Architecture students use card game to enhance their collaborative skills
A group of 13 second-year BA Architecture students were encouraged to use innovative play-based learning as part of an experimental teaching approach to better support their development of skills in architectural design and technology.
Dr Jonathan Orlek, Senior Lecturer in Architecture, successfully introduced Cards on the Table - a game designed to facilitate open dialogue within group projects – to a student cohort, breaking down barriers for them to ask questions of their tutor, enriching their knowledge of participatory design, and enhancing their collaborative skills.
This innovative use of the game caught the attention of its creators who invited the students, and Dr Orlek, to share what they had learnt in an interview. This has now been published in a blog post Playing Games in Architectural Education and details how the game was used in the context of the LJMU Architecture programme, learnings around teacher student power dynamics, and thoughts on playful and open-ended processes in higher education settings.
I played Cards on the Table with students as an icebreaker activity and as a playful way of introducing them to participatory design processes. As the Playing Games in Architectural Education blog post attests, the students exceeded this initial aim – by generously sharing their thoughts and responses from playing the game, Tom, Roan, Ava, Da and Cara demonstrate how playful activities can form part of a creative and critically engaged education that asks questions of their course, each other, and the status quo of the architectural profession.
Dr Jonathan Orlek, Senior Lecturer in Architecture at LJMU
Borrow the game from the LJMU Library
Following this success, LJMU’s Library has purchased a copy of the game, making it accessible to staff and students across disciplines who are interested in enhancing collaboration and project dialogue through structured play.
Visit the LJMU Library webpages to request to borrow the game.
