00. Front Mattter
Mick Chesterman
A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Manchester Metropolitan University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Department of Health and Education
Manchester Metropolitan University.
Year of submission: 2026.
Cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT), Design-based research (DBR), Social design experiments, Gameplay design patterns (GDPs), Learner agency, Relational agency, Non-formal learning, Open educational resources (OER), Computer game design and programming (CGD&P), Home education
This thesis investigates how cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) can inform the design of inclusive pedagogies for computer game design and programming (CGD&P) in non-formal education. In current educational discourse, computing skills and subject knowledge are heavily promoted, often at the expense of broader socio-cultural perspectives. To address this gap, the thesis examines how contradictions, mediational tools, and learner agency can be analysed as interrelated dimensions of activity, and how they can be supported through pedagogical design that extends beyond technical skills to encompass participation, identity, and collaboration. The study is inspired by work on social design experiments, foregrounding reciprocity and equity in the co-construction of learning environments.
The research is guided by the primary question of how pedagogies to support CGD&P can be enriched using socio-cultural approaches to foster inclusive learning in non-formal contexts. This was pursued through three objectives: to identify and respond to contradictions in CGD&P activities as a way of informing pedagogical innovation; to examine how gameplay design patterns (GDPs), understood here as recurring solutions to common design challenges that function both as coding scaffolds and conceptual anchors for learning, operate across abstract and concrete dimensions of activity; and to explore how learner agency and identity develop within an emerging game-making community, and the strategies that best support these processes.
The study took place across five iterations of small-group game-making courses for home-educating families, with typically 10–20 participants per cycle. Each ran for 5–10 weeks and concluded with the creation of multiple game artefacts and a public showcase. Data collection combined 360° video, screen capture, interviews, journals, and participant artefacts. CHAT provided the primary analytical framework, while design-based research (DBR) offered complementary tools for iterative design and design narrative. Consistent with the ethos of social design experiments, the methodological orientation emphasised reciprocity, embedding resource creation and participant benefit throughout.
Findings are presented in three strands. First, contradiction mapping identified tensions in tool use, project navigation, and cultural participation, leading to responsive innovations in facilitation and resources. Second, GDPs emerged as the central organising concept, functioning as practical scaffolds for coding, conceptual anchors for shared understanding, and cultural artefacts for collaboration. Third, the development of agency was traced through instrumental and transformational forms, with relational agency deemed most significant, conceptualised as an end point toward which the other two act as precursors. This was articulated through repertoire blending, developed here as the RARB model (relational agency via repertoire blending), and supported by inclusive strategies such as quick-start templates, side missions, and playtesting.
The thesis contributes conceptually by advancing GDPs as mediational and analytical tools within CHAT, and by proposing the RARB model as a new way of understanding how learners extend their agency through the integration of cultural, social, and technical repertoires. Methodologically, it demonstrates the value of combining contradiction analysis with design narrative and introduces new applications of 360° video for situated learning research. Practically, it generated a collection of GDPs described and illustrated in context, documentation structured around learners’ choice of pathway, a flexible starting template, and the REEPPP framework (remix-enabled, elective, progressive, pattern patching), a replicable technical-pedagogical model for structuring learning around GDPs. Collectively, these outputs were released as open educational resources under open licence, embodying the project’s commitment to reciprocity and equity, and ensuring that both participants and wider communities could benefit directly from the research.
Workshop resources and extra material: Dave Potts, James Keating, Fortunate Muwonge, Sonya McMaster and Adam Morrison;
Many thanks to EdLab students : who have contributed to the overall process.
A big thanks also to Eleanor Overland and Louise Hayes for giving me opportunities to test material on PGCE students and recruit them to deliver workshops and further develop materials. Mr Collinson and the student from Rolls Cresent for trying out early course materials.
Many thanks for the support of the EdLab team and other MMU staff: Nicola Whitton, Mark Peace, Mark Sackville-Ford, James Duggan, Juliette Wilson, Sarah McNicol, Ricardo Nemirovsky, and Michaela Harrison.
Particular thanks to my final supervision team: Cathy Lewin and John Lean.
My family: Many thanks for your continued support, I owe you one.
Finally for the Home Education families who took part in the study: Many thanks for your persistence and passion.