Learner Connections and Interactions in an Open World Gaming Inspired Teacher Education Course
Abstract: This study sought to patterns of interactions between students and their instructor in a teacher education course called Computer Science for Teachers which was designed to utilize the affordances of open world gaming. Student interactions were visualized using Social Network Analysis (SNA) and coded and visualized using Epistemic Network Analysis (ENA). The results of these analyses suggest incorporating the gaming elements from open world gaming resulted in an autonomy supportive learning environment focusing on Computational Thinking (CT) and Computer Science (CS) skills and key concepts resulted in robust student learning networks and that these networks were comprised of students providing meaningful peer support for one another during the learning of CS and CT skills. Implications of these results this intersection of game design and instructional design are discussed.