Gamified co-design with cooperative learning

Abstract

Co-design is an ideal approach to design with mixed teams that include learners and teachers. However, in modern learning contexts, learning and engagement are both key goals, and that poses several challenges to co-design. This paper investigates such challenges after outlining co-design and situating it in current user experience design trends. Then the paper uses the challenges to derive requirements for co-design, and shows how to meet requirements, fostering engagement as well as learning, by blending co-design with gamification and cooperative learning. It ends by showcasing a study that uses the blended co-design approach, and by outlining how this led to novel challenges and work.

Towards tangible gamified co-design at school

“…When moved in nowadays school, it faces school-dependent challenges [6]. One of them is how to promote positive engagement for co-designing products.…”

“…However, co-design in current formal learning contexts, such as schools, presents several challenges [6]. In particular, the work of Garzotto and others stresses that co-design tasks at school should be engaging, possibly fun, for children [10].…”

“…that is, in their school. Nowadays schools pose their own challenges, listed in [6]. At school, educators face heterogeneous classes, having children with diverse learning styles and social skills.…”

Gamified co-design with cooperative learning at school

“…Co-design at school, albeit not new, has received increasing attention in recent years. However, co-design in current formal learning contexts, such as schools, presents several challenges, e.g., see [2]. For instance, a relevant issue is how to effectively include all children in co-design.…”

“…Several psychology motivation theories and empirical studies support the use of specific game elements for gamification purposes [8]. In this Ph.D., gamification is used for playfully engaging learners and teachers in co-design as games can do, see [9,2]. For instance, in this Ph.D., co-design tasks are presented as missions, with a valuable clear goal for children and contingent-completion rewards, e.g., objects for prototyping that children can acquire at their co-design shop.…”