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Tangling with spaghetti : pedagogical lessons from games

Author

Listed:
  • Caroline Verzat
  • Janice Byrne

    (EM - EMLyon Business School)

  • Alain Fayolle

Abstract

Governments are seeking to develop entrepreneurial competencies among today's technology, science, and engineering graduates. However, the creation of "bilingual" graduates who have dual technical and managerial competencies is thwarted by students' inferior teamwork and interpersonal skills. In education, what is taught is inextricably bound to how it is taught (Dewey, 1916). Current pedagogies in engineering education are insufficiently adapted to student learning style needs (Felder & Silverman, 1988), and the management component of engineering education remains underdeveloped. This problem is keenly felt in one French engineering school where students struggle with a team-based innovation project. We detail efforts made to equip students with teamwork skills by using games as a pedagogical device. Student teams compete to build weight resistant structures using only spaghetti sticks and sewing thread. Their written feedback forms the primary qualitative data for this study. Individual student interviews were subsequently carried out to further uncover potential learning outcomes. We found that students' responses to the spaghetti game were overwhelmingly positive. Their commentary also illustrates concrete learning of many crucial teamwork processes. Finally, we discuss what makes this pedagogical innovation work and how it should be further studied.

Suggested Citation

  • Caroline Verzat & Janice Byrne & Alain Fayolle, 2009. "Tangling with spaghetti : pedagogical lessons from games," Post-Print hal-02276711, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02276711
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-02276711
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kalman J. Cohen & Eric Rhenman, 1961. "The Role of Management Games in Education and Research," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 7(2), pages 131-166, January.
    2. Raelin, Joe, 2006. "Does Action Learning Promote Collaborative Leadership?," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 5(2), pages 152-168.
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    Cited by:

    1. Snihur, Yuliya & Lamine, Wadid & Wright, Mike, 2021. "Educating engineers to develop new business models: Exploiting entrepreneurial opportunities in technology-based firms," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    2. Saïd Yami & Zouhaier M'Chirgui & Claude Spano & Olga Gontier Barykina, 2021. "Reinventing science and technology entrepreneurship education: The role of human and social capitals," Post-Print hal-03145505, HAL.
    3. Shane Tilton, 2019. "Winning Through Deception: A Pedagogical Case Study on Using Social Deception Games to Teach Small Group Communication Theory," SAGE Open, , vol. 9(1), pages 21582440198, February.
    4. Sandra Kapoor & Belinda de Villa-Lopez, 2015. "Developing Teamwork Skills In Hospitality Management College Students," Tourism Research Institute, Journal of Tourism Research, vol. 10(1), pages 10-24, June.
    5. Yilin Zhou & Hongbo Li & Fakhar Shahzad, 2021. "Does College Education Promote Entrepreneurship Education in China?," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(3), pages 21582440211, July.
    6. Yami, Saïd & M'Chirgui, Zouhaier & Spano, Claude & Gontier Barykina, Olga, 2021. "Reinventing science and technology entrepreneurship education: The role of human and social capitals," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).

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