“Game Based Learning” or “Gamification” is often a terminology used in education. During this CLI Lunch & Learn, we will present two innovative games created specifically for educational purposes. Both are Serious Games, they are different, but both achieve their learning goals in their respective courses. Join us for this CLI Lunch & Learn and be amazed at what serious games can achieve in education!
Game 1: Online Simulation Game for Contracting Out
The first game is called Online Simulation Game for Tendering, which is a game that focuses on the tendering process (“aanbestedingen”) in the Netherlands. Students learn how to navigate this process through a simulation in the classroom. The original game was created by Sandra van Thiel (ESSB) and digitalised by Organiq (Game Developer). The presentation will focus on the content of the game and how well a simulation works in any course that focusses on the tendering process.
Professor Sandra van Thiel was appointed as professor of Public Management at Radboud University Nijmegen in 2012. Her research focuses on the creation of executive agencies and the governance relationships between government bodies and these semi-autonomous organisations. Sandra is a full-time professor at ESSB and used her lifelong expertise to create a game about the Tendering process between municipalities and private companies in the Netherlands. This game has been played since 2015 by many students and is a proven concept that adds value in the classroom.
Shen Liu is a project manager at the Community for Learning and Innovation. His background in Design Thinking and Industrial Design Engineering led to him being the project manager of many gamification projects at the EUR. Shen has worked with Sandra on digitalising her successful game and moved it to the digital era. He also worked with Ana Vasques on creating a boardgame for students to better express their emotions on difficult dilemmas.
Game 2: Fireflies, A Connecting Game for Sustainable Action.
The second game is a board game called Fireflies. This is an initiative from Ana Vasques (EUC) and focuses on the emotional journey student go through when confronted with sustainable dilemmas. This game teaches students to better express their emotions and making it easier to talk about these dilemmas. The game promotes active listening and can be used in many contexts. The presentation will focus on the creation of the game, and you will also get to experience the board game yourself in a play session.
Dr. Ana Vasques is a senior lecturer at Erasmus University College (EUC) and one of the co-founders of the DIT-platform. She was also one of the first fellows at the CLI focusing on empowering students through interdisciplinary and intercultural education on sustainable development. Ana is always committed to her students and their personal growth; she believes students go through a transformative journey and applies this principle to her teaching. Through this culmination of interests, Ana has created the game Fireflies, a game for students to deal with difficult dilemmas and their emotions.
Sandra Lousberg is a senior educational advisor of Risbo. She is responsible for the Senior Teaching Qualification training at the EUR, also one of the main educational advisors of the TeachEUR platform. Sandra was involved in a previous project together with Ana Vasques, which led to the creation of this game. Throughout the project she has always looked at the game from a didactical point of view. Sandra is also the main illustrator of this game and many other EUR projects.
