Games as Pedagogy: Using board games as standards-aligned curriculum and assessment tools
Title:
Games as Pedagogy: Using board games as standards-aligned curriculum and assessment tools
Year:
2026
Original Order:
2221
Game:
TRD26ND303411
Short Description:
Games aren’t rewards—they’re pedagogy. Learn how a board game can be built into your curriculum to assess standards through gameplay, reflection, and facilitation using String Theory as an example.
Long Description:
Many academic standards emphasize process skills such as strategic thinking, collaboration, systems reasoning, and problem solving, skills that are difficult to measure with traditional assessments. This session explores how tabletop games can function as instructional environments where learning becomes visible. Participants will examine how a board game can be intentionally embedded into a unit of instruction, from identifying learning goals to designing facilitation moves that surface evidence of understanding. Using media literacy lessons developed to embed String Theory, a tabletop game created by Tessellation Games, as a case study, the session models how educators can align game mechanics to standards, observe learning in real time, and translate play-based experiences into meaningful cumulative assessment data.
Event Type:
TRD - Trade Day Events
Minimum Players:
2
Maximum Players:
60
Age Required:
Everyone (6+)
Experience Required:
None (You've never played before - rules will be taught)
Duration:
1.5
Game Master Names:
Brooke Baker, Kym Kramer, Asya Aretskin-Hariton, Eliot Aretskin-Hariton