For Educators

Overview

Our Town is designed as a supplementary learning tool for graduate level social work students. Based on play-testing with a diverse range of non-social work students, we believe the game holds potential for broad appeal beyond the social work domain, including public health, urban planning, cultural studies, political science, and more. The learning goal of the game is derived from the general professional competencies outlined by Silver School of Social Work at New York University, while its semiotic domain is based on the knowledge outlined in specific courses at NYU's Silver School of Social Work called DROP (Diversity, Racism, Oppression, and Privilege) and Practice 1 offered by the department.

Learning Goals

The central learning goals in this game derive from professional competencies for graduate level social work students. Specific learning objectives will be derived from competencies for the DROP, Practice 1, and Social Work Policy courses at the Silver Work of Social Work.

Additional goals are tied to the mastery of 21st Century Skills that enhance the learner’s understanding of collaborative and problem-solving strategies strategies. Trade, negotiation, pooling resources, sharing strategies may enable players to achieve success in their individual mission and the broader mission of saving the town more readily than working alone.

Within the game, the overarching strategic goal is to prevent the social living conditions of a fictional town from crossing a threshold that makes protecting underserved and vulnerable citizens impossible.

What is the learning that happens in our game?

The document below describes a model of learning based on Evidence-centered design as well as Instructional Design. It describes where we believe learning occurs both during game play itself, as well as after the game in connection with a structured curriculum. The document describes a model that maps a general learning goal/construct to more specific learning objectives and a task model or assessments both in the game and beyond that illustrate how the learning happens and is assessed. We plan on play-testing the game soon with social work faculty and students to gather feedback that will help us to refine our learning model in support of further refinements to the game.

Learning in Our Town

How to use it for your Class

Introductory session

The game can be introduced to the students at the beginning of the course/semester. Students can play the game during class or as a group assignment between class. The ideal way to introduce the game is through an in-class game playing session. Students learn the game rules by actually playing the game rather than having the rules explained to them ahead of time.

Player requirements

It requires a minimum of two players to play the game. The perfect number of players is six players.

Estimated playtime

Introductory session: 30 minutes

After the introductory session, students can play the game independently. It requires 1.5 to 2 hours to complete a game.

Debriefing session

A formal debriefing session to discuss the experience of the game and it's values for understanding curriculum-related themes can be conducted once all the players have experienced a completed game.