Les jeux sérieux à l’université : injonction à l’innovation ou plaisir d’enseigner autrement ?

Abstract

Long confined to the domain of the frivolous, even useless, games are now recognized in many non-game fields of activity as a means of reinforcing the commitment of participants. In recent years, the interest for serious games has grown among enterprises, local authorities, public offices and universities alike. Using an exploratory and self-reflexive approach based on teaching with serious games in geography and urban planning, we will address some of the benefits, difficulties and limits of this type of pedagogical tool. We will show that, without giving in to the top-down injunction to innovation, it is possible to find or rediscover the pleasure of teaching differently, and to evaluate differently our students’ ability to assimilate geographical thinking and approaches, by adopting an experiential learning approach. In this perspective, tinkering is crucial to address the constraints related to higher education programs or the lack of suitable material or human resources.

Keywords

• serious games
• higher education programs
• ludic practices
• alternative teaching
• experiential learning