Online game-enhanced teaching in game theory

Abstract

Introducing digital educational games into class lessons can generate engagement, interactivity, and motivation. It can also result in an active participation of the students in the classroom.

To achieve this goal, one teaching strategy is to use online digital games in teaching and learning situations. In our case, we wanted to test this strategy in an economics course, especially in a Game Theory lesson. We set up an experiment in two different lessons: the “Economie expérimentale” (Experimental economics) lesson with L3 students and the “Introduction à l’analyse économique du droit” (Introduction to law economics analysis) with M2 students.

For these two experiments we decided to use an online n-player “Chicken” game, proposed on the free educational games website Economics Games, http://economics-games.com (Gruyer and Toublanc, 2013).

Our paper will present these innovative experiments carried out in economics courses about Game Theory at Paris Descartes University. It will also explore the pedagogical and motivational value of online economics games on student learning in economics education and especially in Game Theory teaching.