With his Community for Learning & Innovation (CLI) innovation project, René Olie, Associate Professor at Rotterdam School of Management (RSM), wanted to transform his in-person teamwork simulation into a digital version called the Edu-Game. The Edu-Game is an online activity which simulates a multi-month academic project that students must work together on as part of their course. In this interview, René talks about why there was a need to develop such a simulation, how it can help navigate student teamwork dynamics, and his advice for future steps towards more effective teamwork.
Why did the Edu-Game get developed?
The development of the Edu-Game emerged from the difficulties that can arise from working in a team over a longer period. This type of teamwork is part of many educational programmes within RSM, EUR, and in the professional world. By having a simulation like this, René and his team wanted to show students how they would respond when faced with certain team challenges and use these experiences to lead to more efficient teamwork outcomes. “Things like team members falling ill, scheduling problems due to lack of availability, and supervisors not being happy with your team’s work. All of these are realistic scenarios that students may have to face”, explains René. “By being confronted with them during the Edu-Game, students are able to see how they would react in those scenarios, and what they may want to change or improve on during the actual teamwork”.
Writing a team charter
Following the Edu-Game, students get together with their team members to write a team charter, a contract between the students that outlines the expectations for the team. During the development of both the physical and digital versions of the Edu-Game, the charters written by students following their participation in the simulation yielded more realistic and detailed charters than teams in previous years. “The Edu-Game helps students get a more realistic feel of what is actually needed to align goals and expectations”, mentions René. “Sometimes the individual can sacrifice too much or too little towards the goals of the team, so writing the team charter after the simulation can help towards striking a balance.”
“Writing the team charter is already a big first step for a lot of courses that involve teamwork. Combining this process with the Edu-Game can make it that much more useful”, explains Sandra Lousberg, who is a learning innovation consultant for Risbo and often works on gamification projects. “In a safe environment, students can face realistic problems that could arise when working in a team. This allows them to see how they would respond in a low-stakes environment, and apply this to their actual group work”, she further explains.
Benefits and limitations of the Edu-Game
The idea to adapt the in-person Edu-Game to a digital simulation emerged during the COVID pandemic when physical distance was important. One clear benefit of this digital version is its flexibility, as it can be played at any time, location, and with any number of participants. “You are no longer constrained to the physical layout and classroom size on campus. This game can be played with any number of students or groups”, explains René. A crucial component in the process of digitalizing the Edu-Game was the funding for innovation projects, offered by the CLI.
“The Edu-Game helps students get a more realistic feel of what is actually needed to align goals and expectations when working together"
However, with the digital format of the newer version of the Edu-Game, there are also some trade-offs. The use of computers means that team members cannot participate in the game if they are in the same room. They each need to use a laptop, and this would cause microphone interference within their team. Additionally, in the physical version of the game the instructor would give a debrief, in which the outcomes and implications of the exercise could be more explicitly emphasized for students to later apply. “Even with some drawbacks, we still believe that the digital version of the simulation is very useful and can be applied in a wider set of scenarios”, mentions René.
The future of educational simulation
The physical version of the Edu-Game was developed approximately four years ago, with the digital version following, having now been used for the last two years. The Edu-Game is part of the RSM case centre, which means it can be used throughout RSM and EUR, or “sold” as a case study material to be used by other institutions. The student and instructor feedback has been overall very positive following the Edu-Game, and its use will be continued to enhance teamwork experiences.
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