Play can be useful.

Explore

Expl

orin

g pl

ay "Play does not just come from the

game itself, but from the way that

players interact with the game in order to play”

(Salen and Zimmerman, 2003)

Inte

rven

tion

Why

did

we

choo

se th

is?

We choose our intervention by asking

some people in the class what they find

most boring in university. With a range of

different responses, a collective idea was

around the idea of group work often being

boring and tedious. Issues with group work- Unequal contributions to discussion of

ideas- Interruptions while talking/who speaks

first?- Lack of evaluation of ideas

- Compromising on ideas - finding

common ground with an outcome

A lot of the research that we found

around the topic was mainly

focused on play and the benefits

surrounding learning in younger

children, but we wanted to make

this relevant for all ages.We decided to take on the idea of

using play or games as a creative

technique in order to generate

ideas within group work scenarios.

4

Inte

rven

tion

Why

did

we

choo

se th

is?

'The

Tra

nsfo

rmat

ive

Pow

er O

f

Play

And

Its

Link

To

Cre

ativ

ity'

"Play unlocks learning and

development benefits that last a

lifetime, and childhood presents

a critical window of opportunity."

Dr. Randa Grob-Zakhary, CEO of the LEGO

Foundation

5

'The

Tra

nsfo

rmat

ive

Pow

er O

f

Play

And

Its

Link

To

Cre

ativ

ity'

- By the age of six, our brains have

already developed 90%, although our

brain significantly matures throughout

adolescence, we have already gained

the cognitive skills needed for critical

thinking in this short period of time.

This, is achieved through play.

(Grob-Zakhary, R. 2014)

- So why do we not incorporate play into

our lives as we get older?

6

The

impo

rtanc

e of

pla

y

for a

dults

- S

tuar

t Bro

wn

- Within our culture, play is often

perceived as unproductive, time

consuming and "childish" - Stuart Brown - Argues that we should

embrace our playful nature and utilise it

and continues to emphasises that play is

important not just exclusively for children,

but for all human beings. http://www.ted.com/talks/

stuart_brown_says_play_is_more_than_fun_it_s_vital

(Stuart Brown - Play is more than just fun, 2008)

7

Cre

ativ

ity a

nd P

lay

- Tim

Bro

wn

- Discusses the relationship between

creativity and play and questions

why we as adults struggle to

embrace our playfulness

- "Fear causes us to be conservative

with our thinking"(Tim Brown - Tales of Creativity and Play, 2008)

- From a young age, children are

wired to explore, as we grow older

we become sensitive to the

opinions of others and the security

and trust which we once felt begins

to fade.- This new found "fear" and insecurity

forces us to self edit our ideas and

our desire to be original stifles our

creative process.http://www.ted.com/talks/tim_brown_on_creativity_an

d_play#t-61351

8

Rev

iew

Ty

pes

of p

lay

Drawing from last weeks

intervention, we talked about

different types of play. - Structured play, is more strict and

although allowed for creativity is

usually stuck to a tight time

schedule. The main aspects of

structured play that we want tot

draw upon was that is it organized

and guided, gives a sense of

direction, and consists of set time

and rules.- The other form of play was free

play, it is a lot more relaxed and

the main parts of it we wanted to

incorporate was that of giving us

freedom to think, allowing for

creative thinking, and encouraging

social skills.

Pla

y to

gen

erat

e c

reat

ive

idea

s

Creativity is key to Play and we

understood this when deciding what

games to use within our intervention.“Creativity means a persons capacity

to produce new or original ideas,

insights, restricting, inventions, or

artists objects, which are accepted

by experts as being of scientific,

aesthetic, social, or technological

value’ (Vernon, 1989, pg94)

Inte

rven

tion

Our aim for our intervention was to use

play to be a useful tool in making group

work more fun and to generate creative

ideas.

For our intervention we decided to split

the class into two groups. We did this

via adding either an ‘X’ or an ‘O’ to

everyone's table before the class

began. This was to make use of the

different types of play, the game that

took place inside the room was very

structured play, whereas the game

outside was much closer to the style of

free play.

These different types of play allowed us

to see if the task was more enjoyable if

it was free or structured, and also

allowed us to analyse the results to see

how it helped creativeness.

Wha

t is

a ga

me "To play a game is to engage in

activity directed towards bringing

about a specific state of affairs, using

only means permitted by rules,

where the rules prohibit more

efficient in favor of less efficient

means, and where such rules are

accepted just because they make

possible such activity."

(Suits, B.1990 p34)

Results

Results

Results

Wha

t nex

t? In

terv

entio

ns - Ask a lecturer to use our game

methods for actual classwork to

see if it benefits in creative idea

processing- Do the intervention with changes,

such as more time than 30

seconds for Creative Countdown- Try these games in different age

ranges, primary and secondary, to

see if the out comes were similar

to those at postgraduate level

Wha

t nex

t? -

Gam

ifica

tion

"Gamification is the process of

taking something that already

exists... and integrating game

mechanics into it to motivate

participation, engagement, and

loyalty. Gamification takes the

data-driven techniques that game

designers use to engage players,

and applies them to non-game

experiences to motivate actions

that add value" (Bunchball, 2016)

17

Idea

s

- Creating a website/app

(based around a similar idea

as BBC bite size) that would

have games that got you to

thinking creatively and

generate ideas- Using small games to give

you access, (o2 duck game)

letting your on to portal, or

playing this to get access to a

lecture PowerPoint- These are more education

based, how do we change this

to improve creativity?

Furth

erin

g ou

r Id

eas

- Enhance Curiosity- Exploration through gamification

- Website to produce creative ideas

- Pinterest as a starting point

- Enables user to upload notes,

drawings, photographs- Add a game element - Rewards for ideas- Group projects – view and build upon

ideas- No “delete” option- Break the mold of self editing

- Make it more accessible – app

- Mobility- “Go outside” challenge

- New environments and surroundings

help to boost creative ideas

- “5 ideas a day” challenge

Con

clus

ion Our main idea was to use play to

make aspects of university more fun.

I feel like we have had an overall

positive outcome. The best way we

could further our research is to

continue taking more banal aspects

of our university lives and and

gradually adding play and games

into the mix to make it a more

enjoyable experience.

(Business.linkedin.com, 2016)

BibliographySalen, K. and Zimmerman, E. (2003). Rules of Play, Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.

Vernon, PE. (1989). The nature-nurture problem in creativity. Handbook of Creativity, 93-110. New York: Plenum Publishing Corp.

Business.linkedin.com. (2016). 75 Quotes to Inspire Marketing Greatness. [online] Available at: https://business.linkedin.com/marketing-solutions/blog/7/75-quotes-to-inspire-marketing-greatness

Grob-Zakhary,R. (2014). Forbes Welcome. [online] Available at: http://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?toURL=http://www.forbes.com/sites/rahimkanani/2014/01/25/the-transformative-power-of-play-and-its-link-to-creativity/&refURL=&referrer= [Accessed 30 Oct. 2016]

Stuart Brown - Play is more than just fun. (2008). [video] Available at: http://www.ted.com/talks/stuart_brown_says_play_is_more_than_fun_it_s_vital [Accessed 30 Oct. 2016].

Tim Brown - Tales of Creativity and Play. (2008). [video] Available at: http://www.ted.com/talks/tim_brown_on_creativity_and_play#t-61351 [Accessed 29 Oct. 2016].

Bunchball. (2016). What Is Gamification?. [online] Available at: http://www.bunchball.com/gamification [Accessed 30 Oct. 2016].