Good idea, but not very engaging for younger students

I found that students lost focus relatively quickly. Those with a higher reading level were more successful but with a relatively basic layout, keeping the attention of a whole group was almost impossible.

As an educational tool, Quandary is a welcome modification of a traditional critical thinking exercise. It does a good job of integrating technology with reasoning in a way that should be engaging and educational to students. For example, the game is interactive and based on role-playing; and when narrative structure is needed, it is conveyed in a fun format. Some scaffolding would be needed to set up the game on the front-end, and as needed during the activity, at least for younger students. But the exercise is presented logically, and the immediate feedback after making choices is good formative assessment for students as they build their critical thinking skills.

I think this game does little to engage students, especially in questions of English Language Arts. It claims to improve critical thinking but it all seems fairly rote and with little actual controversy. I also think that because it has nothing to do with anything that the students are engaged in, they won't actually care what happens in the game. Any quandaries the students face in the game are faced by characters they read about in which they get more information about the situation and where there isn't a right answer to the problem. I think students will be much more willing to discuss the ethics of choices like this if faced with an example, especially one that relates to their world or that deeply shaped their world. I don't think this game would improve any lesson but could serve as a filler for students who have finished their work, especially a test when they want to mentally check out.