2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Games are powerful tools for learning, whether that be modified off-the-shelf games or custom games for a certain topic. Games can help model complex systems for engineering students, such as mass transit systems in urban areas, that students would otherwise have difficulty interacting with due to dangers or lack of access to such systems. Additionally, games about complex systems offer a way for teachers to introduce potentially difficult discussions into the classroom and encourage students to practice debate about design. However, board games are often made for English speaking audiences, highlighting a gap in opportunities for playful learning for multilingual students.

This paper shows the design of a collaborative game focused on redesigning the Boston transit system to create opportunities to learn for multilingual learners at the middle school level from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. In this game, students learn about how transit systems are constructed and how routes of buses and trains have equity related consequences, such as that lower income areas often have less access to frequent service. By studying a game board with a section of a map of Boston and information such as high travel areas and socioeconomic statistics, students are encouraged to think about designing transit options that serve them and their community. Goals for the game include moving the most passengers while handling transit disaster cards like unexpected track work and delays. Up to four students work together to design a system that moves a certain number of passengers between student selected areas of interest before the transit system becomes overcrowded. The rules and materials for this game are written in a mix of multiple languages (one rule could be in Spanish, but the next is written in English or combinations of both, Spanglish, so that students who speak different languages work together to decipher the game and make moves towards their goal.

In future studies, we will also include the results from playtests of the game with multilingual learners to examine how students respond to the game and measure what students take away from the experience. We can examine how learners redesign the city-space to work for them and see what they value in a mass transit system. We will also be able to study how students collaborate across multiple languages when tackling an engineering challenge. Additionally, students will be able to examine how transit is designed and become more informed about issues facing public transportation systems. For teachers who implement this game, they will provide an opportunity for students to engage in engineering in languages other than English, centering speakers of non-dominant languages as important, critical players in this game and engineering experience. Lastly, we will design a debrief game lesson plan for teachers to facilitate discussions with students about transit processes in their lives, including inequities in transit access. This game design has implications for future engineering teaching and learning through games that aim to include players and students from different backgrounds in playful engineering practices.