Games4Justice: Course Design Report

Two games were designed as part of an autoethnographic, teacher research study conducted from 2013-2014 on the implementation of play-, game-, and design-based teaching and assessment. The study was conducted at an urban, independent, K-12 day school with fewer than 500 students, respectively, and supported as part of a certification program in Serious Game Design & Research. La Isla de Monstruos was collaboratively designed with students as part of a seventh-grade Spanish 2 & 3 language and culture course using a culture circle design method. Students collaboratively designed a month of gamified and design-based assessment reviewing the material covered during the previous semester. Escapar Tenochtitlan is a six-week anthropology roleplay and language learning game designed by eighth-grade Spanish 2 & 3 students through a culture circle design method, grounded in ethnohistorical, archaeological, and anthropological data of 60 Pre-Columbian sites.