Playful Learning 2026 Programme

Cards for Social Policy: A Playful Approach to Teaching Health Policy

Lead Author: Rory Parkinson

Additional authors:

Timetable: Thursday Session 6: 12:00-12:45, Gallery Room 2

Description:

The What:
I teach medical students, and part of their training is to understand social policy. This presents a unique challenge due to the complexity and often abstract nature of social policy in relation to their studies (Forrest, 2017; Dikomitis et. al., 2022). Traditional methods of instruction can struggle to engage students and not support a deep understanding of the material. To address this issue, I developed an innovative approach using playful learning and gamification.

Inspired by the concept of “Cards Against Humanity” I created a similar card game, “Cards for Social Policy”. It is designed to promote debate, understanding of different perspectives, and the ability to justify decisions and recommendations in social policy. The game encourages students to explore how political ideology influences policy and to consider various economic social policies. This is done by utilising current societal ‘problems’ and using multiple different ‘solutions’.

This session will showcase the potential issues of teaching social policy and how game-based approaches can make learning more engaging and, ultimately, fun. Playful learning can be said to motivate students, promote creative and critical thinking, and knowledge retention (Billings & Halstead, 2023; Phunsa & Pawala, 2024). Furthermore, having ‘fun’ can create enjoyable and memorable learning experiences, compared to more traditional teaching methods (Spaulding, 2010; Whitton, 2018). By utilising a playful learning approach, I aimed to engage and motivate students, support memory retention, develop their critical thinking skills and to have some fun. I believe I have been successful in this!

The game has been a successful addition to my teaching toolkit, helping students to grasp a complex and difficult subject in an interactive and enjoyable manner. Feedback from students has been overwhelmingly positive, highlighting the game’s effectiveness in enhancing their understanding and retention of social policy concepts.
The success of this method has led to its expansion into other disciplines such as nursing, midwifery, and social work. I believe this playful approach can be adapted to other disciplines, both in and out of healthcare related subjects, providing a versatile tool for educators seeking to make challenging subjects more accessible and engaging. I invite other educators to take part in the interactive session to play the game and to consider how something similar could be used within their own teaching.

The Who:
This session is ideal for educators, curriculum developers, and academic leaders, and those involved in teaching humanities, social sciences, and social policy. Participants who are interested in innovative teaching methods and enhancing student engagement will find this session particularly beneficial.

The How:
The session begins with a short discussion on the challenges of teaching topics that revolve around policy, highlighting the need for more engaging and interactive methods. I then demonstrate how the card game can be used to develop discussion and critical thinking skills. Participants will play the game and experience its benefits first-hand. There will then be a discussion on how this method can be implemented and adapted for their own practice and the practical steps in developing this teaching resource.

References, web links and other resources:

https://msuclanac-my.sharepoint.com/:b:/g/personal/rparkinson8_lancashire_ac_uk/IQDHDg9q5bC8TIDj0HuBnM9JATur_CW6BtIuLIKAu57Yqwo?e=JXq3Cr

Please see the link for contact details and a reference list