First-year students at Penn State York have been having fun playing a new game called ConnectED, which was created to enhance the first-year student experience and increase social engagement. But this is not just any game – ConnectED, a game-based library First-Year Experience, also known as FYE, offers a grand prize next spring semester of $2,014 to be used toward tuition for returning to Penn State York.
According to Barb Eshbach, head librarian at Penn State York’s Lee R. Glatfelter Library, students earn points by participating in one of two ways – by attending library-sponsored ConnectED events and by making connections with other students, faculty, and staff on campus. The FYE uses a game board, which tracks points, and “connection cards.” In order to make a “connection,” each student needs to find something they have in common with another person, and ConnectED events offer a wonderful opportunity for students to make these connections, Eshbach said. The student then writes what they have in common on the back of their card. These cards allow students to record their name and Penn State user ID and the name and user ID of their connection.
"Just the framework of this program gives you an easy way to create opportunities to meet students,” Eshbach said. “And the reason that I particularly like playing games is because I find it hard to be in a social situation with people that I don't know and have a conversation. I would imagine a lot of students would feel that way, too, coming in and having to interact with people they don't know."
Through the game board, students track their progress with stickers. Eshbach said she tracks their progress on a huge spreadsheet, where she records their points. Students can receive 25 points for events with local speakers and 50 points for events that bring in outside speakers. At the end of the academic year, Eshbach said she will total the points and the students with the most points will earn the $2,014, an award amount that denotes the year the student started at Penn State.