Socio-Drama in the Web-Supported Negotiation Game “Surfing Global Change”

Abstract

The negotiation-oriented and partly Web-based game “Surfing Global Change” (SGC, © Gilbert Ahamer) was originally invented and implemented by the author and copyright holder for use in advanced interdisciplinary university courses in the spirit of “blended learning.” Didactics of SGC is grounded in “active, self-organized learning,” training of “competence to act,” and responsibility for both practicable and sustainable solutions for the future society, hence constructionist “creation of meaning.” In section 2, this chapter presents the rules of the game as a case study of a software-based online learning tool, used over three-dozen times at Austrian universities. Sections 3 through 6 contain implementation analyses, especially graphical representations of the socio-drama. The outlay of SGC aims at weighing competition vs. consensus, self-study vs. teamwork, sharpening one's own standpoint vs. readiness to compromise, differentiation into details vs. integration into a whole and seeks to mirror professional realities. In this spirit, the architecture of SGC provides a framework for “game-based learning” along five interactive game levels: (1) learn content and pass quizzes; (2) write and reflect about a personal standpoint; (3) win with a team in a competitive discussion; (4) negotiate a complex consensus between teams; and (5) integrate views when recognizing and analyzing global long-term trends. The set of game rules frames the expected processes of social self-organization. SGC's rules provide useful tension during game play by triggering two distinct processes: social dynamics among peer students in the class and their individual strife for good grades.