Designing a Serious Game for Scrum Learning: Boundary Objects as a Medium for Knowledge Transfer

Introduction

Agile methodologies have become increasingly popular in companies. The rise of digital projects has accelerated the adoption of agile project management methodologies. The main motivation for this adoption is product delivery acceleration, taking into account changes in priorities, (during the project) and productivity increase of the team project. Therefore, universities have started to teach agile practices in their information system and graduate project management courses (Kropp et al., 2014; Scott et al., 2016; Steghöfer et al., 2017). Of the various agile approaches, Scrum is one of the most popular and successfully applied in organizations.

The challenge for universities is to give students the opportunity to apply Scrum in practice and to not only focus on theoretical aspects (Rumeser and Emsley, 2018; Gritski, 2011; Lynch et al., 2011). To that end, serious games are a complement to traditional lectures. They provide various advantages as an active instructional method, making the learning more active. They can help to strengthen students’ understanding within acceptable teaching time. Moreover, due to their inherent characteristics, (such as competition, challenge, collaboration), these educational games can turn learning into an engaging and exciting experience (Sibona, Pourreza and Hill, 2018; Lee 2016; Prince, 2004.)

For teaching Scrum, several types of serious games with different learning objectives have been proposed in the academic and professional training fields (Fernandes and Sousa, 2010; Gritski, 2011; Krivitsky, 2011; Von Wangenheim, Savi and Borgatto, 2013; Paasivaara et al., 2014; May, York, and Lending, 2016; Lee 2016). These educational games range from computer games to card/board games or LEGO games. When evaluated post-game, they are found to be motivating for students. However, their game design lacks clear specifications as to how they are to be incorporated within an experiential learning approach following a systematic instructional approach (Von Wangenheim, Savi et Borgatto, 2012).

Therefore, in our research, we propose a conceptual framework that shapes the game design and helps articulate knowledge transfer at the boundaries of the game and the traditional course.

This framework relies on the concepts of “knowledge transfer across boundaries” (Carlile 2002, 2004) and “boundary object” (Star, 1989) in the context of serious games design. These two concepts are key to a better understanding of the logic of knowledge transfer between the two universes (game and traditional courses). Boundary objects are considered in the academic literature as a means to fostering cooperation between (and within) teams, the negotiation and transformation of standardized knowledge across boundaries and the appropriation of knowledge by individuals (Star 1989; Henderson 1991, Wenger 1998).