Experimenting on how to create a sustainable gamified learning design that supports adult students when learning through designing learning games

This paper presents and discusses the first iteration of a design‐based research experiment focusing on how to create an overall gamified learning design (big Game) facilitating the learning process for adult students by letting them be their own learning designers through designing their own digital learning games (small games) in cross‐disciplinary subject matters. The experiment has focused on creating a game‐based learning design that enables the students to implement the learning goals into their games, and on making the game design process motivating and engaging. Another focus of the study has been to create a sustainable learning design that supports the learning game design process and gives teachers the ability to evaluate whether the students have been successful in learning their subject matter through this learning game design process. The findings are that this initial experiment with the learning design comes part of the way toward making the experience engaging and facilitating learning, but there is room for improvement and suggestions for tweaking the big Game — the gamified learning design.