Glossary

Acronyms and core frameworks

CGD&P (Computer Game Design and Programming):
A collective term used throughout this thesis to describe creative learning activities that combine coding, design, and playtesting of digital games.

GDP (Gameplay Design Pattern):
A recurring game feature or mechanic used as a mediational tool for learning and design. In this thesis, GDPs serve as both analytical units and practical scaffolds within game making activities.

REEPPP (Remix-Enabled, Elective, Progressive, Pattern-Patching):
A pedagogical model developed in this research describing inclusive pathways through CGD&P via remixing, elective choice, progressive challenge, and creative pattern-patching.

RARB (Relational Agency by Repertoire Blending):
An interpretive framework describing how participants expand their capacity to act by combining diverse cultural and technical repertoires through collaboration.

3M (Missions, Maps, and Methods):
A design framework structuring the workshops. Missions motivate, Maps visualise progression, and Methods capture shared strategies for collaboration.

LDM (Learning Dimensions Map):
An analytic tool mapping technical, social, and creative dimensions of learning across the project’s activity system.

Pedagogical and methodological terms

Contradiction:
A key CHAT concept referring to tensions within or between elements of an activity system that drive reflection and transformation.

Flow:
A state of deep engagement and focus during creative activity. In this study, flow overlaps with computational fluency, capturing moments of balanced challenge and competence.

Learning design:
The structured combination of resources, facilitation, and pedagogical strategies supporting participant learning in the workshops.

Computational thinking:
A term within computing education encompassing abstraction, decomposition, and algorithmic reasoning, alongside creative problem-solving in programming.

Pair programming:
A collaborative coding technique in which two learners share a workstation, one writing code, the other reviewing, supporting peer explanation and debugging.

Community of practice:
A group of people who share a concern or passion and learn through sustained interaction, as described by Lave and Wenger.

Funds of knowledge:
Learners’ cultural, familial, and experiential resources that can be mobilised in education.

SDBE (Social Design-Based Experiment):
A design-based research approach centred on equity and participation. It creates hybrid spaces where learners’ cultural repertoires shape collaborative innovation and analysis.

Repertoires:
The cultural and practical resources learners draw on across home, community, and school. In this study, repertoires underpin inclusive design and the development of relational agency in game making.

Third space:
A concept describing hybrid learning spaces that blend formal and informal, institutional, and personal modes of participation.

Game making and technical terms

Digital making:
A broad field of creative practice linking digital tools with physical or online production.

Game making:
The full process of designing and producing a digital game, including coding, asset creation, and playtesting.

Game coding:
The specific act of writing and modifying code to control game mechanics and behaviour.

Game mechanic:
A rule or pattern that structures player interaction, such as jumping, collecting, or timing, that forms part of a broader gameplay design pattern.

Code playground:
Online environments used to test, share, or invite help from online users on complete or partial code projects or problems, primarily for web-based projects involving the technologies of HTML, CSS, and variations of JavaScript.

Variables:
Values stored in code that control aspects such as movement speed or gravity in a game.

FLOSS:
The term Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) is used to describe software that grants users the freedom to run, study, modify, and redistribute code.

Block coding:
An approach to programming in which text-based syntax is replaced by interlocking coloured blocks representing code structures, which users drag from a menu into a coding area.

Cultural and community terms

Coder Dojo:
A volunteer-led network offering informal coding education for young people and families, supported by the Raspberry Pi Foundation.

Game jam:
A collaborative event where participants create games within a short time frame, fostering rapid design and experimentation.

09. Appendices