Assessment: A Critical Aspect of Game Design―The Case for the Assessment of Business Games but Applicable to All Educational games

Abstract

Educational assessment is the documentation of changes in understanding that result when new materials are presented to subjects. The examination of these new teaching materials is critical if the use of simulation, games and experiential exercises are to be accepted as valid teaching tools. Over the 38 years of ABSEL’s existence there have been many attempts to show that business games are effective teaching methodologies, but most of these attempts have fallen short. Most of these attempts used student perceptions of how well they learned-using data collected from them immediately after their business game experience. The author believes the reason for the assessment failures lies largely in the design phase of gaming methodology. Until quite recently most business game authors did not include specific information of what would learn from playing their games. Often there were general statements about learning, including what students would learn about business, but seldom were any specific learning objectives mentioned. Generalities are extremely difficult to assess. This paper concludes that business game designers and authors should be specific about the learning objectives of their games and should include steps for assessment and actual assessment tools in their game design. One of the tenets of good game design is to first decide upon what the game is intended to teach and to assure that players understand the lessons taught.