Interdisciplinary Communication: Paving the Way for Gamification in Entrepreneurship Education – A Case Study From a Medium-Sized UK University

Introduction

The Covid-19 pandemic intensified and, in some cases, created many dynamics within higher education teaching. This chapter was prompted by two enhanced dynamics, namely, the sudden leap forward in the use of remote technology and the reduction of communication between academics, most notably between academics of different departments, due to the move to working from home and online teaching practices during times of lockdown and the social distancing measures in place which reduced social interaction to a minimum (Koren & Pető, 2020; Rashid & Yadav, 2020). As cross-departmental communication begins to re-emerge, it is important to communicate individual experiences and reflect on these collectively to restore inter-institutional synergies. As such, this chapter is the result of a collaborative effort to bring together the autoethnographic experiences of entrepreneurship teaching in order to develop strategies in the future that will ensure interdisciplinary needs of industry will be met moving forward: The concluding result of this study has been to develop cross-departmental, multidisciplinary entrepreneurship simulation games as a holistic and practical approach to entrepreneurship education.

In relation to the material scope of the proposed project on which the research of the chapter is based, the foundation of the project is found in the contemporary challenges to design an entrepreneurship education framework that is effective in driving enterprising skills and fostering entrepreneurship post graduating. Like any other taught disciplines in higher education institutions (HEIs), entrepreneurship education has become an essential element of the curriculum, a preparation for future careers and priority for the government. In recent times, higher education institutions have been grappling with the problem of engaging learners in their acquisition of new knowledge and relevant skills. Facilitated activities where students visit new ventures, indulge in business plan competitions, elevator pitch contests, start-ups competitions that are judged by ‘dragons’, placements and internships, and business consultancies through working with businesses under supervision have been adopted (Vanevenhoven & Drago, 2015).

Wilson (2011) identifies that most successful courses in developing professional skills include activities such as simulations and games, interactive teamwork, and group activities. Mason and Rennie (2006) the use of innovative methods such as gamification and virtual reality do improve the teaching quality and effectiveness. In relation to the issue of gamification, it needs to be noted that the type of game genres which are considered to be serious games is debated within the literature, with little consensus. For instance, Annetta (2010) distinguishes between serious games, simulations, serious educational games, and virtual worlds. Here, serious games on the one hand, are described as digital games which have been designed to educate players by teaching and training specific skills. Serious educational games (SEGs), on the other hand, require an additional layer of academic content. Simulations are described as a form of SEGs, yet without the element of scorekeeping. However, in contrast Hays (2005) claims that simulations which contain certain features, for instance certain challenges or competitions would also fall under the umbrella-term of games, while simulation games which have the purpose of instructing and supporting learning outcomes and aims would most likely be categorized as serious games. Virtual worlds, while still related to the category, are more likely to describe a related tool for gamification, namely a form of virtual three-dimensional environment in which players interact (Almeida & Simoes, 2019). For this chapter, it is important to note, that all the above categories are viewed as forms of gamification, as they all contain some of the key interactive components, regardless of the sub-categories the described tools could be placed.