Evaluation of a Financial Education Board Game Integrating Historical Contextual Events and Simulated Trading Mechanisms

Abstract

The key to financial education is not merely financial knowledge, but more importantly, the skills of money investment and management. Without simulated financial operations and experiencing the effects of social contextual events on the market, learning transfer becomes challenging. Game-based learning provides a solution that motivates learners to engage actively, while also simulating contextual events, thus offering realistic experiences and feedback. By integrating real historical background events, learners can immerse themselves in a vivid trading scene. This immersive experience not only enhances the fun of learning but also facilitates historical empathy among learners, while simultaneously deepening their historical knowledge and financial skills. In our study, we developed a financial education board game set in 17th-century Europe, where learners played the role of the Dutchman. The game allowed learners to participate in the flower futures market, experiencing market fluctuations due to historical events and making investment decisions based on risk assessments. The empirical evaluation involving 16 participants indicated that the board game with historical contexts enabled learners to enter a state of flow and achieve focused learning. Moreover, learners found it beneficial to grasp the concepts of futures trading through the game. Furthermore, 80% of participants reported feeling immersed in the historical setting, and they were able to empathize the Dutch sentiments about the futures market at that time.

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Author Information
Zheng-Hong Pan, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taiwan
Shen-Yang Ni, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taiwan
Huei-Tse Hou, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taiwan