As part of the module Management and Organization, students on the degree programme in Business Administration have developed the game “Man, you are competent”. The game is based on “Mensch ärgere dich nicht”, a game similar to Ludo, and is designed to train the four core competences: subject, social, personal and methodological competence.
As part of the module Management and Organization, students on the degree programme in Business Administration have developed the game “Man, you are competent”. The game is based on “Mensch ärgere dich nicht”, a game similar to Ludo, and is designed to train the four core competences: subject, social, personal and methodological competence.
“Mensch ärgere dich nicht” is a classic among board games and easy to understand. All that is required is a board for four players with squares for the start and finish, a dice and different coloured pieces. Whoever gets his piece to the finish first is the winner.
A popular game for young and old alike. And, in the view of Business Administration students Caroline Schnaack (25), Hannes Riepl (22) and Franziska Grass (20), a game ideally suited to securing and consolidating learning content. That is why, to complete their Management and Organization module, they developed the game “Mensch, bist du kompetent”.
Intention
“We originally wanted to bring together all the knowledge we had acquired in the module on a large poster. But we thought that was too boring. That’s when we hit upon the idea for the game.” This is how Caroline Schnaack describes her motivation for “Mensch, bist du kompetent”. The longer the three students spent working on the idea, the more their enthusiasm grew.
For Hannes Riepl, filling the game in all its facets with new knowledge posed a real challenge. “We wanted to create something interactive. Something that is fun and that makes you think.” In the course of the game, the four core competences – subject, social, personal and methodological competence – are put to the test.
How to play
On every square there is a model, a concept, an image or a quotation from a famous personality for the players to (at least try to) explain. “Only when the answer has satisfied everyone is the player allowed to move forward. If it doesn’t, he has to remain on his original square,” says Franziska Grass. During the game, concepts such as Taylorism and cybernetics are tested, but one also needs to be able to explain, for example, what the ancient Egyptians understood by leadership.
There is no limit on the number of players. Polystyrene skittles in different colours are used for the pieces on the board. All the members of a particular team, i.e. of one colour, can, by attaching a photo to a kebab skewer in the polystyrene skittle, leave their personal mark on the game. This strengthens team spirit and aids orientation. Whichever team reaches the finish first wins.
Response
Through innovative didactic approaches such as the one described above, the Bachelor’s degree programme in Business Administration bridges the gap between theoretical study and practical application. Moreover, students at the University of Liechtenstein are able to access learning in a new way and assume co-responsibility for transferring what has been learned.
At the presentation of the project, the game generated great interest among fellow students. The original “Mensch ärgere dich nicht” is in the meantime so well established that regular tournaments are held. When the first “Mensch, bist du kompetent” tournament will be held at the University of Liechtenstein is not yet known.