Vancouver Island University's poli-sci department hopes on-campus-developed technology galvanizes prospective young voters leading up to the next federal election.
Sage Vote and Whack-A-Party are two department-developed applications, with the latter a trivia game similar to the Whac-A-Mole carnival game, in which players hit mechanized moles with a mallet-type device as they pop out of holes. It is part of a 'game jam,' a gaming challenge in which students are encouraged to find solutions to political issues, said Lauren Touchant, VIU political studies professor.
Developed in the Poli 100: An Introduction to Power Politics and the Public Interest course, the aim is to educate young voters about political institutions and political life in the country, she said, as only 30 per cent of people have knowledge of the public institution in Canada.
Whack-A-Party's beaver characters will challenge children and young people to answer various questions.
"It's funny, it's animated, but at the end, they're going to receive a lot of information about where to vote, what age they can vote, and the idea really is to enhance civic education in Canada, in British Columbia," Touchant said.
Nikki Hearns, VIU political studies student, said the Sage Vote app was originally scheduled for the current provincial election campaign, but is now anticipated to launch in time for the next federal election campaign instead. The hope is to engage youths and inform them of their civic duty through a "game-like platform" meant to be engaging. Players will earn points by finding information around a city map and answering questions.
"There's going to be different platforms for whatever political parties are running, whatever their platform is, or policies…" she said. "There's also going to be a myth-busting portion to it, so that if there's rumours going around, this is an opportunity to get those out of the way."
Touchant said research indicates that people will be able to enjoy the games while retaining information presented.
“We noticed that it really helps younger students to have a better understanding of political concepts," she said. "We tested it in our classroom and we noticed that by having our students actually creating games, we enhanced their ability to solve and think about problems, but critically and not being caught in the traps of political ideologies, which is important for us as a political department."
The next federal election is anticipated next year and it is hoped the technology can be shared beyond VIU's campus.
"This game is going to be shared with local schools here, elementary schools and high schools, and we hope that social science departments are going to be able to use the game to educate their students on political institutions," Touchant said.
