This page describes an open pedagogy project in Sociology 101 at LWTech. See this page for the game files.

Sociology 101 Game: Development Background and Timeline

Version 1.0 / Early Game (Fall 2018)

Sociology 101 at LWTech runs every quarter and has high enrollment of many types of students. For years, Professor Sharon Raz and Librarian Greg Bem have collaborated on bringing information literacy concepts and instruction into the course. In Fall 2018, Greg proposed introducing an open pedagogy project into the collaboration. Sharon and Greg agreed that a card game capable of gauging student knowledge of sociological concepts would be appropriate. The general game premise and the initial card decks were generated by by both Sharon and Greg. The game was run with the students toward the end of the Fall 2018 quarter, who were invited after playing to provide feedback on the game mechanics and help tweak the card decks for relevance, and contribute new card ideas. Version 1.0 was created but not published.

Version 2.0 / Published Game (Winter 2019)

In Winter 2019, a second version of the game was developed. This second attempt placed greater formal emphasis on student engagement from the beginning of the quarter through the end. Students were encouraged from the beginning of the course to think about how they might contribute to the game development. A second class visit from the librarian was spent developing the game's card decks and providing feedback on the game's scorecard. The final session was spent playing the game and providing feedback and other discussions on how the game was played. The second version was promised to the students to be published at the beginning of Spring 2019. Student contributors are listed below.

Version 2.1 / Minor Revision (Winter 2020)

In Winter 2020, students came up with one card previously missing from the core deck of Sociology Concepts. Version 2.1 is a result of adding that card.

Expansion Pack 1 (Spring 2019)

In Spring 2019, a new set of the game's Everyday Information cards were created. Students reviewed the "core" Everyday Information deck composed of the previous two quarters, and created additional cards to supplement this deck. 46 additional cards were added under the Expansion Pack's theme: "Social inequality at its different forms: class, gender, race, ethnicity, ability, religion, et cetera." Student contributors are listed below.

Expansion Pack 2 (Fall 2019)

In Fall 2019, a second expansion pack was created. Students voted on a theme for the expansion pack, resulting in "Addictions." During the game development session, students created a new set of cards, complete in some cases with illustrations. After faculty review, the theme was revised to "Addictions and Obsessions." 25 total cards were approved by instructors for the deck. Additionally, some cards (for the first time) included definitions of terms to support English Language Learners enrolled in the course. Feedback from students during playtesting of the Expansion Pack, which will influence a revision of game rules for Winter 2020, included: make the game slightly more competitive by having team sizes be larger; reduce redundant data written on the round sheets; incorporate a timer for each round; and include definitions on the Sociology cards.

Expansion Pack 3 (Winter 2020)

The third expansion pack was released at the end of Winter 2020. Students voted on theme ideas and selected "Health and Wellness" for the theme. The expansion pack includes a new set of Everyday Information cards, and an additional Sociology card. Due to campus closures related to COVID-19, students were not able to attend an in-person class session to create the cards or test the game. The in-person activities were converted into an online discussion board (in Canvas) that simulated the game. The conversations were incredibly productive and demonstrated the adaptability of OER in practice.

Expansion Pack 4 (Spring 2020)

The fourth expansion pack was released at the end of Spring 2020, adding 27 new Information cards to the deck. Students voted on theme ideas and selected "Life in a Pandemic: Social Distancing" for the theme. For the second quarter in a row, the campus was physically closed due to COVID-19, and so the game was converted into an online discussion board (in Canvas). Additional theme ideas that were not voted on will be used in the upcoming quarter class.

Open Pedagogy Concepts

While the game's premise is primarily centered on the relationship between sociological concepts and information literacy, this game was developed to promote open pedagogy. Students were and will be encouraged to participate as contributors to a publication that can impact future students (and potentially broader audiences) and connects back in time to previous iterations of the course. Students were and will be encouraged to participate as an opportunity to bring their own representation and identities into the course space, creating more equitable exchanges of knowledge and teaching/learning practices. The creative process as one that flattens the hierarchy between the educator and the student as co-creators of the final game, in an iterative fashion, puts additional emphasis on the value of the students in the course as individuals rather than numbers or enrollment.