California Educational Research AssociationAnnual Meeting
CERA Session 4 Day 2, Special Topics
Sarah Joy Bittick and Gregory K.W.K. Chung
Use of Narrative: Gender Differences and Implications for Motivation and Learning in a Math Game
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Learning Games
• Center for Advanced Technology in SchoolsDepartment of Education funded project on math
learning games
• Current study: impact of using narrativeNarrative = story with defined goal
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Session Goals
• Introduction to previous work—narrative in educational contexts
• Demonstration of math learning game• Discuss integration of narrative into math game• Present findings—how narrative impacted
student motivation and learning
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Motivation (flow)
• Concept of flow, presence in virtual environments
Experience of feeling “lost” in an activity (Csikszentmihalyi 1990)
Feeling of “being there” in games (Schneider 2004)
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• Students experience higher feelings of “presence” in games with narrative (Park et al. 2010)commercial game, Max Payne.
Narrative in Games
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Application to Learning Games
• How can this be applied to learning games? Learning increases with increased flow
experience (Skadberg & Kimmel 2004; Webster et al. 1993)
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Hypothesis 1: Narrative
• The presence of a narrative in a math learning game will increase• Part A: …students’ motivation and
engagement• Part B: ….learning compared to students
receiving a game with no narrative.
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• Narratives in games polarizing to someStereotyping—gender and ethnicity (Cooper et al.
1990 ; Moreno & Flowerday 2006)• Gender
Females stressed and disinterested—competition and aggression in videogame (Funk & Buchman 1996)
Disinterest and anxiety—decreased performance (Tobias 1994; Pekrun 1992)
Gender and Narrative
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Hypothesis 2: Gender
• When student’s gender is matched with the game’s narrative themes and avatar:Part A: …motivation and engagement will
be higherPart B: …will result in increased math
learning
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The Game—Save Patch
• Fractions game• Character = Patch
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Game Flow and Terminology
“Stage” “Level”
Instruction(Tutorial)
Practice(Game play)
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Meet the Characters
Female Patch Male Patch Evil Skull PuppetSister
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Narrative 1: Masculine Theme
• Narrative created based on general themes found to be interesting and motivating by males in videogame study (Cooper et al.)
• Aggression (violence/fight), competition
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Narrative 2: Feminine Theme
• Narrative created based on general themes found to be interesting and motivating by females in videogame study (Cooper et al.)
• Cooperative, focus on interpersonal relationships, non-aggressive
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Game Flow and Terminology
“Stage” “Level”
Instruction(Tutorial)
Practice(Game play)
Narrative screens: 4 points
Narrative screens: 7 points
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Control: No narrative
• No gender specification of Patch
• No story line or defined goal
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Research Design and Sample• A 3-group design: a) masculine narrative, b)
feminine narrative, and c) no narrative. • Random assignment• 62 in masculine, 68 in feminine, and 47 in no
narrative (N=177 total). • Grades 6-12 in 6th grade math - algebra. • Gender matching variable
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• Math pretest and math & game play survey (15 mins)
• Game play (~45 mins)• Students play their version of Save Patch
• Posttest (~15 mins)• Similar to pretest + game specific math questions
Instruments and Process
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• Game experience survey (~5-10 mins)
• Narrative survey (<5 mins)
• Background survey (<5 mins)
Instruments and Process Cont’d
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Measures of Math Knowledge• Pretest items
α=.91, N=167, M=11.67, SD=5.13• Posttest items
Same as pretestα=.89, N=160, M=11.82, SD=5.12
• Game specific posttest itemsα=.91, N=155, M=5.21, SD=2.70
• Normalized change (N=160, M=.03, SD=.22)
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Game engagement (flow)• Willingness to replay, 10 items
α=.94, n=160• Negative perception of game challenge, 4
itemsα=.70, n=170
• Experience of Flow, 7 itemsα=.89, n=163
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Narrative Perception• Interest in narrative, 4 items
α=.84, n=176
• Game self-efficacy, 7 itemsα=.82, n=169
• Open-ended itemPositive and negative perception
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Findings from Use of Narrative
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Gender Distribution
• Even distribution across gender and condition:
Narrative themeNone Masculine Feminine Total
Male 23 30 32 85
Female 19 27 34 80
Total 42 57 66 165
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Hypothesis 1A: Narrative will increase engagement
• Finding: experience of flow was higher for students in narrative conditions than for those in no narrative condition, t(161) = 2.0, p=.05
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Hypothesis 1B: Narrative will increase math learning
• Findings• Unexpected—higher normalized change for
masculine • ANCOVA controlling for pretest, showed that
students in the no narrative and feminine narrative scored lower on game specific math items than those in masculine narrative, F(2, 146)=3.00, p=.05.
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Hypothesis 2A: Matching will increase engagement
Masculine narrative:• “I wanted to reach the end because I
liked Patch and the skull puppet so I wanted to see what would happen if puppets fought.”
• “The game was pretty boring after awhile.”
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Open-ended Student ResponsesFeminine narrative:• “I wanted to get to the end of the
game to see what was going to happen to Patch and to see if she could rescue her sister.”
• “I didn't care because it got a little boring because all you did was fractions and Patch looked weird and no action.”
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Open-ended Student ResponsesNo narrative:• “The game was really enjoyable yet
hard and frustrating to play. I liked it.”
• “Because I'm competitive at games and wanted to win.”
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Hypothesis 2A: Matching will increase engagement
• Reponses to open-ended item:
• Matched males responded more positively to the game than those that were not, c2 (1, N = 122) = 4.88, p = .04
Negative/Neutral
Positive Total
Matched Males 3 18 21Not Matched Males
40 61 101
Total 43 79 122
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Hypothesis 2B: Matching will increase learning
• Males perform best in masculine condition
• Matched male predictor of game specific posttest performance
• Matched females not predictor
b = 0.420, t(143) = 16.58 p < .013
No Narr
ative
Masculi
ne Narr
ative
Feminin
e Narr
ative
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Gender and Type of Narrative Math Knowledge
MalesFemales
Gam
e po
stte
st it
ems
mea
n
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Future Directions
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• Narrative can increase student engagement and learning in math game
• Not all narratives will be beneficial to student learning Masculine narrative > feminine here
• Certain narratives impact students differently Males in masculine narrative
experienced higher learning
Implications
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• Integrate narrative and content• Why did students perform lower when
given feminine narrative? Girls accustomed to playing male
oriented games?
Limitations and Future Questions
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Acknowledgements• Dr. Gregory K.W.K Chung• Rebecca E. Buschang• Girlie Delacruz • Alan Koenig• Joanne Michiuye• UCLA/USC game design team
Sarah Joy [email protected]
