Educational Game on Cryptocurrency Investment: Using Microeconomic Decision Making to Understand Macroeconomics Principles

Paper: arXiv 2301.10541

Authors: Jiasheng Zhu, Luyao Zhang

Abstract

Gamification is an effective strategy for motivating and engaging users, which is grounded in business, marketing, and management by designing games in nongame contexts. Gamifying education, which consists of the design and study of educational games, is an emerging trend. However, the existing classroom games for understanding macroeconomics have weak connections to the microfoundations of individual decision-making. We design an educational game on cryptocurrency investment for understanding macroeconomic concepts in microeconomic decisions. We contribute to the literature by designing game-based learning that engages students in understanding macroeconomics in incentivized individual investment decisions. Our game can be widely implemented in online, in-person, and hybrid classrooms. We also reflect on strategies for improving the user experience for future educational game implementations.

Complexity vs Empirical Score

• Math Complexity: 2.0/10
• Empirical Rigor: 3.0/10
• Quadrant: Philosophers — conceptual discussion, limited math and data

Why this score: This paper focuses on educational pedagogy and gamification rather than quantitative finance methodology. It lacks mathematical formalization and rigorous empirical financial backtesting, functioning primarily as a conceptual design framework for economics education.

Research Flowchart

  flowchart TD
    A["Research Goal: Connect Macroeconomics to Micro-Decisions via Gamification"] --> B["Design Educational Game on Cryptocurrency Investment"]
    B --> C["Data/Inputs: Incentivized Individual Investment Scenarios"]
    C --> D["Implementation in Online, In-Person & Hybrid Classrooms"]
    D --> E["Evaluation of User Experience & Educational Engagement"]
    E --> F["Key Outcome: Validated Game-Based Framework Bridging Micro & Macroeconomics"]