Board game designed by history teacher wins gold award at Kaizen competition in Tokyo

The ECS can be used to help children improve their knowledge of history.

A GROUP of students from SM Teknik Jalan Yaacob Latif in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, was immersed in a board game in their school recently.

They were clearly animated and focused on it, and one could tell that while the girls seemed to be serious about their game, they looked like they were having fun.

Upon closer inspection, the game they were enjoying looked very much like Monopoly, but with a twist.

The students – Nur Aqilah Mohamed Zaidi, Kaiyesa Muhammad Shakir and Nur Atikah Abd Hamid, all aged 16 – were not merely playing a board game, they were actually studying history!

Players have to answer history questions from the square they land on, and will get one dinar with each correct answer.

“It’s interesting and makes learning fun,” said Kaiyesa.

Zulhelmi says the inspiration for ECS was from the Monopoly board game.

“You never know what question you are going to get, and when we finally know the answer, it’s always fascinating to find out,” added the bubbly teenager.

“And once you have played a few times, you won’t forget the answer ever again,” said Nur Atiqah with a laugh.

“Topics such as the ancient Rome civilisation, the pyramids of Egypt and the Great Wall of China have become fun to read.

“So when we finish a topic at school, we like to test our knowledge and memory by playing this game,” said Kaiyesa.

According to the girls, the entire game revolves around history topics including South-East Asian history, world history and Islamic history.

This educational tool, Eksplorasi Cabaran Sejarah (Historical Exploration Challenge) or ECS for short, is the brainchild of Mohd Zulhelmi Mansor, a history teacher from Selangor. He created the the board game five years ago to help his students master the subject.

“My students were struggling with history lessons and kept complaining that it was a tough subject,” said Zulhelmi.

“They kept saying it was boring, there were too many facts to remember and they found it difficult to memorise the names,” he said.

“So I did some research and found that apart from history books and workbooks, there were no other tools available in the market that could be used to help children improve their knowledge of history.

Collaborative and cooperative learning

“The idea itself stems from the concept of collaborative and cooperative learning,” Zulhelmi explained.

“It involves groups of students coming together to discuss a topic, for instance Ancient Rome.

“They have discussions as they play the game, it is about working together to solve a problem collectively as a team,” he elaborated.

After a player has rolled the dice, they are asked a question and if the particular player is unable to answer, then it is open to others.

The making of ECS

Zulhelmi said the inspiration for ECS wasfrom the Monopoly board game.

Armed with a database of questions compiled after several brainstorming sessions with a group of history teachers from technical schools and with help from a former student, Zulhelmi came up with this ingenious way to get his students to embrace history lessons.

The game was developed around the History syllabus of Form Four and Five, and aimed at helping students memorise and retain historical information without having to mug up their history books all the time. And it worked!

“I realised that children today prefer playing games, and they particularly like competitive games. So I thought why not create a platform like the classic board games and students can learn history the fun way.” .

He noted that apart from the ECS being an academic tool, students also pick up social skills while playing the game.

“I noticed in all my students who have played the game, they communicate and interact better with each other. And it fosters goodwill among them, that’s a plus point,” he added.

Winning gold

Students and teachers were not the only ones who were pleased. Zulhelmi’s creation so impressed judges at the International Conference on Quality (ICQ) in Tokyo, Japan, last year, that they gave his team the Gold Award.

The ECS was submitted for the competition under the umbrella of the Master-H team from the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) division of the Education Ministry. It was entered in the School Grade Point Average (SGPA) Kaizen competition stream during the ICQ.

The Master-H Group comprises education officers and teachers from technical schools.

The event was organised by the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers (UJSE).

There were 1,000 participants representing 38 countries. Among the countries were the US, Canada, Poland, Russia, Brazil, South Africa, Israel, Japan, China, Thailand and India, besides Malaysia,

The Master-H team had previously won awards at ministry and Malaysian Productivity Corporation (MPC) levels.

Last year, the team, which represented the Education Ministry, emerged as a Top 10 Group and clinched the 3-Star Gold Award in the National Convention on Team Excellence organised by MPC.

It was then declared as the Public Sector Champion and winner of the MPC Chairman Award.

The winning team will be taking part in the next SGPA Competition at the ASQ World Conference on Quality and Improvement in Nashville, US, next year.

Education Ministry principal assistant director (TVE training development) Suraimi Rithwan, who delivered the presentation of ECS in Tokyo, said the judges were of the opinion that ECS had great potential to be marketed as a good education tool not just for students but the masses too.

He said based on a study, entitled “Decline in School’s Grade Point Average for History Subject in Public examination,” conducted on students, those who previously disliked history started to enjoy the subject.

“We noticed that students were doing better in their SPM History paper, scoring better marks and there was an overall improvement in their GPA points.

“No doubt it is a fantastic education tool, I personally think that more schools should embrace it because I think everyone could benefit from it,” he added.

ECS can be used in both the traditional (physical) form and software format. For details, go to http://eksplorasi-cabaran.com.my/home/