In our increasingly complex and volatile world, young people must develop future-facing skills to thrive such as imagination, resilience, and self-motivation. Managing uncertainty and innovation are key as workplaces adapt to challenges such as generative AI, and skills sought by graduate employers go beyond academic knowledge, focusing on work-ready behaviours and attitudes, problem-solving and teamwork skills, and personal attributes such as resilience and creativity.
The use of playful learning provides the opportunity to give students active and meaningful learning experiences. Emerging research shows that it:
- embodies experiential problem-solving, enhancing higher-level learning outcomes;
- provides engaging learning environments, increasing intrinsic motivation;
- normalises failure as a natural part of learning, reducing fear of failure;
- creates inclusive and safe learning spaces, increasing belonging;
- and develops curiosity and imagination, increasing creativity.
However, we need a rigorous exploration at scale to provide robust evidence of what works, for whom, and why. RE:PLAY will develop an evidence base on the effectiveness of eight playful learning approaches across Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences and Business, STEM, and Health-related subjects. View RE:PLAY overview infographic. The project objectives are to:
- explore how playful learning approaches are currently used in UK HE and the perceptions of senior leaders;
- investigate experiences, benefits, drawbacks, and barriers associated with playful learning for students, academics, learning designers, and academic support staff;
- design, implement, and evaluate a learning design process, framework, and toolkit for developing effective playful learning experiences;
- research the effects of playful learning on student learning, intrinsic motivation, fear of failure, sense of belonging, and creativity.
Theme 1: State of Play
In this theme we will explore how playful learning approaches are currently used in UK higher education, and the perceptions of senior leaders in academia and industry.
To explore current usage we will carry out a large-scale survey with staff and students at six partner institutions that represent the diversity of UK academia in terms of geographic location, student demographics, mission group, and size. These are: City St George’s, University of London, Teesside University, The University of Edinburgh, University of Exeter, University of Greater Manchester, and University of the Highlands and Islands.
We will also interview twelve university and industry leaders to better understand their views of playful learning, barriers and opportunities.
Theme 2: Play in Action
In this theme we will investigates experiences, benefits, drawbacks, and barriers associated with playful learning for students, academics, learning designers, and academic support staff by exploring 32 case studies in universities across the country where playful learning approaches are already being used by individuals, but are not necessarily endorsed or supported at an institutional level.
In each case, we will investigate how playful learning is being used, how it works in practice, and the experiences and views of academics, students, and other staff. This will allow us to compare different types of playful learning across different contexts.
Theme 3: Design to Play
In this theme we will design, implement, and evaluate a playful learning design framework to support university teachers in developing effective learning experiences.
Working with learning designers at six institutions that actively support playful learning, we will bring together their collective knowledge and experiences of playful learning design to develop a design framework, which will then be tested during the redesign of four modules in each institution and refined.
The six institutions involved in this theme are: Anglia Ruskin University, Coventry University, Durham University, Northumbria University, University of Sussex, and University of the Arts London.
Theme 4: Evidencing Play
In this theme we will research the effects of playful learning by gathering data from students studying the twenty-four modules redesigned during Theme 3, from cohorts before and after re-design (as well as suitable control modules).
We will investigate the effects of playful learning on student learning, intrinsic motivation, fear of failure, sense of belonging, and creativity as well as collecting background student demographic data, and data on the level and discipline of each module as well as identifying any elements of games or play in the original design and changes in assessment, to account for these in our analysis.