Design and pilot evaluation of a digital application for constructing motor games
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v83.119382Keywords:
Educational games, educational technology, physical education, preservice teacher education, usabilityAbstract
Introduction: Motor games are complex educational objects whose didactic transformation requires Physical Education teachers to understand and manipulate their structural elements. The digital tools currently available in this field are mainly oriented towards sports training rather than towards pedagogical reflection on the structure of school-based games.
Objective: The study aimed to describe the design process and architecture of a digital tool intended to support the generation of games by Physical Education teachers and schoolchildren.
Methodology: A design-based research approach was adopted in its initial phases, combining problem analysis, the formulation of design principles derived from the theoretical framework, and iterative prototyping. Four successive iterations were documented leading to the current version of the artefact.
Results: The resulting application (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19761172) integrated a combinatorial generator based on six primary rules and three layers of modifiers (participants, space, and materials) with a dynamic tactical board that allowed game situations to be represented through temporal phases. Both components were synchronously updated and operationalised six explicit design principles.
Discussion: The tool differed from classic game-centred approaches by operating across game families rather than within them, and from student-designed games by offering a structured scaffold for combinatorial design, thereby avoiding both the closed catalogue and the blank page.
Conclusions: The artefact provides a visual and manipulable support for pedagogical deliberation on the structure of games, without replacing teacher judgement or embodied practice.
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