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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Comput. Sci.
Sec. Human-Media Interaction
Volume 6 - 2024 |
doi: 10.3389/fcomp.2024.1389563
This article is part of the Research Topic Video Games for Impact: Design Projects That Can Change the Way We Think View all articles
Negotiating Artefacts: Student Game Creation for Education and Introspection
Provisionally accepted- University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, United Kingdom
Learning through gameplay is thus being increasingly adopted by educators, who integrate games into academic curricula to address complex subjects. "Existential" game design is recognised as a practice for personal growth, self-reflection, and therapy, though it has been underexplored in educational contexts. The research thus describes the creation and deployment of two game design assessments for a private higher-education institution in South Africa that allowed undergraduate students to explore various complex topics. The research utilized an action research approach with a pre-test/post-test design for data collection, with results being explored using sentiment-based and thematic analysis. The findings reveal mixed responses from participants which highlighted the usefulness of the exercise but noted that the courses' focus on technical quality and a lack of adequate preparation hindered the experience, with adequate mentoring and developer support being suggested to improve it. Arts-based approaches to such educational interventions, with a focus on "deep" games, critical play, and values-conscious design throughout the curriculum, are discussed as a potential solution. While game design remains a useful educational tool for engaging with complex societal issues, educators must increasingly ensure they prepare undergraduate students adequately for such creative exercises.
Keywords: game design, Education, Reflection, creation, serious games
Received: 21 Feb 2024; Accepted: 26 Aug 2024.
Copyright: © 2024 Jerrett. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Adam Jerrett, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, United Kingdom
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