“Taphonomy: Dead and fossilized”: A new board game designed to teach college undergraduate students about the process of fossilization

Incorporating games in teaching can help students retain material and become innovative problem solvers through engagement and enjoyment. Here we describe a new board game, “Taphonomy: Dead and Fossilized,” and its use as an active learning tool (material available at doi: 10.18738/T8/NQV2CU). The educational objective is to teach the player about taphonomy and fossilization, while the gameplay objective is to preserve and recover the best fossil collection. Through competitive gameplay, students learn how chemical, physical, and environmental factors, as well as physiology and discovery biases can influence an organism’s preservation and collection potential. The game is modeled after an Early Jurassic fossil deposit for scientific accuracy and relevance. The game was incorporated in undergraduate classroom activities in 20 colleges and universities across the United States. Survey results show that students and teachers were overwhelmingly positive about the game, stating that it was fun and helped them learn or strengthen their knowledge of fossilization. When analyzed statistically, we find that students’ self-reported learning outcomes and opinions vary most significantly with college year, major, ethnicity, and race. White students and geoscience or STEM majors reported the highest levels of learning and enjoyment, with minorities and non-STEM majors responding less favorably. We suggest this game is most advantageous for use in upper-level paleontology classrooms, although it is still beneficial at lower levels. It is critical to use this game as part of a larger lesson plan and tailor it to fit the needs of an individual classroom. Modifications for time and class size, as well as follow-up discussion questions, are included.

在教学中融入游戏，可通过沉浸式体验与趣味性帮助学生巩固知识，并成长为具备创新思维的问题解决者。本文介绍一款全新桌游《埋藏学（Taphonomy）：死亡与石化》，并阐述其作为主动学习工具的应用方式（相关材料可通过doi: 10.18738/T8/NQV2CU获取）。该桌游的教育目标是向玩家传授埋藏学与化石形成相关知识，而游戏目标则为保存并收集最优质的化石标本。通过竞争性游戏机制，学生可了解化学、物理、环境因素，以及生理学与发现偏差如何影响生物体的保存潜力与标本收集效果。为保证科学准确性与研究相关性，该桌游以早侏罗世化石矿床为原型进行设计。这款桌游已在美国境内20所高等院校的本科生课堂活动中得到应用。调研结果显示，绝大多数师生对该桌游持认可态度，认为其兼具趣味性与学习价值，能够帮助学生掌握并深化化石形成相关知识。经统计分析发现，学生自评的学习成果与主观评价受其就读年级、专业、族裔与种族的影响最为显著。白人学生以及地球科学或科学、技术、工程、数学（STEM）专业学生自评的学习收获与游戏体验满意度最高，而少数族裔学生与非STEM专业学生的评价相对偏低。我们认为，该桌游最适合用于高年级古生物学（Paleontology）课堂，不过在低年级教学中仍具有应用价值。需注意的是，应将该桌游作为完整教学计划的一部分，并根据具体课堂的需求进行调整。相关文档中还提供了针对课时与班级规模的调整方案，以及配套的课后讨论题。