Presentation Running a Game-Based Teaching/Research Engine in the Red: Failing, Prevailing, and Downshifting in DGBLLT more

This presentation examines what happens when a game-integrated Pedagogy of Multiliteracies project prevails in terms of learning and research outcomes, but fails as sustainable practice. Drawing on design-based action research across two Japanese university cohorts, I reflect on a DGBLLT design that used board and digital games, student-as-researcher tasks, and mixed-methods data to support language, literacy, participation, and well-being. The project produced strong outcomes, including gains in off-list vocabulary, grammar, speech acts, and students’ self-rated curiosity and happiness. However, these gains came at a cost. More than 1000 hours of design, implementation, feedback, and analysis created recurring pressure points, including grading overload, data avalanches, uneven group dynamics, and physical and emotional strain. One major lesson was that rich instrumentation can support valuable evidence of learning while also making a project difficult to sustain. In response, I propose a “permaculture” approach to DGBLLT: reusing open materials, simplifying research and assessment routines, embracing constraints, and protecting space for play. The session argues that the key question is not only whether game-based teaching succeeds, but whether it can be maintained, adapted, and shared without exhausting teachers. Participants will leave with practical heuristics and tools for redesigning CALL projects for both impact and sustainability.