How Student Game Designers Design Learning into Games

This investigation examined how to support students in creating learning designs for specific learning goals in analogue and digital games as a means of learning. The study also explored the learning trajectories that emerged in the digital games created by the student learning-game designers. The DBR study was developed through three iterations over two years, involving teachers and students in co-design processes. Together with the teachers, an overall learning design supported the learning process for students by inviting them to be their own learning designers as they designed digital learning games for specific learning goals in cross-disciplinary subject matters. The findings were that the students succeeded in developing and implementing specific learning goals in their games. The students also developed learning trajectories through the games by designing various learning and evaluation opportunities for the player/learner playing the game.