156 Back three spaces and roll again: using game-based approaches to assist with course design
Alex Moseley, Juliette Culver, Nicola Whitton

156 Back three spaces and roll again: using game-based approaches to assist with course design
Alex Moseley, Juliette Culver, Nicola Whitton
Engagement with academic courses, and particularly those covering induction, research or other key skills, is a perennial problem in higher education; as student skill sets and expectations change, different design techniques are needed to motivate learners and meet their expectations. Course design skills are often specialised or time consuming, but there are some emerging games-based techniques which can provide a useful way to engage and inspire both course leaders and students. This workshop will introduce the concept of game-based approaches to course design in higher education. Gaming and competition approaches to both subject specific, and generic skills training or induction, have been used to improve motivation and engagement within several existing courses (Moseley et al 2009, Whitton 2009). Through a simple game-based activity, this workshop will allow participants to experiment with new approaches, swap and share ideas, and collect new models and methods to use in their own context. The activity will lead to the creation of a number of course designs within the workshop, which will be discussed in detail at the end of the session. Participants will leave the workshop with: an understanding of the benefits of game-based approaches to learning design; an awareness that effective game-based activities can be produced without technical expertise; ideas and methods for creating game-based designs in their own context. The workshop leaders are: Alex Moseley (University of Leicester): course designer and game-based researcher, creator of the Great History Conundrum game-based research skills course, and a boardgame to teach course design approaches; Juliette Culver (Open University): online games designer for entertainment and education, project leader for the Operation: Sleeper Cell charity alternative reality game; Nicola Whitton (Manchester Metropolitan University): researcher in online games and game-based approaches, and creator of the ARGOSI game-based course for student induction.