Video Games and Learning

Taylor MarMark Warschauer

Paul RamaAugust 28, 2009

OverviewOverview

• Background

• Methodology

• Initial Findings

• Games

• Gender

Background

• Emerging field of video game research

• James Paul Gee

• 36 Principles

Principles• Achievement

• Bottom-up Skill

• Design

• Discovery

• Identity

• Incremental

• Multimodal

• Multiple Routes

• Practice

• Probing

• Self-Knowledge

• Semiotic Domains

Methodology

• Set up and Task

• Data Collection

• Video Recording

• Think-Aloud

• Stimulated Recall

• Questioning

• Wave 1 vs. Wave 2

Participants

Computer

Video Camera TVXbox 360

WiiGamecube

Computer

DV Converter

Data Analysis

Principles

Codes

Transcriptions

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Finding 1: Different games Different principles

Pikmin

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Super Mario Galaxy

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Pikmin

Finding 2:Gender Differences

Gameplay/Think Aloud

Example of Gender differences

• Initial Findings

• Code Differences

• Video Observations

“Oh my god, no. It ate one. No, how do you fight the slug? Oh my

god no. What the hell? I don’t know what to do. Am I supposed to

sacrifice them? Like as he eats them he loses life. This is a really

bad game, cruel game. Oh so I am supposed to surround them with

him? Im gonna get reinforcements.”

- Female Participant

“Oh, big monster. I don’t know if I want to disturb the big

monster right now. I don’t know if I get anything for it.”

- Male Participant