Abstract: Faculty are often frustrated by student preparedness (or lack thereof) for exams and review sessions. This may be partially attributed to passive involvement during lectures and the failure of students to discuss and reflect on topics as they are introduced. Active learning refers to techniques that move students beyond listening to lectures to activities (in and out of the classroom) that engage students in topics (e.g., discussion, reflection). The purpose of this teaching tip is to describe the use of games as active learning techniques to encourage students to review materials over the life of a course and engage them in review sessions. Through a study conducted in two different information systems courses, we provide evidence of effectiveness including impact on exam performance and feedback from students derived from a questionnaire.

Keywords: Teaching method, Effective instruction, Active learning, Games

Download this article: JISE - Volume 16 Number 1, Page 9.pdf

Recommended Citation: Massey, A. P., Brown, S. A., & Johnston, J. D. (2005). Teaching Tip: It's All Fun and Games... Until Students Learn. Journal of Information Systems Education, 16(1), 9-14.