Fair Play: A Study of Scientific Workforce Trainers’ Experience Playing an Educational Video Game about Racial Bias

Abstract

Capitalizing on the potential effectiveness of game-based learning to have a positive impact on persistent subtle race bias in academic science, the authors developed Fair Play, an interactive role-playing educational video game targeting science faculty. Fair Play appears to promote perspective taking and bias literacy, which can reduce race bias.

Gamification and older adults: opportunities for gamification to support health promotion initiatives for older adults in the context of COVID-19

“…Fair Play is a US digital game with a focus on reducing subtle racial bias. 43 Users take on the role of a Black male graduate student and navigate the discrimination Di he experiences in his PhD program. The game aims to increase awareness of racial bias and increase empathy to reduce implicit and unconscious racial bias.…”

“…More research is needed to understand the impact this has on bias and actions over a longer period of time. 43 …”

Decreasing Racial Bias Through A Facilitated Game and Workshop: The Case of Fair Play

“…That said, the facilitation of these workshops and the Fair Play game requires skillful navigation due to its topic (racial bias) and player's skepticism about the reality of the bias incidents portrayed in the game, all of which were developed and based on a large body of research findings. For example, our data suggest that participants who identify as a person of color are more likely to believe that bias exists compared to White players, which can lead to the need to facilitate a discussion about how the incidents in the game were designed and scripted (Kaatz et al, 2017). The facilitator also needs to be versed in a number of intentional design choices to increase player experience, such as Jamal not having voiceover and if he makes it through graduate school.…”

“…Facilitators need to thoroughly understand the concepts and supporting literature for each of the biases represented in the game. The biases below are the basis for the incidents and consequences faced by Jamal and other characters (Fair Play Project, 2018; Kaatz et al, 2017):…”

“…Education on the existence of implicit bias and the specific types and definitions of bias concepts has been shown to be effective in reducing bias (Carnes et al, 2012;Devine et al, 2012). Early research during the development of the game indicated that it promotes bias literacy and that players were able to experience empathy when adopting Jamal's perspective (Gutierrez et al, 2014;Kaatz et al, 2017). When asked to describe how participants felt while playing, they used the words invisible, alone, frustrated, and uncomfortable (Kaatz et al, 2017, p. 11).…”