learning
User-experience game research?
Mon, 14/06/2010 - 15:41 | 
sharritt
New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:
Situated Research offers in-depth video game analysis, accomplished by recording and analyzing player interaction within situated gaming environments. Techniques will be presented which uncover user practices and behaviors, aimed at uncovering a balance between aesthetics and functionality while maximizing interactive experiences. Research will be presented that outlines how to unpack gameplay experiences, so designers can design situations that yield intended, meaningful outcomes with lasting results. The cutting-edge research approach described draws from a multi-disciplinary background to construct a very detailed picture of actual use, which informs the design process. Existing literature supports the idea that games can communicate complex ideas through exploration and play-testing, using constant feedback and assessment, by observing players’ behavior through interaction with other related objects in an environment. The design of specific visualizations, rules, and behaviors will be discussed, with impacts on human interaction and game play. By studying relationships among game interfaces and player behavior, patterns can be found that help to maximize motivation and flow, a feeling where one loses track of time and their surroundings (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990). In addition, research outlining the importance of role specialization and complimentary virtual identities in games like MMORPGs is presented, highlighting the importance of role-specialization, where group participation is required for success: such as guild formation, where characters of different ability work together towards mutual goals. Research methods addressing group activities and specialization (assuming roles) will be described, with effects on engagement: e.g., social ties to play games. A blended method drawing from ethnomethodology (Garfinkel, 1967; Clayman & Maynard, 1995) and grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Charmaz, 2005) will describe how to go about finding patterns in gameplay, helping to design situations that yield intended, meaningful outcomes with lasting results. This open-ended approach allows observation of game players while they act in their natural environment, “in-situ”, obtaining information that is highly relevant to the players themselves. Applying these results to game design can yield more effective, fun and playable games.
186 reads | 
Tags: Affordances, Analysis, Clan, Cognition, Education, Educational psychology, Ethnomethodology, Experience, Flow, flow, Game design, Gameplay, gameplay, Games, learning, Madison, method, Michel A.
Source, motivation, Play, player, player experience, Psychology, research, serious games, sharritt, situated, situated learning, situated research, Technology, Technology, United States, usability, User experience, user-experience, ux, Video game, Video Games
A mixed method approach to studying collaborative video game play
Mon, 14/06/2010 - 15:37 | sharritt
New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:
Activity Theory supports the idea that human activity is hierarchically organized. Our research follows a qualitative case study that highlights the use of affordances, or potentials for action, during video game player interaction among peers and the game interface. Activity Theory’s meditational triangle will shed light on motivated activity itself, the tools available to complete the activity, and peer relationships (such as role specialization and rules of interaction) to evaluate game designs and their ability to fulfill serious purposes with meaningful outcomes. This presentation will focus on Activity Theory and how the meditational triangle can be used to evaluate peer relationships within game play. A blended approach incorporating features of Ethnomethodology and grounded theory will be used to construct an open-ended, bottom-up approach to studying collaborative game play. A true Ethnomethodological approach would reject the top-down, theory-driven approach required by Activity Theory, Activity Theory can highlight particular relationships during game player interactions to provide a frame for game player activity. Activity theory, when applied in conjunction with an emergent approach, can both broaden our concept of affordances and remind us to look for action potentials on the various levels of activity, and does not necessarily have to constrain findings by introducing preconceptions. While bound to the specific situation being studied and not seeking of patterns in observations, Ethnomethodology can be a very useful starting point for the analysis of game player activity in order to reveal underlying, and commonly overlooked, social assumptions. Activity theory can be incorporated following an initially open-ended, emergent Ethnomethodological approach to highlight relationships and game player motivations that might have been initially overlooked. While this process becomes partially theory-driven in the end, it also allows us to obtain some of the benefits of initially using an open-ended ethnomethodologically inspired approach. This approach can help construct a context-dependent, bottom-up, indexical and descriptive representation of game player activity, which is crucial to understanding interactions within Serious Games and their associated meaningful outcomes.
154 reads | Tags: activity, Activity theory, Activity Theory, Affordances, approach, Collaboration, collaboration, collaborative learning, Education, Educational psychology, Ethnomethodology, Game design, game player, gameplay, Games, Human behavior, learning, Madison, mediation, method, Michel A.
Source, mixed method, player, Psychology, qualitative, research, serious games, Technology, Technology, United States, Video game, Video Games
An Open-Ended, Emergent Approach for Studying Serious Games
Mon, 14/06/2010 - 15:23 | sharritt
New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:
In a recent survey of over 319,223 students, 25,544 teachers, 19,726 parents and 3,263 school leaders in the United States, Project Tomorrow (2008) reports that more than half of students in grades 3 through 12 believe games would help them learn, and average 8-10 hours per week playing games. Only 3% of elementary school students say they do not play games of any kind. While only 11% of teachers reported that they already were using video games in class, many teachers feel that games could increase student engagement, address different learning styles, and teach critical thinking skills. Over half of the teachers surveyed were interested in learning more about integrating gaming technologies, with only 6% of teachers saying that they saw no value in exploring games within education (Project Tomorrow, 2008, p. 4). These figured indicate a huge potential for Serious Games in educational contexts. Games can create a rich user experience (UX) for game players while presenting opportunities to use meta-cognitive skills. Research suggests that video games can provide a rich experience while providing game players the ability to navigate a virtual world, in which complex decision making and the management of complex issues might resemble the cognitive processes that they would employ in the real world (Ducheneaut, Yee, Nickell, & Moore, 2006; FAS, 2006; Squire, 2005; Stokes, 2005). Games are engaging, because they: “give us enjoyment and pleasure; give us intense and passionate involvement; give us structure; give us motivation; give us doing; give us flow; give us learning; give us ego gratification; give us adrenaline; they spark our creativity; give us social groups; and give us emotion” (Prensky, 2001, p. 144). Much of the existing research on Serious Games focuses on general introductions to gaming and their application in a classroom, broad case studies, and learning outcomes associated with using games in the classroom. There exists an opportunity for a thorough investigation into the actual uses of games in an educational setting, focusing on the collaborative learning process and how students make use of both cognitive and social affordances of gaming. Affordances can be used to focus on what opportunities are offered (afforded) to an actor by the environment (use of games in educational contexts) being studied. The term cognitive affordance is used to discuss a potential for cognitive action; and social affordance to describe a potential for social action. In this paper both the use of the video game interface and peer group cultures (Kirriemuir & McFarlane, 2004) are foci of analysis. This descriptive analysis presented in this chapter can inform game design by improving game content and the game interface, as well as aiding in the design of content to achieve meaningful, serious outcomes. An open-ended, emergent approach drawing from ethnomethodology and grounded theory will be presented. The descriptive analysis to be described will enable game researchers to conduct qualitative, inductive case studies of game play, digging into actual uses of games in Serious contexts. An emphasis on conducting open-ended, inductive experiments is extremely useful for investigating new situations where a theory-driven approach (deductive hypothesis testing) may not be appropriate, as the method is open-ended and allows participants to describe what they feel is most relevant, rather than the researcher (and his hypotheses) predetermining what is most important. Several influences are described, drawing from the fields of ethnomethodology, grounded theory, and usability research. While strict adherence to these fields of study is not followed, many features of these fields provide inspiration for investigating what occurs during collaborative gameplay. The hybrid method presented can assist researchers in discovering what is happening on a moment-by-moment basis as video games are played, and will guide researchers in finding patterns during game play to abstract patterns in gamer behavior. These inductively-generated hypotheses can be used to test highly relevant aspects such as a video game's usability or ability to create an engaging learning experience. Following, influential theory will be presented that helps to form the basis for the later described hybrid, qualitative, inductive methodology. Samples of collected data will be presented, in the form of transcriptions of video recorded collaborative game play. The presented transcripts are from a study within an educational context, where analysis focused on learning; however, the method presented could be applicable to other 'serious' contexts where meaningful outcomes are expected.
199 reads | Tags: Affordance, Affordances, approach, Assessment, Collaborative learning, E-Learning, Education, EDUCATION, Educational game, Educational psychology, elementary school, Game studies, Games, learning, Matthew J.
Source, method, Psychology, research, Rotterdam, Serious game, serious games, Situated cognition, Technology, Technology, United States, Video game, Video Games
Evaluating Video Game Design and Interactivity
Mon, 14/06/2010 - 15:19 | sharritt
New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:
An emergent, bottom-up construction of video game interaction is presented, drawing from influences in ethnomethodology (Garfinkel, 1967), grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967), and activity theory (Vygotsky, 1978; Cole & Engeström, 1993; Kaptelinin & Nardi, 2006). Following, a qualitative case study highlights the use of affordances, or potentials for action, during video game player interaction among peers and the game interface. Relationships among affordances and levels of activity are presented, which broaden the concept of affordances to include motivations. Additionally, activity theory will complement analysis by introducing the mediational triangle (Cole & Engeström, 1993), providing a guide with which to analyze game player interactions and motives. The mediational triangle sheds light on the motivated activity itself, the tools available to complete the activity, and peer relationships (such as role specialization and rules of interaction) to evaluate game designs and their ability to fulfill serious purposes with meaningful outcomes.
211 reads | Tags: activity, Activity theory, Activity Theory, Affordance, Affordances, collaboration, collaborative learning, Document, Education, EDUCATION, Educational psychology, Ethnomethodology, Game design, gameplay, Games, Hershey, interaction, learning, Matthew J.
Source, Play, player, Psychology, Science, serious games, sharritt, situated learning, Technology, Technology, usability, Video game, Video Games
Designing Game Affordances to Promote Learning and Engagement
Mon, 07/06/2010 - 20:17 | sharritt
New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:
Applied research will be presented from a qualitative study that highlights high school students' learning and use of several game interfaces, describing how particular affordances and game interface designs can encourage learning. Inductive generalizations from several 'commercial' games for good, including Civilization IV, Making History: The Calm & the Storm, and RollerCoaster Tycoon describe patterns of learning among game players, showing how the design of in-game visualizations either led to success or failure to learn to use basic game controls. This analysis, inspired by ethnomethodology and grounded theory, sought patterns from gathered video data of student gameplay to highlight learning episodes and patterns of interface use. Patterns in affordance use (uptake of a perceived action potential) during collaborative gameplay reveal relationships among the video game interface and player behavior, giving focus to how an interface design can guide game player interaction. In line with Csikszentmihalyi's concept of flow, a proper balance of difficulty (between feelings of boredom, and too much difficulty) encouraged player engagement and learning. As evidenced in transcripts of collaborative gameplay, feelings of frustration with a game interface often led students to abandon in-game tasks, as did boredom with a given task. However, frustrated goal achievement often led to the re-negotiation of in-game strategies: an indication of engagement. Additionally, games that presented information using multiple channels encouraged learning, as did the use of specific visualizations such as the animation of in-game objects. Finally, a discussion of the affordances created by different game designs will offer educators and game designers guidelines to encourage motivated gameplay.
150 reads | Tags: Affordance, Affordances, Cognition, Cognition, cognitive, cognitive technology journal, collaboration, collaborative learning, DESIGN, E-Learning, Education, Education, Educational psychology, engagement, game design, Gameplay, Games, games for good, learning, Learning games, Matthew J
Source, player, Psychology, Situated cognition, situated cognition, situated learning, Technology, Technology, Technology, Video Games
Video game representations as cues for collaboration and learning
Fri, 04/06/2010 - 21:55 | sharritt
New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:
Literature suggests that games can support learning in schools by enabling creative problem solving, allowing dynamic resource allocation, by providing a motivating, immersive activity, and by supporting explorations of identity. A descriptive, inductive study was carried out to identify how high school students in a school setting make use of the video game interface and its representations. Results demonstrate that specific cues direct attention, helping to focus efforts on new or underutilized game tasks. In addition, consistent and well-organized visualizations encourage learning and collaboration among students by providing shared referential resources and scaffolding coordinated sequences of problem solving acts during gameplay. Conversely, when affordances are inconsistently represented, students’ focus can shift from problem solving at the goal level (game strategy, etc.) to problem solving why the game interface is frustrating their goals. In general, the design of game representations and behaviors can help guide or hinder student learning.
111 reads | Tags: Affordances, collaboration, collaborative learning, cues, Daniel D.
Source, Educational psychology, gameplay, Games, learning, Problem solving, representations, Science, Simulation, Video Game
Forms of learning in collaborative video game play
Fri, 04/06/2010 - 21:49 | sharritt
New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:
Extensive literature has shown that games provide engaging, dynamic, and authentic learning contexts. An understanding of how learning takes place while gaming can inform the design of effective educational games and aid their integration into contemporary classrooms. This study used inductive methods to provide a detailed description of the use of video games for learning in a school setting. Results demonstrate that learning occurred across multiple levels and multiple granularities, and can be triggered by particular cues in the game or social environment. Characteristics of the most frequently occurring instances of learning are discussed. Results of this study suggest great potential for the use of games in education for learning, and can inform future game design.
105 reads | Tags: Affordances, Cognitive science, collaboration, Document, Education, Educational psychology, Game design, Game play, Inform, Learning, learning, learning types, Matthew J
Source, Psychology, Systems science, Technology, Technology, Video Games
Funchal 500 years: Learning Through Role Play Games
Wed, 10/02/2010 - 14:05 | Jason Rutter
New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:
It is commonly accepted that the educational environment has been undergoing considerable change due to the use of the Information and Communication tools. But learning depends upon actions such as experimenting, comprehending, visualizing, abstracting and demonstrating, by means of which the learner succeeds in constructing his own knowledge. It is not always easy to achieve these actions through current distance learning approaches. Since we live in a society that demands creativity, globalization, responsibility, autonomy and the ability to deal with virtuality and new technologies, Role Playing Games (RPG) may well develop such capacities. The creation of an interactive computer game with RPG characteristics, about the 500th anniversary of the city of Funchal, the capital of Madeira Island, is invested with compelling educational/pedagogical implications, aiming clearly at teaching history and social relations through playing. By incorporating the concept "games to teach", players will interpret different characters in different settings/scenarios, experiencing adventures, meeting challenges and reaching multiple and simultaneous goals in the areas of education, entertainment and social integration along the first 150 years of the history of Funchal. Through this process they will live and understand all the social and historical factors of that age.
Add new comment | 143 reads | Tags: Funchal, historical environment, interactive game, learning, role play game
Entertaining Education - Using Games-Based and Service-Oriented Learning to Improve STEM Education
Thu, 21/01/2010 - 11:32 | Jason Rutter
New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:
This paper addresses the development of a computer game design and development curriculum at the authors' institution. The basis for curriculum decisions, as well as comparison to the other institutions' curricula is covered. In situating the curriculum within the current degree programs, games-based versions of existing courses are also being offered. The experience of the authors with the initial offering of a games-based introductory programming course is also explained, along with the initial assessment of results from the experience. Our experience of using games-based learning in an introductory laboratory is presented. Finally, we demonstrate how games-based learning can be extended beyond the classroom as we work to promote science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) with local elementary schools; our current project develops an ocean ecosystem exploration game that teaches oceanography and ecological sustainability.
Add new comment | 114 reads | Tags: Amp, curriculum, development, games-based, k12, learning, motivation, programming, stem, sustainability, Technology, Technology
Uncertainty and engagement with learning games
Wed, 13/01/2010 - 10:40 | Jason Rutter
New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:
Uncertainty may be an important component of the motivation provided by learning games, especially when associated with gaming rather than learning. Three studies are reported that explore the influence of gaming uncertainty on engagement with computer-based learning games. In the first study, children (10-11 years) played a simple maths quiz. Participants chose their preferred reward for a correct answer prior to seeing each question. They could either receive a single point or toss an animated coin to receive 2 points for heads or none for tails. A preference for the uncertain option was revealed and this increased during the quiz. The second study explored the discourse around learning when pairs of participants (13-14 years) competed against the computer in a science quiz. Progress depended on the acquisition of facts but also on the outcomes of throwing dice. Discourse was characterised by a close intermingling of learning and gaming talk without salient problematic constructions regarding fairness when losing points due to gaming uncertainty. A final experiment explored whether, in this type of game, the uncertainty provided by the gaming component could influence players' affective response to the learning component. Electrodermal activity (EDA) of 16 adults was measured while they played the quiz with and without the element of chance provided by the dice. Results showed EDA when answering questions was increased by inclusion of gaming uncertainty. Findings are discussed in terms of the potential benefits of combining gaming uncertainty with learning and directions for further research in this area are outlined.
Add new comment | 161 reads | Tags: academic risk-taking, Context, dopamine, Games, learning, memory, motivation, neurons, Responses, reward, Uncertainty, Video-Game
Digiplay Bibliography Updates
- Political Internet games: Engaging an audience
- 'It's in the Game' and Above the Game: An Analysis of the Users of Sports Videogames
- Theoretical Consoles: Concepts for Gadget Analysis
- Avatar motion control by natural body movement via camera
- Adoption of Mobile Games as Entertainment Technology : A Test of Extended Technology Acceptance Model
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