Cooperative Learning Through Modern Board Games

• In Event: Millennium Hotel Roundtable Session 8
  In Roundtable Session: Advances in Cooperative Learning

Abstract

The present study seeks to extend the success of Cooperative Learning in more informal settings by investigating whether playing modern board games can increase students’ cooperative attitudes. Seventh graders were randomly assigned to play a cooperative (Hanabi™) or competitive game (Abracada…What?™). It was predicted that students playing the cooperative game would have increased cooperative attitudes, cooperative orientation, and perspective taking skills compared to those in the competitive game condition. Though no significant differences were found, it appears that the students had different opinions of the games which could have obscured differences between conditions. Despite the main findings, the results are important for future iterations and contribute to the small number of studies involving modern, commercial board games and social competencies.

Authors

• Yu-Chi Wang, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

• Jenifer Doll, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

• Keisha Varma, University of Minnesota