Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning Volume 9 Issue 2 Article 3 Published online: 1-9-2015 Solving Real World Problems With Alternate Reality Gaming: Student Experiences in the Global Village Playground Capstone Course Design Mary J. Dondlinger Texas A&M University Commerce, [email protected] Julie K. McLeod Good Shepherd Episcopal Schools, [email protected] IJPBL is Published in Open Access Format through the Generous Support of the Teaching Academy at Purdue University, the School of Education at Indiana University, and the Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education at the University of Oklahoma. Recommended Citation Dondlinger, M. J. , & McLeod, J. K. (2015). Solving Real World Problems With Alternate Reality Gaming: Student Experiences in the Global Village Playground Capstone Course Design. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 9(2). Available at: https://doi.org/10.7771/1541-5015.1488 This document has been made available through Purdue e-Pubs, a service of the Purdue University Libraries. Please contact [email protected] for additional information. This is an Open Access journal. This means that it uses a funding model that does not charge readers or their institutions for access. Readers may freely read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles. This journal is covered under the CC BY-NC-ND license. The Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-based Learning ARTICLE Solving Real World Problems With Alternate Reality Gaming: Student Experiences in the Global Village Playground Capstone Course Design Mary Jo Dondlinger (Texas A&M University-Commerce) and Julie K. McLeod (Good Shepherd Episcopal School) The Global Village Playground (GVP) was a capstone learning experience designed to address institutional assessment needs while providing an integrated and authentic learning experience for students aimed at fostering complex problem solving, as well as critical and creative thinking. In the GVP, students work on simulated and real-world problems as a design team tasked with developing an alternate reality game that makes an impact on the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. Re- searchers employed a qualitative case study approach to evaluate what aspects of this problem-based, hybrid course design students found most and least beneficial to their learning. Findings suggest strategies for designing technology-based learning environments to support complex problem solving. Specific recommendations pertain to scaffolding team-based problem solv- ing, particularly concept development processes, interdependence among team members, and group self-organization. Keywords: game design, learning games, problem-based learning, complex problem solving, learning by designing, scaf- folding problem-solving processes Introduction • Engagement with big questions • Critical and creative thinking about complex problems In the knowledge age, the need to develop in learners the high- • Active involvement in diverse communities and real er order thinking skills that translate into real-world, complex world challenges problem-solving ability is more urgent than ever before. As • Application of knowledge and skills in diverse settings early as 1991, the Secretary of Labor’s Commission on Achiev- and innovative ways (Peter D. Hart Research Associates, ing Necessary Skills (1991) found that basic skills in reading, 2008) writing, and mathematics were the “irreducible minimum In light of this report, the focus of instruction needs to for anyone who wants to get even a low-skill job” but those become one that allows large-scale problem solving and skills were not a guarantee to either a career or access to high- compels a deliverable product that can then be evaluated by er education. Furthermore, data from a national survey initi- agencies outside of academia. Although employers desire ated by the Association of American Colleges & Universities these skills, learning institutions have to foster them with- indicates that employers are dissatisfied with assessment test out adding additional credit hours or courses to their pro- scores, grade point averages, institution ratings, and indicators grams (Safflund Institute, 2007). A means to achieving this of degree completion. Instead, they call for “faculty-evaluated end is through deploying instructional strategies that foster internships and community-learning experiences” as well as those skills in existing courses, using communications tech- “essay tests, electronic portfolios of student work, and compre- nologies, simulations, and other digital media to expand the hensive senior projects” which provide means for students to boundaries of seat time and credit hours. develop “real-world skills,” as well as demonstrable products Learning Design Solution of student performance in problem-solving and readiness for the workplace (Peter D. Hart Research Associates, 2008). More One approach is to develop a problem-based capstone expe- specifically, the employers surveyed called for undergraduate rience that allows students to apply knowledge gained across learning experiences that foster the following: a general education curriculum as they develop solutions to October 2015 | Volume 9 | Issue 2 http://dx.doi.org/10.7771/1541-5015.1488 M. J. Dondlinger and J. K. McLeod Solving Real World Problems With Alternate Reality Gaming complex problems in teams. The Global Village Playground student presentations, team projects and class discussions) (GVP) was such an experience, designed to address an in- to be effective ways to learn, and seemed to prefer learning in stitutional need to assess the general education program at these ways as compared with traditional methods of instruc- a large, urban community college while providing an inte- tion (Dondlinger, 2009). Moreover, students reported learn- grated, contextualized, and authentic learning experience for ing gains in vital skills and abilities such as: students. In the GVP, a six-credit capstone course, students • creating new knowledge from prior knowledge and work on simulated real-world problems as a design team current experiences in the course, tasked with developing an alternate reality game (AltRG) • developing understanding of people from other cul- that makes an impact on the United Nations Millennium De- tures and a new appreciation for people within their velopment Goals (UN MDGs) (United Nations, 2005). This own culture who are demographically different from design project required students to engage with big ques- themselves, tions, think critically and creatively about complex prob- • deepening awareness of the importance of being in- lems, and devise strategies to address them, central goals of a formed, self-disciplined, honest, and reliable, general education curriculum and essential skills in a global, • appreciating other perspectives, new technologies, knowledge-based economy, as well as the aims of using prob- and different ways of thinking, and lem-based learning. It did so by simulating a work scenario • growing awareness of the relationship between self in which students collaborate to create a deliverable product and society, need to protect the planet for future gen- that meets the specifications of a client agency. Additionally, erations, and to do no harm. (Dondlinger, 2012) the scenario compelled students to grapple with real-world Both the reactions to the course and the learning gains problems, such as eradicating extreme poverty and achieving that students reported show promise for problem-based cap- universal primary education (United Nations, 2005), as well stone course designs. However, implementing such designs as develop skills in communicating effectively with members is not without its challenges and tensions. of small and large groups, managing a project timeline, and We focus this article on reporting which aspects of the de- solving problems collaboratively. sign students found beneficial and detrimental to their learn- ing in order to provide insight on the challenges and suc- Purpose and Research Questions cesses of implementing technology-based learning designs Although the GVP was designed to provide a means to eval- intended to provide integrated capstone learning experienc- uate the student learning outcomes for a general education es that promote the development and application of complex program, assessment of student learning is not the purpose problem solving skills. More specifically, the research ques- of this study. The effectiveness of many educational innova- tions that we address here follow: tions is evaluated by student achievement of the learning • What aspects of the design did students find condu- outcomes targeted by the instructional design. This study cive to their learning? does not ignore that precedent or its urgency. However, as • What challenges or tensions arose from the design? Kirkpatrick (1994) points out, whether and what participants The research design for this study followed a qualitative learned isn’t the only consideration in evaluating instruction- case study approach to gather and analyze data collected al programs. Participant reactions, changes in behavior, and from the students and instructors participating in the pilot impact on an organization are also important. Thus, we fo- implementation. cused first on evaluating participant experiences in the pilot implementation in order to identify design weaknesses and Theoretical Foundation develop better scaffolds for complex problem solving