A game design assignment: learning about social class inequality

Sandoz, Joli

doi:10.1108/oth-08-2015-0041

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 7 publications

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“…Perhaps unsurprisingly, it is an approach most commonly used in computing (Wu, et al, 2009;Xinogalos, 2018;e.g. Santana-Mancilla, et al, 2019) and has also been used in non-digital disciplines, for example to facilitate idea generation and creativity (Triantafyllakos, Palaigeorgiou and Tsoukalas, 2011), teaching information literacy (Frydenberg, 2015), sustainable behaviours (Mercer, et al, 2017), and social class and inequality (Sandoz, 2016).…”

Section: Case Study 2: Learning By Designing Escape Roomsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Escape Rooms as Tools for Learning Through Failure

Rawlinson,

Whitton

2024

EJEL

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The increasingly neoliberal course of Higher Education is linked to rises in student anxiety around assessment and increased fear of the consequences of failure. Making mistakes is an inevitable part of any learning process (and of life generally) and managing failure in a productive and positive way is crucial for success and wellbeing beyond university. In this article, we argue that academia does not adequately prepare learners for managing mistake-making progressively and that escape rooms can provide a way to facilitate learning through failure. We first present an original model of failure-based learning that explores why being able to make mistakes safely is important for students and why the use of escape rooms in Higher Education presents an excellent opportunity for the application of this model. We then show the relevance of this model by using it to analyse two case studies that explore different ways in which educational escape rooms can be used in Higher Education: either designed to facilitate learning by playing a game; or supporting learning through designing a game. Our model of failure-based learning has three stages, emphasising the importance of preparation, an iterative play cycle of testing, failing, reflecting, and revising, and finishing with a presentation phase. The article concludes by considering the limitations of educational escape rooms in this context and highlighting some practical considerations for the use of these approaches.

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Section: Case Study 2: Learning By Designing Escape Roomsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Escape Rooms as Tools for Learning Through Failure

Rawlinson,

Whitton

2024

EJEL

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Play in Post-Compulsory Education

Whitton

2022

Play and Learning in Adulthood

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Rapid Games Designing; Constructing a Dynamic Metaphor to Explore Complex Systems and Abstract Concepts

Lankford

Craven

2020

Sustainability

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Initiated by a research project examining agricultural and water resilience in South Africa and tested in workshops on a range of topics, we reflect on our application of a half-to-one day “games designing” format for constructing dynamic metaphors for complex systems and related concepts (e.g., the resilience or sustainability of a catchment/agricultural marketing system). While this short format gives rich and detailed games that potentially could be played in an extended version of the workshop, we did not go ahead with this step. Instead, we devoted the limited time available to supporting participants in designing, comparing and discussing their games and to exploring the concepts and meanings of a given complex system, even if the latter was initially deemed by participants to be abstract and “academic”. Our abridged term for short-format games designing is “rapid games designing” (RGD). Key benefits to participating individuals, the whole group and workshop organizers include (a) the highly productive and creative use of limited time; (b) an inclusive group exercise that draws everyone into the process; (c) rich discussion of pluralist viewpoints through the comparison of the remarkable variety of games generated, including their differences in purpose, players and rules; and (d) observations on how the games construct a dynamic metaphor for the system and its properties, leading to deeper insights and knowledge building regarding system concepts and components. Here, we use two case studies in South Africa to explore what value RGD provides and how it does so, and then we briefly compare it to other similar methods. We also provide practical guidance for facilitating RGD workshops. In conclusion, we argue this format offers an option for the ongoing evolution of games about complex human, natural and socio-ecological systems and that it generates considerable creativity, learning, discussion and insights amongst all participants.

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A game design assignment: learning about social class inequality

Cited by 3 publications

References 7 publications

Escape Rooms as Tools for Learning Through Failure

Escape Rooms as Tools for Learning Through Failure

Play in Post-Compulsory Education

Rapid Games Designing; Constructing a Dynamic Metaphor to Explore Complex Systems and Abstract Concepts

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