Abstract:

This paper presents an innovative experiential learning strategy designed to strengthen ethical reasoning in undergraduate design students through a gamified gymkhana. The activity was implemented in a design program and structured as a sequence of challenges distributed across different spatial stations within the campus, each addressing core dimensions of ethical design: responsibility, authorship, sustainability, user harm, professional integrity, and cultural awareness.

Teams navigated the stations autonomously, solving tasks that combined ethical dilemmas, micro-case analysis, collaborative decision-making, and rapid prototyping. The goal was to foster critical thinking while exposing students to the complexity, ambiguity, and situated nature of ethical decision-making in real design practice.

Drawing on design ethics, gamification theory, and microsociological approaches to everyday action, the gymkhana reframes ethical education not as abstract knowledge but as embodied, social, and actionable learning. Results from initial implementations indicate increased engagement, richer discussion, and improved ability to articulate ethical criteria in subsequent coursework.

The paper argues that integrating playful structures into ethical education enables deeper learning, enhances agency, and cultivates reflective designers capable of navigating contemporary professional challenges.

Keywords:

Design ethics, gamification, design education, ethics.