Games That Support Excellent Teaching and Accelerate Learning

Research continues to validate gamification as a powerful learning tool. Here’s how it works: Penda leverages the mechanics and principles of games to engage students both emotionally and intellectually. Students are rewarded for learning which inspires them to continue playing and increase their achievement.

Penda’s online science activities combine the fun and motivation of a video game with evidence-based educational practices. We use science to teach science.

How Penda Supports Student Engagement & Learning

Proven Pedagogy

Penda puts cutting-edge pedagogy front and center, employing Webb’s Depth of Knowledge (DOK) Levels to expand a student’s skill set. Penda’s rigorous activities have been shown to literally forge new neural pathways in the brain.

The inquiry-based 5E Model (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate) is also employed to help students build a foundation for knowledge and deepen their understanding through active participation.

Supporting Mastery, Step by Step

Penda uses Piaget’s concept of scaffolding by allowing a student to access prior knowledge up front, which then motivates the student to complete the activity and move on through higher levels of cognitive complexity. Activities are not timed, allowing students to move at their own pace and without anxiety. Scaffolding also ensures that students with learning challenges and language barriers have the same opportunities for success.

Our scaffolding system also speaks to Vygotsky’s Zones of Proximal Development, offering students experiences and challenges that expand their emotional and intellectual reach to encourage new skill-building and growth.

Empowering Students to Take Charge of Their Learning

Students learn best when they are engaged and in a state of “flow,” where challenge and skill are in equilibrium.

When students choose, students learn: Penda activities ask students to make choices on the fly, which enhances learning and retention.

Intrinsic Motivation

Giving students control over their customizable avatar isn’t just for fun, it also engages them emotionally and cognitively. Students also choose friends from their school or class to challenge within their Penda World, which nurtures healthy academic competition and camaraderie. (Are your points lagging behind a friend’s? Spend more time playing Penda games — before, during and after school — and see if you can get your name on the Leader board.)

Engage Students in Inquiry-Based Learning

Students’ first build their knowledge of scientific concepts with Penda’s activities. Then, abstract concepts are brought to life with interactive simulations. Students can not only visualize the concepts they’ve learned but are given the opportunity to form and test their own hypotheses, thereby deepening their knowledge.

Immediate Feedback... Without Direct Instruction

Students can continue to build mastery even when a teacher isn’t available thanks to Penda’s built-in feedback. As students progress through their scaffolded activities, Penda’s hints, tips, and “my progress” reports support their continued learning. Penda is a teaching assistance, particularly in distance learning environments where it is more challenging for teachers to provide ongoing direct instruction.

Distance Learning? Penda Travels!

Penda’s platform is 100% digital, meaning there is no headache when transitioning between the classroom, home, or anywhere with an internet connection. And don’t worry, teachers: Penda’s automated feedback cycle and scaffolded activities keep your students progressing when you’re not in the room. Automated weekly progress monitoring reports keep teachers in the know about what their students know (and don’t know) so they can adjust instruction and tailor interventions.

Take a Closer Look at Penda Science

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Games That Support Excellent Teaching and Accelerate Learning