I came across this article that suggests some reasons for and elements of games that teach:
Games to Teach By
Here is an excerpt:
" According to Ruben (1999), in the 1970s and early 80s some educators embraced
games and simulations as “an attractive and novel alterna
tive to traditional classroom lectures and other one-way
information-dispensing methods” (p. 3). Part of the reason
for this, the author suggests, is that experience-based
(experiential) models have a greater potential to “address
many of the limitations of the traditional paradigm.”
Specifically, they “accommodated more complex and diverse
approaches to the learning processes and outcomes; allowed
for interactivity; promoted collaboration and peer learning;
allowed for addressing cognitive as well as affective learning
issues; and, perhaps most important, fostered active learning”"Cooperation, leadership, bonding, resourcefulness, flexibility...the list of benefits of using games in a classroom goes on and on!
