Shades of Grey: Playing games in the classroom to enhance student learning

Abstract

Although the use of games in education is not new, the recent enhancements to game functionality through technology advancements have led to opportunities for significant changes to teaching and learning delivery methods and approaches. Shades of Grey is a technology-driven educational game designed to make learning fun whilst also encouraging collaboration between students and interaction with the instructor. The game makes use of web and mobile technologies to test student comprehension of ethical concepts in a team environment. This paper reports on a research project that interrogated the effectiveness and impact of the Shades of Grey game on a group of students in an Advanced Management Accounting course. The project tested the students’ understanding of core course concepts before playing the game, and again afterwards. Students’ perceptions of the game were also tested in order to find out whether or not they felt it encouraged them to learn and added benefit to the course. The Shades of Grey game received very positive feedback from students who enjoyed the experience, felt they learned from it, and wanted to see games used more frequently in their courses. This project's findings have confirmed that further investment in the game's development will be highly worthwhile; importantly, the game can be repurposed to work in many different courses in different environments and discipline areas, making it a valuable and highly flexible teaching resource.