A game design assignment: learning about social class inequality

Author(s):

Joli Sandoz (The Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington, USA)

Citation:

Joli Sandoz, (2016) "A game design assignment: learning about social class inequality", On the Horizon, Vol. 24 Issue: 1, pp.121-125, doi: 10.1108/OTH-08-2015-0041

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/OTH-08-2015-0041

Downloads:

The fulltext of this document has been downloaded 280 times since 2016

Abstract:

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to describe what students in an undergraduate course otherwise unrelated to games demonstrated about their learning during an analog game design assignment, and to explore what two of the resultant games revealed about designers’ understandings of the structural nature of social class inequality.

Design/methodology/approach

– Students’ documents associated with game production were analyzed for overt statements of learning, which were then coded and categorized. The researcher also assessed analog game prototypes to explore their usefulness to learning assessment.

Findings

– Students’ perceptions of their learning in both cognitive and social domains were apparent in written reports. Faculty assessment of game artifacts found evidence of designers’ grasp of structural aspects of social class inequality beyond that apparent in written documentation.

Research limitations/implications

– The case study approach limits the generalizability of the researcher’s observations.

Practical implications

– This paper suggests that an analog game-making assignment can provide students with opportunity to document learning in both cognitive and social domains, through self-reports and game artifacts. Several avenues for further research are proposed.

Originality/value

– This descriptive case study can assist educators developing game design assignments in courses focused on non-game topics, and educators considering the usefulness of game artifacts in learning assessment.

Keywords:

Learning, Assignment, Sociology, Analog game design, Board game design, Social class inequality

Publisher:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Acknowledgments:

The author wishes to thank all members of the learning community in which the game design assignment played a part. Additional thanks to Gillies Malnarich, Susan Preciso and Sarah Ryan for their interest and support; the anonymous peer reviewers whose comments greatly improved this article; and the Provost’s Fund at The Evergreen State College for an award of travel funds to attend a relevant conference.

Copyright:

© Emerald Group Publishing Limited 2016
Published by Emerald Group Publishing Limited