Using "The Game of Life" as an End-of-Semester Assessment

Abstract

This activity uses of the "The Game of Life" as an end-of-semester assessment in a Marriages and Families course. Students play the board game "The Game of Life," produced by Milton Bradley, and respond to prompts asking them to analyze assumptions that the game makes about family life, connecting the game with material covered throughout the course....

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Details

Subject Area(s):

Family

Resource Type(s):

Assignment

Class Level(s):

Any Level

Class Size(s):

Any

Usage Notes

The course begins with an introduction of Dorothy Smith’s ideological model of the Standard North American Family (SNAF), and then introduces examples of the vast multiplicity of family life experiences in the United States. Examples of topics covered in the course include multiple sexes, long-term cohabitation, same-sex relationships, surrogacy, family...

Learning Goals and Assessments

Learning Goal(s):

1. To identify and assess assumptions about family life in cultural artifacts
2. To create suggestions such that contemporary family experiences are more strongly reflected in cultural artifacts

Goal Assessment(s):

1. Students write five assumptions the game makes about family life (such as everyone gets married), and respond to the following prompt: Are those assumptions accurate portrayals of family life today in the U.S.? Explain.
2. Students name five changes that could be made to the game in order for it to better reflect contemporary family experiences in a written reflection assignment and on the exam.