Playful Pedagogy in Higher Education

This collection provides a wide array of concrete and inspiring "playful" approaches to teaching in a range of higher education contexts and discipline areas, grounded in the learning sciences and within a future-oriented revisioning of the university learning environment. Within the broad area of active learning strategies, this text offers a curated collection of creative innovations such as game-based learning, gamification of courses, escape rooms, semester-long quests, dramatic role-plays, artistic endeavors and more. Containing descriptive and impact research that evidences the power of playful pedagogy, this text will offer a range of novel, transferable and usable materials for readers to apply in their lecture halls and classrooms tomorrow.


“Playful Pedagogy in Higher Education provides a thoughtful consideration of the potential of play in universities, exemplified with a wide-ranging series of examples of playful learning in the higher education classroom, providing a wealth of practical tips and guidance for teachers who might be considering the potential of playful methods.”


Professor Nic Whitton, Northumbria University, Newcastle, UK