Playable Case Studies: A New Educational Genre for Technical Writing Instruction

ABSTRACT

A Playable Case Study (PCS) is a hybrid learning experience where students (1) participate in a fictional narrative that unfolds through an immersive, simulated environment and (2) engage in classroom activities and lessons that provide educational scaffolding and promote metacognition through in-game and out-of-game experiences. We present the Microcore PCS to illustrate the potential of this new type of experiential simulation that incorporates aspects of Alternate Reality Games (ARGs) to increase immersion and teach workplace literacies in the technical communication classroom. We explore results from a pilot test of Microcore with an undergraduate technical communication course, identifying design strategies that worked well and others that led to improvements that are currently being incorporated. We also provide questions to prompt future research of playable case studies and discuss our findings in a broader context of technical communication pedagogy.

KEYWORDS:

• Computer-based learning
• curriculum design
• digital technologies
• instructional technology

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded, in part, by NSF AISL grant [#1323787].

Notes on contributors

Jon Balzotti

Jon Balzotti is an assistant professor in the English department at Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, where he teaches courses in technical writing, proposal writing, and style. His research interests include professional communication pedagogy, workplace genres, and digital learning environments.

Derek Hansen

Derek Hansen is an associate professor of IT & Cybersecurity at Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, where he teaches courses on user experience design, web development, game design, and web and social media analytics. His research focuses on designing and evaluating novel social technologies and games to improve learning and promote healthy living.