BIG GAME COMPETITION:

INFORMATION FOR PARTICIPANTS

ARE YOU READY TO SAVE THE PLANET?

JOIN THE UNITED NATIONS ANTI-APOCALYPSE FORCE!

Who can participate?

Secondary schools with 11–16 year-old students from all over Europe.

How can you participate?

Register your school and the number of teams (around 5 students per team) for the competition through the REGISTRATION FORM by 30/10/2023. The competition starts on 06/11/2023.

Please read THE BIG GAME Contest Rules in preparation for the game.

1. One week before the game starts, registered teachers will receive sign-in information for their teams to access the online Big Game environment.
    
2. During the game, student teams log in to the game environment and are presented with an environmentally-themed mission set in the near future. There will be 3 missions in total, each focusing on preventing an environmental disaster. 
    
3. Student teams will devise a solution to each mission and submit it using the template provided in the game environment (SEE HERE). The teacher will guide students throughout the investigation process:
   • help them to navigate the environment and translate if necessary;
   • support them in finding information sources and evaluating them critically;
   • explain potentially difficult concepts, parts, etc.;
   • help to structure the presentation;
   • check that students cite sources and images used (students are asked to insert a URL for each image and source).
      
4. Teams have 10 days to complete each mission. As such, teachers and teams can start working on the mission during whichever day of the week suits their schedule.
    
5. Teachers are encouraged to provide feedback to students during the research process and when formulating their solutions.
    
6. The GAME Evaluation Committee will evaluate all the solutions using the following criteria and assign scores to them within 4 days:
   • EFFICACY: would the proposed solution solve the problem
   • PRAGMATISM: how practical, efficient, and doable is the solution
   • SCHOLARSHIP: does the solution cite multiple relevant and reliable sources
   • PERSUASION: is the solution clearly explained and presented well
      
7. After the evaluation, a new mission opens on Monday, the teams see their results for solving the previous mission, and the game process starts again with a new mission. The overall schedule is as follows:
   • Mission 1: November 6–16
   • Mission 2: November 20-29
   • Mission 3: December 4-13
   • Final results (including winner announcement): December 20
      
8. After the competition, teachers’ and students’ satisfaction questionnaires will be sent out to analyse the participants’ experience.

In case of questions, don’t hesitate to contact thebiggame.contest@gmail.com

THE DIGITAL BANK

In addition to the game, we also invite teachers to contribute to a digital bank containing educational resources to be used in the future. In order to do so, please choose one team’s solution to one mission, which, in your view, is exemplary and well-written. Then, together with the students involved, create a short video describing the solution. Submit the solution and the resulting video to thebiggame.contest@gmail.com. (Teachers are welcome to submit multiple solutions and videos, but one solution+video per teacher is required). All the videos will be published on the BIG GAME Channel.

Of the content submitted to the DIGITAL BANK, the Evaluation Committee will choose eight scenarios/videos as examples of good practice. These will be announced in February 2024, and the teams who created them will receive a commemorative badge.

The Evaluation Committee that will review submissions for both the Game Environment and the Digital Bank comprises the following members:

• Mikhail Fiadotau (Tallinn University)
• Peadar Callaghan (Tallinn University)
• Alina Ailincai (EuroED)
• Andrei Bordeianu (EuroED)
• Luigi Tramonti (EU-Track)
• Alden M. Dochshanov (EU-Track)