Games provide not only fun but serious learning in a captivating manner even if commercially available relevant games are used (Bokyeong et al. 2009). They enable the players to become decision makers, experimenting with different ways of thinking, experiencing the subject domain in different ways, creating a platform and capability of future learning and problem solving (Gee 2003).
Board games are an important tool to provide hands-on and heads-on skill and knowledge development for people of all ages on all subjects in fact. Not only do well-designed games create an engaging atmosphere, they also provide a nonthreatening, playful, yet competitive environment in which to focus on content and reinforce and apply learning. The board itself provides a visual metaphor to help connect information. Effective games serve to organize information in a conceptual framework and to make it concrete. A growing body of research proves that properly designed team-based board games not only inspire learning, they encourage communication, collaboration and risk taking. They empower players by helping to build self-confidence. The different elements of game design support a wide range of player abilities, and learning translates to behaviour changes . Not only do games motivate students/players in a fun way offering interactive competitive learning environments, they also provide many other positive features. Games lighten the mood and this facilitates greater creativity and boost student morale and interest (Shatz & Loschiavo, 2005). Wycoff and Pryor (2003) say that a lightened mood can negate communication apprehension.
This document contains the first component of the intellectual output of the GATES Project. Under the name of High concept document, this text contains the basic elements that will form the main result of this initiative.
The document has been developed following a path that we began in the objectives of the project, and we go through it stopping at important aspects such as social entrepreneurship (which shows us the different elements that compose and determine it), the emerging technical, social and/or interpersonal skills that are key to undertake socially (and their interrelations) and the pedagogical approach to use within our training tool. And thus reach our first goal of the GATES project: Conceptual map of the project.
GATES – Board Game
SOCIAL ENTERPRISE:
Innovative solutions
Intagible benefits
Raising funds
Scalability
Social change
Social impact
SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR:
Transversal skills and key emergent competences
Professional competences
GAMER PROFILE:
Beginner Social Entrepreneur
GATES board game, will develop two different types of competences, addressed while playing and learning how to set and manage a social enterprise.
Transdisciplinary: literacy in and ability to understand concepts across multiple disciples.
Design mindset: ability to represent and develop tasks and work processes for desired outcomes
Cognitive load management: ability to discriminate and filter information for importance, and to understand how to maximize cognitive functioning using a variety of tools and techniques
Collaboration: ability to work productively, drive engagement and demonstrate presence as a member of a virtual team
Sense making: ability to determine the deeper meaning or significance of what is being expressed.
Social intelligence: ability to connect to others in a deep and direct way, to sense and stimulate reactions and desired interactions.
Novel & adoptive thinking: proficiency at thinking and coming up with solutions and responses beyond that which is ruled based
Cross-cultural competency: ability to operate in different cultural settings.
Computational thinking: ability to translate vast amounts of data into abstract concepts and to understand data-based reasoning
SOCIOPOLIS – BOARD GAME
Play the Sociopolis board game
The aim of the game is to earn as many ‘happiness points’ as possible. Happiness points represent your social impact on society. The player who collects the most happiness points after the final fifth turn wins. Each player owns and runs a restaurant.
During the game, you make decisions to develop your business: hire employees, take care of the conditions at work, build a good reputation, earn money and get the ingredients needed to meet your customers’ demands. The key to the game to grow your business while creating as much social impact as you can.
Find more info about the Sociopolis game rules below.
How to play Sociopolis:
- Download all the files below
- Print the pdf files
- Read the handbook (game’s rules)
- Play the game and…ENJOY!!
