Speak in My Language: Using Game-Based Methods to Disseminate Research Results to Community Audiences

Despite its recognized importance from researchers and calls from participants, dissemination of research findings back to community audiences is substantially lower than dissemination to academic audiences. Serious games, or games with educational purposes, use “edutainment” to disseminate information in an approachable, entertaining way. It has many benefits for learner engagement, yet there is limited research on how serious games can help disseminate research results into the community. In this paper, we describe how games can be used as a powerful tool for lay dissemination and provide practical recommendations for the development and implementation of research-based dissemination games. To demonstrate the process of planning, developing, and implementing research-based dissemination games, we present a case study of two low-cost serious games created to disseminate research results from our community-based participatory research study on the lived experiences of limited English proficient (LEP) Asian Americans in the South. These games were designed to increase player awareness, engagement, advocacy, and action related to language equity by incorporating research themes and participant narratives into interactive and family-friendly gameplay. Launched with a “game master” to facilitate conversation and dissemination, our games reached two hundred community members of all ages within five hours. Game master observation and participant feedback suggested increased awareness and empathy for LEP Asian Americans, higher engagement with the community partner, and interest in further advocacy and action for language equity. This article highlights the potential of research-based dissemination games as an effective, accessible, and participatory dissemination method to further awareness, engagement, advocacy, and action.