Post Session Think Time:
1) What do you like or dislike about working as a team? What are the advantages / pitfalls of working as a team?
2) What did you learn about the possible factors that aided or hampered a city's development, the importance of the different parts of the economy?
3) Consider the possiblities and/ or limitations this game has for enhacing your understanding about a city or a country's development, the variations in development status within a country, the strategies that can be adopted and factors that could have caused these strategies not to work as well as anticipated.
4) Any other comments / feedback.
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25 comments:
1) Team members tend to lack the communication needed to strategise effectively. Each tend to focus on their own roles rather than work cooperatively. Nonetheless, team work will help to develop the group's ability to work together after a time.
2)Interconnections between various parts of the economy; cannot work solo.
3) Development is a continuous process (despite the choke point). A lot of compromising is needed; can't have everything but can make the best of whatever resources there is.
Kaixing
1) Like the discussion between members and ideas generated, dislike the need to wait for others, slow down the process.
2)Economy is dependent on many factors, sometimes intangible.
3)It is a vey engaing method to learn about development. It requires students or learners to learn from each other.
4) nil
There is cooperation between team members to ensure that the country actually develops. It emphasises the need for various agencies to work together and not be so profit driven. It is important to develop, but not at the expense of the environment.
Karen Thia
1) Like - the possibility of solving problems together and the camaraderie that was shown while the game was played.
Dislike - have to depend on others to get your job/work done.
2) Factors that aid the city's development - proper planning and the communication between different agencies to solve the problem.
3) After playing the game for some time, it will fall into routine and it might be a little mandane. However, the idea that different agencies have to work together to develop a city is very important to bring across to students.
I think it's good to work in a team but there should be more coordination first but guess everybody is just too excited to work on the game right away. Before we know it, energy is gone. Machine is gone too.
In our group's situation, energy really hampers the city's development. A lot of activities can't function. Constant communication is very critical - maybe we should even articulate our thoughts every now & then to let other team members know what we are doing.
The game is good as a reinforcement to lesson proper. But somehow, we should brief the students first the role of each member of the community before they plunge into the game. Nevertheless, the game is a good post-activity to wrap up lesson on 'Development'.
1)Like. there are problems along the way which I can discuss with team members.
2)The government's role is very important. A wrong choice of government can hamper the city's development.
3)Students need to know all the definitions and concepts well first before they can play the game. The game can be used as a recap exercise to help them answer questions creatively
Huei Juin (Hai Sing Catholic)
1) WOrking as a team teaches my students to be more patient. They were able to tap of each other strength to progress in the game. They recognised that nature of the game is interdependence and were able to relate this to the topic.
2) all players are equally important in helping the country to develop.
3) THe game is a good summary on how complex development can be and how each variable is interdependence. Guess this game is a good start to let our students understand that the process of development is not as simple in the real world
1) More people means that you are able to focus only on your own character. You do not need to handle more than one role at any one point of time. However, this would also mean that you only concentrate on your own role and forget about looking from other points of view. The game could end in a very short period of time.
2) Literacy rates, hygiene factors and pollution rates can actually hinder city growth at times. Energy and technology are one of the most important factors that decide whether a country progresses ornot.
3) Many strategies can be adopted to handle a country well. There is no hard and fast rule in building up a city well. Also, literacy rate is one of the key factor in developing a city. To cope with electricity and evergy usage, the government could build power stations etc or manage the country more well.
Huei JUin (Hai Sing Catholic)says,
1) Team members tend to lack the communication needed to strategise effectively. Each tend to focus on their own roles rather than work cooperatively. Nonetheless, team work will help to develop the group's ability to work together after a time.
2)Interconnections between various parts of the economy; cannot work solo.
3) Development is a continuous process (despite the choke point). A lot of compromising is needed; can't have everything but can make the best of whatever resources there is.
1) one gets frustrated when someone is of a different frequency from you but the advantage is that you have more heads when you encounter problems.
2)The interrelatedness of issues so the role of government is very important.
3) As each of us assumes a different role, so unless there is good communication then it is very difficult to understand what is going on.
1)Most of the time, team members are engrossed in their own roles that we do not strategise the best use of resources. Team will end up getting "choked". Communication is very important in this game.
2) Every department in a city is interconnected with one another. To bring a city's development to another level, it is important that every department work together.
3) Development of a city cannot be achieved over a period of 10, 20 mins. Students must be able to recognise the fact that development is a collective effort of people over time.
1)Inputs from others. Perspectives of others that can help you see a bigger picture.
Lack of communication and lack of common goal will impede progress
2)Governance and leadership can aid or hamper a city's development
3)Possibility: It shows the dynamism and interplay of various factors that is required for a city to develop
1) Team needs someone who is quick enough to know how to troubleshoot the game and how each in the team should respond. Most of the time, it is self-discovery and when everyone is stuck, there is a little bit of blame...
2) the game is strong on inter-dependence.
3)Perhaps it is good to remind the teams that the aims of development is to increase wealth and to improve on standard of living. There is a tendency to spend much time in money-making only.
1. By working in a team, we are able to discuss certain problems that we are facing and resolve the problems. However, there can be team members who are not able to cooperate well and this will actually lead to the downfall of the group.
2. Each sector of the economy will have to cooperate and support each other in order to ensure that the city is able to develop successfully. In this case, communication must be present among the team members. It is not just about making a lot of money for the city, but to ensure that the citizens are educated, healthy and are well taken care of in the city.
3. The fact that we are able to change the quantity of the factors in the game would allow us to play around with a variety of city types. Hence with the freedom to modify the numbers, this can reflect the different types of cities present in this world and we can also use a variety of scenarios.
1) We help each other out, for instance if we are short of energy or technology, we'll prompt the retailer or the manufacturer.Some team members need more help than the others.
2)For development to happen, we need several factors and in this game, we see the important role of all 4 characters.It seems energy and technology are always in great demand for development to take place.
This game is good for students to undestand that development is a complex process and there are many factors involved. The students will also be aware that as they build the city, the indicators will improve. The different teams can share their results and compare the variations of their city's development and learn from each other the strategies they have adopted and the problems they faced.
4) This game is quite time consuming and maybe difficult for the normal academic students to see the linkages between the different components.
1) Advantage is that members can trash out doubts and problems. Motion tends to slow down due to questioning and waiting.
2)There are many factors contributing to development. Government plays the most important part I suppose.
3)This a a fun and non-threatening way to learn a topic. It is a good way to end a topic as students can apply what they have learnt into a game.
4) Nil
4)
The session on the games for geography was very innovative and enriching.Its a new way of teaching Geography. I am looking forward to start the game in the school for the sec 3 students.
But this game requires a lot of time.It cannot be played in 40 mins.
1) Sometimes, the different members are proceeding at different speed. The faster ones will have to wait for the slower ones. The advantage of working as a team for this game is that it simulates real-life situation, where there is inter-dependency between the various groups of people.
2) That everyone must work together, i.e. team work. There is inter-dependency. The government plays a very important role. Communication is important too, eg: "government" is not able to see how much energy is left, unless the other members tell them.
3) There is a lot of scope for using this game, based on the handouts given. This may be enhanced by relating students' learning experience with real-life example. Eg: Pollution in Hong Kong, making it a less desireable place for the expats.
4) Time and computer labs constraints. It is not easy to book the computer labs during curriculum time. I would still do it after school to get around this problem. Alternatively, I may do it as e-learning.
1) It encourages communication and sharing understanding of concepts. However, the teacher must ensure that the team members strategise before plunging straight into the game and just merely going with the flow of the game aimlessly.
2)Interdependence between different sectors of the economy, and the ability to see the big picture, that benefits the city as a whole.
3) Utilising resources efficiently to produce maximise benefits and minimise wastage.
1) We are dependent on one another to make the city a success. By working together, we can solve the problem together and learn to be more understanding of the situation another player is facing. In a team, all members must work together but that sometimes results in delays.
2) The development of a city is not determined by one indicator alone. There are different factors which affect the city's development such as literacy rate, healthcare, pollution and the role of the government. No one factor is more dominant than the other and all factors play a critical role in deciding the success of the city.
3) The game has helped me to learn that the development of a country hinges on the decision of the government and that of the other players in the country as well(in this case, it is the retailer, the manufacturer and the farmer). It is a self-discovery process about the development of a city. We may have certain strategies that may work for the benefit of the city but it requires the collective effort of one an all to pull it through. If one player fails to deliver, the whole game ends there.
4) This second session enables us to familiarise ourselves with the game better and I will try to incorporate it into my students' learning, perhaps as a supplementary class. I am sure my students will be thrilled to play the game and learn at the same time.
Kelvin
JYSS
The session on the games for geography was very innovative and enriching.Its a new way of teaching Geography. I am looking forward to start the game in the school for the sec 3 students.
But this game requires a lot of time.It cannot be played in 40 mins.
Norhani
Advantages: We reap the rewards together and if we fail, everbody will suffer.
Disadvantages: I feel the stress if I do not perform my task since it will affect other members of the team.
The factors are many. Just to list a few : the roles of everybody in the city ie the govt, farmers, manufacturers and traders.
The possibilities: The game will develop deep interest in the topic. Pupils are tested on creativity, problem-solving skills, team-building, enhancing knowledge in the content.
Kavi, NJC
1) Fun, interactive and engaging. Need to keep bugging my team mates to buy inputs carefully and assess the situation of the city, hence showing the importance of communication between the team members.
2) I found that it is important for each person (retailer, manufacturer, farmer and government official) to know clearly what they could do in their capacity in order to contribute to the city's development. Hence, greed on one person's part could strip the city of its essential inputs and hinder development; a valuable lesson for students.
3) It is possible for students to understand how a city experiences development as it shifts from participating increasingly in the primary to secondary to tertiary sector; but at the same time, for the students to see that there has to be interactions between each sector at any one time;i.e real time and not necessarily just a shift in the economy that they study in textbooks generically but cannot visualise / understand.
1) When working in a team, it is impt for each person to be aware of the various roles that they are playing - be it a leader or a follower. And there is a need to be aware of the team dynamics - ie the working relationships between members.
The pitfall is that one person will be so bombarded by conflicting instructions that he/she has to prioritise his/her own objectives - eg. own profit-making vs feeding the needs of other sectors.
2) I learnt that it wasn't just plainly making products for profits' sake but it was also about catering to the population and "land efficiency". Again, it was also about the various interrelationships between various sectors and the over-arching governance that brought about development.
3) I guess it is effective in showing how an economy can progress from that of agrarian to that of manufacturing. But I think there was some flaw in the sense that in this game, I didn't see the agrarian sector being as important as the last time round. And in fact, as a manufacturer, it seemed as though the city was blindly industrialising. There was this little rut where it was just demand for technology and machinery.
4) Overall I felt this game is good and it illuminates the workings of the economy. Perhaps there can be more development in the sense of urban form - which is kind of similar to SimCity. This would tie in nicely with the JC topic of Urbanisation where students see the spatial organisation of the urban form as well. :)
Kudos to the team who designed this.
Lynette Li
East Spring Secondary
1. Working as a team: Able to achieve much more. You get to know people better. But you have less control over your work overall.
2. The efficient use of resources is the main key to successful development of a city. Development depends on various components working together cooperatively to achieve a common goal.
3. The good part of the game is that it actually allows learning rather subconciously. Students may learn alot from the game as it is not "work" to them. The disadvantage will be the need for clear reflection/discussion at the end to state the learning points explicitly.
4. The game is engaging and relevant to the teaching of development.
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