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Constructing Civic Participation: Game-Making as "Micro-Civics Education"

Tue, April 12, 10:35am to 12:05pm, Convention Center, Floor: Level Three, Ballroom A

Abstract

Playing civic video games has emerged as a uniquely ripe setting for youth to develop skills needed in a changing civic sphere. Likewise, game-making can function as a form of “micro-civics education”: nurturing collaborative skills outside of explicitly civic contexts. In a pilot study, 13 high school freshmen designed in small groups cooperative controllers for carnival games with Scratch and Makey-Makey. Our analysis focused on the challenges characteristic of game-making, which could cultivate skills identified by researchers as vital in the civic sphere: planning and goal-setting, leadership and governance, deliberation and consensus-building and collaborative problem-solving. We discuss the unique advantages of the iterative design process, and the perspective taking required by game-design, in facilitating a context for “micro-civics education”.

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