Alain d'Astous and Karine Gagnon
Board games such as Monopoly and Scrabble enjoy a great deal of popularity among players of all ages. The objective of this study was to identify the characteristics of board games…
Abstract
Purpose
Board games such as Monopoly and Scrabble enjoy a great deal of popularity among players of all ages. The objective of this study was to identify the characteristics of board games that impact significantly on players' appreciation.
Design/methodology/ approach
A review of the literature and a qualitative study with players and board game professionals resulted in the identification of seven explanatory factors. A survey was conducted among 169 adult players selected using an area sampling method.
Findings
The survey results revealed that the most important factor in explaining players' appreciation of a board game was the extent to which the game was able to make them fantasize and live uncommon experiences. The second factor in importance was the entertainment that is associated with playing a game. Some unexpected differences were found between male and female players. Whereas the surprise elements of a game had a positive impact on men's appreciation, they were not significant among women. In turn, the rhythm of the game had a positive effect on women's appreciation whereas it did not impact on men's appreciation.
Research limitations/implications
Players' perceptions were limited to board games with which they were familiar.
Practical implications
The results of this research offer some insights for the design and marketing of new board games. They indicate that the success of a new board game depends on the game's capacity to make players live a unique play experience and interact with other players. They also suggest that marketing communication should be adapted to the segments of male and female board game players.
Originality/value
This research brings useful knowledge about the factors that make consumers enjoy a board game.
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This article focuses on group work with children using a board game format. Combining the principles of group work and board games helps to engage and motivate children and…
Abstract
This article focuses on group work with children using a board game format. Combining the principles of group work and board games helps to engage and motivate children and adolescents to address and work through their difficulties. Lifegames are a series of six therapeutic board games developed for group work with children and adolescents who encounter adversity in their life as a consequence of bereavement, family break up, poor relationships, bullying, chronic illness or obesity. The games facilitate the understanding and disclosure of the complex feelings experienced by children and young people when they are confronted with traumatic life events. The games encourage and assist the participants to obtain and maintain behavioural change. Lifegames are a means to assist professionals in their group work with children and adolescents.
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Jeffrey L. Lennon and David W. Coombs
The purpose of this study is to test the effectiveness of an educational board game for increasing knowledge, positive attitudes‐beliefs, and self‐efficacy for dengue prevention…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to test the effectiveness of an educational board game for increasing knowledge, positive attitudes‐beliefs, and self‐efficacy for dengue prevention in a sample of Philippine school children and adolescents. Effective board games are more advantageous than lectures because they are adaptable, inexpensive and foster learning independently of teachers or lecturers. Also tested were relationships between perceived fun by students playing the game and outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
A school‐based pre‐test/post‐test experimentally controlled design was employed in a Filipino primary and secondary school population.
Findings
The lecture was more effective in increasing knowledge. But neither was more effective than the other in increasing positive attitudes‐beliefs and self‐efficacy. Both modes produced specifically significant increases in knowledge and self‐efficacy; only the lecture produced significant increases in attitudes‐beliefs. Also, there was a significant relationship between fun and self‐efficacy in the game group at the reduced regression model level but not in the presence of all study variables.
Research limitations/implications
No long term outcomes or behavioral change outcomes were measured. However, an educational game may increase knowledge and self‐efficacy about the dengue fever without the assistance of a teacher or other pre‐game instructional aids. In addition, the board game technique is flexible and easily adapted to other community or school health issues.
Originality/value
This was the first experimentally controlled study on the use of a game with the topic of dengue. The study on the use of a game was the first to demonstrate a significant increase in self‐efficacy as a result of the play of a board game. Original instruments measured self‐efficacy related to dengue control and also the variable of fun.
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Scholarship on America’s K-12 economics curriculum reveals an inattention to many harmful economic realities, specifically wealth inequality. Critics of the present curriculum…
Abstract
Purpose
Scholarship on America’s K-12 economics curriculum reveals an inattention to many harmful economic realities, specifically wealth inequality. Critics of the present curriculum posit that its emphasis on out-dated concepts and models ignores crucial elements of reality that impact economic interaction and identities. In response to the dominant economic paradigm and methods, this practitioner-focused paper discusses an economically pluralist, pedagogically critical approach to interrogating destructive economic realities. It details how three social studies classroom simulations based on the board game Monopoly may be integrated with certain informational texts to explore economic factors that contribute to America’s unique form of wealth inequality.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper describes wealth inequality in America and rationalizes the need to make this social problem a focus of study in the secondary social studies classroom. First, I survey the present curricular apparatus of K-12 economics education and then argue for a pluralist approach that expands the curriculum’s dominant neoclassical paradigm. Connecting economic pluralism to critical citizen education, I draw upon emerging critical economic citizen education scholarship to explain attendant pedagogical and instructional approaches. The described lesson builds upon a tradition of Monopoly simulations, is rooted in critical citizen education pedagogy and aligns with Soroko’s (2023) critical economic literacy framework.
Findings
This paper progresses the curricular movement of economic pluralism through its critique of America’s current K-12 economics curriculum that does not focus on immediate, lived social problems. It further defines critical economics, citizenship and pedagogy, then details an instructional practice that employs critical disciplinary tools to investigate contributing factors of American wealth inequality.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the growing field of pluralist economic perspectives and pedagogies. Specifically, it enriches understanding of critical economics citizenship education by further defining attendant pedagogy and explaining Monopoly as an instructional tool for critical economics citizen education. Previous works have discussed Monopoly’s utility for teaching various concepts within the social studies disciplines. This simulation lesson is unique in its instructional approach that merges simulation experiences with certain informational texts to cultivate critical economic knowledge of American wealth inequality and critical economic skills for critiquing and transforming oppressive economic realities.
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Pan Ai-Jou, Bo-Yuan Cheng, Pao-Nan Chou and Ying Geng
We applied a true-experimental randomized control posttest design to collect and analyze quantitative and qualitative data to compare the effects of the AR and traditional board…
Abstract
Purpose
We applied a true-experimental randomized control posttest design to collect and analyze quantitative and qualitative data to compare the effects of the AR and traditional board games on students’ SDG learning achievements.
Design/methodology/approach
We applied a true-experimental randomized control posttest design to collect and analyze quantitative and qualitative data to compare the effects of AR and traditional board games on students' SDG learning achievements.
Findings
Our analysis of the quantitative and qualitative data revealed that the effects of AR and traditional board games on the students' cognitive outcomes differed significantly, indicating the importance of providing a situated learning environment in SDG education. Moreover, the students perceived that the incorporation of the AR game into SDG learning improved their learning effectiveness – including both cognitive and affective dimensions – thus confirming its educational value and potential in SDG learning.
Originality/value
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to explore the effectiveness of different learning tools (AR and traditional board games) and to evaluate the importance of providing a situated learning environment through a true-experimental randomized control posttest design.
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Karen Markey, Fritz Swanson, Andrea Jenkins, Brian J. Jennings, Beth St. Jean, Victor Rosenberg, Xingxing Yao and Robert L. Frost
This paper seeks to focus on the design and testing of a web‐based online board game for teaching undergraduate students information literacy skills and concepts.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to focus on the design and testing of a web‐based online board game for teaching undergraduate students information literacy skills and concepts.
Design/methodology/approach
Project team members with expertise in game play, creative writing, programming, library research, graphic design and information seeking developed a web‐based board game in which students used digital library resources to answer substantive questions on a scholarly topic. The project team hosted game play in a class of 75 undergraduate students. The instructor offered an extra‐credit incentive to boost participation resulting in 49 students on 13 teams playing the game. Post‐game focus group interviews revealed problematic features and redesign priorities.
Findings
A total of six teams were successful meeting the criteria for the instructor's grade incentive achieving a 53.1 percent accuracy rate on their answers to substantive questions about the black death; 35.7 percent was the accuracy rate for the seven unsuccessful teams. Discussed in detail are needed improvements to problematic game features such as offline tasks, feedback, challenge functionality, and the game's black death theme.
Originality/value
Information literacy games test what players already know. Because this project's successful teams answered substantive questions about the black death at accuracy rates 20 points higher than the estimated probability of guessing, students did the research during game play which demonstrates that games have merit for teaching students information literacy skills and concepts.
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Klara Kager, Swantje Bolli, Julian Bucher, Eva Kalinowski and Miriam Vock
This design paper reports on the development of a board game for teachers’ initial introduction to lesson study (LS). Empirical studies suggest that teachers need to have a good…
Abstract
Purpose
This design paper reports on the development of a board game for teachers’ initial introduction to lesson study (LS). Empirical studies suggest that teachers need to have a good understanding of the goals and steps of LS in order to see their participation in LS as worthwhile. This board game is designed to provide an interactive, motivating and informative introduction to LS.
Design/methodology/approach
Following iterative design steps to develop a game prototype, groups of teachers (N = 57) and teacher candidates (N = 49) played the game and completed surveys about their satisfaction with the game as well as the quality and the transferability of the game. The data were analyzed using quantitative and qualitative methods. To address feedback from participants, two experts in game-based learning and LS, respectively, were asked to review the game and provide additional feedback.
Findings
The vast majority of participants rated the game as an appealing format for professional development (PD) and indicated a high level of motivation to participate in LS and collaborate with colleagues after playing the game. The findings highlight that game-based learning opportunities can provide engaging and informative formats for PD, particularly to facilitate collaboration.
Originality/value
To our knowledge, this is one of the first efforts to design and evaluate a game-based introduction to LS and one of the few studies to discuss educational games specifically designed to enhance teachers’ professional knowledge and collaboration.
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Ya-Lun Yu, Ting Ting Wu and Yueh-Min Huang
This paper aims to investigate whether the effects of children's current learning are related to their learning efficiency and behavior when they are exposed to two different…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate whether the effects of children's current learning are related to their learning efficiency and behavior when they are exposed to two different gaming media.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper the authors used a quasi-experimental design to determine whether game-based learning can be improved by using mobile devices equipped with augmented reality (AR).
Findings
The control group using the card game was careful to find the correct answer, with the intention of “obtaining the maximum score with the highest rate of correctness,” whereas the experimental group using the AR board game played aggressively by “obtaining the maximum score with the highest number.”
Research limitations/implications
Although integrating an AR board game into the curriculum is an effective approach, the need to implement such a game in response to different learning attitudes and behaviors of students should be addressed.
Practical implications
Depending on the learning situation, different teaching methods and aids can be used to help students effectively learn. The recommendations based on this experiment can broaden the teaching field and allow for a wider range of experimental studies.
Originality/value
Learning behavior was observed, and user attention was interpreted using MindWave Mobile.
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Most authors see the origins of Management Games in ancient board games such as checkers and chess, played on squared boards. Games such as these have, of course, been with us for…
Abstract
Most authors see the origins of Management Games in ancient board games such as checkers and chess, played on squared boards. Games such as these have, of course, been with us for a long time with the distant origins of chess traced back to the 6th century BC.
Luke Butcher, Oliver Tucker and Joshua Young
Pervasive mobile games (PMG) expand the game context into the real world, spatially, temporally and socially. The most prominent example to date is Pokémon Go (PGo), which in the…
Abstract
Purpose
Pervasive mobile games (PMG) expand the game context into the real world, spatially, temporally and socially. The most prominent example to date is Pokémon Go (PGo), which in the first 12 months of its launch achieved over 800 million downloads and huge revenues for Pokémon, its majority owner Nintendo, and its developer Niantic. Like many mobile apps and innovative services, PGo's revenue structure requires continual usage (through in-app purchases and sponsorships) as it is free to download. Thus, as many players discontinued after initial adoption, substantial drops in Nintendo's share price occurred alongside the damage to brand equity. Such a case highlights the need to extend scholarship beyond traditional ‘adoption’ and begin to truly illustrate and explain the consumer behaviour phenomenon of ‘discontinuance’, particularly in the emerging and lucrative domain of PMGs.
Design/methodology/approach
Like many emerging marketing channels before it, large-scale discontinuance of PGo occurred and still remains unexplained in the academic literature. Herein, we address this shortcoming through a consumer case study methodology analysing a variety of data sources pertaining to PGo in Australia.
Findings
The development of the P2D_PMG model provides a new conceptual framework to illustrate the distinct forms discontinuance manifests in, for the first time. Scholarly rigour of the P2D_PMGs is achieved through validating and extending Soliman and Rinta-Kahila's (2020) framework for ‘discontinuance’ through its five forms. These forms are revealed as access and on-boarding (rejection), disconfirmation and hedonic adaptation (regressive discontinuance), technological, social, third parties, and personal issues (quitting), re-occurrences of hedonic adaptation (temporary), and alternatives and iterations (replacement).
Originality/value
Conceptual contributions are made in developing a model to explain what drives PMG discontinuance and when it occurs. This is particularly crucial for products with revenue structures built on continual usage, instead of initial adoption. In deriving data from actual players and aggregate user behaviour over an extended time period, the innovative case study methodology validates new discontinuance research in a manner other methods cannot. Managerial implications highlight the importance of CX, alpha/beta testing, promotion and research, gameplay design and collaboration/community engagement.