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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.

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
• Game System —
• Rules Edition —
• Day Wednesday
• Start Time 1:00 PM
• End Time 2:30 PM
• Duration 1.5 hours
• Location JW
• Room White River Ballroom C
• Table —
• Age Required Everyone (6+)
• Experience Required None (You've never played before - rules will be taught)
• Min Players 2
• Max Players 50
• Cost Free
• Tickets Available 50
• GM / Organizer Brooke Baker, Kym Kramer, Asya Aretskin-Hariton, Eliot Aretskin-Hariton
• Group —
• Tournament No
• Round 1 of 1
• Materials Required No
• Materials Details —
• Website —
• Email bruiviva@iu.edu
• Special Category none
• Last Modified —