Open Review of Educational Research What's In a game? A game-based approach to exploring 21st-century European identity and values (original) (raw)
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Digital Culture & Education, 2021
The diversity of the EU is both a strength and a weakness, with Issues of National and European identity contributing to division, marginalization and exclusion. Many European citizens have very firmly entrenched, but frequently simplistic, views about the value of the European Union as good (pro EU) or bad (anti EU). To promote a culture of increased tolerance and inclusion, EU citizens need to develop a more mature and nuanced understanding of National and European identity that considers the validity of others' points of view. Serious Games are increasingly recognised as active and effective methods for tackling complex social problems. Therefore, the RU EU? (are you EU?) project developed a game to increase players' awareness of the complexity of European identity and values, to help players develop a more detailed understanding of European identity and promote critical thinking about their own views, the views of others, and the wider societal consequences. In this paper we describe the RU EU? Game as a case study explaining the thinking behind the game design. We outline the early design tasks that led to development of the multicomponent model of European identity that we used in the game, the adoption of the journalist narrative and the tools that assisted the player in his goal of compiling and publishing a set of articles about European identity. We discuss the potential of the game tools and mechanics to be used more widely to promote social understanding and inclusion.
This paper presents the design steps of an online educational game, addressed to Primary School students (6-10 years of age). Through the game, the students will be able to develop all those elements which characterize an active EU citizen. This activity is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union, under the KA2 action (Project acronym WeAreEurope). In this paper, the approach followed in order to construct the underlying theoretical framework as well as the intermediate steps, in the form of decisions made, are presented, reaching the point of presenting a meta-draft game concept. With the term meta-draft we refer to a solid game idea with a draft description of the player’s activities and an overall concrete goal. This activity is still work in progress, now at the point of designing ingame activities in detail. This paper presents an empirical approach to the principals of designing an online educational game, serving as a step by step guide for those wishing to create a similar product.
Frontiers in Psychology, 2022
European identity is a complex, multi-faced and inherently imprecise concept relating to a range of socio-political and psychological factors. Addressing this topic in educational practice, particularly with respect to Higher Education students, constitutes a complex and open problem for research. This paper reports on an experimental study designed to explore the effectiveness of the educational game “RUEU?” in supporting university students in understanding the key socio-political issues regarding European identity. Quantitative data regarding Greek university students’ (N = 92) attitudes to European identity, before and after playing the game, were collected. Students’ performance of the game group (N = 46) was compared with that of a control group (N = 46) who explored the same issues about European identity through a tutor-guided discussion. The findings showed that both instructional interventions were effective but in different ways. The participants in the game-based group a...
Learning about Europe through educational gaming
Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 2020
This paper explores the contribution to geography teaching which can be made by serious games. We describe the ways in which gaming has progressed from "dissected maps" and jigsaws through board games, to the range of online games which are available today. We describe the development, in conjunction with European partner institutions, of a new game, entitled RU EU?, intended to raise student awareness of European issues, notably the question of European identity; this seems to be both important and topical at the time of Brexit. We describe the development and the nature of the game and its launch, and the feedback which we have received from students who have played it, and suggest that, while it is not necessarily a substitute for traditional lecture-style teaching, games such as this can provide an additional tool in the geography lecturer's armoury.
Strengthening Local Identity Through Digital Games in Education
2017
This article presents a pilot project introducing a new learning subject named “Topognosia” (Knowing the region) that incorporates cultural, historical, and geographical aspects of the local society students live in. Its purpose is to enrich the basic knowledge of students about their region and strengthen their awareness and notions towards local identity. The specially designed accompanying material includes a textbook, a website with online lessons and a collection of digital mini games, one of which is hereby demonstrated in detail. Postmodern Relativism and Identity Since its appearance, the postmodern condition has evoked both laudatory and critical reaction (Mackenzie, Good, & Brown, 2014). Whether it is viewed as a liberating or a problematizing force, its tendency to challenge preexisting limits, dispute established terms and call cultural and political norms into question, causes a general feeling of indeterminacy (Harvey, 1990). From a pedagogical point of view, this wide...
Becoming Citizens Through Game-Based Learning
International Journal of Gaming and Computer-Mediated Simulations, 2000
In this paper, we share a model of game-based learning for use in the context of classroom learning in school. The model is based on the dialectic interaction between game play and dialogic engagement with peers and teacher on one hand and a developmental trajectory of competence-through-performance on the other. It is instantiated in the context of a learning program related to citizenship education using the computer game Space Station Leonis. We argue for the importance of values in all learning, based upon a theory of becoming citizens that is founded on process philosophy. We relate values to dispositions, as articulated manifestations of values, and describe how the Leonis learning program helps to achieve dispositional shifts befitting citizenship education in a globalized and multi-cultural world.
Journal of Social Science Education, 2019
Fostering national and European identities can be compatible with education for tolerance. − Social relationships in school are important predictors of national and European identity. − Formal learning opportunities are especially important for fostering a European identity. Purpose: The aim of this article is to analyse the concepts of national and European identities through a multidisciplinary lens and to examine empirically how schools develop those identities in adolescents. Method: The study employs data from the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study 2016. Correlation and regression analyses are conducted with data from over 45,000 students from fourteen different European educational systems. Country-specific weighted statistical analyses are conducted. Findings: A combination of perspectives from the fields of psychology, political culture, and civic and citizenship education is useful to reflect upon the dimensions and desirability of overarching identities. Formal learning opportunities are shown to be particularly relevant for fostering a European identity. Positive relationships between students and teachers and between students statistically predict stronger identities. Practical implications: Good social relationships at school help to develop national and European identities. Moreover, the development of a European identity especially depends upon its explicit inclusion in the curriculum. Teachers should guide students to reflect on the meaning and content of tolerant and complex national and European identities.
Embodiment, embeddedness, and experience: Game-based learning and the construction of identity
Research and Practice in Technology Enhanced Learning Vol. 2, No. 1 (2007) 3–30, 2007
The twenty-first century places new demands on student learning. New times call for new literacies. We witness keen interest in “serious games” and the use of games to enhance student learning. Against this backdrop, this paper1 examines issues related to bring- ing game-based learning into classrooms. It is argued that the construction of students’ identity and sense of self are important but mostly overlooked educational goals. It is also noted that immersive games, by virtue of three associated learning characteristics— embodiment, embeddedness, and experience—are well-suited to supporting identity con- struction goals because they orient learning toward performance competencies that are intentional and possess a high degree of personal agency. We advocate a pedagogy that involves dialectic interplay between game-play experience and classroom-based discus- sion and reflection. These ideas are illustrated through a research project on National Education in Singapore. The game we have developed, Space Station Leonis, is a hybrid that comprises two modes of play: simulation mode and role playing scenario mode. We show how the game has been designed to help students develop a sense of who they are and what they stand for in a classroom learning environment that seeks to facilitate development of their identity in relation to being and becoming a Singapore citizen.
2021
In a time of increasing debates regarding the future of the European Union and Europe in general, the questions regarding ways to promote common identity gain in popularity. In such a time, the responsibility of the educational systems to provide answers to those pressing issues becomes very important because education can serve as a tool for promoting tolerance and understanding as well as a drive towards commonality and togetherness. In order to do so the educational interventions need to be carefully planned and based on a well developed paradigm. However, such paradigm is still not well defined. Therefore, this paper will start by exploring the Social Identity Theory to provide a baseline understanding on how identity is conceptualized and developed. It will then move towards discussing the educational paradigms aimed at promoting multicultural education in different contexts. By doing so, the paper will try to provide a unique cohesion of different approaches to promoting mutua...