CONTENTS
1 INTRODUCTION
1.5 Ethical considerations
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35 Economic and Management Sciences. These two committees have oversight over all studies conducted that involve lecturers and students, who were targeted as respondents in this PhD study. An ethical clearance reference number (NWU-00790-19-A4) was issued to proceed with data collection. The ethical clearance is applicable for the duration of the PhD study. The ethical clearance was applied as follows:
Article II – Participants and Ethical Considerations
A pilot study was conducted on the initial draft of the serious game Liike, which was playtested by a diverse gamut of students: White, Black, Indian, male, and female students from diverse cultures. Data was obtained from 27 students who playtested the Liike game and who completed the accompanying research questionnaire. The questions were explained to the students, who participated voluntarily and anonymously. Not all students who played the game completed the questionnaire. Due to anonymous participation, the researchers could not request additional individuals to complete the questionnaires to increase the sample size. No incentives were provided for participation in the study; thus, the study adhered to the ethics clearance conditions.
Participant characteristics and descriptions:
• School of Accounting Sciences honors students at the 4th-year level who played the game: 40 students
• School of Accounting Sciences honors students at the 4th-year level who completed the questionnaire: 10 students
• School of Accounting Sciences undergraduate students at the 2nd-year level who played the game: 15 students
• School of Accounting Sciences undergraduate students at the 2nd-year level who completed the questionnaire: 9 students
• Lecturers at the School of Accounting Sciences who played the game: 8 lecturers
• Lecturers at the School of Accounting Science who completed the questionnaire:
8 lecturers
Professor J.P. Fouché (North West University, South Africa) permitted the use of the standardized questionnaire that he developed during the Commercium™ project (Fouché, 2006)– a board game developed to meet the teaching and learning environment needs of first-year accounting students. The questionnaire was adapted for the pilot study according to the objectives of the study. It comprised five sections: (i) biographical information; (ii) evaluation of required skills; (iii) evaluation of subject content; (iv) evaluation of the teaching methodology; and (v) evaluation of the effect of the game on the students’ attitude toward playing the game in a teaching and learning environment.
The questionnaire encompassed Likert and semantic differential scales, which required the respondents to select the alternatives that were most applicable to them. The respondents completed the questionnaire on a multiple-choice answer sheet. Their
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responses were electronically captured and statistically analyzed with SPSS v20 (SPSS Inc, 2012).
Article IV – Participants and Ethical Considerations
The Liike prototype was playtested by five lecturers. These participants were also the module information and academic content contributors within the School of Accounting Sciences. The module information and academic content pertains to question-and-answer playing cards as a game element of Liike. A survey was completed by the five participants to measure the psychological constructs of intrinsic motivation, amotivation, identified regulation, and external regulation as they relate to Liike and how it is played.
The participants were also asked to evaluate each other’s academic content as incorporated in the question-and-answer cards, thus providing feedback related to curriculum outcomes. All ethical considerations required by the NWU were explained to the participants, and all agreed to participate in the study and data collection. The survey questions were explained to the participants, who participated voluntarily and anonymously. Even though it was a small group of participants, their participation was considered anonymous because their identities were not disclosed. Furthermore, no incentives were given for participation in the study, aligning with the ethics clearance conditions.
Article V – Participants and Ethical Considerations
Different stages of design of the Liike game required disparate participatory feedback, which is explained as follows.
• Evaluation of the Liike game mechanics, elements, and dynamics:
The participants who playtested the serious game Liike were three designers (game-, art-, and graphic-) as well as four module information and academic content contributors (lecturers). To address the research questions developed for this PhD study, the academic content contributors completed a questionnaire. The three designers abstained from completing the questionnaire and chose to rather observe the playtesting to provide critical feedback on the game mechanics, elements, and dynamics. The designers and lecturers were informed of the purpose of the playtesting as well as the purpose of completing the questionnaire. Furthermore, all ethical considerations required by NWU were explained to the participants, and all agreed to participate in the study and to the use of the collected data.
• Evaluation of Liike game questions:
The Liike question-and-answer playing cards were playtested for pedagogical soundness.
The results were obtained through administering a questionnaire to five SAIPA clerks employed at the School of Accounting Sciences, NWU, Vanderbijlpark. A total of 100 questions per module were voluntarily playtested. Four out of the five clerks completed
37 the questionnaire. One clerk did not complete the questionnaire due to workload and time constraints. SAIPA clerks are graduated students, selected from a group of top performers after the completion of their honors-level students, who are working as interns at the university for one year. The clerks were informed of the purpose of the playtesting and completing the questionnaire. All ethical considerations required by NWU were explained to the participants, and all agreed to partake in the study and to the use of collected data.
• Evaluation of the Liike game:
Two independent lecturers, not involved in the design process of Liike, playtested the game.
• L1: This independent lecturer is an expert in the integration of technology in education and the aspects of engagement in multimedia learning and online education.
• L2: This independent lecturer is an expert in communication and media studies.
L2 conducts research in multimedia learning and instructional design by approaching research from both an educational and communications perspective.
As a person, this expert is also a board game enthusiast and plans to develop a board game in the future for corporate communication and media studies education.
Both lecturers were fully informed of the ethical considerations, anonymity, gathering and use of data. Participation was voluntary.
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