Let's play a game! (and learn some theory).

• In Event: Methods: Innovative, Experiential, and Student-Centered Approaches to Teaching Undergraduate Research Methods in the Social Sciences

Abstract

Teaching core sociological concepts, like social structure and its relationship to human agency, is notoriously difficult. In this workshop, participants will learn how to use game-based classroom activities that allow students to directly experience the force of social structure. In addition, by exposing the ways in which rule-bound social orders are subject to human intervention, this activity shows participants how they can powerful agents of social change. This workshop begins with a conceptual introduction that focuses on: the distinction between game mechanics and game themes;how game mechanics relate directly to core sociological concepts; how attending to game mechanics can empower students to think of themselves as the shapers of rule-bound environments. After this introduction, participants will break up into small groups to play three games. In each game players try to advance their token down a board but the means by which they do so changes significantly. The first game subjects the players to the whims of chance common to many of the most popular family games in the United States. In the second game, success depends on players’ ability to deduce the potential actions of other players. In the third game, competition is replaced with cooperation as players must find ways to communicate—through limited means—in order to collectively solve the puzzle put in front of them. We will play each game for 10 minutes and then pause for a 10 minute discussion.

Author

• Aaron Major, University at Albany, SUNY