#174: Collaboration and Competition in Educational Gameplay: Strategic Student Decision-Making

This study examines how middle school students engaged in strategic decision-making when collaboration and competition were tightly intertwined in an educational gameplay setting. Drawing from a design-based research study of an afterschool program, six students played Isles of Ilkmaar, a multiplayer game designed to support data science learning. Using Activity Theory as an analytic lens, we traced how students mobilized tools, interpreted rules, and negotiated roles in the game’s diner competition. Analysis of three gameplay episodes showed students adapting in real time, moving from tool learning to contested claims and finally to rule negotiation. Findings highlight that collaboration and competition were not separate modes of activity but operated together, with conflicts often catalyzing adaptation and role change. This work contributes to CSCL by showing how collaborative learning can be sustained under competitive pressures, offering implications for the design of educational environments that integrate both cooperative and adversarial elements.