Intergenerational Learning Through a Participatory Video Game Design Workshop

ABSTRACT

This article presents a program evaluation for intergenerational video game design workshop using Scratch, a visual programming language developed at the MIT. We relied on a framework inspired by participatory game design, intergenerational interactions, and maker culture to create a workshop that valued the interactions of participants from various age groups, genders, and backgrounds to learn together about game design. We used a mixed methodology, which exploited an action research technique called the Socratic Wheel and a post-questionnaire. Results show that participants generally felt positive about the workshop, despite some criticisms about the thoroughness of the learning experience for some individuals. We outline the limitations of both the workshop design and the research design.

KEYWORDS:

• Intergenerational learning
• video game design
• democratic use of technology
• programming
• codesign
• action research

Acknowledgments

This research project is funded as a pilot study by an SSHRC Partnership Grant and an SSHRC Insight Development Grant.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Funding

This work was supported by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada [grant number 412-2009-1008].

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada [grant number 412-2009-1008].