Designing and analyzing collaboration in a scripted game for vocational education

This study attempts to combine the technological possibilities of 3D-game environments and collaborative learning scripts. The study is a design experiment (N = 64) with multiple data collection and analysis (quantitative and qualitative) methods. The aims were twofold: The aim was to develop a game environment to simulate issues of work safety in a vocational context and to answer the following questions on the basis of an empirical study: (1) What kind of activities did the scripted game environment generate among the players? (2) How did the least and the most successful groups differ in this respect despite the same scripted game environment? Findings indicated that scripted game environment enriched the learning activities by enabling aspects that would not have been possible in traditional classroom settings. The scripted game environment also helped the players proceed in the different phases. However, the groups differed in terms of results in the test, collaboration processes, and the type and quantity of discussion. Especially discussion differed between the groups with highest and lowest test scores.