WHAT

Elephanta Education is a small business that uses Game Based Learning to make social studies class irresistible.

how

BRAVE COURSE GAMIFYING U.S. HISTORY is a catalogue of board game history games drawn from historical records that flip the script on traditional learning. First, competition sparks intrinsic motivation, whereby student-led teams bring a game to life. Slowly at first, then quickly, each team recognizes the systems that drive their role—at which point players realize they’re driving the systems. Who’s to say what will happen next? Second, students use a range of literacy scaffolds to clear a safe path into the heart of the matter. Third, gameplay reveals a mathematical model students are keen to process—a STEM application that fosters accuracy & rigor. Meanwhile, teachers step into the role of facilitator, guiding players as they segue from lower to higher order thinking. Learning culminates as players rally to transform an applicable challenge.

why

Learning is a deep dive. Like any adventure, that journey needs to be engaging. Safe. INSPIRING. Yet studies show student engagement plummets over time. Are there correlates between engagement, attendance and reading and composite ACT scores, which have been stagnant across nearly every demographic over the last thirty years?

Meanwhile, research shows comprehension increases when reading strategies and materials are taught in combination with content. Think science & social studies. This is especially true for females and minorities. That’s why Elephanta Education is creating content literacy. Enter BRAVE COURSE GAMIFYING U.S. HISTORY, a Healing Centered Engagement framework that cues empathy—kicking off cognition, skilled reading, active listening, critical thinking, and agency. Because lower readers with deep knowledge in content areas outperform higher readers with little background knowledge in terms of comprehension.

In sum, while experts argue between learning to read OR reading to learn, we say BOTH!