Teaching with videogames: historical concepts in 'Gone Home'
The protagonist in Gone Home is a mystery – but we discover more about her through narration and the exploration of objects.
We’ll use the game to work on our understanding of gathering evidence and evaluating historical significance.
Subject: History
Year levels: Years 7–9
Technical notes: ideally you will include some game play, which will involve installing the game onto enough devices that students can play in groups of 2-4. Gone Home can be downloaded for most devices. If game play is not possible, all or part of a walkthrough can be watched on Youtube.
Download the full lesson plan
The lesson plan includes links to the Victorian and Australian Curricula, indications of lesson timing, and ideas for differentiation and assessment.
In this lesson, students will
| play the game Gone Home and build theories based on evidence |
| use the historical significance criteria to evaluate evidence |
| revise theories based on new evidence, more rigorous evaluation |
| consider how good historians draw conclusions using these evaluative skills |
By the end of this lesson, students should
| what historical significance means |
| the connection between the historical significance of evidence and hypothesis |
| how to log and evaluate evidence |
| use historical significance criteria when evaluating evidence |
| reflect on personal and social biases that skew a historian's ability to evaluate historical significance |
| historical skills of evidence gathering, analysis, evaluation, hypothesising, revision and reflection |