Groundwater game - Manual for facilitator

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Groundwater game - manual cover

The facilitator or ‘Game Manager’ is responsible for all aspects of The Groundwater Game session. He/she sets the game environment, placing the players in their roles as farmers and introducing the context and storyline for each scenario with the help of the PowerPoint presentation. The facilitator directs the flow of the game by starting each simulation run and prompting the players to make their decisions regarding how much land they want to farm and other scenario-specific issues. The facilitator enforces the rules and provides motivation and guidance to the players throughout the game. When players have uploaded their decisions using the GW Player App, the facilitator updates the Excel spreadsheet via the Game Manager app, and encourages the players to reflect on the outcome of their decisions.

By the end of the game, the facilitator(s) explains the outcomes and conclusions coming from the game results and promotes a final discussion around the learning objectives of the game. The role of the facilitator in directing the story and context of the game is essential for the functioning and understanding of the game. The learning objectives of the game rely heavily on how the facilitator(s) leads the game.

The facilitator must know very well the game rules and game setting, for that he/she must: read this manual, study the PowerPoint presentation and the Excel game file and become familiar with the game apps in the installation file folder.