New project initiative at the 9th HeKKSaGOn Japanese-German University Presidents’ Conference in Göttingen.
From September 21 to 22, 2023, Göttingen University hosted the 9th HeKKSaGOn Japanese-German University Presidents’ Conference. HeKKSaGOn is an alliance of six excellent research-intensive universities from Germany and Japan, established by the universities Heidelberg, Kyoto, Karlsruhe IT, Tohoku, Göttingen, and Osaka. The 9th conference concerned the topic “What Opportunities and Challenges does Artificial Intelligence offer to the Higher Education Sector?,” and was preceded by an AI symposium.
HeKKSaGOn involves a number of research and working groups on various topics, including AI, robotics, mathematics, and medical innovation. The two-day program offered space for these continent-spanning groups to convene and discuss their research. This year, two new initiatives received space at the conference for discussing possible cooperations within HeKKSaGOn, one of which concerns educational roleplay, transcultural and game-based learning.
On September 22, Björn-Ole Kamm presented the results of the initiative’s discussions and plans for future research and collaboration. Initial members of the group are Sandra Barteit (Global Health Insitute, Heidelberg University), Alexandra Schreiber (Intercultural Learning Lab, Göttingen University), and Georgios Kaklamanos (Gesellschaft für wissenschaftliche Datenverarbeitung mbH Göttingen).
Innovative and Sustainable Learning through Role-Playing: A Modular Framework for the Design and Evaluation of Game-Based Experiences
The initiative aims to create a framework of mechanics and modules for the generation of role-playing experiences that have learning or awareness-raising goals. The group further seeks to develop methods and strategies for reflection and evaluation, especially concerning long-term learning effects. The sub-projects are related to 21st-century skills, changes of perspective, the ability to deal with ambiguity in our complex societies, and cooperation for sustainable togetherness.
Please find the presentation slides here.
The initiative invites other scholars with similar interests in gaming, roleplay and learning, especially from HeKKSaGOn partners and including graduate students, to join their project. Interested parties can get in touch via roleplay@cats.bun.kyoto-u.ac.jp.