Game-Based Learning in Project Sustainability Management Education

Abstract

Projects and project-based activities account for over 30% of the global GPD and act as significant vehicles in the transition towards a more sustainable future. Sustainability strategies are typically enacted and implemented through projects in project-based organisations and firms. Incorporating sustainability principles into the project, product, and service management processes with successful project decision making is a challenging task and requires new personnel competencies and skills. Project sustainability management education requires the embedding of sustainability principles into project management education in a purposeful, integrative, innovative, and seamless manner. One way to facilitate this process is educational games. Active and experiential teaching methods will enable learning and practising complex project management activities in a simulative environment and are challenging at the same time. To extend knowledge of designing and using educational games for project sustainability management education, we explore the development and use of a novel educational game solution called the Project Business Game. It provides students and teachers with a computer game environment and game-based learning solution in which project planning, stakeholder management, cost management, decision making, and risk management skills can be enhanced by means of experiential, situational, and problem-based learning. The use of the game was explored in the context of educating European students of ‘Junior Expert in Circular Economy’ on a blended learning course in spring 2021. Action design research was applied as a research method. The results describe the requirements and goals for the instruction and the game design process based on these needs and experiences of the implementation. The findings indicate the strong suitability of using game-based learning methods to teach project sustainability management and create positive student experiences of achieving learning goals and improving engagement.

Game-based learning and students’ motivation in project management education

“…The above findings elaborate on the previous understanding of the role of GBL methods in enabling practice-based learning in higher education for project management (Anastasiadis et al, 2018;Jääskä et al, 2021;Rumeser and Emsley, 2019;Jaccard et al, 2022) by highlighting that GBL methods are not just practical games but should include carefully planned simulative elements. This enables a realistic test environment where students can put theoretical project management lessons into practice to gain confidence through trial and error.…”

“…Game features such as game structure, involvement, and appeal may motivate students and promote achieving desired learning outcomes (Garris et al, 2002;Huang et al, 2013;Jääskä et al, 2021;Breien and Wasson, 2021;Naul and Liu, 2020;Plass et al, 2015). Existing research has identified a positive impact of GBL on students' activation, motivation, and emotional behavior (Barbosa and de Ávila Rodrigues, 2020;de Freitas, 2018;Law, 2019;Vu and Feinstein, 2017), feelings of interest and immersion (Hamari et al, 2016;Schwabe and Göth, 2005), and student engagement (Hartt et al, 2020).…”

Fostering University Students’ Engagement in Teamwork and Innovation Behaviors through Game-Based Learning (GBL)

“…The use of game elements for learning purposes could be helpful. Moreover, games could facilitate the intentional and innovative embedding of sustainability principles in HEIs [96]. Our findings showed that GBL constitutes a powerful tool for HEIs in the training of valuable soft skills, such as teamwork competence and innovation.…”

Online learning in management education amid the pandemic: A bibliometric and content analysis

“…It was found that the characteristics of a class structure, teaching style, and class environment could significantly motivate students and enhance class performance. Promoting affective learning, various pedagogies have been applied to enhance students’ interest, satisfaction and motivation (e.g., Durrani et al, 2022 ; Jääskä et al, 2021 ). Durrani et al (2022) illustrated an example which investigated the effect of flipped classrooms and gamification among 105 students via surveys and questionnaires.…”