Teaming Tribulations: Using a Role Playing Game to Improve Teaming Outcomes

Charlotte Marr de Vries; Qi Dunsworth; Doyle Dodd

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Conference: 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Portland, Oregon
Publication Date: June 23, 2024
Start Date: June 23, 2024
End Date: July 12, 2024
Conference Session: Design in Engineering Education Division (DEED) - Teamwork in Design Education
Tagged Division: Design in Engineering Education Division (DEED)
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/48076

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Paper Authors

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Charlotte Marr de Vries Pennsylvania State University

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Dr. Charlotte de Vries is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Penn State Erie, the Behrend College. She received her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts in 2009. She received her M.S. (2013) and Ph.D. (2014) from the Pennsylvania State University.

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Qi Dunsworth Pennsylvania State University orcid.org/0000-0001-6903-5402

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Qi Dunsworth is the Director of the Center for Teaching Initiatives at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College. She holds a master's degree in Communication Studies and a Ph.D. in Educational Technology. She supports faculty in their effort to improve pedagogy, course design, and interdisciplinary curricula.

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Doyle Dodd The University of Oklahoma

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Industrial & Systems Engineering
Capstone Coordinator

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Abstract

This paper discusses the development and implementation of a board game intended to simulate conversations and debates or negotiations that may occur in design-based projects. One of the challenging tasks for a design group is learning how to collaborate and debate in a constructive and productive way. This study gives an overview of simulations and games used to assist pedagogy and efforts at improving teamwork in design courses. This information is utilized to discuss the implementation and effect of a pedagogical board game, "Teaming Tribulations." This game is intended to simulate the arguments that might occur within a design team discussion in a zero-stakes environment. In Teaming Tribulations, students are asked to create a quick design in response to a simple prompt. They then share their designs during the judgment-free "Concept Generation Phase." In the next phase of the game, "Concept Selection and Debate," they must debate with their teammates to select the best design to submit for their fictional group project. The game is given a twist as two factors, namely the initial biases (which design that they must initially defend and entice others to vote for) and personality types (how they interact with other players) of each player, are both determined by randomly dealt cards. This role-playing causes the students to step outside of their comfort zone and internally reflect on how they share their opinions normally versus how others might make a similar point. In the "Grading" phase of the game, the team receives a score based on if they were able to receive a majority or total consensus. The objective of implementing this game within a classroom environment is to start the discussion on teaming, as well as provide a low-fidelity simulation of the design process for comparison during the semester. Later in the semester, concept selection methods are taught with the reminder that it is not ideal to judge based on initial biases and gut feelings.

The paper is a further developed version of a work-in-progress paper from last year's conference and includes three semesters' worth of survey data from two institutions. Students found the game to be enjoyable, useful as a framework to describe issues with teaming, and identified archetypes that they would like to see in a team.

Citation
Format

de Vries, C. M., & Dunsworth, Q., & Dodd, D. (2024, June), Teaming Tribulations: Using a Role Playing Game to Improve Teaming Outcomes Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/48076

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - This paper discusses the development and implementation of a board game intended to simulate conversations and debates or negotiations that may occur in design-based projects. One of the challenging tasks for a design group is learning how to collaborate and debate in a constructive and productive way. This study gives an overview of simulations and games used to assist pedagogy and efforts at improving teamwork in design courses. This information is utilized to discuss the implementation and effect of a pedagogical board game, &quot;Teaming Tribulations.&quot; This game is intended to simulate the arguments that might occur within a design team discussion in a zero-stakes environment. In Teaming Tribulations, students are asked to create a quick design in response to a simple prompt. They then share their designs during the judgment-free &quot;Concept Generation Phase.&quot; In the next phase of the game, &quot;Concept Selection and Debate,&quot; they must debate with their teammates to select the best design to submit for their fictional group project. The game is given a twist as two factors, namely the initial biases (which design that they must initially defend and entice others to vote for) and personality types (how they interact with other players) of each player, are both determined by randomly dealt cards. This role-playing causes the students to step outside of their comfort zone and internally reflect on how they share their opinions normally versus how others might make a similar point. In the &quot;Grading&quot; phase of the game, the team receives a score based on if they were able to receive a majority or total consensus. The objective of implementing this game within a classroom environment is to start the discussion on teaming, as well as provide a low-fidelity simulation of the design process for comparison during the semester. Later in the semester, concept selection methods are taught with the reminder that it is not ideal to judge based on initial biases and gut feelings. 

The paper is a further developed version of a work-in-progress paper from last year&#39;s conference and includes three semesters&#39; worth of survey data from two institutions. Students found the game to be enjoyable, useful as a framework to describe issues with teaming, and identified archetypes that they would like to see in a team. 

AU  - Charlotte Marr de Vries
AU  - Qi Dunsworth
AU  - Doyle Dodd
CY  - Portland, Oregon
DA  - 2024/06/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Teaming Tribulations: Using a Role Playing Game to Improve Teaming Outcomes
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/48076
ER  -