University of Toronto

Playful Pedagogy: Student Perceptions of Academic Skill Development Through Board Games

This study examines how university students perceive a co-curricular board game café hosted by an Academic Skills Centre at a Canadian university, with a focus on participation patterns, perceived academic skill development, and interest in future game-based learning workshops.

• All 104 surveyed students reported happiness during board game sessions, and 76% agreed that board games motivate them to learn, making affective and motivational responses the study's strongest findings.
• Students perceived the strongest skill development in problem solving (84%), verbal communication (83%), creativity (79%), collaboration (78%), and critical thinking (76%).
• Perceived transfer of gained skills to coursework was modest at 35%, and writing skills were endorsed by only 25% of respondents.