From start to finish: teenagers on the autism spectrum developing their own collaborative game
From start to finish: teenagers on the autism spectrum developing their own collaborative game
Purpose: This study investigates how teenagers on the autism spectrum respond to their involvement in the creation of a collaborative game, meeting the curriculum requirements in programming at secondary level in England.
Design/methodology/approach: Two autistic teenagers were involved in participatory design processes to elaborate and develop together a collaborative game of their choice using the visual programming software, Kodu Game Lab.
Findings: With the support of adults (teachers and the researcher), the participants were able to demonstrate and strengthen their participation, problem-solving and programming skills. The participants expressed their preferences through their attitudes towards the tasks. They created a game where the players do not need to initiate any interaction between each other to complete a level. Furthermore, the students naturally decided to work separately and interacted more with the adults than with each other.
Research limitations: This is a small case study and so cannot be generalized. However, it can serve as starting point for further studies that involve students with autism in the development of interactive games.
Practical implications: It has been shown that disengaged students can develop various skills through their involvement in software programming.
Originality/value: Overall, this paper presents the involvement of teenagers on the autism spectrum in the initial design and development of a collaborative game with an approach that shaped, and was shaped by, the students’ interests. Although collaboration was emphasised in the intended learning outcomes for the game, as well as through the design process, this proved difficult to achieve in practice suggesting that students with autism may require stronger scaffolding to engage in collaborative learning.
Game design, Collaborative game, Autism, participatory design, student voice, Kodu
Bossavit, Benoit
001e1355-1b4c-4f38-bbac-54c7f1beacb9
Parsons, Sarah
5af3382f-cda3-489c-a336-9604f3c04d7d
19 June 2017
Bossavit, Benoit
001e1355-1b4c-4f38-bbac-54c7f1beacb9
Parsons, Sarah
5af3382f-cda3-489c-a336-9604f3c04d7d
Bossavit, Benoit and Parsons, Sarah
(2017)
From start to finish: teenagers on the autism spectrum developing their own collaborative game.
Journal of Enabling Technologies, 11 (2).
(doi:10.1108/JET-02-2017-0004).
Abstract
Purpose: This study investigates how teenagers on the autism spectrum respond to their involvement in the creation of a collaborative game, meeting the curriculum requirements in programming at secondary level in England.
Design/methodology/approach: Two autistic teenagers were involved in participatory design processes to elaborate and develop together a collaborative game of their choice using the visual programming software, Kodu Game Lab.
Findings: With the support of adults (teachers and the researcher), the participants were able to demonstrate and strengthen their participation, problem-solving and programming skills. The participants expressed their preferences through their attitudes towards the tasks. They created a game where the players do not need to initiate any interaction between each other to complete a level. Furthermore, the students naturally decided to work separately and interacted more with the adults than with each other.
Research limitations: This is a small case study and so cannot be generalized. However, it can serve as starting point for further studies that involve students with autism in the development of interactive games.
Practical implications: It has been shown that disengaged students can develop various skills through their involvement in software programming.
Originality/value: Overall, this paper presents the involvement of teenagers on the autism spectrum in the initial design and development of a collaborative game with an approach that shaped, and was shaped by, the students’ interests. Although collaboration was emphasised in the intended learning outcomes for the game, as well as through the design process, this proved difficult to achieve in practice suggesting that students with autism may require stronger scaffolding to engage in collaborative learning.
Text
Bossavit & Parsons (2017) From start to finish JET Author accepted
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 20 April 2017
e-pub ahead of print date: 8 May 2017
Published date: 19 June 2017
Keywords:
Game design, Collaborative game, Autism, participatory design, student voice, Kodu
Organisations:
Centre for Research in Inclusion
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 408451
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/408451
ISSN: 2398-6263
PURE UUID: 59ca529c-c261-4569-aba6-c72f1e211d3a
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Date deposited: 20 May 2017 04:04
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 05:16
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Author:
Benoit Bossavit
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