Participants

Emma Rimpiläinen¹; Briana Bowen³; George Fforde²;  ¹ Uppsala University, Sweden;  ² University of Melbourne, Australia;  ³ Royal Holloway University of London, UK

Discussion

This workshop explores (board) games as a tool for outreach and pedagogy. While games can enable learning by doing and popularise research findings through gamification, creating functional games based on research findings is not without challenges, one issue being constantly changing theoretical paradigms. The workshop will examine already existing board games, such as Kolejka, and discuss audience reactions to these games (e.g. Ostalgie). We will also examine whether (board) games have potential as a vector for theoretical innovation: could research hypotheses be tested through game play? What are the benefits and limitations of such an approach? More generally, the workshop will address questions such as: How to create board games informed by research? How can research findings be operationalised into board game mechanics? What are the problems involved with this? How can experiential learning by historically-informed games accelerate students’ engagement and connection with the subject matter?