Prompting to Support the Design of Game-Based Learning Experiences

Abstract

The paper presents the development and first exploratory testing of a toolkit based on prompting and generative artificial intelligence to support the design of Game-Based Learning experiences oriented towards curricular objectives. The work is part of the second phase of a research path developed within a research line of the Department of Human Sciences at the Università degli Studi Guglielmo Marconi, involving an interdisciplinary group composed of researchers in education and sociology of communication and carried out in collaboration between Università Guglielmo Marconi and the Gamification Group of Tampere University, Finland. In its first phase, the research led to the development of a framework for analysing games, according to the dimensions of directivity, modifiability and sociality, relevant for the design of game-based Learning UInits.. In a second phase, the framework was translated into a system of rules and a sequence of prompts aimed at supporting game analysis and the design of Learning Units including a game-based experience. The toolkit was tested in two pilot contexts: during the synchronous teaching activities of the course “Teaching and learning technologies” at Università degli Studi Guglielmo Marconi, addressed to students in Education Sciences and in the workshop “Game-Based Learning for Curricular Teaching”, held at the “Walter Ferrarotti” Centre for Play Culture in Turin as part of the Universi Ludici event. These experiences made it possible to observe the toolkit both as a conceptual support tool, useful for interpreting the educational features of games, and as a support for designing educational pathways. The feedback collected made it possible to observe the operational use of the toolkit in the design and analysis of game-based educational pathways and to gather initial insights for refining the rules and prompts.