Playful Learning 2026 Programme

‘Deadline Dash’: navigating assessment deadlines the playful way

Lead Author: Giskin Day

Additional authors:

Timetable: Wednesday Session 3: 16:00-16:45, Outdoors (Gallery 2 if raining)

Description:

When it comes to coursework in higher education, it is rarely a straight trail from students setting out with good intentions to submitting a well-crafted assignment by the deadline. Along the way, students encounter fallen branches, hidden roots, distracting wildlife, and tempting side trails that lead them off course. Deadline Dash is a playful card-based game informed by 25 years of experience listening to students explain missed deadlines and exploring the strategies that support successful navigation of assessment.

Players choose a creature as a token and journey through an assessment ‘wood’, drawing cards that reveal familiar hazards such as overconfidence, unexpected pitfalls and perfectionism, alongside supportive practices that help them save time and make progress. Players who submit on time are rewarded with grade cards, and those that miss the deadline learn about institutional options and consequences for late submission, making these often-opaque processes more visible and less intimidating. The grade cards also help to manage expectations about university-level marking compared with marking schemes with which students might be familiar from school.

A prototype of the game has been trialled with students with widening participation status who gave encouraging feedback. The game has an option for players to add their own cards to the deck, creating space to share stories of both missteps and successes along the trail. The session will invite participants to play, followed by discussion of how similar approaches might be adapted for their own contexts. Suggestions for improvements to the game will be welcome.

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