ROLE-PLAYING AND STRATEGIC GAMES TO TEACH GEOSCIENCE CONCEPTS AND SOCIETAL ISSUES IN A COLLEGE CLASSROOM

Role-playing and strategic games offer an innovative method to introduce active learning into a college classroom. They provide the ability to fashion a learning platform tailored to the course that integrates scientific concepts learned in class with real-world situations that include complexities such as societal issues and economic considerations. The role-playing aspect of a game encourages students to consider an issue from the perspective of a stakeholder that may hold different opinions and priorities in order to widen their worldview. As well, the gamification of complex natural resource management allows students the freedom to test out imaginative solutions. The inclusion of a game in a class session can bolster student discussion, reinforce important concepts, and give students the opportunity to see how science informs policy and vice versa. We present two examples: a discussion-based role-playing game used in biogeography, and a strategy-based board game used in water resources science.