Document Type
Dissertation
Publication Title
The Brain and Becoming: Integrating Play and Performance-Based Learning in the Community College Classroom
Abstract
Instruction in the community college classroom is in need of a shift, according to neuroscientific, pedagogical, and demographic data. Primarily, students in today’s community college classrooms are instructed in the form of lectures (Nilson 106), but research has shown that game-based learning would be the way to enhance learning experiences for these adult learners. Game-based learning specifically takes form in student learning through games, interactive reading activities such as performance pedagogy, discussions, and small group work. While research shows that play-based learning at the community college level is neurologically beneficial for students, there is a gap in implementing play-based learning as a mainstream part of community college pedagogy. My project fills the gap by analyzing community college demographics and neuroplasticity, exploring the neuroscience behind game-based classroom activities, and creating a unit lesson plan that implements game-based learning in the community college English classroom using William Shakespeare’s Hamlet as a case study.
First, this thesis project explores the demographics of community college students in the state of Alabama. I draw connections among game-based learning, the neuroplasticity of community college students, and the female-dominant demographic of twenty-three out of twenty-five Alabama community colleges (U.S. News and World Report). Researchers Anna Seidel, et al. confirmed that “interactive lectures and interventions such as games could have a positive effect on girls and their self-concept of abilities” (Seidel et, al. 4). Interactive activities in the community college classroom allow students’ brains to use their image schemas and sequencing usages that are needed for performance. Students also enter into a brain function called the Flow State when they are engaged in enjoyable learning experiences. This instruction is informed by cognitive theory and feminist theory, as well as certain teaching strategies and pedagogies such as Engaged Pedagogy, Performance Pedagogy, and Brain-Targeted Teaching. These pedagogies inform the design of community college classroom instruction that is appropriate for neuroplasticity, enjoyable for students, and enhances reading comprehension and critical thinking. Finally, I apply these findings to a unit design that implements play and performance-based learning into the realm of English instruction.
Publication Date
Spring 5-4-2026
Recommended Citation
Green, Hannah M., "The Brain and Becoming: Integrating Play and Performance-Based Learning in the Community College Classroom" (2026). English. 2.
https://roar.una.edu/english/2
Included in
Adult and Continuing Education and Teaching Commons, Cognitive Science Commons, Community College Leadership Commons, Dramatic Literature, Criticism and Theory Commons, Educational Methods Commons, Fine Arts Commons, Higher Education and Teaching Commons, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Commons, Women's Studies Commons
