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Intergenerational tabletop game design for exploring the climate emergency: insights from an undergraduate field course

Merryn Thomas, Emilia Urbanek Orcid Logo, Cai Ladd Orcid Logo

Journal of Geography in Higher Education, Volume: 49, Issue: 3, Pages: 441 - 451

Swansea University Authors: Merryn Thomas, Emilia Urbanek Orcid Logo, Cai Ladd Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1080/03098265.2025.2497225

Abstract

While studies show the value of playing games for exploring complex geographical concepts, much less research considers the value of game construction. Here we present the rationale, methodology and pedagogical affordances of an “intergenerational climate change game” creation assignment that formed...

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Published in: Journal of Geography in Higher Education
ISSN: 0309-8265 1466-1845
Published: Informa UK Limited 2025
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa69429
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last_indexed 2025-06-20T04:58:17Z
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spelling 2025-06-19T13:02:13.8727781 v2 69429 2025-05-06 Intergenerational tabletop game design for exploring the climate emergency: insights from an undergraduate field course 82aca05941f2ff78c16feb32b01acca9 Merryn Thomas Merryn Thomas true false 6d7e46bd913e12897d7f222ca78a718f 0000-0002-7748-4416 Emilia Urbanek Emilia Urbanek true false 134c870190db4c365e2ccc2d6c107462 0000-0001-5437-6474 Cai Ladd Cai Ladd true false 2025-05-06 While studies show the value of playing games for exploring complex geographical concepts, much less research considers the value of game construction. Here we present the rationale, methodology and pedagogical affordances of an “intergenerational climate change game” creation assignment that formed part of a 2nd year undergraduate field course to the Isles of Scilly, Southwest UK. During and after the field trip, students and staff reflected on the process and learnings. First, the assignment was effective in consolidating students’ knowledge from various field trip activities and encouraging critical thinking. Students actively engaged in the learning process by playing and appraising their own and each other’s games. They enjoyed the creative and novel approach, which was felt to develop teamwork, soft skills and problem solving. The intergenerational element also developed students’ ability to simplify complex concepts to be understood by older/younger non-expert audiences. We conclude by considering the role of playful methodologies in geography undergraduate field trips, and further applications of our approach. Journal Article Journal of Geography in Higher Education 49 3 441 451 Informa UK Limited 0309-8265 1466-1845 Production pedagogy, game design, constructionist gaming, climate change, intergenerational 27 5 2025 2025-05-27 10.1080/03098265.2025.2497225 COLLEGE NANME COLLEGE CODE Swansea University Another institution paid the OA fee This work was supported by the University of Stirling Ageing and Place: Pandemic Recovery and Action on Climate CHange (APPROACH) fund, as part the Social Behavioural & Design Research Programme (UK Research and Innovation) under grant number ES/T014016/1. 2025-06-19T13:02:13.8727781 2025-05-06T14:57:09.1163217 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Geography Merryn Thomas 1 Emilia Urbanek 0000-0002-7748-4416 2 Cai Ladd 0000-0001-5437-6474 3 69429__34189__6c24c8284f9e458db5669df36008d679.pdf 69429.VOR.pdf 2025-05-06T15:02:11.7458346 Output 3024256 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2025 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) License. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Intergenerational tabletop game design for exploring the climate emergency: insights from an undergraduate field course
spellingShingle Intergenerational tabletop game design for exploring the climate emergency: insights from an undergraduate field course
Merryn Thomas
Emilia Urbanek
Cai Ladd
title_short Intergenerational tabletop game design for exploring the climate emergency: insights from an undergraduate field course
title_full Intergenerational tabletop game design for exploring the climate emergency: insights from an undergraduate field course
title_fullStr Intergenerational tabletop game design for exploring the climate emergency: insights from an undergraduate field course
title_full_unstemmed Intergenerational tabletop game design for exploring the climate emergency: insights from an undergraduate field course
title_sort Intergenerational tabletop game design for exploring the climate emergency: insights from an undergraduate field course
author_id_str_mv 82aca05941f2ff78c16feb32b01acca9
6d7e46bd913e12897d7f222ca78a718f
134c870190db4c365e2ccc2d6c107462
author_id_fullname_str_mv 82aca05941f2ff78c16feb32b01acca9_***_Merryn Thomas
6d7e46bd913e12897d7f222ca78a718f_***_Emilia Urbanek
134c870190db4c365e2ccc2d6c107462_***_Cai Ladd
author Merryn Thomas
Emilia Urbanek
Cai Ladd
author2 Merryn Thomas
Emilia Urbanek
Cai Ladd
format Journal article
container_title Journal of Geography in Higher Education
container_volume 49
container_issue 3
container_start_page 441
publishDate 2025
institution Swansea University
issn 0309-8265
1466-1845
doi_str_mv 10.1080/03098265.2025.2497225
publisher Informa UK Limited
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Geography{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Geography
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description While studies show the value of playing games for exploring complex geographical concepts, much less research considers the value of game construction. Here we present the rationale, methodology and pedagogical affordances of an “intergenerational climate change game” creation assignment that formed part of a 2nd year undergraduate field course to the Isles of Scilly, Southwest UK. During and after the field trip, students and staff reflected on the process and learnings. First, the assignment was effective in consolidating students’ knowledge from various field trip activities and encouraging critical thinking. Students actively engaged in the learning process by playing and appraising their own and each other’s games. They enjoyed the creative and novel approach, which was felt to develop teamwork, soft skills and problem solving. The intergenerational element also developed students’ ability to simplify complex concepts to be understood by older/younger non-expert audiences. We conclude by considering the role of playful methodologies in geography undergraduate field trips, and further applications of our approach.
published_date 2025-05-27T05:24:39Z
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