SFU instructors are using games in their lessons to promote learning and engagement

According to instructors who use games or game elements in their courses, stickers, spinner wheels and a bit of imagination can go a long way to enhance student learning and experience.

We asked instructors from across SFU to share how they are using games in their teaching, and the results are in ...

Practicing problems can be fun when done as a group with incentives

To help encourage students in her introductory course, STAT 100, to overcome their fear of her discipline, statistics and actuarial science lecturer Sonja Isberg designed a series of game-based labs.

"Students can initially have some apprehension when it comes to statistics, especially if it is new and unfamiliar. I wanted to help them overcome this by providing them with opportunities to practice the course concepts in fun ways. One of our most popular activities has been the Globe Beach Ball Toss, where we throw a globe-shaped beach ball around the room to estimate the proportion of Earth that is covered in water. Another fun game is Statistics Bingo. Students are given a game card with questions instead of numbers and have to solve all the questions in a row or diagonal to win. The prizes are little stickers, and the students get so motivated to win them that they insist on having multiple rounds. Who knew little Corgi stickers would be the secret to helping get students past their fear of statistics?"

An important part of all the games, adds Isberg, is that there is an accompanying worksheet that students can refer to aftewards to help cement their learning.

Gaining first-hand experience with course concepts through simulation

Genetic evolution is a complex process. To help students experience that complexity first hand, health sciences lecturer Mark Lechner runs a simplified simulation of the process of genetic evolution via a game he calls Evolution in Action. Lechner runs the game, which involves a large wooden spinner wheel that Lechner hand-crafted himself, throughout the semester in his class HSCI 324: Human Population Genetics and Evolution.

According to Lechner, while introducing students to course concepts from a very different angle, one of the big impacts of the game is that it fosters a strong sense of community.

“I don’t give any grade for participating in the game, but students get really invested in it and are very curious to find out what will happen. There’s a real sense of cohesion by the end of the class to see whose ideas survive and even though it’s a competition, they develop a collective ownership over the results that really brings everyone together. There are a lot of reasons for students to not come to class so I appreciate that this game keeps them coming.”

The wheel, adds Lechner, represents the randomness of evolution and is spun each week, providing ongoing opportunities for students who have been eliminated from the game to continue to participate.

Developing mastery over core course terms through peer discussion

To give her students the opportunity to review terms essential to some of her courses, criminology professor Helene Love runs an adapted version of the game Catchphrase during the first week of class. Working in groups of five or six, students are challenged to explain terms identified on laminated game pieces to their teammates without using the actual word.

“Law has its own language. So in addition to like, learning about how the law works, and what the law is, students have to come up to speed on a whole new vocabulary that isn't the kind of stuff that we use in our everyday lives. By having to explain these terms to each other in this fun format, students are actually teaching each other. The room gets loud and even though the only prize is some candy or a discarded criminology textbook, there is always a bit of healthy competition. After the game, we review the results as a group and that gives me a chance to get everyone on the same page”

Love adds that the material investment required for her game was fairly low as she made the game pieces herself. She does not provide marks for participation. and adds that the inspiration for the game came from her participation in CEE's Linguistically Responsive Classrooms: Instructor Series.

Gamifying the course curriculum

Biology lecturer Kathleen Fitzpatrick has been exploring what types of games would most resonate with her students by supervising a series of directed studies in which they design potential games for her course, BISC 202. Her findings? When you can’t decide what game to use, gamify the whole course.

“I have seen a lot of really interesting game designs come out of my directed study, from apps to escape rooms, but actually what I have learned from then over the course of the directed studies is that what I want to do is gamify the whole course structure. There were common elements that the students consistently identified in their designs include providing opportunities for student to exercise choice and strategy, and providing rewards or incentives. What I plan to do is integrate these elements into how the course is organized. For example, this could means providing students with eight assignment options and letting them decide which six to complete. Or, telling them that if they complete all eight, they will unlock a special reward like an exam hint.”

The point of games and gamification in whatever form it takes, notes Fitzpatrick, is centering student experience. 

“I used to think motivating my students wasn’t part of my job description, but that was when I thought of learners from my own perspective. What my students have taught me is that they don’t do things the way I do, so I need to meet them halfway if I want to help them learn—and that is really what it’s all about.”