Goose Game

Why am I using this technique?

For my learners...

To memorize, learners need to mobilize and apply their knowledge. This can of course be done through classical exercises but also through play.

In a more playful way, learners cram while having fun. Indeed in this game questions come back, so by repeating, they memorize.

It is also a pleasant moment, with a good atmosphere, which can be interesting for the dynamics and cohesion of the group.

For me, teacher or trainer...

This takes time and organization, especially the first time. But the learners remember what was said. And this makes it possible to evaluate the acquired knowledge of the training because by following the evolution of the game as well as the answers brought by the participants, the trainer can measure what was well or badly understood about his teachings and detect a possible heterogeneity of understanding within the group.

And then once again, it is a pleasant moment with a good atmosphere.

Framework and steps / Instructions

The framework

The game of the goose is done after a course rich in theoretical elements to memorize (grammar, vocabulary, dates, concepts, treatments of diseases, ...). This game is ideal for people with little schooling, especially adults who have had little or no schooling.

As part of a training course, these games can be made available to learners at lunchtime, or in the evening if they sleep on the training site.

The preparation

A kit of game is thus constituted:

• a game board with in each box a simple question related to the knowledge addressed during the training. OR An ordinary game board and cards with questions on them ;
• pawns: one per learner or per group of learners ;
• a die.

Allow 4 to 6 counters per board, each counter can correspond to an individual or a small group of 4 to 5 individuals.

For the place, it is necessary to have a table around which the participants can sit or stand (to avoid if one foresees a long time of game, it is not very comfortable) and on which it is possible to put the board, to make roll the die, etc..

Depending on the size of the group, you may need one or more game kits or even several rooms (this game can be noisy). This makes it possible to divide the large groups.

A game lasts between 1h00 and 1h30.

The process

PREPARATION

It is necessary to prepare the game board and especially to choose the questions well. They must make it possible to mobilize the theoretical aspects of the course, be clear, have only one good possible answer.
The questions are then written in the boxes on the board or on cards (can be simple pieces of paper).

Don't hesitate to put some crazy or funny questions to relax the atmosphere during the game. This keeps the fun side and prevents it from turning into a disguised exam.

SETTING UP THE GAME

You need at least one teacher (or trainer) for 3 or 4 games played simultaneously in the same room. And this teacher needs to know the answers to all the questions.
If the number of learners is small, each participant plays alone and takes a pawn. Otherwise it is possible to play by teams, each team then has a counter.
The checkers are placed on the starting square, each team rolls the die, the team with the highest number starts and then turns clockwise.
If you use cards for questions, you have to ask a lot of questions face down.

THE ROLLER

There are two possibilities. In both cases, if no learner knows the answer to a question, they can contact the teacher/trainer. The latter can take advantage of these requests to provide supplements. But be careful, if there are several groups you must be available for the other groups otherwise they are blocked and cannot advance.

First possibility: Each box corresponds to a question written directly on the board. The player (or team) rolls the die, advances the correct number of squares and must answer the question on which he is standing. The other participants in the game decide on the correctness of the answer (it is important that the trainer makes sure that they are not mistaken at this point and correct immediately if there is an error). If the answer is correct, it remains on the square. Otherwise he goes back to square one. The winner is the first to arrive at the finish.

Second possibility: We have a deck of cards and before rolling the die, the player (or team) draws a question card. If he answers correctly (same mode as in the first option), he can roll the die and advance the number of spaces indicated by the die. Otherwise he stays where he belongs.
Be careful, if you want the questions to come back, you should not expect too many (25 to 40 for a game board). And the ideal is to put the question randomly back in the pile.

To finish the session, a short debriefing time is strongly recommended. This can allow learners to ask questions and the teacher/trainer to ask them what they thought of the game, gather criticism and advice to improve it.

Evaluation

Hot, it is interesting to evaluate the satisfaction of the participants because it allows to see if the game is as playful as one wishes it and if it works for this type of public. This makes it possible to see if there are any adjustments to be made.

The game also makes it possible to evaluate the knowledge to which the questions related and thus also to evaluate the course which brought this knowledge

Later, to find out if the game worked, was useful, an evaluation at the end of training or teaching unit can be interesting. It will be compared with the same evaluation without the game, the previous year for example. (Attention, take into account the promotion effect: from one group to another the effect can be very variable.

Variants

Possibility to make a "contest game" with lots of different games: the winner of each game wins points and at the end those who have the most points win.

Outside of a training situation, this game can be used for awareness-raising or popularisation, either as an awareness-raising support, or as a complement to an awareness-raising meeting: this makes it possible to remobilise what was said in the meeting and makes participants want to come back to the next meeting (if they have lost, they want to take their revenge, if they have won, they are motivated.)

The answers can be written on the cards under the question. It is then up to an opponent of the player (team) to draw the card for him and ask him the question.

It is possible to construct the questions (or part of the questions) with learners in a previous session.

Points of vigilance

Il faut faire attention au nombre de cases du plateau, à adapter en fonction du nombre de questions que l'on souhaite poser et en fonction du temps qu'on a, à disposition.

Si jamais la partie n'est pas finie avant la fin de cette période, le gagnant est celui qui est arrivé le plus loin sur le plateau pendant la partie.

What if it doesn't work?

The risk is that learners do not want to play the game, find it boring.

To avoid this, it is necessary to present the game in a playful way (it is mainly done to have fun) and to stimulate competition between the participants (one can for example foresee a small symbolic prize for the winner(s)).