Call for Proposals
Want to dive further into the mystery? Please consider submitting a proposal for a book chapter! Select the button to the right or reach out to Dr. Stephanie Baer (sbaer@southeast.edu) to learn more.
Thank you for joining us for 2025 Playposium - Lincoln!
From Dr. Alison James’s inspiring keynote to the escape rooms, role-playing panels, and that unforgettable murder mystery event, your energy and curiosity made this year’s event something truly special. Together, we put on our detective hats and uncovered some powerful truths about how play helps us teach, learn, and connect in deeper ways.
Slides and resources for sessions can be found under each session title below, or you can access the entire folder here. Resources will be available until February 28, 2026.
If you have any questions, please reach out to Erin Bauer (ebauer2@unl.edu), Robert Vavala (robert.vavala@unl.edu), or Julia Remsik Larsen (jremsiklarsen2@nebraska.edu).
Schedule At a Glance
Day 1 - November 6
| 8:30 am | Registration Opens |
| 9:00 - 9:15 am | Opening Remarks: Dr. Amy Goodburn, Beverly Russell |
| 9:15 - 10:45 am | Keynote Speaker: Alison James, PhD The Clue Is You. Finding your playful way in higher education (Keynote) |
| 10:45 - 11:00 am | Break |
| 11:00 - 11:45 am | What research methods can teach us about incorporating play in graduate courses |
| 11:45 am - 12:15 pm | Cameron and Aubrey from the Great Plains Gaming Project Play is Serious Learning (and you should be playing games in the classroom) |
| 12:15 - 1:15 pm | Lunch on your own |
| 1:30 - 2:15 pm | Speed Sessions |
| 2:15 - 2:55 pm | Learning to Love Brains: Using Play to Teach Neuroscience |
| 3:00 - 3:15 pm | Break |
| 3:15 - 4:00 pm | Creative Chemistry: Alien Biochemistry and Extraterrestrial Minerals in the Movies |
| 4:00 - 4:45 pm | Cultivating Paradigm Shifters: Changing Mental Models through Games |
| 4:45 - 5:00 pm | Closing for Day 1 |
| 5:30 - 6:30 pm | Buffet dinner at East Campus Featuring Bonsai Bowls |
| 6:30 - 8:30 pm | Murder Mystery event hosted by Escape Lincoln |
Day 2 - November 7
| 8:30 am | Registration Opens |
| 9:00 - 10:30 am | Opening for Day 2 and Panel: Reacting to the Past |
| 10:30 - 10:45 am | Break |
| 10:45 - 11:30 am | 10 Important things to know about play |
| 11:30 am - 12:15 pm | Understanding Resilience with Jenga |
| 12:15 - 1:15 pm | Lunch on your own |
| 1:30 - 2:15 pm | The Evolution Game: Learning to Outsmart Cancer and Superbugs |
| 2:15 - 3:45 pm | UNL Academic Technologies: Dr. Amy Barry, Leah Widdowson, and Jay Adams Canvas Escape Room |
| 3:45 - 4:00 pm | Event Closing |
Day 1: Session Details
9:15 - 10:45 am - The Clue Is You. Finding your playful way in higher education (Keynote)
Keynote Speaker: Alison James, PhD
In this keynote I will share insights from practices, projects and publications which celebrate the presence of play in the academy, and challenge reasons for resistance to it. In particular, we will explore the outcomes of two studies - The Value of Play in HE - the clue is in the title - and its offshoot - PLAYI - which looks at the ways genAI and play are being combined in university learning and teaching.
11:00 - 11:45 am - What research methods can teach us about incorporating play in graduate courses
Usually, I use elements of play to teach my students about mixed methods research. Today I am going to turn the tables and use mixed methods principles to demonstrate how I incorporate play in my teaching. You will get to experience some of these activities and identify ways you might repurpose them for your courses.
11:45 am - 12:15 pm - Play is Serious Learning (and you should be playing games in the classroom) *This session will be recorded*
Cameron Iwan, Great Plains Gaming Project President
Aubrey Crooks, Great Plains Gaming Project Director
Attention spans are shrinking—but learning doesn’t have to. Join the Great Plains Gaming Project for a lively session on how a few minutes of play can make your students lean in, think critically, and actually remember what they learn.
1:30 - 2:10 pm - Speed Sessions
Join us for quick tips on including play in your own work - just 5 minutes each! Five instructors and staff share how they've taken small or easy steps to incorporate play in their classroom, at their desk, or in their lives.
- Susan Burton: Simulating a Supervisory Leadership Consulting Company
- Nick Monk: Balloons and Blindfolds: Exploring Accessibility Through Play
- Don Lee: Scratch card quizzes in large lecture classrooms
- If you enjoy the thrill of playing the lottery and scratching winning numbers, you will understand why students stay awake and meet their number one expectation for lecture attendance when you weave scratch card quizzing into your class time gatherings.
- Cody Hanson: That time I lost my voice for 4 months
- Disabilities aren't necessarily permanent. Come listen to the riveting tale of how I lost my voice for several months, and the strategies I used to survive in a world that expects the gift of gab - then take a moment to reflect on how students in your classroom might feel the same way I did.
- Chris Graves: Love Library Scavenger Hunt
2:15 - 3:00 pm - Learning to Love Brains: Using Play to Teach Neuroscience
Using everything from zombies to pineapples to Pokemon, I will show how I use play to foster interest and deep learning in neuroscience & psychology classes. Attendees will discover how these strategies can be applied across all levels of the undergraduate curriculum to engage students and make complex topics feel more approachable.
3:15 - 4:00 pm - Creative Chemistry: Alien Biochemistry and Extraterrestrial Minerals in the Movies
The audience will learn how I use group feedback to decide which movie clips I used in my classroom. I seek movie clips with a high Wow! Factor and high chemical learning. High Wow! ensures the clip is an anchor the audience will remember later. High learning ensures that this exercise is not an empty thrill.
4:00 - 4:45 pm - Cultivating Paradigm Shifters: Changing Mental Models through Games
Games are more than entertainment—they’re catalysts for change. Together, we’ll explore how game-based learning can reshape mental models, spark systems thinking, and build community. Drawing on examples from popular games and original educational games I’ve helped design, we’ll uncover how play can transform players into paradigm shifters.
5:30 - 6:30 pm - Dinner
Connect with fellow attendees at a buffet dinner.
6:30 - 8:30 pm - Murder Mystery Event hosted by Escape Lincoln
You and your friends arrive for a night of thrilling entertainment, but there's a catch… someone in the room is a "murderer," and it’s up to YOU to crack the case! A murder mystery party is an interactive whodunit game where guests take on colorful roles—whether you're the smooth-talking detective, a suspicious stranger, or the wealthy victim’s long-lost cousin. As clues unfold, secrets spill, and alibis unravel, it’s up to everyone to work together (or secretly against each other!) to solve the mystery. Will you unmask the culprit before time runs out?
Dress the part, play your role, and dive into a night of intrigue, drama, and plenty of laughter. It’s like stepping into your favorite crime novel, but way more fun—because this time, YOU get to be the detective!
Day 2: Session Details
9:00 - 10:30 am - Panel: Reacting to the Past
We're starting off Day 2 of 2025 Playposium - Lincoln with a panel discussion on using the Reacting to the Past games in courses. The CTT and Honors have co-sponsored this resource for UNL.
Our panelists include Joann Ross, Vanessa Gorman, Carolyn Twomey, Tony Foreman, and Tom Fraatz.
10:45 - 11:30 am - 10 Important things to know about play
What can we say about play that helps us better understand the concept and put it into practice? This concise summary offers a prism of perspectives to challenge your ideas about the topic.
11:30 am - 12:15 pm - Understanding Resilience with Jenga
Ecosystems provide people with numerous essential ecosystem services like food, flood regulation, healthy soils, and recreation. It is important to understand and manage for the resilience of ecosystems. This game introduces foundational ecological resilience concepts through a modification of the classic game Jenga.
Presentation Slides (PPTX) | Presentation Slides (PDF) | Handouts and additional resources
1:30 - 2:15 pm - The Evolution Game: Learning to Outsmart Cancer and Superbugs
How do you teach students that evolution is not just ancient history, but a critical lens for understanding and addressing modern problems? In this talk I will show how combining Game-Based Learning (GBL) and Design-Based Learning (DBL) is a powerful pedagogy for STEM education. We'll highlight its success in helping students understand how evolution drives issues like pathogen spill-over, the need for booster vaccines, and drug resistance in cancer and bacteria. These concepts game play can be applied across diverse topics and disciplines.
2:15 - 3:45 pm - Canvas Escape Room
UNL Academic Technologies: Dr. Amy Barry, Leah Widdowson, and Jay Adams
At the Canvas Escape Room session, attendees will work in table teams to complete an escape room in Canvas! This course is a fun faculty development opportunity that allows teachers and staff to learn more about Canvas best practices from the student perspective. Will you escape?!
