NAERINGSPH-Nærings-phd

This project studies how collaboration between people towards a common goal creates a significant potential for learning and development, both for individuals and for organizations. In the organizational setting, the inherent potential of the group can be attained by utilizing organizational development tools, including serious games (learning games/applied games/simulations). The main objective of the project is to create an understanding of how collaboration, learning, and organizational development through playing serious games is experienced, and how participants perceive such efforts. Individual and interactional aspects, based on psychological and learning science knowledge, will be essential in achieving this. In addition to empirical research, novel understanding of existing research from adjacent fields of study will be a crucial component of the project. Implications for best practices in using serious games, simulations, and other developmental tools in an engaging manner will be a key aspect of the project. Current practical utilization of organizational development tools tends not to, or only partially, be research-based. These tools often have adequate content yet might not realize their learning and/or development potential due to lacking integration of learning principles. In addition to not being adequately research-based, this is also a problem of lacking communication between academic researchers and development tool providers. An objective of the study will therefore be to aid communication and collaboration. This is achieved through a constant parallel focus on synthesizing existing knowledge and empirical research, as well as the integration of these two approaches. Research within this project relies on both quantitative and qualitative data, although the latter is emphasized in empirical work. This supports the primacy of understanding participant's experiences and reflections with using developmental tools. Through this knowledge, a greater understanding of what participants find engaging and motivating is created, enriching the understanding of conditions under which participants experience learning and development. Existing quantitative data are used to contextualize findings and aid in interpreting development and learning outcomes. Findings from the project reveal that collaboration arise rapidly during the process of playing a serious game when players can (a) manage their differences, face the unfamiliarity of the situation together, and adapt to group needs. Furthermore, during play, players engage in individual learning through processes such as (b) formalizing practical experience, exploring diverging perspectives, and reflecting on others’ thinking. Simultaneously, shared learning experiences arise as players (c) jointly overcome challenges, craft collaborative strategies, and acquire know-how together. As such, the results indicate that serious games may create a unique setting for collaborative learning experiences, wherein players swiftly become engaged in collaboration, learning from and with each other. Furthermore, the results of this project indicate that serious games offer a practical application of knowledge in a safe environment, which can enhance learning and collaboration, provided that a clear purpose for using collaborative serious games (such as pooling resources, learning from each other, or developing as a team) is present. However, collaboration and collaborative learning should not be assumed to automatically occur in games and special care must be taken to support the transition from interaction to collaboration. Regarding the specific context of organizational development, it is found that collaborative serious games can rapidly establish and promote teamwork despite individual differences, through facilitating the establishment of necessary preconditions (e.g., trust and psychological safety). Moreover, learning and collaboration are mutually beneficial in collaborative serious games, making them useful interventions for team development through facilitating the sharing of knowledge and experiences for co-construction of meaning, spreading knowledge, and improving organizational capability.

Key impacts of this project include deeper understanding of the potential benefits of using serious games, the conditions and forms of learning available through play, and a legitimization of using collaborative games in business and education. By showcasing the ways in which collaborative serious games are experienced as enhancing instructional and developmental efforts, a new application practice can take form. For the practical application of collaborative serious games this project indicates that serious games can enhance learning and collaboration when play offers a practical application of knowledge in a safe environment. For serious games to enhance learning, a clear purpose for using collaborative serious games (e.g., pooling resources, learning from each other, or developing as a team) instead of more traditional instructional activities is necessary. Individual and group needs for support during play may vary, and facilitation may be necessary to ensure successful collaborative learning. Special care must be taken to support the transition from interaction to collaboration. For the field of organizational development, collaborative serious games seem to rapidly establish and enhance teamwork by facilitating the establishment of necessary preconditions (e.g., trust and psychological safety). This demonstrates how play can be a novel practical approach to initiating teamwork. Moreover, learning and collaboration seem to be mutually beneficial facets of playing collaborative serious games. Therefore, games become useful interventions for team development and teamworking through facilitating the sharing of knowledge and experiences for co-construction of meaning, spreading knowledge, and improving organizational capability. For the research of serious games, findings indicate that engagement and learning are intertwined processes during play, and that the individual experience of play is shaped by both. As such, further research must account for this interrelation and consider how games offer a unique setting for learning that facilitates procedural knowledge. Moreover, collaboration is driven by activities undertaken to reach game goals and the process of overcoming challenges together. Willingness to engage in collaboration and adapt to others despite differences is therefore crucial for play experience, and the emergence of collaboration is influenced by discovering and adapting to differences and engaging in the pursuit of shared goals. This redefines how collaboration should by researched as a means for reaching developmental goals, demanding a deeper exploration than what is currently common. Looking ahead to consider long term societal changes, a key effect of this research project is a wider adoption of the serious game approach in education and industry. This has the potential to redefine how learning and training efforts are conducted, shifting towards an active and experiential approach experienced as inclusive and engaging.

Det er i dag vanlig at bedrifter bruker mye tid og penger på organisasjonsutviklingsverktøy, verktøy som ofte ikke er godt fundert i forskning. En viktig grunn er at akademia og næringslivet på feltet ikke har fått til en god dialog, selv om det ofte snakkes om de samme temaene. Effekten av verktøyene og tankesettene næringslivet bruker er gjerne anekdotisk heller enn empirisk, og måloppnåelse er varierende. I dette prosjektet ønskes det å ta tak i denne utfordringen, gjennom kartlegging av hva som fungerer godt med de eksisterende måtene å drive organisasjonsutvikling, og hva som kan overføres fra teoretisk og empirisk kunnskap. Prosjektet er tredelt: Del 1: Teoretisk arb. for å skape en mer helhetlig forståelse av krysningspunkt mellom psykologi-litteratur, pedagogikk-litteratur, og litteratur som angår de ulike verktøyene som er i bruk, samt organisasjonsutviklingsfeltet (business & management). Gjennom denne teoretiske delen vil det oppnås en økt forståelse for hva man bør fokusere på under de neste delene, i tillegg til at det utgjør et dypdykk i en unik kombinasjon av forskningsfelt. Dette arbeidet støttes opp av allerede utført forskningsarbeid internt i bedriften, både i form av masteroppgave og intern FoU-innsats. Del 2: Intervjustudie, basert på kunnskap fra den teoretiske delen. Informanter i denne studien vil bli intervjuet etter deltakelse ved relevante verktøy/ serious games. Dette vil gi videre innsikt i deltakernes opplevelser knyttet til læring og kunnskap. Intervjuspørsmål til denne delen baseres også på respondenters tilbakemeldinger i overnevnte masteroppgave. Del 3: Kombinerte metoder-studie knyttet til effektiviteten av læringen og kunnskapsformidlingen som ligger i denne typen verktøy. Her vil longitudinelle intervjuer komplimenteres av enkle kvantitative mål for å kunne måle utfall, slik som økt kunnskap. Dette prosjektet vil gi en god innsikt i utvikling - og læringsverktøy, og vil bidra til å besvare mange til nå ubesvarte spørsmål.