World of Warcraft and the impact of game culture and play in an undergraduate game design course

During the past two decades, digital games have become an increasingly popular source of study for academics, educational researchers and instructional designers. Much has been written about the potential of games for teaching and learning, both in the design of educational/serious games and the implementation of off-the-shelf games for learning. Yet relatively little research has been conducted about how game culture and the enmeshed practice of play may impact classroom dynamics. The purpose of this study is to present a case study about how the use of World of Warcraft (WoW) as a teaching tool and medium of play impacted class dynamics in an undergraduate university-level course for game design. Specifically, this study will address how WoW’s game culture and the practice of play impacted (a) student-to-student dynamics and (b) class dynamics. The goal of this study is to explore some of the dynamics of play as a component of learning.