"Gaming the System: Design Principles for Building 21st Century Skills

1. S y s t e m s T h i n k i n g i n A c t i o n ®:
Because Sustainable Success Doesn’t Just Happen
KEYNOTE DESCRIPTION
Gaming the System: Design Principles for
Building 21st-Century Skills
Katie Salen
What would it mean for our future workforce if students were to begin their investigation of a topic by
asking “Can I try? Can I join in?” and demonstrate mastery by saying “Want me to show you how?”
To help answer this question, Quest to Learn, a public school in New York City, uses the underlying
principles of games to create a highly immersive learning experience. Games create a world in which
players actively participate, use strategic thinking to make choices, solve complex problems, seek content
knowledge, receive constant feedback, and consider others’ points of view.
In this session, Katie Salen will discuss the design thinking behind Quest’s learning model, including the
emphasis on understanding systems as a key 21st-century skill.
Katie Salen is a game designer and professor in the School of Computing and Digital Media at DePaul University.
She serves as the executive director of the Institute of Play, a non-profit focused on games and learning. Katie led the team
that founded Quest to Learn, a public school in New York City based on game design and systems thinking concepts.
She currently serves as the school's executive director of design.
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2. Our theory:
systems
thinking
+ design
+ connected
learning =
Preparing future innovators to be breakthrough thinkers and doers.
Producing young people who are empathetic, global problem solvers and leaders.
Fostering collaboration between students, teachers, experts and communities.
Enabling young people to tackle challenging projects and use prototyping and
playtesting to create powerful, sustainable solutions.

3. View video: h+p://spark.poptech.org/innovator/ka7e‐salen/

4. games
are
dynamic
systems

7. Big Urban
Game

10. Gamestar
Mechanic

18. Our theory:
systems
thinking
+ design
+ connected
learning =
Preparing future innovators to be breakthrough thinkers and doers.
Producing young people who are empathetic, global problem solvers and leaders.
Fostering collaboration between students, teachers, experts and communities.
Enabling young people to tackle challenging projects and use prototyping and
playtesting to create powerful, sustainable solutions.

21. ?
complex
problem
solvers

25. Design Process meets Systems Thinking
1 2
experience analyze
empathize observe define deconstruct
question map/diagram
ST tools: ST tools:
Ladder of inference Iceberg diagram
Feature matrix Causal Loop diagram
Capture and cluster Behavior-over-time graph
Connection circles
3 4
theorize build
ideate predict prototype model
interpret modify
ST tools: ST tools:
Narrative scenarios Storyboards/scripts
Dynamic modeling tools Paper prototypes
(i.e. netlogo, Gamestar) Digital prototypes
Physical prototypes
5
observe
playtest analyze
modify
ST tools:
Causal Loop diagram
Connection circles
Playtesting protocols

27. Grade 6: What is the structure of a system?
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40. social action
projects

41. Minecraft
club

42. Short
Circuit