BACKGROUND / MOTIVATION
The research area of game//play at the university is concerned with exploring how gameful and playful teaching and learning interactions and experiences can be designed and developed within higher education. It draws inspiration from three main areas: Play and game studies, educational research and participatory culture in order to think about how we can improve higher education thinking, doing and being.
The increased focus on quantifiable outcome and assessment in higher education is creating a learning culture characterized by fear of failing, avoidance of risk-taking, and extrinsic goal-oriented behaviour.
The motivation of the research unit is to explore, establish and design a teaching and learning culture in higher education that stimulates intrinsic behaviour and educational drive, creates safe spaces for academic experimentation and exploration, and promotes reflective risk-taking, ideation and participation in education. Drawing inspiration from game and play artefacts, products, technologies and media this research unit explores the deeper playful underpinnings and provision of interactions and experience inherent herein.
Through this, we aim to design and develop gameful and playful experiences university - playful and gameful teaching and learning formats, processes and courses through a gameful and playful signature pedagogy in higher education
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
The research unit engages the above through a approach that works with the following research objectives:

1. to involve game and play artefacts, materials, products, technologies and media as educational technology and digital media tools in Higher Education.
2.to work with gameful and playful learning and teaching interactions and experiences in order to design and develop gameful and playful formats, processes, courses and curricula within the frameworks of learning theories, teaching design, gameful and playful design.
3.to develop a playful university - gameful and playful practices, cultures and environments within Higher Education.
4.to foster and develop a gameful and playful signature pedagogy in Higher Education.
5.to use game and play philosophies in/as higher education.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
● How might we use game and play studies in order to think about and develop a vocabulary for gameful/playful teaching and learning at the university? How does such a framework fit within other educational teaching and learning contexts?
● How can we through gameful and playful frameworks and practices enable, support and promote relevant and engaging teaching and learning interactions and experiences within higher education?
● What educational formats and activities affords valuable playful and gameful academic interactions and experiences?
● How can we create and foster playful participatory cultures in higher education by leveraging the potentials of game/play?