What Do Students Learn About Experimental Research by Designing Interactive Fiction Games?

Abstract

Research design is challenging to learn, and students have few hands-on experiences to practice it. We explore how StudyCrafter, a platform for creating and running research studies in the form of interactive fiction games, promotes students’ perceived and measured abilities in certain key research skills. Fourteen graduate students in a game design course used StudyCrafter during a 5-week-long unit on designing and conducting experimental research studies. Analyses of pre and posttests, and of students’ written post-unit reflections, showed that students’ confidence and abilities in designing research studies increased, but not their abilities to critique studies. This study contributes an understanding of the opportunities and challenges in using interactive fiction games to support students in developing their experimental research skills.