The development of a digital educational game design training in teacher education: A design-based research

Abstract

This design-based research study aimed to develop and refine a digital educational game development training framework for pre-service teachers. Following established instructional design models, the curriculum was designed to equip pre-service teachers with key competencies in pedagogy, scenario, game design, and technical skills. In the first iteration, challenges related to the delayed introduction of technical training were identified, particularly for participants with limited technical skills. This was addressed in the second iteration by integrating blog-based programming language training earlier in the process, allowing pre-service teachers to create more advanced game prototypes. The results demonstrated significant improvement in pre-service teachers' digital educational game development self-efficacy scores, as shown by higher mean scores in the second iteration. Participants expressed positive feedback on the revised course structure, noting that the earlier integration of technical skills enhanced their ability to design and develop digital educational games. © 2025 by IGI Global Scientific Publishing.