UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Playing a card game can support empathy development in college classrooms, according to a new study led by researchers in Penn State University Libraries' Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT).
The study, “Mediating Students’ Empathy Development Through Play,” was published in the Journal of Play in Adulthood. It assesses the Inclusive and Multicultural Perspectives with Action, Characters and Technologies (IMPACT) Deck, a game-based learning tool developed by the researchers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the researchers, IMPACT presents players with character cards, each embodying an individual with a rich backstory that invites thoughtful exploration as the game progresses with action and technology cards. As players navigate the game, they engage in discussions about the potential effects of various technologies on society, industry and the daily lives of the characters and themselves. This human-centric conversation aims to foster a deeper understanding of how technology impacts the world.
IMPACT Deck was designed to spark discussion about how technology affects different communities. But, to date, the tool had never been formally assessed. The recent study sought to evaluate this tool’s effectiveness in fostering empathy and critical thinking among undergraduate students.
“We were pretty excited to highlight one of the innovative tools TLT provides to the Penn State community through research,” said Sarah Zipf, TLT research project manager and the study’s lead researcher. “We argue that contemporary college students' empathy development is ‘entangled’ with their overuse of technology and that part of their education should include empathy development because it leads to an understanding of those around them and other important social aspects of what it means to be a good citizen and member of society.”
In addition to Zipf, the research team included graduate assistants Tehniyet Azam and Pauline John, and TLT staff member Zach Lonsinger.
The study used the Basic Empathy Scale, a standardized measure of empathy, along with custom reflection questions, to measure from 104 Penn State students recruited from 30 classes that had used the IMPACT Deck in coursework. It also collected qualitative feedback about students’ overall experience using the deck. The most frequent themes in students’ responses were “perspective-taking and playfulness,” followed by “peer interaction” and “personal development.” Students described the deck as a “fun way to learn” and noted how it helped them think from new viewpoints and connect with classmates.
Quantitative results supported these impressions, according to the researchers. Students strongly agreed that learning about diverse populations is important and that the deck helped them think critically about how others use technology. Emotional and cognitive empathy scores were positively correlated with statements including “I learned something new about my peers,” and “IMPACT helped me have hard conversations.”
“The data show that students really enjoyed talking to each other and learned something about their peers during these conversations,” Zipf said, adding that the IMPACT Deck offers a “low-stakes, safe and playful activity to explore other’s experiences and ideas.”
Educators interested in using the deck can visit IMPACT Deck's official site or email Zach Lonsinger at zal5010@psu.edu. The digital version is also available as a mobile app on both iOS and Android.