{"title":"Perceptions and reflections about a non-digital game-based learning activity for economic theory","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.learninstruc.2024.102007","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>The mastery of economic theory in societies immersed in a globalised world requires the formation of reflective and socially engaged students prepared to guide today's economies. Game-based learning is a useful tool for learning economic theory due to the instruction of knowledge and skills training in an environment that simulates real-world situations.</p></div><div><h3>Aims</h3><p>This study established university students' perceptions of and reflections on non-digital learning activities based on long-term market games in the classroom.</p></div><div><h3>Sample</h3><p>Participants were 192 undergraduate students.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>The <em>Mercadito</em> is a competitive classroom market game that invited students (household role) to lease their economic factors of production and, with their payment, consume the goods and services offered by other students (company role). A qualitative study was conducted (n = 27). Data were collected through focus groups and in-depth semi-structured interviews. The information was transcribed, coded, and analysed by the saturation of information principle.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>The students highlighted <em>Mercadito</em> as a dynamic and didactic learning activity that reflected the reality of the economy. Other reflections highlighted that (a) indebtedness allows access to consumption, while payment strategies are sought, (b) inequality is not only an economic issue, and (c) competition in the market must be ensured so that benefits are received by both households and companies.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>Students perceived behaviours such as solidarity, honesty, and collaboration, and other opposites such as collusion, cheating, and unbridled ambition. <em>Mercadito</em> also showed potential as a laboratory for predicting socio-economic behaviours both in local economies and in countries with different economic systems.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48357,"journal":{"name":"Learning and Instruction","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.7000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Learning and Instruction","FirstCategoryId":"95","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959475224001348","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background
The mastery of economic theory in societies immersed in a globalised world requires the formation of reflective and socially engaged students prepared to guide today's economies. Game-based learning is a useful tool for learning economic theory due to the instruction of knowledge and skills training in an environment that simulates real-world situations.
Aims
This study established university students' perceptions of and reflections on non-digital learning activities based on long-term market games in the classroom.
Sample
Participants were 192 undergraduate students.
Methods
The Mercadito is a competitive classroom market game that invited students (household role) to lease their economic factors of production and, with their payment, consume the goods and services offered by other students (company role). A qualitative study was conducted (n = 27). Data were collected through focus groups and in-depth semi-structured interviews. The information was transcribed, coded, and analysed by the saturation of information principle.
Results
The students highlighted Mercadito as a dynamic and didactic learning activity that reflected the reality of the economy. Other reflections highlighted that (a) indebtedness allows access to consumption, while payment strategies are sought, (b) inequality is not only an economic issue, and (c) competition in the market must be ensured so that benefits are received by both households and companies.
Conclusions
Students perceived behaviours such as solidarity, honesty, and collaboration, and other opposites such as collusion, cheating, and unbridled ambition. Mercadito also showed potential as a laboratory for predicting socio-economic behaviours both in local economies and in countries with different economic systems.
期刊介绍:
As an international, multi-disciplinary, peer-refereed journal, Learning and Instruction provides a platform for the publication of the most advanced scientific research in the areas of learning, development, instruction and teaching. The journal welcomes original empirical investigations. The papers may represent a variety of theoretical perspectives and different methodological approaches. They may refer to any age level, from infants to adults and to a diversity of learning and instructional settings, from laboratory experiments to field studies. The major criteria in the review and the selection process concern the significance of the contribution to the area of learning and instruction, and the rigor of the study.