Learning from Designing a Board Game for Policy Thinking in Computer Science

Technology does not exist in a vacuum, but is influenced by society and at the same time shaping it. In order to educate future computer scientists to be able to assess and create technology in a conscious and responsible manner, we provide first-year Computer Science (CS) students with an introductory course on different ways of thinking about CS by offering them a transdisciplinary view of the field. As we continuously strive to use engaging teaching methods to foster long-lasting interest for the topics of the course, as well as enhancing students’ learning experiences, we have introduced a unique game-based learning pipeline: In a game design course, advanced CS students design non-digital games that address various topics from the introductory course. These games are later played by first-year CS students, who are reflecting on the content and their experience as a part of their course assignments. In order to learn from the first iteration of this process, we analyse one of the games created, in particular its design and the educational objectives intended by the game designers, including the students’ feedback. We found that the game was perceived to be good in achieving learning outcomes; however, it scored even higher in terms of being an interesting and entertaining game. Overall, we conclude that the game was successful in creating an engaging learning experience, demonstrating the potential for game-based learning with non-digital games. This case study also highlights the importance of creating a suitable environment for game-based learning approaches to enhance the educational effects and utilise individual strengths of educational games, providing inspiration and groundwork for future research.