Planspiel-Literaturdatenbank des ZMS

Abstract: Introduction. Fair Play is an avatar-based role-playing video game in which Jamal Davis, a Black graduate student at a research university, navigates implicit forms of racial bias to reach the win-state of earning his PhD and becoming a professor. Fair Play was designed to educate players on the existence of racial bias in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) fields in an experiential way and to encourage perspective-taking. Research has found that taking the perspective of another can induce empathy, which improves the empathizer’s attitudes towards individuals and groups. Paired with a facilitated workshop, Fair Play was also designed to teach bias concepts to increase participants’ bias literacy.

DOI: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8135020 

Abstract: BACKGROUND Serious games can be a powerful learning tool in higher education. However, the literature indicates that the learning outcome in a serious game depends on the facilitators' competencies. Although professional facilitators in commercial game-based training have undergone specific instruction, facilitators in higher education cannot rely on such formal instruction, as game facilitation is only an occasional part of their teaching activities. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to address the actual competencies of occasional game facilitators and their perceived competency deficits. METHODS Having many years of experience as professional and occasional facilitators, we (n=7) defined requirements for the occasional game facilitator using individual reflection and focus discussion. Based on these results, guided interviews were conducted with additional occasional game facilitators (n=4) to check and extend the requirements. Finally, a group of occasional game facilitators (n=30) answered an online questionnaire based on the results of the requirement analysis and existing competency models. RESULTS Our review produced the following questions: Which competencies are needed by facilitators and what are their training needs? What do current training courses for occasional game facilitators in higher education look like? How do the competencies of occasional game facilitators differ from other competencies required in higher education? The key findings of our analysis are that a mix of managerial and technical competencies is required for facilitating serious games in higher educational contexts. Further, there is a limited or no general competence model for game facilitators, and casual game facilitators rarely undergo any specific, formal training. CONCLUSIONS The results identified the competencies that game facilitators require and a demand for specific formal training. Thus, the study contributes to the further development of a competency model for game facilitators and enhances the efficiency of serious games. BACKGROUND Serious games can be a powerful learning tool in higher education. However, the literature indicates that the learning outcome in a serious game depends on the facilitators' competencies. Although professional facilitators in commercial game-based training have undergone specific instruction, facilitators in higher education cannot rely on such formal instruction, as game facilitation is only an occasional part of their teaching activities. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to address the actual competencies of occasional game facilitators and their perceived competency deficits. METHODS Having many years of experience as professional and occasional facilitators, we (n=7) defined requirements for the occasional game facilitator using individual reflection and focus discussion. Based on these results, guided interviews were conducted with additional occasional game facilitators (n=4) to check and extend the requirements. Finally, a group of occasional game facilitators (n=30) answered an online questionnaire based on the results of the requirement analysis and existing competency models. RESULTS Our review produced the following questions: Which competencies are needed by facilitators and what are their training needs? What do current training courses for occasional game facilitators in higher education look like? How do the competencies of occasional game facilitators differ from other competencies required in higher education? The key findings of our analysis are that a mix of managerial and technical competencies is required for facilitating serious games in higher educational contexts. Further, there is a limited or no general competence model for game facilitators, and casual game facilitators rarely undergo any specific, formal training. CONCLUSIONS The results identified the competencies that game facilitators require and a demand for specific formal training. Thus, the study contributes to the further development of a competency model for game facilitators and enhances the efficiency of serious games. // BACKGROUND Serious games can be a powerful learning tool in higher education. However, the literature indicates that the learning outcome in a serious game depends on the facilitators' competencies. Although professional facilitators in commercial game-based training have undergone specific instruction, facilitators in higher education cannot rely on such formal instruction, as game facilitation is only an occasional part of their teaching activities. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to address the actual competencies of occasional game facilitators and their perceived competency deficits. METHODS Having many years of experience as professional and occasional facilitators, we (n=7) defined requirements for the occasional game facilitator using individual reflection and focus discussion. Based on these results, guided interviews were conducted with additional occasional game facilitators (n=4) to check and extend the requirements. Finally, a group of occasional game facilitators (n=30) answered an online questionnaire based on the results of the requirement analysis and existing competency models. RESULTS Our review produced the following questions: Which competencies are needed by facilitators and what are their training needs? What do current training courses for occasional game facilitators in higher education look like? How do the competencies of occasional game facilitators differ from other competencies required in higher education? The key findings of our analysis are that a mix of managerial and technical competencies is required for facilitating serious games in higher educational contexts. Further, there is a limited or no general competence model for game facilitators, and casual game facilitators rarely undergo any specific, formal training. CONCLUSIONS The results identified the competencies that game facilitators require and a demand for specific formal training. Thus, the study contributes to the further development of a competency model for game facilitators and enhances the efficiency of serious games.

Abstract: Simulation gaming sessions can be understood as a sequence of briefing, game play, and debriefing - with feedback loops and iterative steps in between. Often, these sessions are supported by a facilitator, who organizes the session, sets learning goals, and guides the players through briefing, game play and debriefing (Taylor, Backlund & Niklasson, 2012), which we call facilitation. Debriefing is a vital part of the facilitation process, as according to Crookall (2010) and Kriz (2010), it facilitates learning. Contrary to many traditional models that locate the debriefing phase at the very end of a simulation gaming session, we conceptualize debriefing as reflection moments during the whole session, in which participants have the opportunity to reflect on their game play, experiences, and learnings. Facilitation is the process of enabling participants to address challenging situations of the game play, and make connections between the game play and the real environment the game refers to throughout the simulation gaming session.

Abstract: Background. Games are designed to help participants think about, understand, sharpen their problem statement as well as the specific objectives to be achieved to escape the problem situation. When participants prepare for the game (briefing), interact in the simulated environment (gameplay), and self- or jointly reflect about the gameplay they faced in terms of intended and unintended learning experiences (debrief), they benefit or suffer from facilitating that can or cannot fully cater to their needs. To support the participants to explore and resolve the problem situation in order to achieve learning goals, we propose that facilitators can make use of role shifts during gameplay. Method. To capture the role shifts in the gameplay phase we studied game runs of the MicroTech game. The MicroTech game is a free-form game in which participants play the role of top management team or division managers in a multiunit organization. Results. We analyzed the role shifts we experienced as facilitators by elaborating on game events and how we could manage those events differently in future game runs if necessary. We show a need for facilitators to be able to embody multiple roles in the case of policy gaming that are in fit with the different phases, while there is a simultaneous need to shift within phases in order to keep participants moving and stimulating them to work towards the learning goals. Conclusion. Gaming/simulation facilitators should explore what multiplicity is required of them to make the game a success. Although this may seem normal practice to well-prepared and professionally trained facilitators, this may be particularly important for novice facilitators.

Abstract: Background. To facilitate game sessions for purposes beyond mere entertainment a facilitator needs to act like an ‘Unseen Helmsman’: steering their ship clear from rocks and storms without the players in the ship realizing. Previous work laid down a competency model for game facilitation. It reviewed several competency models for facilitators of generic (non-game) group sessions. Since no such model comprehensively provided guidelines to facilitate game sessions in particular, a new competency model was proposed using a bottom-up approach with the participation of game facilitation experts. The question remains what lessons may be drawn from this model. Methods. This contribution elaborates on the competency model for game facilitation and draws lessons from it. Thus it aims to empower both novice and experienced game facilitators to become an Unseen Helmsman. Also, it presents learnings for people who are experienced in facilitating groups in general, but who are new to facilitating game sessions. Conclusions. First, lessons for novice game facilitators include familiarising themselves with the core notions of the competency model: the characteristics of a complex systems game (session), and the attitudes, knowledge, and skills for successful game facilitation. Second, experienced game facilitators may learn from existing competency models for generic (non-game) group facilitation. Third, facilitators of generic (non-game) group sessions are encouraged to study the characteristics of game sessions in addition to the specific competencies contained in the competency model for game facilitators.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/10468781211016914 

Abstract: This article connects disparate components in simulation. The central component is that facilitators manage simulations as learning contexts. The second concerns a perception of simulations as safe containers, implying the existence of impermeable barriers between simulation and dangers of reality. However, when stepping into the facilitation space, facilitators encounter a third component—the gaze. A concept from critical theory and psychoanalysis, this refers to acts of seeing and being seen, of/by themselves and others, and can engender heightened awareness as facilitators see themselves from the focal point of multiple lens, and within a container that may not be so impermeable.

Abstract: As classroom-as-organization (CAO) simulations unfold within corporate or higher education classrooms, novice facilitators and their participants experience uncertainty in the absence of familiar and implicit sources of trust. Initial trust derived from the context, simulation, peers, and one’s self wanes as awareness dawns regarding the magnitude of difference between CAO and typical classrooms. New sources of trust arise from shared sensemaking about unfamiliar roles and interactions, growing confidence in redistributed responsibilities and authority, an environment characterized by psychological safety, feedback, and behavioral experimentation modeled upon the experiential learning cycle (Kolb, 1976).

DOI: https://www.herausforderung-lehrerinnenbildung.de/index.php/hlz/article/view/4281/4541 

Attachment: 60e5bd6d-1fd9-41e2-a845-b3429777b12e_04.pdf

Abstract: Inklusion stellt ein normatives Leitbild sowie einen (bildungs-) politisch forcierten Anspruch an Schule dar, der jedoch im Widerspruch zur selektiven Funktionsweise des Schulsystems steht. Angehende Lehrkräfte müssen entsprechend im Rahmen ihrer Ausbildung auf den reflektierten Umgang mit pädagogischen Entscheidungen im Spannungsfeld von Inklusion und Exklusion vorbereitet werden. Eine „Lupenstelle“ für professionelles Handeln in diesem Spannungsfeld stellen Entscheidungen über den Beschulungsort dar. Eine Methode, welche in den Sozialwissenschaften zur Förderung des reflexiven Lernens eingesetzt, in der Lehrkräftebildung bisher jedoch selten genutzt wird, ist das Planspiel. Planspiele simulieren eine Entscheidungssituation, in der konfligierende Positionen durchgesetzt werden sollen. Vor diesem Hintergrund wird im Beitrag ein Planspieldesign mit realitätsnahem Szenario vorgestellt, in dem eine Entscheidung über die inklusive versus exklusive Beschulung eines Kindes mit sonderpädagogischem Förderbedarf im Fokus steht. Es ist untergliedert in eine Vorbereitungsphase zur Erarbeitung der Argumentationsstrategie für die zu vertretende Position, eine Spielphase, in welcher die Entscheidungssituation simuliert wird, und eine Reflexionsphase zur Aufarbeitung des Spielverlaufs sowie zur Anbahnung des Lerntransfers. Das Planspiel wurde über mehrere Semester entwickelt und in der ersten und zweiten Phase der Lehrkräfteausbildung eingesetzt; entsprechende Materialien sind dem Beitrag als Online-Supplement beigefügt. Der Beitrag schildert Phasen, Rollen und den genauen zeitlichen Ablauf in zwei Seminarsitzungen und veranschaulicht dies durch Beispiele aus der Praxis. Ergebnisse einer formativen Evaluation werden berichtet und Schlussfolgerungen für einen phasenübergreifenden Einsatz gezogen.