Productive Disciplinary Engagement and Videogames

Abstract

Interactive learning environments such as videogames may facilitate learning through engagement. However, not all kinds of engagement are relevant to learning in formal education; much depends on the use of pedagogical approaches and videogames in the classroom. This study investigates a curricular unit in an upper secondary class using the commercial videogame The Walking Dead to teach ethical theories in a citizenship course. We focus on how the teacher’s design of the lesson facilitated students’ disciplinary engagement and find that productive disciplinary engagement (PDE) principles, together with dialogic interactions, extended students’ engagement beyond gameplay and helped them understand the meaning of the theoretical content. Based on our findings, we propose a set of recommendations concerning educational design for teaching and learning with commercial videogames.