[AISWorld] Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education: Call for Papers for Special Issue on Enhancing Business School Courses through Game-Based Pedagogy

[Barbara Klein]

*Guest Editors:* Yi-Su Chen, Barbara Klein, and Joy Beatty, University of
Michigan - Dearborn

*Background:*

The incorporation of games into teaching and learning in business school
courses holds the potential for
enhancing students learning and retention. From their earliest days, humans
learn naturally through play and
games; and these approaches may enhance learning even as students engage in
college courses. Game
playing promotes active learning. An empirical review of research studies
on the effects of digital games in
the classroom show increases in affectivity, motivation, and learning
(Connolly et al., 2012). Games can also
promote students’ creativity and social interaction (Squire, 2011). The
underlying learning mechanisms are
related to increased intrinsic motivation and flow (Csikszentmihali, 1990),
which can come from the clear
and challenging goals, along with the regular and unambiguous feedback of
well-designed games.

Developments in technology, coupled with the growing technological skills
and expectations of the current
generation of learners, imply that many games will incorporate computer
technology. Computer games are
especially good at embedding learning in meaningful virtual situations that
create an immersive
psychological reality for the learner (Wideman et al., 2007). However, it
is also important to recognize that
low technology or no-technology games can be effective learning tools as
well. This special issue will focus
on innovative ideas for using games and gamification in courses across the
disciplines of business schools.

We conceive games broadly as playful activities with goals, rules, and
player interaction. Games may be
competitive or cooperative in nature and may involve synchronous or
asynchronous interaction among
players. A broad range of types of games fall under the umbrella of this
special issue including video games,
board games, card games, simulations and so forth. Games may be designed
specifically to convey course
concepts or may be adaptations of off-the-shelf games tailored to enhance
learning outcomes. Gamification
is defined as the use of game elements such as action language, rules,
environment, and game fiction outside
the context of a game to facilitate learning (Landers, 2014).

*Topics:*

This special issue aims to publish papers on game-based pedagogical
approaches that engage students in
active learning and develop students’ capabilities in applied decision
making.

We welcome submissions that propose new approaches and/or perspectives in
course activities design,
delivery, and assessment. We also encourage empirical research that
demonstrates improved learning
outcomes attributable to game-based pedagogy. These include but are not
limited to:

• conceptual/theoretical research submissions that propose taxonomies or
give guidance to assist
instructors in determining how to use game-based pedagogy in their course;

• teaching briefs that describe and document innovative applications of
games in business school courses;

• empirical research submissions that provide evidence about the effect of
a game-based pedagogical
activity on learning outcomes.

*Review Process and Publication Timeline:*
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2020
Initial (first-round) decisions: 31 August 2020
Revised paper resubmissions: 30 September 2020
Final acceptance decisions: 30 November 2020
Publication: January 2021

Manuscripts should conform to the DSJIE Submission and Style Requirements,
and manuscripts should be
submitted online at mc.manuscriptcentral.com/dsjie.

*Special Issue Guest Editors:*

*Yi-Su Chen* (yisuchen at umich.edu) is Associate Professor of Operations
Management in the University of
Michigan-Dearborn who received her Ph.D. from University of Minnesota. She
incorporates high-impact
projects in her classroom such as redesign the fire station network for
City of Dearborn, and was an ASL
fellow in 2017-18, working with the City to improve the recycling service.
She also employs various games
such as simulation games, off-the-shelf board games, and other games that
she and her colleagues designed.

*Barbara D. Klein* (bdklein at umich.edu) is Professor of Information Systems
Management at the University
of Michigan-Dearborn. She teaches courses on database design, information
management, and managerial
decision making. Professor Klein serves as an Associate Editor at the ACM
Journal of Data and Information
Quality, the Journal of Cases on Information Technology, and the Journal of
the Midwest Association of
Information Systems. She is on the editorial board of the International
Journal of Information Quality and
the Journal of Information Systems Education.

*Joy E. Beatty *(jebeatty at umich.edu) is Associate Professor of Management
who received her PhD at Boston
College. She teaches courses on organizational behavior and negotiation.
Her research interests are in
invisible diversity and management education. Her pedagogy research has
been recognized with the 2010
Roethlisberger Award for Best Paper in Journal of Management Education. She
served as an associate editor
for Journal of Management Education for 6 years and has served as an
editorial board member for Academy
of Management Learning and Education since 2004.

*References:*
Connolly, T. M., Boyle, E. A., MacArthur, E., Hainey, T., & Boyle, J. M.
(2012). A systematic literature
review of empirical evidence on computer games and serious games. Computers
& Education, 59(2),
661–686. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2012.03.004

Czikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimum experience.
New York: Harper Collins.

Landers, R. N. (2014). Developing a theory of gamified learning: Linking
serious games and gamification of
learning. Simulation & Gaming, 45(6): 752-768.

Squire, K. (2011). Video Games and Learning: Teaching and Participatory
Culture in the Digital Age. New
York, NY: Teacher College Press.

Wideman, H. H., Owston, R. D., Brown, C., Kushniruk, A., Ho, F., & Pitts,
K. C. (2007). Unpacking the
potential of educational gaming: A new tool for gaming research. Simulation
& Gaming, 38(1): 10-
30.