Seeding and Nurturing Community Game Making Practices to Facilitate Learner Agency

Seeding and Nurturing Community Game Making Practices to Facilitate Learner Agency

Research Questions Nov 2024

What contradictions arose in participation in this research’s game coding processes and how were they addressed?
How can game design patterns support the development of computational fluency in novices?
How can learners build agency in an evolving community of game makers?

Notes on coding for this chapter

Introduction

This chapter explores emergent cultural and community activity, deepens discussion on interpersonal activity and implications for dimensions of tool use on learner agency.

Notes on structure of the chapter

The guiding direction of this chapter is on how participants use the created and emerging cultural and practical tools of this game making program, particularly in reference to the building of agency?

Thus mostly addressing RQ3. However to do this, the chapter builds on the work of previous chapters and in doing so discusses aspects of all three research questions.

For example, in the previous chapter explored the use of GDPs in varied ways which combined to provide a useful structure to orient project work. The community themes is developed in this chapter in the following ways:

playtesting as a social process; play testing and embodied participation in the games of others - community concepts and norming behaviour emerging during playtesting
the impact / if any of the social missions and player types o
the emergence and nurturing of flexible and complex design behaviours (beyond player types)

The chapter then begins a discussion on the overall design context, tensions and evolution of tool use. Particular attention is given to the implications of design decisions and scaffolding approaches to tool use. WHAT RQS DOES THIS ANSWER AND WHY? STEER TO RQ3 ON AGENCY

The chapter ends with a discussion on wider concerns of designing for learner agency. Here I synthesise analysis on processes which support learners to develop agency in this game making community and the role of different levels of authenticity.

Some sections here including discussion on element of the introduced side missions explore how facilitators can encourage emergent processes as part of an introduced design. This discussion chapter uses this conceptual spectrum as a way to explore an analysis of different aspects of agency aand inclusive pedagogies.

Observations on emerging idioculture and the role of playtesting in particular

The previous chapters have explored both designed and fortuitous changes to the learning design that become adopted by the community (HOW AND WHERE EXACTLY).

I propose that the role of playtesting and period of activity given over to playtesting is crucial to the development of both planned an emergent activity.

As explored in the literature review, playtesting is a process common to game making which corresponds to the evaluation phase of design thinking cycles and the process of user testing in HCI [@fullerton_game_2018]

In this section, I review data to describe some of the emerging playtesting behaviours of participants in relation to the introduced learning design.

Summary of this section on playtesting

why prioritise it?

Impact of Design on playtesting behaviours (RECAP)

We have already explored how, x in Ch.5 , and y in Ch.6.

RECAP HERE

Later we look specifically at side missions (drama) & player types

Emerging use of narratives and graphics which drawing on home funds of knowledge - AVOID OVERLAP AND CHANGE FOCUS TO AGENCY FROM START

NOT REALLY ONLY TO DO WITH PLAYTESTING.

RECAP WHAT HAS ALREADY BEEN EXPLORED, In the previous chapter,

While the potential to add graphics was a core affordence of the starting processes of the templated game, the process of designing and sharing and the peer commentary on the process emergered as the sessions evolved.

The literature review outlined the potential of home interests as funds of knowledge, especially informal learning. This learning design provided participants with different ways to input and explore their home interests in the narrative and graphical elements of their created games. For example the choice of game characters allowed the expression of identity. Other designed elements for example audio and graphical effects or written messages added to the overall aesthetic or polish of the game.

Video evidence indicated that conflicts involved between learner expectations and their technical abilities are helped by the use of the starting template. The constraints of provided game elements and implied narrative structure of the template accelerated the initial creative process.

One pair Clive and Pearl, the grandparents of Toby, included a narrative message at the start of their game. This process surfaced the expertise of the family as beekeepers, sparking interesting conversations with other participants.

 var starttext = "This is a game which pits a honey bee against a swarm of Asian hornets,  which are alien invaders attacking bee  hives in the UK and which beekeepers are trying to stop spreading  here. Try to guide the bee to collect all the flowers without being caught by the hornets.
 Use the arrow keys to move the bee. Press return to START.";

In another example, Mark and Ed designed a game around the character of a train driver that needed to collect coal. In subsequent post course interview Mark describes the impact of the child feeling like they could bring their own identity and interest into the project. “I know just your eyes lit up when you realised you could expand your interests into gaming.” See Appendix 4.x (Mark and Ed working with home interests)

Other participants expressed pride over their graphical creations. In this excerpt parent Molly has spent time creating a pixel art representation of an alien. The full exchange (see appendix 4.x) sees Molly cultivating a sense of ownership over the graphical element that she has created. There is also the development of a growing sense of competency in this area of asset design. She notes she is an “expert pixel”.

Molly: We’re finished.  Right what’s next? Now I’m an expert pixel? Now I have to figure out how to get it in there, don’t I? Without losing it. I’ll be very upset.
Sonia: Have you saved it?
Molly: No I’ve not saved it.
Sonia: Save there. (points to relevant button on screen)

The growing mastery of this area also seems to help drive motivation to complete the next challenge. The sense of ownership spurs the technical process of saving projects. Her pride in her work and concern surrounding losing it provokes a fellow parent to show her how to save her work.

Summary: Home Funds and RQs

This research supports findings of other research which highlight value of incorporating home interests in games, coding and media projects [@resnick_mothers_2012; @papert_mindstorms:_1980]. It also aligns with PBL literature which advocates the personalisation of projects and the value of exploring concepts using home funds of knowledge [@moje_maestro_2001]

This research indicates that in particular, allowing participants to incorporate home interests can be highly motivating in early stages of the design process. It can also sustain the coding activity later in the process encouraging participants to overcome problems in order to share the personalised object created.

In addition, the tacit knowledge of children as game players gives them access to varied affordances in the process of feeding back.

There is also evidence here that frictions involved in dealing with participant expectations of the genre and professionalism of the game they will create, are helped by the use of a templated game. Both in terms of the technical platform and the implied narrative and creative frame which scaffolds the initial creative process. This supports existing research on the value of constraints in facilitating rapid creative improvisation in the areas of music and drama. The domains of programming, game jams and hackathons also use constraints in a similar way [@gabler2005prototype]. HOW TO EXTEND?

Playtesting and embodied participation in the games of others

Some children added additional playful elements to playtesting. Because these interactions were mobile between workstations is it hard to extract audio and transcribe their speech. However, it is possible to communicate the characteristics of this play via a description of a typical encounter and the gestures of participants.

WATCH MORE CLOSELY AND TRANSCRIBE GESTURES

Play is initiated by calling across the room as an invitation to play, or as a provocation. When playtesting is underway it is normally undertaken with two or three participants standing around the computer rather than being seated. The core of those involved take turns to play the game, exclaiming frustration or triumph at completing levels or failing. Failure may be extremely performative with a rapid pulling way from the screen and keyboard. This may be followed with a battle to wrestle control of the keyboard to play the game next. This may involving playful pushing, and wrestling of hands and arms and vocalisations. While this play is happening it may attract other participants who remain on outskirts of the activity looking on able to watch what is happening on the screen and respond non-verbally with smiles or laughs.

These changes to the form and function of playtesting by young participants is another example of expression of agency by participants that widens the scope of possibility of actions.

The process of play testing as a cultural process is explored in more depth in chapter six.

Community concepts and norming behaviour emerging during playtesting

NOTE THERE IS SOMETHING HERE ABOUT ME STEPPING BACK AND LETTING THE COMMUNITY EVOLVE.

Ed gives a more technical explanation from involving the naming of the variable jump speed.

Other children come and play the game but only for less than a minute before leaving. Towards the end of the playtesting process, as one child leaves, Molly comments “It’s so frustrating.” This suggests an evolving understanding that her game is frustrating to players rather than pleasantly challenging.

The indirect norming behaviours described in appendix 5.Norm.x mirror observations seen in the work of Rogoff and colleagues [@rogoff_cultural_2003] on learning in community settings.

There is an apparent tension in play here between encouraging individual agency of expression within the game and an evolving community tendency to norm peoples games to be more playable, specifically that player movement should conforming to wider expectations.

What we can draw from the data at this stage is that playtesing provides many leverage points to facilitating learner agency and discuss the limits of designs. IN addition, playtesting is a process that allows participants to demonstrate informed criticality as a player and guide the creations of peers via gameplay feedback.

This process is an example of an emerging process where cultural concepts are mutually constituted by all actors involved in the game making activity system. While the concepts of hardness and challenge that emerge and not concrete examples of GDPS, they are the results of changed GDPs. The next chapter explores similar data on the use of GDP related concepts by participants and the resultant potential impact on participant agency.

Why prioritise local playtesting rather than participation with a wider online community - and how are they different in character? PERHAPS DROP IF NOT NEEDED OR KEEP REALLY SHORT. AND MERGE UP.

While a lot of other research has focused on community as an online phenomenon, in this research that aspect has not been explored.

This section explores my decision to prioritise local playtesting rather than participation with a wider online community as well as how are they different in character.

One reason was practical, a suitable online community pitched at children or even at novices was not apparent using the chosen tools set.

The advantages of this decision is that interactions play out off the screen, the limited games available increase community interaction, as participants drew only from a small pool of locally created games.

While there is convincing research on on how online community can engender feelings of agency and motivation [ROQUE AND ITO AND GEE], I chose not to connect with existing online communities in this learning design. Online communities can serve as a form of authentic feedback as explored in the Scratch and New Grounds community websites. However, the process of being involved in an online community and in addition learning the processes of participation diverts time and focus from other activities including real life playtesting.

In addition, the diversity of creations available on a online community may also have detracted from the more shared experience of the template used. Not offering a choice of starting game helped this shared technical and cultural base.

Impact of Side Missions and Maker Types on playtesting behaviours

Reflection on impact on my design process

START WITH A NARRATIVE? My role as a learning designer under went some significant evolution. As an example the quick start activities created by PGCE students were much more directive than I initially proposed in P1. It is not that the structuring was antithetical to my approach, more that the area was unfamiliar in terms of common heuristics, and the interweaving of gameplay features and underlying code structures.

Observations of and reflections on playtesting in p2, showed that participants still engendered a diversity of experience, from these shared beginnings.

An additional reflection on design is that the playtesting of participants revealed evidence of different motivations driving activity in game making sessions.

Observations on making styles

This section returns to game making types explored in Chapter 5. TO DEVELOP

For examples in the Vignette of S and T’s interaction we can see attributes of the child as a Glitcher. In terms of understanding of the game as a dynamic system, this is seen clearly in the parent’s alarm at the child’s deletion of all elements of hazard. The parent is keen to keep a sense of game balance to ensure a sense of challenge for the imagined player. “It’s no fun having a game without any hazards to avoid.” The child seems determined to remove all hazards. My understanding is that she is also aware of implications for game balance but is taking pleasure in this seeming destruction of the key challenge of the game as an act of disruptive play.

Other players created impossible or overly easy game levels. They seem to take pleasure from ignoring concepts of what should be done to maintain game balance and from the sense of shock from their current audience her parent. Going against this convention is a type of playful destruction in this context. The process mirrors play theory concept of playing against the game or dark play [@sutton-smith_ambiguity_2001].

The process of exploring identity via side missions in this way surfaced the cheekiness of some young people and the pleasure they took in demonstrating their playful mischievousness. I began to make journal notes on this subject and talk to other games study practitioners. I began to ask the question can the surfacing maker types (as per player types) encourage awareness and celebrate the emerging practices that the community was producing.

A focus on the value of changing roles - especially peer teaching as reinforcing learning

A role or style that is not fully captured is that of peer learning, although it is implied within the socialisers and magpie makers.

CAN THIS BE ADDED INTO THE CODING SCHEMA

Discussion on making types and side missions

THIS WOULD NEED MORE DISCUSSION OR INTRODUCTION - PLAYER TYPES NOT IN CHAPTER 5 ANY MORE

Begin discussion with reference to [@gutierrez_cultural_2003] on “Helping Students Learn: Having Styles or Participating in Practices”, and a careful statement to avoid over generalisation here, but at the same time recognise the value of emerging practices and styles.

Thus I am not suggesting that these styles make up a ridgid typology to be replicated in other settings, instead, in line with Gutierrez and Rogoff [-@gutierrez_cultural_2003, p.20] , that the process of co-constructing understanding and communication about learning styles can “support the changing nature of participation and the forms of assistance provided in joint activity.”

MoE

One area of research which was explored in this learning design but which has needed to be deprioritise is that of Mantle of the Expert and the permission to play and experiment which the drama process advocates.

While a fuller exploration of how this was put into practice in P3 via a narrative which wrapped around the making activity, it is relevant to the use of side missions, and the possibility for character exploration in terms of a maker type.

NOTE Link to other research on permisison structures, confidence, inclusion, permission to play

Limitations of observations and careful statements of potential

It is important to highlight several aspects of the limitation of the exploration of maker types and side missions designed to support them.

This work is limited, as are other observations by the limited number of participants,. It is also perhaps guided by my own motivations as a researcher to investigate more messy approaches to learning.

However, given the potential of my observations and the link with existing research in other domains. It is reasonable to propose the processes outlines as a potentially fruitful area for further research. I explore potential dimensions of that research in the concluding chapter.

MoE being one of those directions.

Observations on emerging flexible design practices (MORE ON INTERPERSONAL LEVEL)

This section outlines additional video and observational evidence on community and social activity which contributes to the research area on project and design approaches to learning coding. This section outlines and analyses potential useful practices which I characterise as flexible design practices used a counterpoint to a potentially more prescriptive interpretation of design thinking stages.

This characterisation can be seen in some of the entries of the previous chapter which outlined x, y and z. The use of GDPs here can be seen to be quite flexisble

This includes emerging norms, DoL, and community behaviour.

This section discusses some of the outcomes stemming from interventions and emergent participant responses in the area of peer and individual working practices.

In Chapter 5, one of area of contractions was the dysfunctional group work which was freed up by allowing greater atomisation and greater scaffolding of tool use.

Chapter five outlined examples of GDPS being used as a lingua franca in playtesting sessions for a variety of collaborative work from feedback to direct requests for help from peers.

ARE THERE ARE OTHER STUDIES WHICH ENCOURAGE THIS?

Observations and evidence on flexible design practice

Flexible design practices are often present in recorded data. Younger participants in particular developed impressively fluid practice demonstrating extremely rapids shifts between code editing, game testing, authoring assets in online tools and migrating files often while talking with peers. Older participants also showed rapid, responsive creativity. Clive quickly incorporated a boost to player health after a level after being given feedback during playtesting. In exploring sound making software Ed and Mark start a process of tinkering and messing about with the capability of the tools which spurs creativity. The joint jamming created two different soundtracks. This sparks a new proposal to incorporate different soundtracks for different levels. Pairs often adopted a similar spirit of improvisaion. For example parent Dan makes a suggestion - “Use paper to design?” - to which Toby replies “I’m just going with it.”

Describing Design Cycles as a design process for novices

As explored in the literature review design stages as a conceptual design tool is common in CS education, e.g. Resnick’s creative learning spiral [@resnick_all_2007, p. 2]. While I did not ask learners to follow prescribed design stages, in data analysis I created a coding theme based on a design cycle framework: Ask / Imagine, Plan, Create, Test, Improve, Share. When coding I observed that naturalistic practice rarely matched the progression of the design cycle. The stages were instead fragmented and sometimes happened in parallel. In many interactions I observed improvisational approaches which incorporated ideation, planning, implementation and testing in space of a minute or so. If I had encouraged participants to follow prescribed design stages this may have restrict this flexibility in practice. This concern is echoed in research which critiques a similar, staged approach to creative writing in primary education using a writing cycle approach. [@kuby_rhizomatic_2016]

In a closer review of key literature claims of of the value for participants of following design cycles are implied but not supported. Instead stages is are proposed as a tool to “discusses strategies for designing new technologies” [@resnick_all_2007, p. 2]. The following writing discusses the value of flexible approach to design processes observated in my research.

Discussion on Flexible Design Practices

While the concept of Game Jams are established, the free form flexibility of the Jam process is often left to the skills and evolving practices of the participants.

This section explores the process of jamming in the context of game making. While the processes identified are often improvised, there is a group element of the process where makers pick up techniques from other makers in the group. I propose the value of facilitators noticing and nurturing potentially productive practices.

I propose that this process can have value in other areas of digital making.

The potential of emergent “non-productive” activities

Much time in sessions was spent on activities that did not fit nearly into an accepted design stage, for example: opening software tools; navigating to correct locations; and finding past assets. These processes often involved significant effort and collaboration between participants. For example the migrating assets between authoring tools, converting to correct formats, evaluating new tools, and finding previously created assets. These are practices that I am personally familiar with. I call them digital laundry or digital housekeeping. Things that at times can be low attention span. Faff time is even less productive switching on the computer and waiting for the internet to connect, waiting for a family member to finish their rushed lunch or navigating to the right location in creative software.

Skills to perform these activities were at often distributed between different family members. For some adult re-enforcing their identities as project managers, and for young participants forming identities as digital specialists. I noted in analysis of data that along with frustration there are also moments of creativity, and there are bonding moments which appear to be helped by this activity which is at times quite unfocused but also shared. In retrospect, many of the social missions explored above encouraged activity outside of established design stages. For example the lively discussion about game playing in response to the mission to find out the favourite games of 3 other people.

The process of swapping graphical assets used a shared Piskel gallery and games area which served to keep individuals informed in directly of progress being made, and to spark curiosity in the creations of others.

In addition, I observed that navigating these essential but non-creative tasks in a collaborative and playful way can reduce learner anxiety and help maintain a positive affect to the overall creative digital process. This observation is supported by an example in the next chapter available in appendix 5.x - an extract of which is included below.

Participant Dialogue	Participant Gestures & Activities
	Nadine has just rapidly demonstrated how to bring a created graphical element into the game
Molly: How did you do that so quickly? I’ve got to like, carefully…	Molly makes hand gestures to show a sense of hesitant keyboard use)
	A parent peer next toA Molly laughs. Nadine, the child of Molly bounces up in place and smiles broadly.

In summary, it is of value to create spaces to leverage the potential of these in-between moments for participants.

The potential impact on agency is as follows; If these tasks can be seen as more than mere barriers to production, and therefore to be designed out to increase instrumental agency, then there is potential to increase relational agency through flexible divisions of labour that allow the incorporation of home roles in to this new learning space. Thus a potential affordance to find identify and specialism here.

This a concept is developed later in this discussion.

Discussion in relation to other research

- beyond design cycle stages

These observations of the value of flexible design processes, invite discssion on how best to conceptualise and support these flexible approaches. Game Jams are accelerated events encouraging creative collaboration and innovation. While the event’s premise is to promote collaboration, these events are inconsistent in their support and scaffolding of collaborative approaches [@goddard_playful_2014].

Other relevant perspectives include rhizomatic design approaches [@de_freitas_classroom_2012]. Research exists on the promise of rhizomatic approaches design thinking in creative educational programmes [@biffi_chasing_2017-1]. However researcher identify significant competencies required including to “identify and synthesize the body of technical and even complex knowledge into a feasible structure” [@biffi_chasing_2017-1, p. 972], which are not well-aligned with the age group of this context.

However, in this context the link is imiled or ther eare otehr problems with framing as rhizomatic metaphor in terms of communicating the essence of the flexible approach beyond academic audience.

On Game Jamming

So instead of rhizomatic design process, I propose that the tools, process and the community in this study mutually encourage an improvisational approach often referred to as jamming.

NOTE - Explore jamming in relation to lit review concepts and data of the chapter.

There are disparate resources available for game jams but due to the adult centric audience and mix of abilities they are less guided in nature than many supported design processes aimed at school age audiences.

Recent research posits that Game Jams can be profitably used in formal education contexts [@aurava_game_2021], although there is scant guidance on how to address potentially problematic issues (list these). A complementary approach would be to significantly adapt the overall Game Jam format and to add greater scaffolding to the process as in the learning design of this research.

Examples - move examples up?

Within the concept of jamming, activity which is casual seemingly non-productive can still transmit useful information to guide collaborative practices. As per above and examples in Appedix ? Find.

I propose that the concept of jamming can be introduced and supported as a way of encouraging co-development of practices and making styles as proposed by Gutiérrez and Rogoff [@gutierrez_cultural_2003]

Discussion of three dimension of agency using a metaphorical approach

An underlying proposal of this thesis is the development of learner agency can be facilitated by designing effective learning environments. To do this I draw on key forms of developmental agency explored in Chapter 3.

This section synthesises findings learner agency in relation to existing conceptions of agency in other research.

This section explores these academic conceptions in a playful way using relatable metaphors from related research. The aim of this playful/relatable approach is to aid the situation of later recommendations for researchers and educators working in this area in an accessible way.

Justifying the use of Metaphors in these FINDINGS

A mixed readership for this research is hoped for as relevant to pracitioners and some of the break down of agency is quite academic in tone and potentialy opaque.

There is a good tradition of metaphors in this space with Papert’s low thresholds, high ceilings and wide walls concept. INSERT IN LR, PERHAPS IN TRANSITION FROM MICROWORLDS TO SCRATCH AND DESIGN BUILD TEST GAME MAKING.

Metaphors are another vehicle to explore concepts, and different means of representation are a valid from of inclusive communication [UDL link]

The use of concepts of mediation and dual stimulation in this exploration of the development of agency

As previously explored, varied conceptions of agency exist including: instrumental, authorial and transformative agency [@matusov_mapping_2016]. (See methodology chapter).

This section explores these conceptions using the core AT concepts of mediation and dual stimulation explored in Chapter 3 to illuminate pedagogical development related to the interaction of designed and emergent tools and processes, shedding light on dimensions of participant agency.

To summarise similarities and distinctions between mediation and double stimulation we can say X & Y.

SHIFT SOME OF THE BELOW TO THE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK CHAPTER.

RECAP KEY ELEMENTS FROM CHAPTER 3. LIke:

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TOOLS AS MEDIATING TOOLS AND DOUBLE STIMULATION.
primary and secondary tools / stimulation
that there are many possible stimuli in a modern environment (find source )

Affordances as points on a climbing wall to support understandings of instrumental agency

The exploration of tensions in Chapter 5 summary, design decisions of tool use can to increase agency in practical terms by providing affordances or by removing barriers to use. Conceptually these practical dimension can be framed as instrumental agency or removing aspects of negative liberty caused by technical barriers [@matusov_mapping_2016, p. 433]. But may remove authroial or relational agency.

As an example take the tensions surrounding authenticity of coding web development language, coding environment and documentation. my choice of curated collection of docs prevented friction and potential confusion if using real developer documents.

In this design, participants aim for affordances as visible points.

In the design above such points include: regular play-testing; the use of documentation; and highlighted variables and level structure in the quick start stage.

To incorporate the utility of previously used affordances within the community, we can imagine a climbing rock-face metaphor of a lead climber leaving a trail for others behind. Or in a training environment of a climbing wall, attaching colours to a particular route designed to suit a particular skill level.

The role of the faciliator in this metaphor is to structure the climber journey to the top.

This my be done by

defining or reducing the use use of specialised terminology or
hiding away un-needed complexity.
signposting issues
imagining the lines of sight of the learner. try to remove large obstacles to potential anchour points.

LINK TO EXISTING WORK ON AFFORDENCES FROM SOCIAL CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE. LINK TO AT theory NARDI ON AFFORDENCES AND TECH FOR EXAMPLE AND ROUND UP THE CONSTRUCTIONIST UNDERSTANDING OF AFFORDANCES AND BLACK BOXING

Discussion on agency concerning tools and resources (authenticity in particular)

MOVE MUCH OF THIS TO THE AFFORDENCES SECTION ABOVE IF SUITABLE - THEN MOVE SOME ELEMENTS OF DUAL STIMULATION TO THAT SECTION ON AFFORDENCES.

Chapter 5 exposed the tensions that developed in the activity systems and subsequent evolution the tools used include code authoring environment, supporting resources of printed and digital format.

This section analyse these tensions in more depth, CAN THIS JUST BE A SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS CHAPTERS QUICKLY EXPRESSED? TABLE? BEFORE MOVING INTO METAPHOR SECTION?

In particular the intersection of authenticity in tool use and participant agency. DOES THIS HAPPEN? - IF SO WHERE

WHERE IS THIS CLARIFIED? WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? While the affordances built into the code playground are valid secondary stimuli in initial in helping to seed initial activity, supporting documentation can be seen as a form of secondary stimulation more aligned to the process of building agency.

DOES SOME OF THIS LIVE IN CHAPTER 5 IN THE DESIGN NARRATIVE? An illustrative design tension emerged surrounding which kind of documentation to prioritise. After initially steering participants directly to code snippets, I subsequently directed them instead to step by step tutorials which also included a link to the code snippets. I shifted between prioritising instruction-based practices and more piecemeal, bricolage inspired (see LR) developer practices. Whilst the process of instruction is problematic in terms of learner agency this vies with the practicality to establish a common understanding and shared framework for production. CHAPT 5

The motivations for creating starter templates are similar for both educators and professional template creators. The goal being to want to shield new users from the complexity of the underlying configuration of interrelated web-technologies and instead highlight design affordances that facilitate creative agency. This strong alignment with authentic, professional practice may help learners transition to other forms of web coding projects, due to the similarity of as this element of practice. CH.5 a theme explored in more detail in chapter five Traditional, printed, instruction-based software manuals are in decline partly due online documentation but also due to the increased intuitive nature of their design [@pogue_user_2017]. CH 5.

This curated replication of authentic process of finding and incorporating code snippets into the starting template supported the development of skills used in professional coding communities.

The careful alignment between navigational documentation and the participants driving objectives of the mid-level activity system of implementing a game element, also helped avoid mismatch between task and tools described above as mismatch between primary and secondary stimuli.

The process aligns with the concept of just-in-time instruction.

While the genesis of processes in P1 authorial agency, if repeated this process of careful alignment would represent instrumental agency. DROP?

Other affordances of the design would encourage greater authorial (and relational agency), for example those designed to build user’s sense of belonging in the game making community.

MOVE - NOT ALIGHED TO THIS SECTION - Integrate research on engendering authorial and transformative agency [@engestrom2006development; @haapasaari_emergence_2016; @sannino_formative_2016].

Playgrounds and sheltered harbours as a way to explore conceptions of relational agency - INTEGRATE MY FINDINGS

My design decision to build the toolset as structure on top of authentic tools and languages can be likened to creating a protective harbour to shield new users from the complexity of the underlying configuration of interrelated web-technologies and instead highlight design affordances that facilitate creative agency.

Participants are able to leave the protective harbour by accessing more authentic documentation and moving beyond existing templates. The experience may be involve choppier waters but the tools and processes remain familiar.

Many design decisions were made to create a supported, simplified coding environment. Relevant examples from the previous chapter include: using an online code playground; skirting use of specialist terminology; hiding away un-needed complexity in the code template.

While it is important to acknowledge the danger that such support may make learners run into trouble if coding other projects outside of this supported space, the use of authentic code language makes this less of an issues than with specialised coding environments aimed at novices [@hagge_coding_2018]. Thus to make one addition to the metaphor this design is like a sea-harbour, tools like Scratch are like a swimming pool.

How to seed relational practices in the community garden of the program / Growing / Gardening metaphors

We can substitute the metaphor of playground/ harbour with that of a walled garden.

The title to this chapter is Seeding and Nurturing Game Making Communities to Facilitate Learner Agency. It could be extended to Rewilding metaphor to reflect the importance of leaving learners to evolve their own processes as a form of authorial and transformational agency, albeit within the forms of pedagogical walled gardens.

Relational Agency in response to a series of stimuli participant identity

Learner agency in the form of choice over the chosen activity is present not only in the dimensions of the difficulty and theme of the game features they wished to add, but also in their approach to undertaking it.

MOVE SOMEWHERE? DIVISION OF LABOUR - Some approached objectives in a methodical manner, others socially and others embracing a playfully disruptive stance. Some decided to focus extensively on the creation and implementation of graphical assets and level design. While the distributed nature of the toolset, hindered peer learning in P1 as too many tools were introduced, in P2 it helped build authentic digital literacy skills. Some young participants became remarkably swift and adapt at thus transforming chains of actions into a fluid operation.

Learners who had mastered the skills were asked by others for help, becoming domain experts, and thus providing additional affordances in the learning community and building an identify as specialist within it.

It is of value to examine specialisation can be seen through the lens of double stimulation. The choice to specialise, marks a form of transformative agency. Participants craft for themselves a specialist status which becomes shared and celebrated by the group.

The freedoms and restrictions of playgrounds

In this research, similar metaphors have emerged in the pedagogical and technical process surrounding the concept of playgrounds and gardens. In the previous section the use of a curated set of design patterns can be referred to as a walled garden or sandbox. The process of checking the performance of games is called playtesing. The web-based environment which reduce the complexity of web development and provide community and immediate feedback are named code playgrounds. While some of this language is specific to the creation of games, other terms are also prevalent in non-game coding.

These metaphors invite a connection to play theories concept of as the magic circle. Play theorist outline the value of stepping into a more controlled area of voluntary experimentation where the fear of failure is reduced. Game rules are norms which seed participation in community processes. The playful context of the game’s magic circle can facilitate participants to adapt norms and rules to their own playing styles. Through this lens, the interaction of playtesting, code playgrounds and a sandbox of game patterns emerge as a key practices to facilitate and maintain learner agency. The discussion of the next chapter explores the intersection of these elements in more detail.

MOVE to RECOMMENDATIONS? The concepts of affective space and magic circle as a way to encourage participants to improvise from a starting structure are of value to provide guidance to practitioners in the domain of informal digital design.

Exploring transformative agency using the metaphor of Kedging anchors

Some sythethis on findings on transformative agency here, in particular in P1.

Kedging anchor metaphor

As outlined in chapter 3, Sannino explains TADS using a metaphor of a using a kedging anchors.

The following section integrates affordance theory into a metaphor to encompass concerns of a more structured learning design.

Synthesis Section

INTRO SIGNPOSTING Here

SYNTHESIS - How different forms of agency are developed and transform over iterations of this game making programme

LINKING TO ANCHORS TO AFFORDENCES

Thus affordances in the learning design can be viewed in this frame as a catching point for these anchors [@hopwood_agency_2022]. An effective learning environment provides a sea bed with many rocks (affordances) for warping anchors (volitional acts of participant agency to transform learning) [@aagaard_teacher_2022]. TADS and the associated metaphor of warping anchors is normally applied in settings of group action.

To aid learners agency, designers notice existing paths of participants and add explicit anchor points and make them visible to learners. The process is on-going and mutual. Additionally, this work happens in an facilitated environment. Design decisions server to clarify common problems areas, thus making the water clearer to better see anchor points. The job of the designer is in part to identify the causes of turbulence and thus create support in a sheltered space of a harbour.

Proposal on shifting forms of agency.

Initial blocks are solved by heroic transformative agency of parents, children and facilitator.

Then patterns and tools become established in the community, and agency shifts to be less authorial and more instrumental and relational.

A question arises, is it less valueable in later iterations? Different stokes probably.

AN EMERGING QUESTION - Is nurturing agency by creating space for emergent practices sustainable for ongoing iterations? How much of the learnign design can/should be transferred to other settings.

Is it a negative thinkg that later participants have less opportunity for transformative agency?

Also - A personal refection while I love this aspect, but others can find it stressful. Different strokes.

INTEGRATE SOME OF THIS INTO THE SECTIONS OR THE DISCUSSION ABOVE ON HARBOURS.

As a learning designer, design decisions to create a sheltered harbour, increase the instrumental agency of learners allowing them to experience a feeling of control over their creative process.

Adopting analysis which aligns authorial agency and transformative agency, there is a potential tension between instrumental agency and transformative agency. A design which minimises possible conflicts also reduces the potential for participants to solve them both individually and collective responses.

To retain this potential for transformation it may be advantageous to keep some key areas of the learning design should be more open in structure to encourage the emergence of participant responses and novel practices.

Recommendations for transfer to other settings with different requirements

Other research (5D in particular ) suggests that different ideocultures would emerge given the different contextual settings or requirements. Other settings may suit the introduction of other side missions and guiding narratives based on different motivations of the participants and the settings in which the programme was being run.

Thus, this research does not suggest the learning design is adopted wholesale, instead proposes the following division for future work

Keep / Start with

Template of a game with a distinct and recognisable form & realistic
GDPs used as a germ cell for following step wise activities
- analysis of games
- quick changes to template
- menu of GDPs

Adapt as needed based on setting

overarching narrative / driving motivation
side missions, based on emerging patterns of behaviour or needs of setting

Synthesis - The interaction of flexible deign practices, the collection of Game Design Patterns, stepwise scaffolding of learning environments and new understandings of agency.

SHOULD THIS GO FIRST IN SYTHESIS SECTION?

BRING IN A SUMMARY OF LEARNING FROM THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER ON GDPS.

In the previous chapter we explored the use of GDPs as a possible response to the challenges to project work and the lack of domain specific frameworks.

The nature of the framework provided by game play design patterns can be explored through the lens of agency

GDPs as a germ cell, used in different step wise projects which build one upon the other as a flexible but supporting scaffold.
It’s a balance between structure and choice
Menu facilitates a rhizomatic approach / within a structure
How this can be framed using understandings of agency and metaphors if this is helpful.
The role of authenticity. (is this too much?)

There is choice - and interaction - contribution to the overall object.

Returning to the concept of computational fluency with a lens of agency

IS THERE A NEED FOR A SIMILAR DISCUSSION IN GDP CHAPTER?

The term computational fluency (compared to digital literacy or computational thinking) best reflect the focus on development of agency outlined in this research.

It is of merit to return to existing dimension in existing research and suggest additional analyis based on this research.

Participant voice and expression: scaffolded and restricted in this design but to help development of next factor Community participation: The use of playtesting, and other community factors explored in Ch.6 and 7. Technical skills: Less a focus here than in CT but still a requirement, the reduced focus allows a different means of appropriation of the skills and concepts through guided participation and cultural participation.

I propose that the journey by particpants to develop computational fluency involves all three aspects of agency explored in this chapter.

In term of a progression to transformative / athorial agency, it is of value to explore conceptions of authorial creativity (of an everyday variety) rather than the high bar of transformation of fundamental system elements.

Conclusion

In AT terminology, this chapter has in a general sense returned to the concrete (see Marx / Blunden).

Chapter four outlined a design narrative where tools were chosen and adapted by myself and Participants in response to local context. Chapter five explored the emerging organisational unit of GDPs, and how they were used as meditational strategies.

This chapter has explored emergent cultural and community activity, and deepened discussion on interpersonal activity, and then returned to discuss implications for dimensions of concrete tool use on learner agency.

It’s dialectic innit. We call it praxis.

The methodology chapter outlined some of the challenges of this approach, particularly in the thick description of context, and the challenge of then satisfying the goal of generalisability / and overall utitlity.

The final chapters aims to address this with recommendations for facilitators and researchers. The scope of the applicability is addressed as the findings of this thesis can inform the wider debate of how to best support project based learning in wider domains. Specifically the use of concrete design frameworks and step-based iterative project in scaffolding PBL.

TO MOVE OR DROP FROM CHAPTER

On planned and emergent activity)

MOVE TO A DISCUSSION SECTION? COMPRESS FOR INTRO? THIS IS PART OF DBR - REFERENCE THAT IF IT IS STILL NEEDED FOR THE CHAPTER.

The previous chapters have described interventions in design that can be characterised on a spectrum between those planned and introduced by myself as a facilitator and those which were emergent, i.e. invented or adopted by participants as a response to the contradictions covered in chapter four.

The distinction between planned and emergent activities became blurred as practices merged. In Chapter 6 outlines that while I tool a lead to collate game design patterns into an organised collection with accompanying resources and a navigational menu, many of these patterns, were introduced initially by participants who recognised them and wanted to add them to their own games.

This aligns with a key characteristic of formative intervention and DBR. Namely that elements of the introduced design changed responsive to learner need as the design evolved through iterations. Some introduced processes outlined in this chapter were very minimal in embryonic form but extended significantly by participants.

AT theory emphasises that the process of activity does not start in a vacuum. This helps justify the formative intervention process which is active in intervention and in the initial shaping of activity. In an educational context, this can involve introduction of tasks as starting activities to shape. This is justified conceptually from a view of not restricting participant agency in that some form of activity should be suggested in order for them to make a rational choice as to weather to participate. It follows that this activity should encourage the communication that participant choice is significant in the design.

Notes - MOVED TO THE END FOR REVIEW

<!– #### Comparing the activity patterns of this family to others

NOTE - MOVE / REINTEGRATE? OR REWRITE AS A LINK TO THE NEXT SECTION? NOTE - This more general observation may be part of the previous chapter

We can compare this pairs pattern of activity with other pairs / families.

The parent here is much more commonly rooted to the computer than other parents.
This meant they engaged far less in play testing of other games and found it harder to gain attention for direct support.
This grouping sometimes left early having completed more in code development than others but completed less social activities.

Discussion

The parent had indicated that she considered herself a “planner” as a maker type which is confirmed by less social Interactions

The observations above show the importance of recording the whole room. Some participants will roam to observe the work of others, to socialise, to gain attention of others for support or for feedback. When analysing data using 360 recorded video side-by-side with the screen captured data, the participant can be followed around the room and their activity can be noted even when away from their activity. –>

On Fluency

For example, creating a new graphical element in a separate online pixel-art editor called Piskel, exporting and downloading it to the laptop, and uploading it to the glitch code playground and then making code changes in several parts of the code to initialise and implement new behaviour for this element.

NOTE As a facilitator of a community I aim to notice these transitions as I aim to use the proficiency of participants to help distribute the process of helping peers.

Discussion on Player types - moved from chapter 6

DATA REQUIRED FROM VIDEO!?

The process of exploring identity in this way surfaced the cheekiness of some young people and the pleasure they took in demonstrating their playful mischievousness. I began to make journal notes on this subject and talk to other games study practitioners. I began to ask the question can the surfacing maker types (as per player types) encourage awareness and celebrate the emerging practices that the community was producing.

As an example some players created impossible or overly easy game levels. They appeared aware of implications for game balance but is taking pleasure in this seeming destruction of the key challenge of the game as an act of disruptive play. They seem to take pleasure from ignoring concepts of what should be done to maintain game balance and from the sense of shock from their current audience her parent. Going against this convention is a type of playful destruction in this context. The process mirrors play theory concept of playing against the game or dark play [@sutton-smith_ambiguity_2001].

Below I outline how I designed to encourage this behaviour.

My rationale for this process was to promote awareness of pluralistic programming process [@papert_epistemological_1990].

I wanted to try to communicate a message to participants that when you are learning something hard it is of value follow your own working preferences and try to discover a creative style that suits you.

Limits of discussion findings - what to put in

Removed in December - perhaps rehome

These tensions of allocated roles and dysfunctional group work are mirrored in similar research - FIND THIS ON PAIR PROGRAMMING

These tensions were were highlighted in the end of P1 feedback and in some practitioner interviews that I conducted. FIND THIS IF SO

In contrast in P2 and P3 there is flexibility of interaction which suits informal moments of playtesting.