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Connecting the dots: A card game to connect students to entrepreneurship’s rich models of opportunity recognition

Craig E. Armstrong, University of Alabama (Session # 285)

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Why games?

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“A game is a system in which players engage in an abstract challenge, defined by rules, interactivity, and feedback, that results in a quantifiable outcome often eliciting an emotional reaction.”

Koster, R. (2005). A theory of fun for game design. Scottsdale, AZ: Paraglyph Press, p. 34.

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Why games are important

These elements combine to make an event that is larger than the individual elements:

A player gets caught up in playing a game because the instant feedback and constant interaction are related to the challenge of the game, which is defined by the rules, which all work within the system to provoke an emotional reaction and, finally, result in a quantifiable outcome within an abstract version of a larger system.

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Kapp, K.M. 2012. The gamification of learning and instruction: Game-based methods and strategies for training and education. Pfeiffer.

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What gamification is (and is not)

Gamification is using game-based mechanics, aesthetics, and game thinking to engage people, motivate action, promote learning, and solve problems.

Gamification is not the superficial addition of points, rewards, and badges to learning experiences.

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Our focus: Baron’s “Connect the Dots”

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Connecting the Dots (Cards “For” Humanity)

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Concept to be addressed in game/activity:	How shared information, personal information, and cognitive frameworks (e.g., prototypes, role models, exemplars) can lead to promising business opportunities
Description of game/activity elements / board / items / etc.	One player is selected as judge; players take turns being judge for each game All participants see 5-10 initial “event” cards, then take turns drawing either “event” or “frameworks” cards individually At end of each round, each player write her idea for a business opportunities that is suggested by the combination of group and collection of personal cards At end of each round any player can “stop” the game if he thinks he has a promising opportunity; all players then share their ideas; judge awards “best” idea
Purpose of the game / activity:	Understand how differences in information and cognitive frameworks (events and frameworks) lead to different types of opportunities
Game / activity is successful when the following happens:	Students experience how varying forms of information and differences in interpreting that information lead to different business ideas

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Before I let students play this game...

Lateral thinking (e.g., de Bono); attribute listing; metaphors
Analogous thinking and “abstracting up”
Recombination, repurposing, adding/subtracting, (e.g., ThinkPak)

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Game setup looks like this 🠝

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How to play

< every table should have instructions and player note sheets />

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Debrief

“How did I get here?”

Players who chose only one category for all three rounds engaged in “search”
Players who chose cards randomly were “alert”

How did search versus alertness affect ideas?
Players need to explain to each other how they drew from their own unique experiences and education to come up with ideas
There is no “winner” in this game; students experience the connect the dots framework through game play

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Benefits (bigger picture)

Deeper understanding of constructs and their relationships (main effects, contingencies, moderating effects) by addressing rules, interactivity, and feedback in the context of the abstract challenge of the game
Working together quickly and intensely, students learn from each other to develop shared understanding of the particular entrepreneurship concept
Gamification delivers the benefits of engaging in the design of a game

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Thank you

Questions?
Comments?
Concerns?
Objections?
Are we there yet?