Incorporating games into the curricula: HOHI 1816, a case study

Wednesday 3 July: Conference day one, 4:00pm – 5:30pm mini workshop

Venue

Room 11 – 303-B11 Sem

Presenters

Ruth Lemon
University of Auckland, New Zealand
ruth.lemon@auckland.ac.nz

Richard Durham
University of Auckland, New Zealand
r.durham@auckland.ac.nz

Overview

In 2017, Ruth Lemon developed a board-game, ‘HOHI 1816’, which will soon be used with Graduate Diploma and Bachelor of Education students. Students were finding it difficult to consolidate their understandings of the critical histories around pre-Treaty Māori and Pākehā engagement, as demonstrated in summative assessment tasks. The game was developed to address this pedagogical need and to support students’ critical engagement with stories concerning the establishment of the first school next to Rangihoua pā, in the Bay of Islands. The aim was for students to experience the events and the dynamics of the relationships between Māori and Pākehā at the time. The game was redeveloped in 2018 in collaboration with Richard Durham, who supported the re-alignment of the game mechanics with key learning objectives.

This workshop is targeted at educators interested in incorporating games into curricula, interested in using the design process with students, and in novel and accessible ways to engage students in Māori history. Participants will get time to play a portion of the game, followed by discussion about the design choices and considerations participants should have when designing games that explore stories. Participants will leave with guide-lines on creating educationally-oriented games from our “lessons learned.” This workshop will provide an example of developing a game where learning objectives and gameplay are aligned, a vital pre-requisite skill in the development of learning games.

Presentation topic

Academics – Academic development