Serious games are games with a purpose beyond entertainment and are widely
acknowledged as fruitful tools for learning and skills development across multiple
domains, including specifically educational enhancement. ‘How To Fail Your
Research Degree’ is a serious game developed to deliver knowledge and
understanding of research processes and techniques, within the context of a
postgraduate training programme at Glasgow School of Art which guides students
transitioning from undergraduate to Masters. Development focussed on
encouraging creativity and risk-taking within a safe game environment and
learning by (potentially) failing. Intended learning outcomes (ILOs) are to:
highlight various risks of research projects and suggest their impact on projects;
reinforce dependencies between tasks at different stages of research; directly
reinforce the interrelations of different risks with the activities taken to negate or
ameliorate them; and replicate the time-critical nature of short research projects.
Game characteristics were based on implementation within a postgraduate course
and emphasise player agency, working within a time limit, and humour.
Quantitative and qualitative evaluation was performed to provide evidence of the
effects of the game within teaching and learning practice. This was achieved
through a series of direct interventions in which students (n=66) played the game
within a tutorial context and provided feedback. Game effectiveness on meeting
the ILOs was evaluated using a 5-point Likert scale. Game experience was
evaluated within the theoretical framework of Keller’s Attention Relevance
Confidence Satisfaction (ARCS) model. Qualitative data was sought in free text
responses. Qualitative data was also collected to assess knowledge retention over
time.
Evaluation shows that the game is extremely successful at delivering all of the
ILOs and emphatically succeeds at Attention, Relevance, and Satisfaction, with
moderate success at increasing Confidence. This serious game is an effective,
innovative, and enjoyable complement to postgraduate training on research skills.