Chair: John Strange.

This dissertation presents findings of a study into the nature of play and its appropriateness as an instructional strategy for procedural learning outcomes.  Years of research into play have not provided a thorough definition of play behavior or a taxonomy of the indicators of play.  The field of instructional design also has not adequately specified play as an instructional strategy appropriate for certain instructional outcomes.

This study has two research questions.  The first question concerned the indicators of play from student, instructor, and practitioner perspectives.  The second investigated play as an instructional strategy and questioned how play affects enjoyment and emotion.  There were three methods of data collection, including an analysis of a multimedia intervention into a CBT course teaching procedural skills, interviews, and participant observation.  Study participants included Navy “A” school students and instructors, along with corporate instructional design practitioners.

First, a multimedia intervention was performed using a computer-based course teaching procedural skills for letter-writing.  Two versions of the course were produced:  one with an additional module of play, and one with an additional module of practice questions.   The play module was designed using play characteristics derived from a literature review.  Participants were divided into treatment and comparison groups.  Data was collected on three measurements:  an end-of-the-course test within the CBT; a summated rating scale measuring enjoyment; and a letter-writing assignment.   Data analysis indicated that the comparison groups scored higher on all three measurements than the treatment groups, which was an unexpected finding.

Next, interviews were conducted with three groups:  students, instructors, and practitioners. These interviews resulted in a list of play indicators.  From these indicators, a new model for applying play to instruction was generated – the W-I-R-E model, specifying an instructional strategy based on ways to use play, internal indicators, results of using play, and environmental elements of play.  The W-I-R-E model assists instructional designers to embed play into instructional environments using these components.