Learners as informants of educational game design

Abstract

This paper describes an educational game design approach that attempts to position learners as the best resources in knowing what engages them in a learning environment. This approach, known as informant design approach, enables young people to draw on their cultural experiences in learning and gaming as resources for game development. In the threeyear research and development project, we conducted five progressive informant design workshops with twenty adolescent learners, where their conceptions of earth science as well as ideas for game design are considered at its various stages of educational game development. Our findings from the qualitative analysis of video and artifacts draw attention to the learners’ cultural models of learning and gaming and discuss the importance of engaging learners as informants of educational game design.