Evaluation of the lasting impacts on employability of co-operative serious game-playing by first year Computing students: An exploratory analysis

This paper reports a case study of co-operative, small-group, game-based learning by a cohort of undergraduates on a range of computing programmes, during the first trimester of their first year. Game-based learning in the form of a total-enterprise business simulation is presented here as a medium to promote self-efficacy and employability through teamwork, presentation skills and greater self-confidence, with a possible relationship with improved work placement and graduate employment opportunities. The simulation is implemented to engender friendships amongst new students, in order to foster resilience and help prevent isolation. Appended is a discussion of the results of a small-scale exploratory evaluation of the benefits of the simulation experience on aspects of self-efficacy, as reported by those students who took the module in session 2010/11 and remain on the course in the final year of their degree. The study´s findings are mixed: although the evidence for SimVenture being beneficial in gaining a placement is weak, respondents consider it enjoyable, a valuable learning experience, and cite its importance in gaining presentation skills, improving teamworking, making friends, and indirectly supporting the value of embedding simulations within meaningful learning activities to promote employability.