Teaching computer games as the next Latin

People still argue that learning Latin improves “critical thinking skills” and “comparative analysis skills.”  Despite these claims, there is little evidence that spontaneous transfer occurs from general learning. Transfer is hard, requires lots of initial knowledge, and works best when students are explicitly taught to transfer. Explicitly, learning Latin does not lead to general thinking skills.  Next up? Creating video games!

Computer games have a broad appeal that transcends gender, culture, age and socio-economic status. Now, computer scientists in the US think that creating computer games, rather than just playing them could boost students’ critical and creative thinking skills as well as broaden their participation in computing. They discuss details in the current issue of the International Journal of Social and Humanistic Computing.

via Teaching computer games.