LEAD MAGAZINE | 2019
An Education Evolution is
needed.
Which is why we started schools; Sri Emas
and Dwi Emas International schools that
taught kids subjects in a fashion that is
fun, engaging and meaningful. We then
wanted to move into reaching more kids.
Gaming was an idea that Anne Tham, my
mum and founder of the school had in
order to do this.
Starting Ace Ed-Venture Studio and
creating ChemCaper was probably one
of the most challenging things we have
ever done as a school and as a team.
It was a massive juggling act between
teaching classes, responsibilities as an
academic head, program designer and
designing a vast new world that doesn’t
exist to help kids discover chemistry.
However, we were on a mission. We
wanted the kids who didn’t get to come
to our school to experience learning the
way our kids did.
The Game Solution
You wake up suddenly from a dream; or
was it more of a nightmare? The images
seem so fuzzy and the unpleasant
feeling from it yet lingers. You shake off
the cloud of sleep and realize you are in
the middle of a forest. A plane wreckage
sits forlornly atop broken tree branches.
Your heart sinks. Moments before the
airship crashed you had discovered
that your homeland was destroyed
by a disaster. You hope your parents
are okay back home. You see a figure
dressed in a gas mask and a steampunk
outfit hammering away at a contraption,
presumably a radio.
Games are immersive
and empowering.
Games are the moment you open your
eyes and see rainbows of fish dancing
circles about your head as corals sway
to and fro. They evoke wonder and
envelope you in a world untapped and
undiscovered. What textbook in this day
and age could ever hope to achieve the
same effect?
Games can add to or retain the humanity
of a subject being taught. According
to Yu Kai Chou, creator of Octolysis,
gamification is design that places the
most emphasis on the human in the
process. In essence, it is human-focused
design with empathy for the people it
is being designed for as its core. Isn’t
this the perfect vehicle for an Education
Evolution?
A well designed game can be
empowering. Observe how millions
from different walks of life, nations
and religions can fall in love with the
same game and have such positive
associations with said game. You play as
the protagonist of your story, socialise,
learn and grow in an environment that
rewards you for giving it your best shot
and doesn’t yell at you for messing up.
A lot of games feel like the supportive
parent or teacher we all wish we had
growing up.
You approach the industrious figure. He
snaps at you irritated by the fact that
one of the pieces on his plane fell apart.
He figures he was cheated by a sleazy
merchant. He then commands you to
help retrieve the airplane parts. In doing
so, you learn how to survive the forest
and its aggressive monsters. You learn
to make health potions using beakers,
Bunsen Burners and retort stands. You
also learn that Oxygen creatures are least
effective in defeating plant monsters but
Nitrogen works far better because plants
cannot tolerate freezing temperatures.
Games help kids fall in love with
a subject.
In all honesty, I haven’t come across
an education game where kids retain
the majority of the information taught
in it. I can’t even claim yet that your
brain will be magically imbued with a
wealth of chemistry facts when playing
ChemCaper. What I do know for certain
is that games help kids fall in love with a
subject. Our Year 5 and Year 6 students
actually liked and enjoyed chemistry
when they started learning it in Year 7
because they played ChemCaper prior.
Now, how is increased engagement a
good thing? We have learnt from a study
conducted on ChemCaper by an Active
Learner from Asia School of Business,
Calvin Woo, that there is a strong
correlation between high engagement
and the ability to retain and apply
knowledge. This means when kids enjoy
what they learn, they are more likely to
make an effort to master it.
In ChemCaper, players are immersed in a
world where using chemistry knowledge
is made meaningful. We went through
the very expensive and extensive
endeavor of creating a role-playing game
where you not only learn chemistry,
but soft skills as well like collaboration,
problem solving skills and application of
knowledge. Just making games that help
kids memorize knowledge only is actually
cheaper and quicker to do. However, we
felt that the learning would not be as
engaging or meaningful.
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