6400 words approx without references

Introduction

The review report will give an update on the progress of my thesis and relevant outputs. In creating this report I have been inspired by the patchwork approach of reflective writing in terms of form [@scoggins_patchwork_1999]. Extracts and summaries of existing writing and outputs are also framed with reflective commentary. My goal here is to try to best utilise the potential guidance and support of readers of report and to engage with a reflective process at this review point by shifting my perspective to help describe an overall narrative of the thesis a this moment in time. <!– By far the largest patch is a published book chapter 1 which is included at the start of this work to situate the process and potential relevance of the study. This report also contains the following material:

  • updates on context and dissemination of results
  • updates on methodology and practical approaches to data
  • summaries and links to existing draft chapters of the thesis
  • writing on the potential future directions and existing limitations of this study –>

Summary of associated activity since the last review

In the last report I explained that early dissemination of results had prompted analysis which yielded the 3M pedagogical model .

  • Presentation at Manchester Games Network Conference 2023: a presentation focusing in the use of game design patterns (explored later in this report).
  • Presentation at Manchester Met PGR Conference 2023: a presentation giving an overview of the study and context.
  • Partnership showcase with Manchester Science and Industry museam and Manchester Games Network and RISE: three days of game making and coordinating students in a partnership.

Three book chapters have been published / sent for print. Two chapters were for an audience of teachers as part of a proposed collection Inclusive Computing Education in the Secondary School, Linking Theory and Practice. One chapter analysed abstract and concrete approaches to computing education [@overland_inclusive_2023]. The other covered design and project approaches in this subject[@overland_inclusive_2023]. I will be able to include material from this writing into my introductory thesis chapters.

Another chapter Game Making and Coding Fluency in a Primary Computing Context [@chesterman_game_2023], has been published in the collection Teaching Coding in K-12 Schools, Research and Application [@keane_teaching_2023]. This chapter is included as the following sections of the report with sections removed to fit this report. A full pre-publisher Word Document of this chapter is available online via this link here

Book Chapter - Game Making and Coding Fluency in a Primary Computing Context

Abstract

This chapter describes digital game making as an inclusive process to develop coding concepts and coding fluency. It outlines research which emerges from my work with young learners of ages 8-11 which leverages the motivational and navigational affordances of enthusiast game making communities and adapts them to more structured educational environments. I summarise the features of two game making tools used in my study. Finally, this chapter contains an overview of the 3M game making learning design and links to extensive resources for learners and teachers.

Introduction

The potential of digital game making is explored in depth in a review by Kafai and Burke [-@kafai_constructionist_2015]. The most prominent learning objective of making games in educational setting is to develop coding and computing skills. There are extensive studies on game making to learn other subjects including maths, biology and chemistry but diverse examples exist. Game making can also develop social skills, self-reflection, cultural awareness and a range of technical abilities that allow participation in information society. Finally, because, game making involves a systems-based understanding of the world, and as games are themselves interactive systems, they are a powerful vehicle for exploring complex problems involving race, sex and social issues [@tekinbas_quest_2010].

While there has been a large body of research on the value and practice of game making for educational purposes, it is a dynamic landscape which has many areas which merit additional research. New software tools which make games offering new pedagogical possibilities emerge regularly. Game playing practices and the opportunities provided by participation in wider communities also continue to evolve. For example, casual and retro games played by both adults and children are increasingly available via smart phones and home consoles. The nostalgia around such games and the associated aesthetics of cuteness creates a potential for connection between younger and older players [@boyle_retro-futurism_2017]. The sustained popularity of retro games together with easy-to-use game making tools and code frameworks provides an entry point for game players into game making cultures which is reflected in the success of amateur games publishing websites like itch.io [@garda_nostalgia_2014]. My study, in part, asks how the motivational and navigational affordances of enthusiast game making communities can be brought into more structured educational environments.

In this chapter, I explore the potential of digital game making as an inclusive way of developing coding concepts and coding fluency in the later stages of Primary Education. This chapter begins with a short summary of the United Kingdom (UK) context of coding and inclusion. This is followed by a section on game making as an inclusive, project-based teaching approach. I then describe two game making tools used in my study before outlining the process of the development of a learning design in partnership with participants. I end with an overview of what I provisionally call the 3M game making learning design and offer links to the resulting resources suitable for learners and fellow practitioners.

Context

REMOVED FOR BREVITY

Research Vignette - Evolution of Design

My own research is an experimental approach to create a pedagogy which supports a community learning approach to game making. I have worked with young learners, local families, and undergraduate student helpers to evolve this game making design. A key driver of my research was to explore the potential to draw on family experience in learning activities by working with family members to jointly design games. I propose that this environment is a fertile research base to create learning activities with a wider potential application. To facilitate this goal, I have taken a design-based approach which acknowledges the importance of context in educational research [@brown_design_1992]. Design based research is a varied discipline which can take a multitude of forms [@mckenney_educational_2021]. The core elements include: research as an intervention, iteration, involvement of participants in the evolution of designs, and a flexibility of research outcome based on how events unfold [@easterday_design-based_2014]. One of the key motivations of this approach is to produce educational research that has a high utility for practitioners through developing theory that is rooted in contextual practice and which can produce new pedagogies and resources [@cobb_design_2003].

Barab and Squire [-@barab_design-based_2004] describe the messiness of design-based research and how this creates a challenge to the researcher of how to present results in a coherent way which is of use to other practitioners. There is a tension between sticking closely to the context and specifics of the research and a more general, abstracted view. Here, I try to strike a balance, which stays concrete, but which also pulls from my observations a framework which can apply to other game making and creative project based approaches. Another guiding principle of design-based research - which is present in the techniques of design experiments, mutual appropriation and participatory action research - is that research participants also influence the ongoing design of the research [@barab_critical_2004; @cobb_design_2003; @downing-wilson_design_2011]. The design of my research experiment started from a very open position and evolved from several iterations of collaborative work with participants.

One experimental team consisted of Home Educating families. A second programme involved local primary school children in Year 6 (10-11 year old) classes. Given space constraints, in this chapter I focus on the pedagogical results rather than the observational data that has guided them. However, I include a short summary of data collection methods here. I have drawn on multiple methods including ethnographic journaling as a participant observer, participant interviews, and analysis of artefacts used and created. I have also undertaken analysis of participant actions via the videoing of the workshop area with a 360-degree video camera and capture of screen data and audio of the laptops used by participants. While the rich set of data has allowed the cross referencing of the many sources, it also presented a challenge of how to deal effectively with the large amounts of data being gathered. The use of a 360 camera reduced the amount of live video footage of interactions needed. Instead of multiple cameras pointed in different directions to capture participant interaction, participants were arranged in a square pointing inwards towards a central 360-degree camera. When triangulating data from various sources, I prioritised critical moments in depth which illuminated key themes. Analysis of interviews, observation journal notes and screen captures allowed me to identify tensions arising for facilitators and participants in the game making process. Analysis of these tensions allowed me to examine and revise teaching approaches and supporting resources. My approach involved not to remove all tensions - as some may be productive in the learning process - but rather to identify and avoid unproductive blockages. For example, in my journal notes I observed in pair work significant confusion and disputes regarding setting short-term project goals and frustration over lost work and time. As a response, I introduced a variety of tools and processes to aid the self-motivation and navigation of learners. Other examples of tensions include the following: difficulties in getting games ready for play-testing due to being lost in the detail of coding; an ability gap between features that participants wanted to add to the game and their technical abilities; the difficulty of supporting learners’ different approaches to coding; and a lack of reflection on progress and appreciation of the complex learning dimensions involved in game making.

When analysing journal notes I drew on observations of strategies and responses that participants and facilitators used to resolve tensions. If effective, I would attempt to incorporate them into future teaching resources. For example, I noticed that many participants would deviate from accepted game making practice and try to create impossible or prank-filled games. This desire from participants to cause frustration in game play sometimes had a productive impact on their level of engagement and the complexity of the game design the coding structures they created. Responses to recognise and encourage this behaviour are outlined below. At the end of the game making programs I analysed journal notes and the changes to teaching resources to collate and code the responses to tensions to find common themes. I synthesised and refined the presentation of the responses using these themes as a way to help both learners and other facilitators to navigate and address similar issues when game making. The final part of this chapter gives an overview of the learning design that has emerged from this participatory design-based approach.

Overview of The 3M Game Making Learning Design

The result of this analysis and responses is the 3M model which is designed to be of use to both teachers and learners. The section outlines the main features of the 3M model1, namely missions, maps and motivational methods. I will also explain how the methods involved in the model are informed by inclusive pedagogy principles contained in Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and project-based learning (PBL). This learning design can be applied using a variety of game making software. The resources I have created for MakeCode Arcade2 and Phaser3 are free and open source and available online. I invite other educators to adopt the 3M approach and share resources for Scratch, Pygame, p5.play and other suitable platforms. In the course of game making some elements of the 3M model are more visible to participants than others. The 3M model is presented below in order of this visibility. Missions are used regularly by learners. Maps are used more occasionally as a reflective tool. Finally methods are used by primarily by facilitators in planning session activities.

Missions

Many commercial open world games offer a central challenge consisting of small incremental missions and then optional side missions. Open world games increase user choice and thus give players a greater feeling of agency. To mirror this approach, the main challenge of the 3M model is to create a playable game around a theme for a real or imagined audience with learners given the choice to add many optional features to the game. This approach steers students towards developing their use and understanding of coding structures, debugging practices and systems concepts. In addition, side missions encourage social and playful coding approaches which help develop a community of coders.

Game Design Patterns as Main Missions: Design patterns are most commonly used for computing students at higher education to teach object-oriented computing but they are also useful for all levels of learners. Design patterns are rooted in real-life incidences of problems that are often solved in a particular way. They are concrete examples of coding principles in context. Design patterns can help the development of coding communities if more experiences coders take the time to document the patterns they use in an accessible way for novice coders. For educators the use of design patterns can help support learners develop coding proficiency by providing scaffolding and modelling good design decisions. However, one of the challenges for teachers of using worked examples and design patterns is how to integrate them into student-led design challenges. In the 3M model rather than following a step-by-step tutorial learners start with an incomplete game template and add new features as they choose. Each feature is described as a mission. This approach follows the Use-Modify-Create model to limit learner anxiety for novice coders and to scaffold the acquisition of coding and computational thinking concepts [@lee_computational_2011]. I worked with learners to create a wish list of game features to create a 2D platform game. These features included moving hazards, jumping on enemies, finding a door or flag to progress to the next level. We can describe these features as game design patterns. Driven by the requests of learners, I developed tutorials to support students implement these patterns. This approach aligns with inclusive education principles in that it increases the choices of students, scaffolds the way they can access resources and allows them to keep a track of their own progress.

In my final implementation of the 3M model students picked missions from a choice of printed cards. There were four colour themed categories of missions. Game mechanics are features to do with the actions of the game. Game space patterns address the layout of the game. Game polish patterns involve adding music, backgrounds, graphics and story elements. Finally, System and Challenge patterns look at how different elements interact to create challenge in the game. An example of a game mechanic design pattern follows.

BOX BEGINS

Your mission is to apply the following pattern to your game. There are supporting step-by-step resources available if you need them. When you finish be sure to reflect on how adding this pattern helps your understanding of the computing concepts and similar patterns listed. This concludes your mission.

  • Name of Game Design Pattern: Jumping on Enemies to Zap them

  • Type Pattern: Game Mechanic

  • Description: If the player is descending from a jump when they touch the enemy the player is zapped and in this case disappears.

  • Need for Pattern: Enemies create challenge and being able to jump on an enemy is a good way of clearing the area you want to explore.

  • Coding Concepts involved: Arrays4, Change Listener5

  • Links to other Computing Patterns: Systems Dynamics6

  • Related Game Patterns: You’ll need to have added the Add Enemies pattern to your game before you can add this one.

BOX ENDS

In addition to outlines of game patterns, printouts or on-line documents to support learners to implement the code needed are provided. While on-line documents allow learners to copy and paste code thus avoid many syntax errors, printed or incomplete code examples provide a greater level of challenge. Supporting resources help resolve tensions around learners getting stuck and needing a lot of facilitator help. These resources can help teachers deliver game making in a classroom context. Educators can alter resources to vary how much detail is provided in supporting documents to suit the challenge level for students. I work with young coders and so I normally provide significant coding scaffolding. Once learners have built familiarity with code structures, processes, and the coding environment then I provide less complete code examples and thus reduce the scaffolding.

Maps

Learning Dimensions Map: In learning environments where there is a lot of choice assessing learners via observation is beneficial. Rather than deciding what you want to teach and testing students on that area, you can map the learning happening in an authentic activity. When researching hands-on tinkering in Science museums Bevan and Petrich [-@petrich_it_2013] worked with educators to examine video footage of families interacting with exhibits to make a structured list of the learning they observed. The resulting map of learning dimensions included underlying science concepts but also contained more general skills and helping behaviours involved in exploratory learning processes. Another chapter in this collection identified concept maps and observation as methods for teachers and researchers to identify key learning suited to particular computing projects. One of the outcomes of my research was to extract some of the concepts and practices that learners engaged with when making games from hours of recorded material. While some are common to existing Computational Thinking frameworks others, including systems thinking concepts, are more unique to game making. Table 1.1. shows my resulting map of learning dimensions for the 3M game making model.

Coding Concepts Systems Patterns Design Practices
Sequences Systems Elements Goal Setting
Variables Systems Dynamics Being Incremental and Iterative
Logic Reinforcing Feedback Loops Developing Vocabulary
Loops Balancing Feedback Loops Web Navigation
Arrays   Problem Solving
Creating Functions   Version Control
Change Listener   Debugging
Input Event   Reusing and Remixing

Table 1.1. Learning Dimensions of the 3M Game Making Model

This process of mapping such frameworks may be overly time-consuming for many full-time teachers. However, teachers may also use and adapt existing maps and frameworks based on their own classroom experience to help their observation of students. Because these frameworks can also help students to navigate their own learning journey the effort serves a double purpose.

Physical Maps of Missions:

REMOVED FOR BREVITY

Motivational Methods

The final M of the 3M framework stands for motivational methods. These methods are inspired by other projects involving a community approach to teaching technology. Here, I share two methods that emerged from feedback and partnership work that proved valuable in the context of game making.

Physical Computing and Game Making: The use of physical computing to create concrete and tangible activities can increase the engagement and motivation of learners [@kaloti-hallak_students_2015]. Making the digital concepts physical, and thus allowing exploration via diverse means, also aligns with inclusive learning principles. To support my game making projects, I created simple arcade cabinets out of wood with retro arcade buttons. Connecting arcade buttons to the computer via simple electronics is a project which can be completed quickly. The process of students building their own arcade cabinets for a games showcase increased their perception of the authenticity of their end goal. Some families created low-tech, customised arcade cabinets using cardboard. Although my studies have been small-scale the self-reported effects on learner engagement and motivation of this part of the program were significant.

Drama / Fictional Frameworks: Another method I use to increase learner engagement in game making is the concept of using a fictional scenario or simulation. A fictional community while less authentic than a professional community, can still provide some of the associated benefits of authenticity. I have worked with practitioners of the Drama Education department at Manchester Metropolitan University to develop such fictional dramas, but teachers do not to be a trained drama practitioner to draw on key techniques to increase learner engagement. For example, I asked trainee teachers to devise a scenario to support a series of sessions and they used a fiction of making games for an alien race coming to destroy the earth. The process of using a fictional situation can help with the motivation and reflection of learners in the following ways:

  • Asking learners to step into a role can increase identification with participation in the project. For example you may say, “As game designers, we will make this game for a particular audience”.
  • Fictional situations can help create a sense of imagined jeopardy which can help learners stay on track with their creative timescale and may increase their commitment to the process.
  • When learners share their games with their real or imagined audience, they can talk through their design decisions and challenges, thus creating an opportunity for reflection.
  • Drama processes can help explore identification with or hostility to gaming cultures.

Summary of 3M Game Making Model and Supporting Resources

This section contains links and descriptions of supporting resources that have emerged from the research process. The resources have been created under an open licence (CC-BY-SA) which allows them to be freely used and adapted. A full description of resources created for Make Code is presented below and a summary of those created for Glitch and Phaser.

Figure 1.3. Synthesising diagram of 3M Game Making Model{ width=80% }

Missions Maps Methods
Simple code changes yield quick feedback A map of learning dimensions flexibly linked to main missions/patterns can be used by both learners and facilitators Play Testing in each session aids short term motivation. Showcase events help longer-term motivation and aid project prioritisation
Free choice of Patterns increases learner engagement and ownership Tracing the learner pathway on an attractive physical map in the learning space can help integrate navigation and reflection into the creative process Drama and fictional scenarios can help explore issues and reduce learner anxiety though coding in a role
Restrict Game Type and number of Patterns to reduce Facilitator stress   Adding electronics to control the game via arcade buttons and cabinets increases engagement and perceptions of project authenticity
Limit complexity of patterns. Some are simple but cause a large change in the game    
Side missions which explore and celebrate different ‘maker types’ (from Bartle’s player types)    

Table 1.2. Key Features of 3M Game Making Model

Supporting Resources

The following resources exist for text-based coding using the Phaser javascript framework. While other programming environments can be used, these resources are based on learners using the glitch.com code playground website.

  • A splash page for Phaser / Glitch.com resources. This contains links to print outs, tutorials and activities7.
  • An interactive starting template and grid of game design patterns that learners can add to the incomplete template 8.

Conclusion

In this chapter I have examined how game making fits an inclusive and project-based approach to computing. I outlined some of the potential that make game making provides in to be an authentic activity and how it allows students to incorporate their own interests and home experience into projects. I described the emergence, through design-based research, of a 3M game making model where each of the three methods align game making project work with inclusive pedagogical approaches. For example, the use of game design patterns as missions helps scaffold the process of goal setting and project navigation. The use of maps helps learners to navigate their progress and can help teachers to facilitate learner-led processes thus increasing student autonomy. Finally, the motivational methods of using a fictional frame and the incorporation on physical computing techniques can help engage learners and to sustain their continued investment in the project work.

One of the purposes of sharing my resources freely is to invite collaboration with educators and researchers in future work. The next stages of my research will involve a deeper look at how participants use the resources and provided to navigate their learning experience. I am also interested in widening the scope of the research beyond an exploratory, developmental stage to include comparative and quantitative studies that explore how this pedagogy compares to game making via a principles first / instruction-based approach.

Commentary on book chapter extract and its relationship to the ongoing thesis

The the following observations on the different focus of the book chapter above and my ongoing thesis are of note. The book chapter:

  • details two code authoring environments whereas the thesis concentrates on one of them (phaser and glitch.com)
  • is has a broader focus on practical pedagogy than the thesis which focuses on the more novel elements of the broader 3M pedagogy specifically: developing learner agency within a narrower context of family learning and the use of game design patterns
  • takes an uncritical view of tensions from broad school of activity theory compared to the thesis which explores different interpretations in more depth

It is relevant at this point to outline the updated research questions which I am currently using to further integrate my data and existing research.

Research Questions - Summer 2023

  1. What pedagogical tools and processes are available to support novices to overcome barriers to game coding and design?
  2. How can learners build agency in an evolving community of game makers?
  3. How can game design patterns support the development of coding practices with novices?

Commentary on key chapters of the thesis

I will outline the main premises of four main chapters containing the process and the key findings of this study.

Commentary on chapter three - Methods and Data

Evolution of methodology

The foundation of this research is a design-based research approach which is underlined by Activity Theory (AT) as a conceptual framework. The use of activity theory as an underlying conceptual framework in used together with design-based research methodology and the elements of 3GAT to explore tensions and resolutions in emerging activity. CHAT relies on analysis of systemic tensions in activity and culture [@barab_using_2002]. Tensions in the emerging design and the experience of participant conflict in activity systems served to drive the evolution of this learning design. I have also drawn on recent research which distinguishes type of learner agency including transformative, authorial and instrumental agency.

The work of Sannino on the use of secondary stimulation in formative interventions informs the analysis of conflicts arising and secondary tools and processes which facilitators use to address them [@sannino_activity_2011]. Thus Sannino’s concept TADS, transformative agency through double stimulation, addresses the potential for participants to leverage external tools to influence their experience in learning activities [@engestrom_transformative_2022; @sannino_transformative_2022-1]. This line of research influences the presentation of my findings. Rather than describe tensions framework in a prescriptive nature of 3GAT in a complete fashion which I found cumbersome and potentially distracting, I am focusing on more in depth explorations of key facilitator tensions and conflicts experienced by participants.

Analysis of video data

To allow for a greater depth of analysis I opted to analyse 12 video recordings in depth from 5 key game making sessions in greater detail rather than 60 video recordings from 12 sessions in a more summative fashion. In the last review I outlined that I am exploring alternatives to coding video data in the Nvivo software package due to its limitations in playing and reviewing video data and the large amount of video data I am dealing with. I have adopted a process for coding and describing section which breaks video segments into 5 minute pieces and use a word document template to record notes which can later be imported into Nvivo for analysis. This process also allows me to use free software to synchronise and view video and data from pc capture and wider 360 captured footage.

When coding I started with some preset codes from the literature for examples Barron and colleagues’ on parent roles when helping digital projects [-@barron_parents_2009]. As coding progressed, I have modified and extended these roles into codes to better match my recorded data. I also initially drew on design stages as a schema for coding. This proved useful mostly to highlight that making in this setting rarely followed a recognisable design pattern but was much more spontaneous in nature. Similarly, initial codes that I chose around patterns of participant interaction and activity and the type of game feature they were working on did not prove useful to answer the research questions. In contrast, as data began to emerge on the significance of game design patterns, the use of became useful themes in data analysis. These are presented as a table in the commentary on chapter six below. There is still work for me to do to revisit chosen coding themes in greater detail to methodically justify my findings.

Commentary on chapter four - Emerging Learning Designs

Due to the novel nature of the learning design a detailed outline of the evolution and specifics therein are important to situate findings in the following two chapters. This chapter draws four interviews conducted with peer practitioners to expose barriers to digital making activity and tactics to overcome such barriers. The middle section gives an overview of the evolution of the learning design which draws on analysis of participants reactions and contributions, journal notes, and participant interviews. This data is used in combination with analysis of emergent learning resources to describe key facilitator tensions and conflicts experienced by participant.

An additional section examines the learning map and physical map elements outlined in the 3M model above. When examining data this material created to suit a more formal settings to help resolve tension between freedom of creative direction and the need to cover key curricula concepts does not feature significantly in the experience of participants. Review of data participants in this study reveals limited data which extensive reflection in my journal notes shows stems from my inconsistency in introducing and facilitating the use of these materials. However, based on the limited use of the materials in this study and from my analysis of existing research and for a wider potential audience in more formal settings, I propose that there is significant potential for these reflective processes and navigational materials.

This section explains the limitations of this study in this area, compared to other elements of the learning design. Currently, this section sits a bit uneasily in this chapter and thus it may be revised or moved to the conclusion. However, the assumptions and approaches seem important as a foil to some of the discussions around flexible, learner-led design practices explored in the following chapter.

Overview of chapter five - Seeding and Nurturing Game Making Communities to Facilitate Learner Agency

This chapter is concerned with examining the impact on participants of the learning design explored in the last chapter, excluding the more specific work on game design patterns which is explored in the following chapter. While there is an overarching theme of findings surrounding the inclusive methods that are introduce and which emerge, there is still a fair bit of work to do to make the structure of this chapter coherent.

The first section examines the impact of a process drama with an aim to establish and nurture community practice. It highlights the value of introducing almost-real processes, near authentic tools and the possibility of learners developing learning identities within a drama frame. The second section examines the impact of core software tools in the initial learning design. Another section explores the community behaviour of the group of game makers and some of the specifics of their design processes. The processes include: emerging use of narratives and graphics which drawing on home funds of knowledge; playtesting as a social process; playtesting and embodied participation in the games of others; community concepts and norming behaviour emerging during playtesting; the development of flexible divisions of labour;

In the discussion section, the chapter builds on material explored in this chapter in relation to exiting research to explore the development of agency in this learning design. Particular attention is given to processes which support learners to develop agency in the game making process and the role of different levels of authenticity within these processes.

Commentary on chapter six - The Use of Gameplay Design Patterns “It’s like a project in itself, really”

Before exploring the contents of this chapter it is useful to insert an extract of the literature review to define game(play) design patterns (GDPs)

BEGIN EXTRACT / DEFINITION

The concept of computational design patterns is well explored in the professional literature of computer programming and design [@gamma_design_1995], and has also been adopted by game designers [@bjork_patterns_2005]. Design patterns are well thought out solutions to common issues faced by computer programmers and system designers.

Research in this area points to challenges of teaching the abstract nature of traditionally shared design patterns related to object oriented coding languages but points to visual methods and games as promising tactics [@azimullah_evaluating_2020; @da_cruz_silva_fostering_2019]

The term game design patterns (GDP) is used in different ways. Kreimeier [@kreimeier_case_2002] distinguishes content patterns from software engineering patterns. Software engineering patterns are used to structure code and keep it architecturally neat thus facilitating code sharing and extension. These patterns would be invisible to the end player of the game. Content patterns describe common patterns of game play and design that are visible to the player.

Eriksson and colleagues [-@eriksson_using_2019] use the second interpretation rephrasing slightly as gameplay design patterns, thus placing emphasis on the exposure to the user via playing the game. They described the utility of games design patterns as a lingua franca for game developers. Other benefits cited are GDP as a source of creative inspiration and as an aid to problem-solving.

Their research, which involved young people, builds on related research with adults with the explicit goal of learning game design. One product of this research is a list of GDP patterns as a public collection (available at http://virt10.itu.chalmers.se/) [@bjork_patterns_2005].

END EXTRACT / DEFINITION

The chapter addresses a deeper coverage of more social and cultural aspects of the learning environment. The process of informal goal setting, flexible design practices and repeated playtesting is a key link to the value of exploring game design patterns. Each iteration of the implementation of a design feature or GDP in this model, is a microcosm of design practice. In the language of activity theory this can be viewed as germ cell of activity - like a ‘minimum viable’ process which can be repeated iteratively. Ideally, each iteration adapts the project whilst maintaining its viability as a playable game.

The first section explores the use of GDP in context through the analysis of a vignette of interactions and a systematic description of varied uses of GDP. A summary of the participants and facilitator use of GDPs is presented in the following table.

Figure 1.3. Synthesising diagram of use of GDPs{ width=98% }

Extracted slides from PGR conference presentation on Gdps as an intermediate level design construct

The following bullet points are extracted from a presentation this summer for Manchester Games Network. They summarise key points on a discussion from the end of this chapter which explore the nature of GDPs as a practical design concept and link them to wider similar intermediate-level design concepts.

Gdps as an intermediate level design construct

  • Design patterns are a form of “intermediate-level concept” as advocated by fellow researchers as a way of sharing results of research. Similarly, the implementation GDPs was the identification as a key unit of activity and analysis for this study, the justification being that it was at this level that richest use and development of tools and processes by the emerging community took place.

  • My research also shows the advantages of GDP as an intermediate design concept, hovering in the space between too concrete to be repeated and too abstract to be grasped by novice game makers.

  • GDPs create a tangible link between concrete player experience and the affordances of a guided creative process. Learners use of GDP as relatable and flexible constructs that facilitate communication, sustaining engagement, planning and division of labour.

Conclusions

As work progresses, I am compiling an outline of the concluding chapter of the thesis which will explore potential contributions to knowledge yielded by these findings, wider implications for educators and designers and limitations and future possible directions for this work.

Contributions to knowledge

The key contributions include streams of practical contributions to help the process of learning and teaching coding and potential contributions to the field of understandings of agency in this learning context. I am still in the process of situating my findings within wider research context but the following threads are promising:

  • The utility of game design patterns in this domain: In particular the process of leaners drawing on curated collections of game design patterns and learning designers using them to help their learners navigate the design process.
  • A contribution to understandings of the specifics of family learning dynamics in digital making: There is rich data to support detailed analysis in this area.
  • Game making and FoK: This research supports research showing the inclusive value of facilitators encouraging learners to follow their interests and develop their own individual and community responses to the game making challenges.
  • A digital design process which foregrounds the development of agency: I will align this research to current understandings of agency in socio-cultural schools of research.

<!– ### Implications for designers and educators

From the same presentation at PCR network I began to communicate some of the wider implication and potential for educators. I include the following slide.

Implications for designers and educators

  • Design pattern collections could be useful to facilitate socially driven making.
  • Curated collections that draw on existing experiences of game play are particularly fertile grounds for inclusive and engaging practice.
  • Learners in informal environments can still benefit from peer-design processes with concrete processes and intermediate concepts embedded in GDPs
  • Use of GDPs can help facilitators guide learners to access and navigate more abstract & curriculum concepts.
  • Facilitators can also let users be drawn by their interests and develop their own individual and community responses to the game making challenges. –>

I offer the following points as limitations of this study and interesting areas for development. It would useful to discuss some of them when we meet.

  • While a separate program using a different software authoring tools was conducted, the processes are not compared in this thesis.
  • While computational thinking and systems thinking were surfaced as potential elements of a learning dimensions map that emerged from later stages of the study, further work would be needed to investigate this potential in more detail.
  • The specifics of the home education learning environment are not explored in this study to any great extent.
  • the limited number participants and lack of any specific goals of representation invites follow up research in different settings and using different methods to select participants.
  • The nature of this study as collaborative, emergent and focused lends itself to contributions on the potential of this approach rather than larger claims of generalised efficacy. I do feel working with this mix of home education participants and subject enthusiasts may be a particularly fruitful process to generate innovative learning materials and approaches.

Conclusion to this report

While this report has covered may of the ongoing and salient points of my current writing, it is by nature quite patchy and therefore unable to go into a depth of detail of any particular thread of the thesis. I am writing this thesis using the git version control system which means that draft versions of the chapters are available online9. This allows readers to check the current level of progress of the chapters mentioned above.

References

  1. https://mickfuzz.github.io/makecode-platformer-101 ↩ ↩2

  2. https://mickfuzz.github.io/makecode-platformer-101/gamePatterns ↩

  3. https://glitch-game-makers-manual.glitch.me/ ↩

  4. https://mickfuzz.github.io/makecode-platformer-101/learningDimensions#arrays ↩

  5. https://mickfuzz.github.io/makecode-platformer-101/learningDimensions#change-listener ↩

  6. https://mickfuzz.github.io/makecode-platformer-101/learningDimensions#systems-dynamics ↩

  7. https://glitch-game-makers-manual.glitch.me/ ↩

  8. https://ggc-examples.glitch.me/ ↩

  9. https://mickfuzz.github.io/phd4/thesis_chapters.html ↩