Abstract
This paper examines how digital strategy and management games that have been initially designed for entertainment can facilitate the practice of dynamic decision-making. Based on a comparative qualitative analysis of 17 games—organized into categories derived from a conceptual model of decision-making design—this article illustrates two ways in which these games may be useful in supporting the learning of dynamic decision-making in educational practice: (1) Players must take over the role of a decider and solve situations in which players must pursue different conflicting goals by making a continuous series of decisions on a variety of actions and measures; (2) three of the features of the games are considered to structure players’ practice of decision-making and foster processes of learning through the curation of possible decisions, the offering of lucid feedback and the modification of time. This article also highlights the games’ shortcomings, from an educational perspective, as players’ decisions are restricted by the numbers of choices they can make within the game, and certain choices are rewarded more than others. An educational application of the games must, therefore, entail a critical reflection of players’ limited choices inside a necessarily biased system.
Highlights
Many societal challenges cannot be resolved with a simple solution
The present study develops a theory of how digital strategy and management games may help to facilitate the practice of dynamic decision-making, based on a qualitative analysis of 17 games
We subsequently introduce our model of decision-making design and practice in strategy and management games, which is based on three main concepts: (1) The game’s inherent polytelic conflict; management games, which is based on three main concepts: (1) The game’s inherent polytelic
Summary
Many societal challenges cannot be resolved with a simple solution. Making decisions to solve complex problems requires the consideration of several goals at the same time, which may be conflicted. This article provides, among other things, evidence for the fourth point stated above It explores the games’ didactic principles to understand how strategy and management games support the practice of decision-making. The article builds on this field of research as a systematic examination of digital strategy and management games as tools for the practice of decision-making in and beyond geography education has not previously been carried out. The present study develops a theory of how digital strategy and management games may help to facilitate the practice of dynamic decision-making, based on a qualitative analysis of 17 games. Afterwards, the article illustrates the model by presenting the results of the study, i.e., reconstructing the games’ decision-making design from an educational perspective, in particular, in regard to the topics of city planning, climate change, migration and resource usage, which are highly relevant topics in geography education. The conclusion summarizes the findings, including a discussion on the implications on the practice of geography education, and outlines work for future studies
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