is easy to work on things we enjoy, often creativity and innovation require us to work on things past the point at which they are fun. Thomas Edison told us that genuine innovation is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration.
Consider for a moment the video game experiences of many children today. They usually play video games that they like, and seek an optimal gaming experience. But one thing all players have in common is that once the game becomes too easy to beat, they move on, seeking greater challenge. Unfortunately, the optimal school experience is not the same. Instead, in school, anything less than complete mastery that comes easily is often deemed to be work that is “too hard,” like advanced topics in math and science for many. These are like Boss Fights in video games - they can be the most fun! It would seem that challenge is good up to the point that it becomes a strain. When playing video games, students can simply quit the game, since it is usually just for entertainment purposes. But in school, we often must persist even when the challenge becomes a strain. At this point, students must make persisting a goal of its own, and apply some of the skills they experience in video games toward persistence in problem solving in school.
Challenge Master is designed to nurture student’s persistence. Every school report card shows some form of student effort. Grit and determination are highly valued life skills and can be seen to lead to success on the sports field, in business sales, in scientific research, and even in interpersonal relationships. A 2012 Chicago schools literature review on the cognitive skills needed for academic perseverance describes how good students do more than know how to do good work. They know not to give up when faced with failure.
Returning to the comparison with video games, such “academic tenacity” is similar to the hours of play time gamers put in to grinding for gear and leveling up their toons to complete the toughest boss fights of their games. Yet, it is also different. In a Gates Foundation study, motivation psychologist Carol Dweck described this capacity as ‘the mindsets and skills that allow students to look beyond short-term concerns to longer-term or higher-order goals, and to withstand challenges and setbacks to persevere toward their goals.’ (Dweck, Walton, & Cohen, 2011, p.5) Challenge Master is designed to help students build that mindset of academic tenacity and the skills to set personal goals to persist through minor setbacks and to learn from risk-taking and failure."
To be successful in life you should learn to work hard and take on challenges that others cannot. This is a critical component of expertise in many fields, and a hallmark of creativity everywhere. While it is easy to work on things we enjoy, often creativity and innovation require us to work on things past the point at which they are fun. Thomas Edison told us that genuine innovation is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration.
Consider for a moment the video game experiences of many children today. They usually play video games that they like, and seek an optimal gaming experience. But one thing all players have in common is that once the game becomes too easy to beat, they move on, seeking greater challenge. Unfortunately, the optimal school experience is not the same. Instead, in school, anything less than complete mastery that comes easily is often deemed to be work that is “too hard,” like advanced topics in math and science for many. These are like Boss Fights in video games - they can be the most fun! It would seem that challenge is good up to the point that it becomes a strain. When playing video games, students can simply quit the game, since it is usually just for entertainment purposes. But in school, we often must persist even when the challenge becomes a strain. At this point, students must make persisting a goal of its own, and apply some of the skills they experience in video games toward persistence in problem solving in school.
Challenge Master is designed to nurture student’s persistence. Every school report card shows some form of student effort. Grit and determination are highly valued life skills and can be seen to lead to success on the sports field, in business sales, in scientific research, and even in interpersonal relationships. A 2012 Chicago schools literature review on the cognitive skills needed for academic perseverance describes how good students do more than know how to do good work. They know not to give up when faced with failure.
Returning to the comparison with video games, such “academic tenacity” is similar to the hours of play time gamers put in to grinding for gear and leveling up their toons to complete the toughest boss fights of their games. Yet, it is also different. In a Gates Foundation study, motivation psychologist Carol Dweck described this capacity as ‘the mindsets and skills that allow students to look beyond short-term concerns to longer-term or higher-order goals, and to withstand challenges and setbacks to persevere toward their goals.’ (Dweck, Walton, & Cohen, 2011, p.5) Challenge Master is designed to help students build that mindset of academic tenacity and the skills to set personal goals to persist through minor setbacks and to learn from risk-taking and failure."
Read more about the supporting science behind Challenge Master:
Boston, B. &Ogut, S. (2008). In pursuit of optimal gaming experience: Challenges and difficulty levels. Online at https://www.academia.edu/795477/ In Pursuit of Optimal Gaming Experience Challenges and Difficulty Levels
Duckworth, A.L., Peterson, C., Matthews, M.D., Kelly, D.R. (2007). Grit: Perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 92(6), Jun, 1087-1101. Online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.92.6.1087
Dweck, C.S., Walton, G.M., and Cohen, G.L. (2011) Academic tenacity: mindsets and skills that promote long-term learning. White paper prepared for the Gates Foundation. Seattle, WA Online at https://ed.stanford,edu/sites/default/files/manual/dweck-walton-cohen-2014.pdf
Farrington, C.A., Roderick, M., Allensworth, D, Nagaoka, J, Keyes, T.S., Johnson, D.W., &Beechum, N, O. (2012) Teaching adolescents to become learners: The role of noncognitive factors in shaping school performance- A literature review. University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research. Online at https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/teaching-adolescents-become-learners-role-noncognitive-factors-shaping-school
Boston, B. &Ogut, S. (2008). In pursuit of optimal gaming experience: Challenges and difficulty levels. Online at https://www.academia.edu/795477/ In Pursuit of Optimal Gaming Experience Challenges and Difficulty Levels
Duckworth, A.L., Peterson, C., Matthews, M.D., Kelly, D.R. (2007). Grit: Perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 92(6), Jun, 1087-1101. Online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.92.6.1087
Dweck, C.S., Walton, G.M., and Cohen, G.L. (2011) Academic tenacity: mindsets and skills that promote long-term learning. White paper prepared for the Gates Foundation. Seattle, WA Online at https://ed.stanford,edu/sites/default/files/manual/dweck-walton-cohen-2014.pdf
Farrington, C.A., Roderick, M., Allensworth, D, Nagaoka, J, Keyes, T.S., Johnson, D.W., &Beechum, N, O. (2012) Teaching adolescents to become learners: The role of noncognitive factors in shaping school performance- A literature review. University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research. Online at https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/teaching-adolescents-become-learners-role-noncognitive-factors-shaping-school