Work in Progress: A Delphi Study to Investigate the Value of Board Games to Teach Teamwork Skills

Board games may serve as the vehicle for students to experience teamwork skills in a low-stakes environment, facilitating discussion of the value of good teamwork practices. This work has evolved to a point where “refresher” activities for higher level students are the next logical step. Our research question asks: which games are most appropriate for developing specific skills, especially associated with teamwork? A Delphi Study is underway to allow for a panel of experts to facilitate the aspect of connecting teamwork to game elements. The panel of experts consists of game designers, game reviewers, game publishers, game store owners, and prominent game collectors. The panel will go through multiple cycles to identify the above characteristics. The panel will be guided through the lexicon of teamwork to better equip them on how to decide the most appropriate alignment between game mechanics and teamwork skills. From this analysis, the research team will be equipped to catalog which games are best aligned with the skills educators wish to develop or reinforce for their engineering students. Some skills beyond teamwork the games will be targeted towards are communication, effort coordination, adaptability, and risk assessment for decision making.