[arg_discuss] Designing an educational ARG?

[Richard Sebastian]

Just wanted to make another post to this list in the hopes of
connecting with any ARGers who are currently designing (or planning to
design) an educational ARG.  Christy Dena has contacted me about some
research possibilities (thanks, Christy), but I thought I would also
repost this plea to the entire ARG Sig list .

For my dissertation, I am very interested in researching an ARG
designed for pedagogical use (or at least with some specific learning
objectives). The learning setting can be formal or informal, and it
can be designed to take place in any milieu--K12, corporate training,
post-secondary. My degree is in Instructional Technology, so although
my background is in adult basic education, I am not limited to
studying a particular population.

My idea is to observe/study the ARG design process from its beginning,
conducting interviews with the designers and any other design
participants.  Then I would observe the game as it unfolded (either
face-to-face, or online, depending on the design). I would also want
to conduct ongoing interviews with the participating
teacher/instructor and, eventually, with the player/students. The
interviews with the players would probably take place after the game
is completed so as to not interrupt the gameplay.

I have had some difficulty these past few months locating potential
ARGs being planned for this kind of use, so a back-up option is to
examine an already completed educational ARG--following  procedures
similar to the ones listed above, only without the observation of
unfolding gameplay.

My interest is to explore the potential educational applications of
ARGs--the design decisions made to adapt the ARG to meeting a
particular learning goal,  the process of maintaining the
immersiveness and engagement of the game, and,  for ARGs designed
around a limited enrollment class/group,  the methods  teachers and
designers use to encourage and sustain a community of players from a
smaller, more localized population.

Currently, there is quite of bit of research on the use of video games
for teaching and learning. While I know there are big differences
between video games and ARGs, both types of games can encourage social
play and deep engagement. Also, both types are games can be extremely
complex and challenging. But I  feel that ARGs can be implemented in
an educational setting much more practically and much more
successfully than video games.

Anyway, if you know of any of these types of ARGs, or if you re
designing an educational ARG and wouldn't mind me conducting a study
of the game, I would appreciate it if you contacted me at the email
address below. I am willing to travel if I need to (within reason). I
am based in Richmond, Virginia in the US, so the closer to the East
Coast the better.:)

Thanks for your time.
-- 
Richard A. Sebastian
sebastian at virginia.edu
Skype: seethruskeleton
SL: LaMancha Undertone
http://richardsebastian.com