The Impact of Spatial Involvement on Training Mental Rotation with Minecraft

Previous research on understanding the effects of computer gameplay showed a shift from negative behavioral consequences to positive cognitive development across multiple age groups. A positive correlation exists between spatial skills and indications of success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. Game-based regimens explored training cognition and focus on spatial abilities as many post-secondary students with poor spatial skills can be place at a disadvantage in introductory courses. While the results of game-based studies suggested the potential of games, there were limitations to the studies conducted. Research examining effects from gameplay often compared across different genres, levels of graphical fidelity, input methods, and other variables. Which aspects of gameplay have an impact on the positive consequences is an open question. We focused on the role of spatial involvement, expressed as different control schemes, and its impact on training mental rotation by implementing a training regimen through Minecraft. Our project utilized Minecraft and its modification capabilities to recreate a proven engaging experience for players, making training mental rotation more accessible. We varied the different levels of spatial involvement in our interventions--full control Minecraft, partial control Minecraft, and a control condition--and designed an experiment to compare the effect of the experience's impact. Further, our work extended game training endeavors in psychology using digital media. A target outcome was a method to improve our understanding of what aspects of digital games are relevant for successful training applications. Results of a pilot study demonstrated the viability of the approach for relating spatial involvement, the sense of inhabiting the virtual space, to training effect in mental rotation and wider spatial skills. Additionally, the developed game-based training regimen is more accessible as there is a lower skill floor than games that have previously been shown to improve cognition.M.S., Digital Media -- Drexel University, 201

The subjective gameplay experience: An examination of the revised game engagement model

The study of the subjective gameplay experience spans multiple disciplines, from teachers who want to harness the power of gameplay to enhance instruction to game developers hoping to create the next big hit. Despite decades of interest, little agreement has been found regarding the way constructs—such as immersion, involvement, presence, and flow—are used to describe the subjective gameplay experience. Without the consistent usage of well-defined constructs, it becomes impossible to further scientific understanding of this domain. This dissertation examined the theoretical evolution of the key subjective gameplay experience constructs. From this, definitions for immersion, involvement, presence, and flow were extracted. Based on the prior work of Brockmyer et al. (2009), a revised game engagement model was created that incorporated these definitions. To test the proposed relationships within the revised game engagement model, experienced players of the computer game Minecraft were recruited for an experimental study. The participants played the game Minecraft, which was manipulated with respect to both level of difficulty and immersive aspects. This allowed for a range of potential game engagement states to be experienced by the participants. Several individual differences hypothesized to influence the different constructs of game engagement also were measured. The results of the study supported many proposed aspects of the revised game engagement model and revealed ways in which the model could be further refined. The theoretically-derived definitions and revised game engagement model resulting from this work, along with the suggested measures for these relevant constructs, provides a framework for future work in this area. This framework will improve the consistency of construct operationalization, benefiting the continued study of the subjective gameplay experience

Architectonics of Game Spaces

What consequences does the design of the virtual yield for architecture and to what extent can the nature of architecture be used productively to turn game-worlds into sustainable places - over here, in »reality«? This pioneering collection gives an overview of contemporary developments in designing video games and of the relationships such practices have established with the design of architecture. Due to their often simulatory nature, games reveal constructions of reality while positively impacting spatial ability and allowing for alternative avenues to complex topics and processes of negotiation. Granting insight into the merging of the design of real and virtual environments, this volume offers an invaluable platform for further debate

Architectonics of Game Spaces: The Spatial Logic of the Virtual and Its Meaning for the Real

What consequences does the design of the virtual yield for architecture and to what extent can the nature of architecture be used productively to turn game-worlds into sustainable places - over here, in "reality"? This pioneering collection gives an overview of contemporary developments in designing video games and of the relationships such practices have established with the design of architecture. Due to their often simulatory nature, games reveal constructions of reality while positively impacting spatial ability and allowing for alternative avenues to complex topics and processes of negotiation. Granting insight into the merging of the design of real and virtual environments, this volume offers an invaluable platform for further debate

Ideation, playful learning, and making in a Minecraft Virtual Learning Makerspace

This chapter discusses a study on Minecraft Virtual Learning Makerspace (MVLM), a virtual playground in an Icelandic rural school. The aim was to understand the pedagogy of using MVLM, focusing on learners’ ability to ideate and build in a playful learning context. The teacher’s learning design and the affordances of Minecraft also framed the learning activities, whereas making provided conditions for experimentation. The chapter shows how multimodal communication supported collaboration, and enhanced design activities and social skills of students. The study contributes to research on playful learning in the context of virtual learning environments and the role of ideation in making.Peer reviewe

Architectonics of Game Spaces

What consequences does the design of the virtual yield for architecture and to what extent can the nature of architecture be used productively to turn game-worlds into sustainable places - over here, in »reality«? This pioneering collection gives an overview of contemporary developments in designing video games and of the relationships such practices have established with the design of architecture. Due to their often simulatory nature, games reveal constructions of reality while positively impacting spatial ability and allowing for alternative avenues to complex topics and processes of negotiation. Granting insight into the merging of the design of real and virtual environments, this volume offers an invaluable platform for further debate

Literacy for digital futures : Mind, body, text

The unprecedented rate of global, technological, and societal change calls for a radical, new understanding of literacy. This book offers a nuanced framework for making sense of literacy by addressing knowledge as contextualised, embodied, multimodal, and digitally mediated. In today’s world of technological breakthroughs, social shifts, and rapid changes to the educational landscape, literacy can no longer be understood through established curriculum and static text structures. To prepare teachers, scholars, and researchers for the digital future, the book is organised around three themes – Mind and Materiality; Body and Senses; and Texts and Digital Semiotics – to shape readers’ understanding of literacy. Opening up new interdisciplinary themes, Mills, Unsworth, and Scholes confront emerging issues for next-generation digital literacy practices. The volume helps new and established researchers rethink dynamic changes in the materiality of texts and their implications for the mind and body, and features recommendations for educational and professional practice

Nordic Childhoods in the Digital Age

"This book adds to the international research literature on contemporary Nordic childhoods in the context of fast-evolving technologies. It draws on the workshop program of the Nordic Research Network on Digital Childhoods funded by the Joint Committee for Nordic research councils in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NOS-HS) during the years 2019–2021. Bringing together researchers from Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Iceland, the book addresses pressing issues around children’s communication, learning and education in the digital age. The volume sheds light on cultural values, educational policies and conceptions of children and childhood, and child–media relationships inherent in Nordic societies. The book argues for the importance of understanding local cultures, values and communication practices that make up contemporary digital childhoods and extends current discourses on children’s screen time to bring in new insights about the nature of children’s digital engagement. This book will appeal to researchers, graduate students, educators and policy makers in the fields of childhood education, educational technology and communication.

The impacts of a science-based videogame intervention on interest in stem for adolescent learners

Interest development is a topic that has fascinated and puzzled educators since the 20th century. Despite decades of research and important advances in the field, questions remain about interest and its relationship to learning. In particular, given the pervasiveness of technology in our daily lives, it is essential to understand how interest develops within these technology-enhanced environments. In this dissertation, I investigate the extent to which a digital sandbox game that allows for autonomy and peer-to-peer interaction can trigger interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), as well as explore how prior game mastery impacts these changes. The sandbox game, Minecraft, is used as a platform to test whether interest in STEM can be triggered within a digital learning environment for adolescent learners. This study seeks to contribute to our foundational understanding of how interest functions within a digital learning environment. From the educational psychology perspective, interest is both a psychological state and a motivational variable. Interest is fluid and dynamic; what triggers interest in one individual may not work for another. For the purposes of this dissertation, interest triggering is defined to occur when a learner shows a willingness to reengage with content, express positive effect, attach value to a subject, reflect about the learning content, or connect content based on prior knowledge or experience. Since 2016, our team has been developing a customized server in Minecraft that allows for participants to explore hypothetical scenarios of Earth (e.g., Earth on a tilted axis) supported by the National Science Foundation with the goal of designing an interest triggering experience for STEM topics. Participants in 2018 and 2020 were recruited at a local youth center in a Midwestern university town where we advertised our program as a five-day STEM-focused Minecraft summer camp. Selected case studies expressed the highest or lowest interest in STEM and Minecraft mastery in their respective groups on a 5-point Likert scale. Cases draw from a total of five sources: fieldnotes, STEM interest surveys, knowledge assessments, interviews, and self-reported levels of Minecraft mastery. Fieldnotes provide the contextual information necessary for understanding interest-triggering trends across the 2018 and 2020 camps. Surveys revealed the cases’ overall interest in STEM as well as specific subtopics (science and technology). Content introduced during short lessons throughout the camp experience were assessed by astronomy knowledge scores and habitability definitions, which indicated a change in knowledge. Lastly, interviews provided direct quotes for interest triggers that occurred. Instances of STEM-related interest triggering were first identified through the use of interviews and fieldnotes. Then, these episodes were quantified and categorized to unveil similarities and differences between each case, followed by specific examples of each type of interest triggering an episode. This research provides insights on how a sandbox videogame that enables freedom of choice and peer-to-peer interaction can act as a suitable context for triggering interest in STEM, even for those who expressed low interest in STEM prior to the intervention. Based on the four reviewed cases, a sandbox game that allows for peer-to-peer engagements and freedom of choice served as an effective context for triggering interest. Results showed an increase in interest for those with high Minecraft mastery prior to the intervention and mixed results for those with low Minecraft mastery. Outcomes from this study can be used to study interest triggering in other domains and out-of-school learning contexts and serve as a foundation for those examining interest development within digital learning environments. Results show positive effects of using a sandbox game to trigger interest in STEM for learners with varying degrees of incoming interest in STEM and Minecraft mastery. In three out of four cases, interest in technology improved regardless of changes in interest in STEM or level of Minecraft mastery. In cases of low Minecraft mastery, one-on-one technical support was needed to sustain engagement with content and STEM interest triggers seemed to rely on the unique preferences of learners. For those with high incoming interest in STEM, they exhibited majority explicit/prompted interest triggering episodes, whereas those with low incoming interest in STEM exhibited majority implicit/prompted interest triggering episodes. Future studies on interest triggering should continue to utilize a variety of measures to track changes in interest rather than rely on one type (e.g., using only surveys) and further explore how videogame technologies can be used to study interest development