Chennaiite’s board games give experiential learning a boost

It started when the engineering graduate in his mid-twenties joined the Ashoka University for his Young India Fellowship. It changed his perspective and empowered him. “It taught me that rather than technology-based, several problems revolve around sociology and exposure to liberal arts is necessary to solve this. After working at a start-up for a bit, I returned to Chennai and started working on MADIEE out of the incubation centre at Anna University,” Senthil said.

During his initial workshops, he found that everyone from HODs and teachers to students were riveted by their idea of learning from board games, bringing about a co-learning experience. 

“I found that popular learning techniques such as practical experience and listening to experts were myths. We wanted our experiential solution to be both hands-on and heads-on, but we also had to debunk stereotypes. In India, board games are perceived to be only for kids and card games are associated with gambling. We started off with workshops at corporates and cafes to spread awareness,” said Senthil. 

Simply put, they offer solutions in the form of open electives and short-term courses in the humanities and liberal arts, and acts as a platform for passionate professionals to teach the next generation as well.

While some boards are imported from international manufacturers (used to teach topics like cultural impact, team-bonding, problem-solving and so on), MAIDEE also have created their own games such as ‘Breakonomics’ that delves into topics like understanding Economics and public policy. “We also work with the Entrepreneurship Development of the government to inculcate the habit in school students,” Senthil said.

With over 75 sessions held so far, the aim of the group is to introduce their pedagogy technique as curriculum in colleges soon, so that students can have a more holistic learning experience (rather than be restricted by their choice of stream).