THE SNAKES AND LADDERS OF RESEARCH - USING A BOARD GAME TO TEACH THE PITFALLS OF UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH DESIGN

The Snakes and Ladders of Research is a board game aimed at summarising and reinforcing the pitfalls and virtues of research design in undergraduate research projects. The game was used as part of a second-year research design course, in which an attempt was made to transfer knowledge of good and bad research practices from a passive learning environment to an active one. When played with two undergraduate classes the game was well received and the short-term recall of good and bad research practices averaged 73%.