Title
Video Game Representations As Cues For Collaboration And Learning
Abstract
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. [Article copies are available for purchase from InfoSci-on-Demand.com]
Year
DOI
Venue
2009
10.4018/jgcms.2009070103
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GAMING AND COMPUTER-MEDIATED SIMULATIONS
Keywords
Field
DocType
Affordances, Collaborative Learning, Education, Gaming, Interface Design, Representational Guidance, Video Games
Video game design,Game mechanics,Video game development,Game art design,Game design document,Psychology,Game design,Level design,Game Developer,Multimedia
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
1
3
1942-3888
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
2
0.45
0
Authors
2
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Matthew J. Sharritt141.57
Daniel D. Suthers2920126.11