“Are These People Real?”: Designing and Playtesting an Alternative Reality, Educational Simulation

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Jason McDonald
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9324-4738
Jonathan Balzotti
Melissa Franklin
Jessica Haws
Jamin Rowan

Abstract





In this design case, we report our design and playtest of a form of alternative reality, educational simulation that we call a playable case study (PCS). One of the features that make our simulations unique is how they are designed to implement a principle called This Is Not a Game, or TINAG, meaning that the affordances we design into the simulation suggest to students that the experience they are having is real, in contrast to the way the artificial nature of the expe- rience is highlighted in many computer games. In this case, we describe some challenges we encountered in designing a PCS to align with TINAG, along with how the situation in which we play tested the simulation highlighted other ways in which the principle of TINAG was challenging to achieve.





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How to Cite
McDonald, J., Balzotti, J., Franklin, M., Haws, J., & Rowan, J. (2023). “Are These People Real?”: Designing and Playtesting an Alternative Reality, Educational Simulation. International Journal of Designs for Learning, 14(1), 34–42. https://doi.org/10.14434/ijdl.v14i1.34682
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Articles
Author Biographies

Jason McDonald, Brigham Young University

Jason K. McDonald is a professor in the department of Instructional Psychology and Technology at Brigham Young University.

Jonathan Balzotti, Brigham Young University

Jonathan Balzotti is an associate professor in the English department at Brigham Young University

Melissa Franklin, Brigham Young University

Melissa Franklin is a graduate student in the department of Instructional Psychology and Technology at Brigham Young University.

Jessica Haws, Brigham Young University

Jessica Haws is a graduate student in the English department at Brigham Young University.

Jamin Rowan, Brigham Young University

Jamin Rowan is an associate professor in the English department at Brigham Young University.