Game play in the learning environment: who wants to be an accountant? lawyer? economist?

Abstract

The Who Wants To Be (WWTB) game is a computer-based game that can be used in a variety of classroom settings. WWTB requires students to sit in a “hot seat” and answer a series of questions. Assistance is provided to the students in the form of “lifelines.” The lifelines include: (1) the 50/50 lifeline where two wrong answers disappear; (2) the Ask the Audience lifeline where class members vote on a correct answer; and (3) the Ask Your Team lifeline where students can verbally interact with teammates. The WWTB game is functional on most computer systems. The manner in which the game can be played, the difficulty of the game, and the rules of the game are all easily modified at the instructor's discretion. An analysis of examination scores reveals that the game has been an effective learning tool in the auditing course in which it has been incorporated. The game program and database structure are available to educators on a complimentary basis through the author's website.

Keywords:

• Learning games
• computer-assisted learning
• educational innovation
• educational tools

Notes

1. Both the program and the basic database are available to educators on a complimentary basis through http://cba.ulm.edu/mceacharn. Whilst the database structure is available on a complimentary basis, instructors must develop their own question sets for the database.