Game Lab Innovations in Education: Insights from a Board Game Design Project

This paper examines how game development can serve as a pedagogical method for teachers, drawing on a year-long international project called Let's Play, which paired a Norwegian university game development program with practicing teachers from Poland. Participants completed a two-day seminar on educational game development and then worked in teams to create analog board games, receiving bi-weekly feedback under the Game Lab model, a framework that organizes development around student teams operating as small game companies with supervisors acting as clients. The authors position their work within production pedagogy and constructivist learning theory, arguing that making tangible artifacts for real audiences can deepen engagement and understanding.

The study analyzed written reflections and open-ended survey responses from twelve teachers, ranging in age from their thirties to their sixties, spanning preschool through upper secondary levels. Using an abductive approach that combines theoretical expectations with emergent coding, the authors identified two main themes: educational game design, comprising game-based learning, game development, and game testing, and the Game Lab method, comprising group dynamics, progress, and creativity. Teachers reported broader perspectives on using diverse games in education, a shift from behaviorist toward constructivist teaching, greater motivation knowing their games would be played by pupils, and the value of testing with a real target audience.

The authors acknowledge important limitations, including the voluntary and likely interest-biased participant pool, the small sample, and the predominance of women (nine of twelve), all of which constrain generalizability. They also disclose that both authors were involved in the project, while maintaining that their analytical focus remained on participant experiences. The paper concludes that educational game design and the Game Lab method may work synergistically to support teacher professional development and innovative classroom practice.