Board Game Science² (Game in Lab)

Project in Review

Board Game Science²: Exploring the Science of Learning Design Frameworks through Science Board Games

Although the research on games and learning has seen tremendous growth in the past 15 years, board games are the focus of only a small segment of studies. There is a need for rigorous research in this area to increase the visibility of board games, accelerate future research, and ultimately improve student learning and engagement through gaming. The research team at Iowa State University’s Game2Work Group will connect research and practice through a multi-stage content analysis of 20 top-rated science-themed board games. The process will include researcher coding of gaming manuals, science teacher evaluation of the top games, and a professional development workshop. The goals of this project are to (1) contribute to the research on board game design theories and (2) increase 40 teachers’ use of and evaluation of science board games to improve student success in the classroom.

Research Goals: A study on the design characteristics of science games is an important step in the trajectory of game-based learning research. The larger number of board games in science as compared to other content areas provides a rich context to examine the diversity of designs. The results of this Board Game Science2 project will be a foundation to enable researchers to conduct comparison studies between games and generalize patterns for effective learning. In addition, this project will expand the number of science teachers with expertise on the evaluation and implementation of board games in the classroom through a professional development event. Overall, higher quality research studies on board games combined with teachers experienced with board games has great potential to positively impact student success in the classroom.

Therefore, this study aims to analyze the characteristics of science-themed board games using a content analysis methodology. We will answer the following research questions:

  1. What are the design characteristics of science board games?
  2. How does participation in board game professional development impact teacher beliefs and values for game-based learning in their classroom?
  3. How do the design characteristics of science board games compare to the larger field of game-based learning research?

Researchers

Larysa Nadolny (PI), Imtiajul Alam, Ezequeil Aleman, & Lili Zhou

Funding

Game in Lab and Game2Work