Using a gamification framework to increase student engagement with groupwork: ‘Alien Alliance’ - a boardgame for a range of scenarios.

Using a gamification framework to increase student engagement with groupwork: ‘Alien Alliance’ - a boardgame for a range of scenarios.

Using a gamification framework to increase student engagement with groupwork: ‘Alien Alliance’ - a boardgame for a range of scenarios.

Manjot Brar, Catherine Douglas, Elisa Lopez-Capel, Jeremy Franks,Simon Parker

Abstract

"Feedback from end of module forms and focus groups with students studying a range of degrees in the 'School of Natural and Environmental Science’, at Newcastle University, identified a need for additional support in preparation for groupwork. This need is consistent with issues raised in a range of studies carried out in higher education contexts where barriers, such as social loafing and difficulty communicating, prevent students from engaging with groupwork and leave them feeling unprepared for future scenarios. This suggests the onus lies with universities to improve teamwork education, particularly important as collaborative skills are considered essential by prospective employers. To address student dissatisfaction staff saw the value in an active approach to honing teamwork skills, as opposed to listing off a series of ‘dos and don'ts’ in lectures and aspired to adopt the framework of gamification, which has been demonstrated to be effective in shaping and training participant behaviour in a range of educational scenarios. Staff successfully bid to the Faculty Educational Development Fund to employ 6 student interns to co-develop a tool that would help tackle common issues associated with group work and subsequently increase student engagement with it. A sci-fi themed boardgame, named ‘Allien Alliance’ was designed over 4 weeks. The game was created with the aims of providing students with take-away tips for future teamwork, to act as a fun icebreaker that develops student confidence and communication and a subsidiary aim of integrating aspects of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI)/intercultural competence. A 4-minute animated video outlining the game (supplementing the instruction booklet) is available to give a visual description of the project and insight into the game. Please view on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4u1rcSE55U Alien Alliance was piloted at a widening-access-and-participation summer school as well as trialed across stage 1, 2 and 3 undergraduate modules at Newcastle University, with applications identified in engineering, medicine and languages. Feedback collated via Microsoft forms from students and staff demonstrated that this co-designed activity was considered a fun tool that has the potential to provide takeaway tips for future group work and definite ability in improving student confidence and communication by acting as an effective icebreaker. Comparison of module feedback from one year to the next on a large teamworking module also indicated that the game had reduced the number of teamwork related complaints. This case study demonstrates that a gamified teaching resource can improve student engagement with teamwork. Alien Alliance has been widely used and is now embedded in a range of scenarios within our School and wider university including transition to higher education summer school, undergraduate and postgraduate students. The game provides a strong foundation from which further, improved versions can be developed. An abridged version has been produced for very short sessions, and the icebreaking cards have also been used in a range of independent scenarios. Future study could aim to improve our present data analysis methods to be more robust and generate further supporting evidence for the strengths and limitations of the game as well as focus on sampling underrepresented groups such as international students and those with special educational needs."

Reference

Brar, M., Douglas, C., Lopez-Capel, E., Franks, J., & Parker, S. (n.d.). Using a gamification framework to increase student engagement with groupwork: ‘Alien Alliance’ - a boardgame for a range of scenarios. Student Engagement in Higher Education Journal. https://sehej.raise-network.com/raise/article/view/1208

Keywords

Teamwork, Gamification, Student Engagement