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Short abstract:

Serious games have attracted attention as a tool for cultivating a diversified perspective on STS issues. This paper is an educational practice research in Japan on a course for undergraduate students to design and develop a serious board/card game on STS issues.

Long abstract:

Tremendous advances in science and technology have increased the complexity of the social implications of science and technology (hereafter referred to as STS issues). In recent years, serious games have attracted attention as a tool for cultivating a diversified perspective on STS issues. A serious game consists of using entertaining and enjoyable techniques to achieve a serious purpose. This paper is an educational practice research in Japan on a course for undergraduate students to design and develop a serious board/card game on STS issues in Japan. Since 2016, students in the relevant class have designed and developed serious games on topics such as climate change, genome editing, reproductive medicine, artificial intelligence, food risks, and femtech.

In designing and developing serious games, there is an inevitable process of modeling the system based on understanding the essential content of the topic. For example, it is necessary to identify the diversity of frames and actors, the trade-off structures and dilemmas involved in the system, and how to incorporate them into the game system. Through classroom practice and research to date, we have found that serious game design classes have the potential to effectively promote awareness and understanding of the diversity of framing and dilemma structures around STS issues. In this paper, we present practical insights from the course and discuss the opportunities and challenges of using the game design process to think about STS issues.