Choose your own epidemic adventure: A jigsaw-style team effort to control a simulated snake fungal disease outbreak

Skylar R Hopkins Hopkins, Applied Ecology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC; Department of Applied Ecology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

If you’re older than 30, it is likely that “you have died of dysentery” while playing a popular educational video game. Building games like Oregon Trail is easy in 2021, because educators have access to many free resources. I used two such resources, NetLogo and Wix, to build a “choose your adventure” game where students use their knowledge of parasite transmission to control a simulated snake fungal disease epizootic. I will describe this open educational resource in the hopes that audience members will consider using game-based learning activities to engage students, encourage critical thinking, and celebrate learning from mistakes.