Using Design Thinking in Educational Game Design: A Case Study of Pre-service Teacher Experience

Despite the growing interest in game-based learning (GBL), teachers often have difficulties in its classroom implementation. Teachers' perceptions about games and their abilities to integrate techniques are barriers to the use of digital games in their teaching. This study aimed to promote teachers' technical competence and improve their perceptions of GBL by engaging them in a game design course. Twelve pre-service science teachers participated in this course, which incorporated design thinking and teaching-related techniques. Qualitative data including the final products of the game design task, open-ended surveys, and semi-structured interviews were collected. The results indicated that the experience of designing educational games improved pre-service teachers' perceptions of GBL. Secondly, although the design thinking model contributed to the learning process and the final products, more learning scaffolds and visualization techniques were needed.