Case Studies as Tabletop RPGs

Susan Weiner
Roosevelt University, Chicago, IL, USA

Presented at the Role-playing and Simulation in Education Conference

May 17, 2018, Northeastern University, Boston, MA
 Overview
• Case studies as tabletop RPGs
• Case study pedagogy
• Documentation of a new approach to case studies
• Case studies in classroom
• Demographic information of participants:
-- Roosevelt University, Chicago, IL
-- Tabletop style case study in classroom
-- Studied from 2015-17
-- MS students and upper level undergraduates in Biology
• Using a tabletop RPG structure for case studies encouraged agency,
engagement, and interactivity among students
 Key Points
• Prior Case Study Design: Researching a story and making decisions

• Tabletop Case Studies: Introducing a method to increase interactivity

through RPG principles

• Impact of Tabletop Case Studies: Positive student response, strong

student-reported impact
 Case Studies
• Active learning!
• Teach through stories
• Increase student engagement (Cliff and Wright 1996)
• Allow focus on detailed material
 Basic Case Study Design

Thought
Story Research
Questions
 Tabletop RPG
• Players (students) navigate a world moderated by a GM

• Players take on specific roles in this world

• Decisions are made by players that impact the game world

 Tabletop as Case Study

Outside In Class
Prep Prep Story

Feedback
that Taking on
changes roles
the story

Final Decision
Outcome Research
Making
 Tabletop as Case Study

Outside In Class
Prep Prep Story

Feedback
that Taking on
changes roles
the story

Final Decision
Outcome Research
Making
 Preparation
• Out of class readings

• Questions on readings

• Short lecture based on student questions

 Tabletop as Case Study

Outside In Class
Prep Prep Story

Feedback
that Taking on
changes roles
the story

Final Decision
Outcome Research
Making
 Story
• Scenario: What’s happened so far?

• Information on the problem with key points for research

• For example: Patient presentation with symptoms and findings

separated out
 Tabletop as Case Study

Outside In Class
Prep Prep Story

Feedback
that Taking on
changes roles
the story

Final Decision
Outcome Research
Making
 Taking on Roles
• Identify important roles in the case

• Divide up research to gain expertise

• For example: Surgeon, dietician, internist, cardiologist

 Tabletop as Case Study

Outside In Class
Prep Prep Story

Feedback
that Taking on
changes roles
the story

Final Decision
Outcome Research
Making
 Decision Making
• Make decisions as a group based on individual research

• Present decisions to “GM”

• For example: Urgent treatment, requests for scans or tests

 Tabletop as Case Study

Outside In Class
Prep Prep Story

Feedback
that Taking on
changes roles
the story

Final Decision
Outcome Research
Making
 In World Effect
• Feedback from “GM”

• What are the effects of your decisions?

• For example: Results of treatment, tests

 Tabletop as Case Study

Outside In Class
Prep Prep Story

Feedback
that Taking on
changes roles
the story

Final Decision
Outcome Research
Making
 Impact of Tabletop Case Studies
• Student ratings of effectiveness:
• 80% very effective
• 8.5% effective
• 74% of students said that the course using these case studies “helped
them to think independently about the subject matter” more, or
much more than other courses
 Student Comments
• “The case studies are extremely helpful in understanding the material
better and making sense of body systems, while connecting different
ones together.”
• “I really liked the case studies that were a part of the class because it
really helped me to go step by step to diagnose our patients.”
• “I felt like House!”
 Limitations
• Teacher time intensive

• Student preparation required

• Requires further research to test actual effect on student learning

 Conclusion
• Using a tabletop RPG structure for case studies encouraged agency,
engagement, and interactivity among students

• Students made decisions that had an “in world” impact and saw the
results of those decisions

• Student response was positive, but impact on learning not yet

measured

• Provides a new model for approaching case studies in the class room
 Bibliography
• Cliff, W H, and A W Wright. 1996. “Directed Case Study Method for Teaching Human Anatomy and
Physiology.” The American Journal of Physiology 270 (6 Pt 3): S19-28.
doi:10.1152/advances.1996.270.6.S19.
• Delmas, Guylain, Ronan Champagnat, and Michel Augeraud. 2009. “From Tabletop RPG to
Interactive Storytelling: Definition of a Story Manager for Videogames.” In , 121–26. Springer,
Berlin, Heidelberg. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-10643-9_16.
• DeNeve, Kristina M., and Mary J. Heppner. 1997. “Role Play Simulations: The Assessment of an
Active Learning Technique and Comparisons with Traditional Lectures.” Innovative Higher
Education 21 (3). Kluwer Academic Publishers-Plenum Publishers: 231–46.
doi:10.1007/BF01243718.
• Freeman, Scott, Sarah L Eddy, Miles McDonough, Michelle K Smith, Nnadozie Okoroafor, Hannah
Jordt, and Mary Pat Wenderoth. 2014. “Active Learning Increases Student Performance in
Science, Engineering, and Mathematics.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the
United States of America 111 (23). National Academy of Sciences: 8410–15.
doi:10.1073/pnas.1319030111.
• Herreid, Clyde. 2006. Start with a Story: The Case Study Method of Teaching College Science.
National Science Teachers Association.
• Lopes, Rui Pedro. 2015. “City of Dred – a Tabletop RPG Learning Experience.” 7th International
Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies (EDULEARN), 6987–95.
https://bibliotecadigital.ipb.pt/handle/10198/13796.
Contact Information

Susan Weiner
Roosevelt University
sweiner02@roosevelt.edu