004 PP: TEAM PLAYERS: GAME-BASED APPROACHES TO COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH

This poster presentation demonstrated how game-based approaches to learning can be utilised to support the formation of cohesive research teams and to enable service-user/lay researchers to understand the structures and processes of academic research. It intersects two of the symposium themes: 1) the processes used to build and carry out research as a diverse team, with particular reference to, 2) the role of the lay researcher and how marginalised groups are accommodated. My presentation was based on my experience of developing “The Game of Research”, a board game I designed, based on the principles of Snakes and Ladders, but reconfigured to incorporate all the key elements of a qualitative research project. I traced its development from a research management project focusing on promoting service-user inclusion to an academic teaching and learning tool, which is now returning to its original purpose in promoting collaborative and inclusive research communities. The pilots and evaluations of the game have shown that it promotes discussion, collaboration, shared learning and team-strategizing. It is also both challenging and fun and provides an accessible way to learn about qualitative research and to discuss and debate key themes and issues. These features mean that it is an ideal means of developing a research community and sharing learning and knowledge between team members. The game was available for inspection during the presentation (and for playing afterwards) and files of game components are also available as downloads.