Open Access
Outcomes for design and learning when teenagers with autism codesign a serious game: a pilot study
(Wiley, 2018) Bossavit, Benoît; Parsons, Sarah; Estadística, Informática y Matemáticas; Estatistika, Informatika eta Matematika; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa
Digital educational games research tends to lack ecological validity by not adequately taking into account the views and perspectives of children and young people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This paper is a pilot study that explores and analyses an academic‐based educational game that was co‐designed with and for young people with ASD. The serious game aims to help the players learn Geography‐specific knowledge and integrates several strategic features so that users can collaborate together against the computer or compete against each other. The educational game was evaluated over 5 sessions by 3 peer teams from 2 different special educational institutions, involving a total of 6 students with ASD. The participants were positive about their enjoyment, motivation, and social engagement. The results showed that the players' level of competitiveness not only influenced the experience within the game but also the interaction within the peer teams. The game mechanisms did help the participants with ASD increase their knowledge in Geography content. The main conclusion is that there are considerable benefits of including children with ASD in the design process and future research should explore more fully on how their involvement can enhance curriculum‐based learning as well as social engagement within the classroom.
Open Access
From start to finish: teenagers on the autism spectrum developing their own collaborative game
(Emerald, 2017) Bossavit, Benoît; Parsons, Sarah; Ingeniería Matemática e Informática; Matematika eta Informatika Ingeniaritza
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate how teenagers on the autism spectrum respond to their involvement in the creation of a collaborative game, meeting the curriculum requirements in programming at secondary level in England. Design/methodology/approach: Two autistic teenagers were involved in participatory design processes to elaborate and develop together a collaborative game of their choice using the visual programming software, Kodu Game Lab. Findings: With the support of adults (teachers and the researcher), the participants were able to demonstrate and strengthen their participation, problem-solving and programming skills. The participants expressed their preferences through their attitudes towards the tasks. They created a game where the players did not need to initiate any interaction between each other to complete a level. Furthermore, the students naturally decided to work separately and interacted more with the adults than with each other. This is a small case study and so cannot be generalised. However, it can serve as starting point for further studies that involve students with autism in the development of interactive games. Practical implications: It has been shown that disengaged students can develop various skills through their involvement in software programming. Originality/value: Overall, this paper presents the involvement of teenagers on the autism spectrum in the initial design and development of a collaborative game with an approach that shaped, and was shaped by, the students’ interests. Although collaboration was emphasised in the intended learning outcomes for the game, as well as through the design process, this proved difficult to achieve in practice suggesting that students with autism may require stronger scaffolding to engage in collaborative learning.

Bossavit, Benoît

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