@phdthesis{nokey,

title = {Game Jamming in Schools: Affordances of Game Jam Events in General Formal Education},

author = {Riikka Aurava},

url = {https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-03-3691-2},

isbn = {978-952-03-3690-5},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-12-17},

journal = {Tampere University Dissertations},

publisher = {Tampere University},

abstract = {Educational systems worldwide aim to further the so-called 21st century or futureoriented

competence. This competence consists of knowledge and skills deemed

necessary in the constantly changing world and working life, as well as the capability

and will to use the skills and knowledge. Several facets of the 21st century

competence, like creativity, adaptability, and learning-to-learn skills that do not

directly belong to any specific school subject or discipline, have been noted as hard

to teach in general formal education.



Games and game culture have become increasingly ubiquitous. For several people,

and for most adolescents, games are an everyday pastime. With the rise of playing

games, making games as a hobby has proliferated. Game jam events, where people

gather to create games together, have grown in popularity since the first recorded

game jam event in 2002. Research on game jamming shows learning to be a

significant motivation to participate in game jams and an important outcome for

most game jam participants. Research further connects these learning outcomes with

several areas of 21st century competence, although the results have mainly been

tentative and preliminary, and the studied game jams have mainly been organised

outside of general formal education, with mostly adult informants.



This dissertation studies game jam events organised as part of general formal

education. The work presents an iterative, hermeneutic educational design research

project that yields 1) theoretical understanding of game jam events in school use and

2) a practical product, a guideline for organising game jam events as part of general

formal education, in schools, and for the purposes of learning and teaching. The

research was carried out in Finland, and the three main iterations of the design,

school-related game jam events, were organised in general upper secondary schools

for students 16 to 19 years old. The study uses mainly qualitative methods: open

ended surveys, interviews, and observations of game jam events. The informants are

teachers from all educational levels and students at general upper secondary schools.



The findings show that 1) game jam learning belongs to the social constructivist and

constructionist pedagogical continuum, 2) game jam events fit schools best when the

school practicalities are flexible enough to organise project-based and integrated

learning, 3) game jam participation is likely to further 21st century competence, 4)

school-related game jam events differ from game jam events organised for general

audience, mainly due to participants’ and organisers’ underlying roles as students and

teachers, and 5) game jam events are needed in schools not only because they

promote 21st century competence but because they can promote equality and

democracy, and because they offer a pedagogically valid method for learning about

games and game culture.



The findings reveal a profound problem in the Finnish educational system, likely

similar in other educational systems. Organising game jam events in schools faces

the same obstacles as most project-based, learner-centred, and integrated learning.

The system is built on a clear distinction between school subjects, and several school

practices like classes and timetables are dependent on this division. The more rigid

these practices are, the more difficult it is to organise anything else than subjectspecific,

teacher-led learning. This, with the lack of resources, the overemphasised

importance of grades, and the curricular overload, explains in part why 21st century

competence is so hard to further in formal education.},

keywords = {Affordance, Education, Game jam, Game jam organizers},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {phdthesis}

}