Playing epistemic games in science and mathematics classrooms

Abstract

Education in the Knowledge Age calls for engaging students in creative work with knowledge. A major implication for research and design in the learning sciences is that the necessary shift is not simply technological or pedagogical, but essentially epistemological (Brown, 2007). In this article, the authors view such creative work with knowledge through the theoretical lens of epistemic games (Collins & Ferguson, 1993; Morrison & Collins, 1995). Epistemic games refer to strategic play with disciplinary knowledge in complex domains, and are based on the study of disciplinary communities such as Physical, Biological, and Social Scientists. The authors describe two instantiations of epistemic game play drawn from classroom interventions in science, Ideas First (Bielaczyc & Ow, 2007), and mathematics, Productive Failure (Kapur, 2008). The two research projects were funded as part of a comprehensive reform effort in Singapore schools toward 21st century education. Their analyses illustrate the design features of epistemic games in learning environments and discuss the implications of learning to play epistemic games.