Abstract:

A digital game represents an artificial system that encapsulates a fictional conflict which is controlled by pre-defined rules for players to achieve a quantifiable outcome. Based on such proposition, digital game-based learning can be conceptualized as a game play with defined learning outcomes where the use of digital games facilitates teaching and learning activities. The paradigm of game-based learning mostly emphasizes the design process of games for learning including balancing the need to cover specific subject matter with a desire to prioritize game play among participating students or student teams. From an educational perspective, using digital games or simulations not only offers knowledge creation but also provides a variety of opportunities to apply and test such knowledge within a virtually created world. Such an innovative pedagogical method indeed supports and facilitates learning process. The aim of this study is to explore digital game-based learning using a business simulation in a higher education institution.

The study discusses students’ approach to the importance of being part of digital game-based learning in terms of:
(1) ability to learn from mistakes,
(2) room for failures,
(3) holistic view of actual business environment, and
(4) ability to feel the complexity of real-life business situations.

The study further connects digital game-based learning with a collaborative social context. In this case, simulation game is played by student teams, the study discusses students’ perception of factors that influence the creation of a collaborative environment using factors including
(1) students having a non-traditional role as a learner,
(2) classroom depicting a real-life situation, and
(3) classroom becoming a community of learning.

Context of the study is a five credit course where multinational students were actively engaged in a digital business simulation as main part of course. This study follows a quantitative research design. A survey is developed to anonymously collect data during the course from students of a Finnish higher education institution. Data is analyzed using the Friedman test and the Pairwise Wilcoxon signed rank test. Besides, the analysis also takes into consideration variables including the ‘age’, ‘gender’, and ‘nationality’ of the respondents. The analysis sheds light on significant aspects of students’ perception of digital game-based learning and creation of collaborative environment. This study is directly connected with the ongoing debates around innovative pedagogical methods in education arena. This explorative study contributes in providing insights into the digital game-based learning method and collaborative learning environment in the higher education institutions.

Keywords:

Game-based learning, collaborative learning environment, business simulation, digital gamification.