Playing at school, learning at home? Exploring the effects of social context on educational game experience

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Serious Games and the Pleasure of Learning: The Whys and How of a Serious Game about Poverty and Social Exclusion

This paper describes and explains the decisions that have been made in the conceptualization and development of the serious game Poverty Is Not a Game (PING). PING is 3D adventure game in which the player takes the identity of one of two youngsters, Sophia or Jim, who find themselves in a difficult situation. Sophia comes from a poor family and now that her grandma has moved to a home, she has to start taking care of herself. Jim fell out with his parents and decided to sell his motorbike and move out to the big city. The game involves finding your way around in PING city, find a place to live, work, education and perhaps even the partner of your dreams. The game can be played online in browser or standalone. The target audience is teenagers. The target context is school, as an introduction to a lesson about poverty

Towards a Serious Game Experience Model: Validation, Extension and Adaptation of the GEQ for Use in an Educational Context

In this paper, we present the results of game experience measurements of three design stages of the serious game Poverty Is Not a Game (PING) using the FUGA Game Experience Questionnaire (GEQ) extended with a Perceived Learning (PL) module. It is hypothesized that subsequent design stages will evoke a more positive game experience and higher PL. In a first step the factor structure and convergent and discriminant validity of the existing GEQ modules are tested yielding disappointing results. Next an adapted version is proposed yielding more acceptable results. Based on this model the different design stages are compared failing to yield significant differences either for most GEQ dimensions (except for challenge and competence which is probably related to usability issues) or for PL. Significant differences were found between classrooms however pointing to the importance of taking into account context in future research

'I play, therefore I learn?' Measuring the Evolution of Perceived Learning and Game Experience in the Design Flow of a Serious Game

This article explores how the serious game Poverty Is Not a Game (PING) is experienced by high school students in its subsequent design stages. We first focus on the multifaceted construct of game experience and how it is related to serious games. To measure game experience we use the Game Experience Questionnaire and add a perceived learning scale to account for the specificity of serious games in a classroom. Next, the data obtained from testing PING in 22 classrooms are analyzed. Results suggest that the evolution in the different design stages of the game is not just an issue of game experience, but also of usability. Furthermore, little evidence is found indicating that the learning experience changed positively during the different test phases. However, findings show a strong effect of the game experience on perceived learning while the game experience also varies significantly between different classrooms

You are what you play?: a quantitative study into game design preferences across gender and their interaction with gaming habits

Gaming is rapidly gaining popularity as a pastime among women. One explanation for this could be the industry targeting female gamers through specific ‘girl game’ releases. This could imply that there are a priori differences in game design preferences between female and male gamers. The purpose of the present study is to explore these differences to see whether there is a mediating effect of previous experience with certain game genres on subsequent design preferences of male and female gamers. More particularly, we distinguish between ‘core’ genre players (CP) and ‘non-core’ genre players (NCP). By means of a 2*2 ANOVA design using an online survey, we examine the main effects of gender, core genre players (CP/NCP) and the interaction effects between both independent variables. The results show that game preferences of male CP, female CP and male NCP are generally in line with one another whereas those of female NCP differ significantly

Computerspellen in het onderwijs

Dit rapport is opgebouwd uit twee delen. Een eerste deel bespreekt het onderzoek aangaande de adoptiedeterminanten van computerspellen in het onderwijs. Hierbij wordt eerst een theoretisch kader toegelicht waarop het onderzoek gebaseerd is. Vervolgens worden de data uit de survey beschreven en geanalyseerd. Tot slot worden deze bevindingen aangevuld met kwalitatieve bevindingen. Het tweede deel van dit rapport omvat de gebruiksdata van PING en de informatie verkregen uit de survey die betrekking heeft op het effectieve gebruik van PING in het onderwijs

Youth, friendship, play: a communication-scientific inquiry into the game-related practices of young people

This dissertation deals with the question how and why digital games are important in in the lives of young people. It does so by focusing on three main topics: game choice, gamer identity and the relation between friendship and digital games. On account of game choice, three studies are presented. The first study elaborates on the conceptual foundations regarding motives, environment and behavior related to play. The second study operationalizes the relevant concepts developed in the first study by means of a measurement instrument. Using this measurement instrument, the third study explores the relation between conscious motives, habit and the social structure in which players are embedded on the one hand and behaviors in terms of frequency and duration of play and the content that is played on the other hand. Results show that the importance of conscious motives, habit and social structure in explaining behavior varies depending on how behavior is conceptualized. The study on gamer identity asks which determinants are relevant in understanding why people categorize themselves or others as gamers. Results suggest a dialogue between how being a gamer is culturally constructed and the status of digital games in one’s friendship group. A gamer identity is first and foremost constructed through the performance of behaviors and characteristics linked to a prototypical gamer. The social structure, however, can create an environment in which a gamer identity can become relevant and valued. In other words, the social structure in which players are embedded contributes to a gamer identity over and above prototypical behaviors and characteristics. In our final study, we focus on the relation between friendship and digital games. The central question asks whether game and game-related practices are present in friendship networks and to what extent they are associated with the quality of those friendships. Findings indicate that talking about games within friendship networks is a widespread practice. To a lesser extent, the same is true for people playing digital games together. Similarly, talking about games and playing games together is associated with stronger friendship ties. In other words, digital games are a part of rather than separate to the everyday life of young people. What is more, it is also a part that significantly contributes to the quality of friendships. Taken together, these studies show how and why digital games can be important in the lives of young people. Digital games are a part of young people’s lives because they provide several ways in which players can enjoy their free time. More importantly, however, they are important to young people because they allow them to share. They provide a means for young people to find a place where they belong and through their shared, game-related practices, games allow for friendship relations to be maintained or strengthened. Underlying these studies is a framework that aims to explore how the relation between behaviors, the individual and social structure can be conceptualized and operationalized. Hence, in addition to understanding how and why digital games are important, this dissertation presents a pragmatic excursion into the question of agency and social structure. It does so by considering how network measures coincide with and relate to individual measures. Considering that social networks play a significant role for each of our topics, we believe that social network analysis can provide a promising addition to the toolbox of communication scientists

The role of socio-spatial context in the habit-goal interface of audiovisual media consumption

status: publishe