Acttention – Influencing Communities of Practice with Persuasive Learning Designs

Abstract

Based on the preliminary results of implementing and testing a persuasive learning initiative in the Danish Military, this paper discusses and develops the notion of persuasive learning designs. It is suggested that the acquirement of new knowledge is fundamental to persuasion, and that persuasive learning designs distinguish themselves by leading to sustainable change to the learner’s attitude and/or behaviour. A practical example of persuasive learning designs is provided in terms of the interactive location-based learning game Acttention, which has been developed and tested on behalf of the Danish Military and aims to motivate a sustainable environmental attitude and behaviour amongst army employees. The learning design was first implemented, tested and evaluated at the army base on Bornholm in November 2014.The study was conducted in accordance with the Design Based Research approach and the evaluation include both qualitative and quantitative results, based on observations, questionnaires, photo and video documentation and in situ interviews. The results presented in this paper indicate that it may be beneficial to consider different levels of learning when arguing towards a claim of persuasive design within this more established field of research and development. Rather than focus on improving learning technologies or motivating the interest in a subject, persuasive designs may be more efficient when used to influence the communities of practice in educational institutions.