Matthew Gaydos

On the design of an educational card game matthew.gaydos@nie.edu.sg

for middle school geography education Research Scientist
Learning Sciences Laboratory
Abstract: Non-digital geography games have a long history of use. Their success Funding was provided by the Office of Educa- Office of Educational Research
warrants further investigation, especially through the lens of contemporary approaches tion Research at the National Institute of Edu-
National Institute of Education
cation, Nanyang Technological University
to design and game-based learning. Using Pickering’s mangle of practice to frame (Grants SUG 36/13 MJG, OER 4/15 MJG, OER Nanyang Technological University
sites of resistance and accommodation, this paper presents key aspects of a new 03/14 JMF).
Singapore
geography game’s development. The design presented here is the first step in a process
of sharing and recreating game-based design research, intended to spur discussion
on sites of feedback that arise during the development of educational games.

The Lab The Teacher’s Lounge The Classroom

Initial teacher buy-in was thus sought by framing the researcher/teacher Once an initial prototype was developed, it was then taken back to the teachers A complete prototype of the game A. The basic set of
collaboration as a means for developing a game of their own, customized for for further evaluation. This cycle of laboratory development and teacher feedback has moved into classrooms for Sovereign City Cards.
use in their classrooms. Design constraints for creating an educational research occurred once a week for four weeks. testing, including a complete set
game were voiced by the teachers in early meetings. These included: of cards (A) and supporting game
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Early versions of the game met initial constraints, but issues emerged through play- play materials. Card expansions
Time The game should be playable within a 50 minute testing. For example, the game initially privileged coal as a source of energy and and teacher-prompted events are
class period . each player began the game with their own stock of coal cards. Teachers requested also currently being developed to
that a “wood” card be created and that each student begin with wood rather than expand game play (C).
Ease of Use The logistics of digital games left the teachers coal in order to more accurately portray energy resource development.
frustrated and they wanted something easier to
use. From Schon’s design perspective, the teachers’ feedback could be interpreted as B. Sovereign C. Sovereign City expansion cards and
reality “pushing back” on the original design intentions. This feedback or pushing City supporting events.
Content The game had to be aligned to the textbook, as materials.
back prompted a need for design accommodation. Rapid prototyping and iterative
it would be replacing valuable classroom time
development were important development techniques for creating opportunities for
typically used to cover textbook content.
teacher feedback throughout this process, providing teachers with the opportunity
to understand the game and in so doing, identify and anticipate problems with the
Assessment At some point in the future, the game should
show significant gains on students’ tests. game’s configuration.
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Based on these initial constraints, a series of game prototypes were created Below is a prototype for the Additionally, early meetings with teachers within the
“coal” resource card. Teachers
by the author and tested in lab for usability and the above constraints. Using development process provided the opportunity for
found it to be too busy, and
the textbook as reference, prototype cards (right) were created with the the teachers to have some control over the game’s
preferred simpler iconographic
intention of addressing the students’ chapter titled, “Energy Crisis.” Using the imagery. aesthetic. Early prototypes had used images found
deck-building mechanic popularized by the commercial game Dominion, online, and these images would eventually need to Research and development associated with non-digital educational geography
Sovereign City highlights the tension between economic development and be changed due to copyright issues, games has a long history, but much of the design of such learning environments
sustainable growth. It does so by putting the two at odds with one another is not well documented or understood. Though geography simulations and games
within the game’s mechanics, similar to the way that “victory points” and The game’s look and feel were regularly disucssed can be powerful tools for learning, and educators have previously taken them up for
currency work in Dominion. with teachers throughout playtesting in order to experimentation in the classroom, such games must also be replicable in order to be
develop a game that not only covered the target useful for research (Hoadley, 2004). Co-design or co-development practices are a new
Though Dominion was an important model for the mechanics of Sovereign content, but that also looked and felt like a tool they means for developing sustainable and impactful education interventions generally
City, it was not immediately suitable for classroom use because it was were interested in using. Teachers also helped to (Coburn, Penuel, & Geil, 2013; Coburn & Penuel, 2016) and as this project documents,
not thematically appropriate for geography, took too long to play, and was identify support materials that would be useful for these practices may be extended to game-based learning development and research.
intended for individuals 13 years and older. Modifications were focused on helping students understand game and extension Formalizing and presenting game development processes is an important first step
changing the theme, simplifying the game, and shortening the expected materials that could improve the game’s content for improving design and replicating research (Gaydos, 2015), and future work will look
play duration. coverage. more critically at teacher and student outcomes.