Sunday, March 09, 2008

Using Game-Show Games to Replace Quizzes


Cathy Moore has been having a discussion about "shoestring" approaches, and among her suggestions are using, 1. photos of real people, and, 2. multiple choice questions recast as games. I give both of these ideas a lot of coverage in my books, but here's a quick example in practice.


Based on the "Hollywood Squares" game, this was developed for a new-hire orientation program both as a way to cover fairly dry content as well as helping staff recognize people they'd need to know to both "get around" and "get along" in the office. (I remember the morning one of our bright-eyed-bushy-tailed new employees encountered our agency head-- then Governor-Elect -- and greeted him with a hearty "Whassup!?")


The real program is proprietary but I dummied up a reasonable facsimile in PowerPoint this morning-- enough for you to get the idea. See E-Learning Solutions on a Shoestring and especially Better than Bullet Points for more ideas on using game-show game approaches to replace traditional methods of quizzing.


4 comments:

Van Upboy said...

Hi Jane,

This is exactly what I'm searching for our introduction program for new hires.
But I don't get your explanation, may be because I do not know this game. How do you create this game in powerpoint?
Is it possible to publish the powerpoint?

Jane Bozarth said...

I included a template for this in "Better than Bullet Points", but if you don't have a copy of that, try Googling "Hollywood Squares PowerPoint" or "Hollywood Squares PowerPoint tempate). Lots of teachers use these games and often share them on the Web.
Best,
Jane

Van Upboy said...

Hello Jane,
I've found challenge board, millionaire and pyramid on the CD of your book. But those are different games than this one, or do I just have not enough imagination :-) ?

Jane Bozarth said...

Van, you asked specifically about the "squares" game. Google around for other examples of game-show games done in PowerPoint(when I googled "hollywood squares PowerPoint" I got several sites with multiple game templates on them). Most TV game shows are just variations on multiple-choice or true-false tests so are very easy to replicate. It's all about hyperlinking.
Best,
Jane