Game Theory in The Classroom
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-04/why-i-let-my-students-cheat-their-game-theory-exam
When thinking about game theory, competition and dominant strategies often come to mind. On the surface it seems to be the study of me versus the world. A UCLA professor, Peter Nonacs, challenged this surface level idea about game theory by showing that it can be about cooperation. Thus, working together can be the dominant strategy of a game.
Peter gave his biology class the most challenging exam that he has ever thought of but allowed the students to use any resources to complete the exam, provided they are legal. In this environment, it became clear that cooperation was the dominant strategy to this game and the best bet to maximize one’s score. Peter’s goal was that this environment would teach his students about game theory and its implications on evolutionary biology by placing them in a game analogous to evolution.
The result was that only three out of twenty seven students chose to complete the exam without cooperation. The rest worked diligently and efficiently during the exam to brainstorm and develop answers to the challenging exam. Their scores were excellent and validation that working together was the dominant strategy.
This experiment by Peter provides a refreshing view of game theory not as a means of pinning players against players but as a means of pinning players against the game. The students were not given many rules to define the exam game aside from obeying the law. They were in charge of drafting their strategies to solve the exam with almost no constraints and they were all aware of that. A unique circumstances was thus created in which only a strong understanding and application of the subject material was needed to achieve success and not tedious memorization. Peter’s game raises the question, in what other scenario would cooperation beat competition?