2012

2012Dr. Alicia Sanchez & Dr. Clint Bowers

Top Ten Research Findings in Games

GROUND RULES The Top 10 Research Findings for 2012 have

been decided by us alone. All papers included have empirical results Papers selected not solely based on quality, but

on relevance to this particular conference In some cases we have not presented all of

the results that were found by these researchers

We will make our presentation available We can’t make the research papers available Everything in this presentation has been

subject to our interpretation

Sanchez & Bowers Top 10 of 2012

WANG, L. & CHEN, M. (2012). THE EFFECTS OF LEARNING STYLE AND GENDER CONSCIOUSNESS ON NOVICE’S LEARNING FROM PLAYING EDUCATIONAL GAMES. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT & E-LEARNING: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, 4(1), 63-77.

The effects of learning style and gender consciousness on novice learning in games

Custom Flash Development to learn programming through game-play Learning Styles

Reduced into diverging & converging via Kolb(not visual etc…..) Divergers – best at viewing concrete situations with multiple viewpoints Convergers – best at finding practical uses for ideas and theories

Gender Consciousness Gender role, traits, and equality

Participants – 122 eighth grade students (59 m, 63 f) Goals – examine the effects of learning style and gender

consciousness on: Comprehension of programming concepts Project performance Motivation

10Sanchez & Bowers Top 10 of 2012

WANG, L. & CHEN, M. (2012). THE EFFECTS OF LEARNING STYLE AND GENDER CONSCIOUSNESS ON NOVICE’S LEARNING FROM PLAYING EDUCATIONAL GAMES. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT & E-LEARNING: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, 4(1), 63-77.

The effects of learning style and gender consciousness on novice learning in games

Results: The convergers comprehended the abstract programming principles

better than the divergers, but the gender consc did not have an effect Divergers with low gender consc outperformed high gender consc

divergers on project performance, but both gender consc groups of convergers performed equally

High gender consc convergers outperformed high gender consc divergers on project performance, but low gender consc convergers and divergers performed equally.

Intrinsic & extrinsic motivation was similar and positive for all four groups.

Discussion – Learning style impacted programming comprehension, and gender consc impacted project performance for divergers and convergers differently.


POWERS, K. L., BROOKS, P. J., ALDRICH, N. J., PALLADINO, M. A., & ALFIERI, L. (2012). EFFECTS OF VIDEO-GAME PLAY ON INFORMATION PROCESSING: A META-ANALYTIC INVESTIGATION. PSYCHOMOMIC BULLETIN & REVIEW, 1-25.

Effects of video-game play on information processing: a meta-analytic investigation

9o Conducted a meta-analysis of the literature on

video game use and cognitive changeo Included true experiments (n-46) and quasi-

experiments (n=72)o Overall results demonstrated that there is a

moderate to large effect size support the hypothesis that games can improve information processing.o Largest results for relatively “basic abilities,”

such as visual processing and auditory processing.

o Smallest was executive functions.o No consistent effect for game typeo Older learners benefitted more than younger

learners.


POWERS, K. L., BROOKS, P. J., ALDRICH, N. J., PALLADINO, M. A., & ALFIERI, L. (2012). EFFECTS OF VIDEO-GAME PLAY ON INFORMATION PROCESSING: A META-ANALYTIC INVESTIGATION. PSYCHOMOMIC BULLETIN & REVIEW, 1-25.

Effects of video-game play on information processing: a meta-analytic investigation

9o Effects were much stronger for maleso Quasi-experimental effects were stronger

than those from true experimentso Overall, supports the use of video games

being associated with improved information processing.

o Points out gaps in the existing research.


CHEN, Z.; LIAO, C.C.Y.; CHENG, H.N.H.; YEH, C.Y.C.; & CHAN, T. (2012). INFLUENCES OF GAME QUESTS ON PUPILS’ ENJOYMENT AND GOAL-PURSUING IN MATH LEARNING. EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY & SOCIETY, 15(2), 317-327.

Influences of Game Quests on Pupils in Math Learning

My-Pet-My-Quest Pet-nurturing game as previous research indicated motivation,

and researchers could implement an economic model of needs-consumption-work

Taiwanese students report relatively lower positive attitudes towards math, even though their math performance is high

Included a quest-delivery mechanism as has been used in role playing games to guide players to perform tasks – Quests provide three elements- objectives, learning tasks and

rewards Related to goal orientation

Researchers implemented a three tiered design process to include learning & quests within the game


CHEN, Z.; LIAO, C.C.Y.; CHENG, H.N.H.; YEH, C.Y.C.; & CHAN, T. (2012). INFLUENCES OF GAME QUESTS ON PUPILS’ ENJOYMENT AND GOAL-PURSUING IN MATH LEARNING. EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY & SOCIETY, 15(2), 317-327.

Influences of Game Quests on Pupils in Math Learning

Participants: 53 Taiwanese 4th grade students – within subjects design

Question – What are the influences of game quests on student’s math learning in terms of perception of enjoyment and goal-pursuing

Findings Quests had positive impact

Quests influenced student’s perceptions including enjoyment, goal orientation & goal intensity

Quests elicited more active participation & promoted more enjoyable experiences

Conclusion – Quests whose goals align with learning objectives are favored by students


GREEN, C. S., SUGARMAN, M. A., MEDFORD, K., KLOBUSICKY, E., & BAVELIER, D. (2012). THE EFFECT OF ACTION VIDEO GAME EXPERIENCE ON TASK-SWITCHING. COMPUTERS IN HUMAN BEHAVIOR, (28) 984-994.

The effect of action video game experience on task-switching.

7o Continues their line of research on video games and the

enhancement of cognitive/perceptual abilitieso This paper focused on how action video games might lead

to enhanced “task-switching” abilityo Series of 4 small studies:

o First focused on whether experienced action game players demonstrated an advantage in modality switching (e.g., motor vs. voice response) in a response time tasko Results showed the action game players had a

smaller “switch cost”o Results held for motor and vocal switching

o Second study sought to replicate the effect with a more cognitive task.o Results found equivalent advantage for game

players


GREEN, C. S., SUGARMAN, M. A., MEDFORD, K., KLOBUSICKY, E., & BAVELIER, D. (2012). THE EFFECT OF ACTION VIDEO GAME EXPERIENCE ON TASK-SWITCHING. COMPUTERS IN HUMAN BEHAVIOR, (28) 984-994.

The effect of action video game experience on task-switching.

7o Third study replicated this effect with a more complex

switching paradigm. The advantage for gamers still held.

o Final study tested whether these games could be used to “train” non-gamers to reduce task-switching costs.o Non-gamers were asked to play ~50 hrs of either

an action game or a lab gameo Both groups improvedo Action Game group showed greater decrease

o Overall, these results support the hypothesis that action game exposure can assist in reducing task-switching costs.


The Impact of Tutorials on Games of Varying Complexity

Games – Refraction, Hello Worlds & Foldit Puzzle games of varying complexity with Foldit being most

complicated by far Tutorials – Hypotheses

Games with tutorials will exhibit better player engagement and retention

Tutorials that present instructions in context will be more effective Tutorials that restrict player freedom improve engagement and

retention (by ensuring the player focuses and must complete the tutorial)

Having on demand access to help improves retention Online Data methodology – 8 types of tutorials, 3 games,

45,318 total subjects!

ANDERSEN, E.; O’ROURKE, E.; LIU, Y.; SNIDER, R.; LOWDERMILK, J.; TRUONG, D.; COOPER, S.; & POPOVIC, Z. (2012). THE IMPACT OF TUTORIALS ON GAMES OF VARYING COMPLEXITY. PAPER PRESENTED AT CHI’12, AUSTIN, TX.


The Impact of Tutorials on Games of Varying Complexity

Results Tutorials were only justified in Foldit (the most complex game) and

not in the other two games whose mechanics might be more easily discovered through experimentation

Tutorial context sensitivity improved player engagement in Foldit (the only game where a tutorial was justified) (players in Foldit with context sensitive tutorial played 40% more levels and 16% longer)

Tutorial freedom did not affect player behavior On-demand had a negative impact on engagement in Refraction

(only 31% used it) but increased engagement a small amount in Hello Worlds.

Discussion – The use of tutorials should be dependent on complexity of game. The functionality of those tutorials review these results!

ANDERSEN, E.; O’ROURKE, E.; LIU, Y.; SNIDER, R.; LOWDERMILK, J.; TRUONG, D.; COOPER, S.; & POPOVIC, Z. (2012). THE IMPACT OF TUTORIALS ON GAMES OF VARYING COMPLEXITY. PAPER PRESENTED AT CHI’12, AUSTIN, TX.


GONZALEZ, C.; SANER, L. D.; & EISENBERG, L. Z. (2012). LEARNING TO STAND IN THE OTHER’S SHOES: A COMPUTER VIDEO GAME EXPERIENCE OF THE ISRAELI-PALENSTINIAN CONFLICT. SOCIAL SCIENCE COMPUTER VIEW, SAGE PUBLICATIONS.

Learning to Stand in the Other’s Shoes

Peacemaker COTS game that allows you to play multiple roles and make

decisions related to those roles within the Israeli-Palenstinian conflict

Researchers hypothesized: Practice in the game would reduce the effects of religious views

and political affiliations on decision making to reduce conflict Participants: 42 undergrads ages 18-23 Game used in class activity twice in a semester

Randomly assigned to first role (Palestinian President or Israeli Prime Minister) all played both (Total of 4 plays)

Randomly assigned to Level Difficulty – Calm vs violent



Learning to Stand in the Other’s Shoes

Results Balance (peace) was the goal of the game and most

students did not achieve great balance scores Role played impacted time spent playing (Palestinian

role > time than Israeli role) Religion correlated with balance in the first session, but

not the second. Political affiliation correlated with balance in the first

session, but not the second. Conclusion – The game intervention mitigated the

initial religious and political views of its players.


THOM, J.; MILLEN, D. R.; DIMICCO, J. (2012). REMOVING GAMIFICATION FROM AN ENTERPRISE SNS. PROCEEDINGS ACM CONFERENCE ON COMPUTERS SUPPORTING COLLABORATIVE WORK.

Removing Gamification from an Enterprise SNS

SNS based Gamification Authors implemented gamification constructs into a social networking

system of a large organization The gamification goal was to encourage content contribution

Points were awarded 5 points for photo or list 15 points for comments on profile pages, photos or lists

Badges were awarded 4 tiers of badges were based on accumulated points Badges were displayed on user’s profile page

Leaderboard Showing points

For an initial 6 month period half of the user’s had gamification, other half didn’t and didn’t know it existed. After 6 months everyone got it. 10 months after initial introduction, it was completely removed.

Participants – 3486 members who contributed at least one item of content during a four week analysis period



Removing Gamification from an Enterprise SNS

Results The gamification construct dramatically increased content

contribution initially, but then decayed. New users who could earn points added more content over the

short and long term, but the proportion of new users who contributed was the same for the gamification Vs non gamification site users

The removal of the site significantly impacted the contribution of data

Two main types of comments were observed, terse comments and target of interest comments. After the gamification construct was removed, the prevalence of the terse comments (hi!) subsided

Conclusion – Gamification does motivate some, but not all. If you’re going to implement, have a plan for removing!


VENTURA, M., SHUTE, V., & ZHAO, W. (2012). THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VIDEO GAME USE AND A PERFORMANCE-BASED MEASURE OF PERSISTENCE. COMPUTERS IN EDUCATION (60)52-58.

The relationship between video game use and a performance-based measure of persistence

3• Investigated whether video game experience was related

to increased ability to persist with a difficult task• Also developed a behavioral test of persistence (anagrams

& riddles) in an attempt to improve upon traditional self-report measures• Found a small, but significant relationship between

time dedicated to unsolved problems and self-reported persistence

• Further validity work needed• Results also showed that performance-based persistence

was related to video game use.• Game players dedicated more time to difficult

problems



The relationship between video game use and a performance-based measure of persistence

• Need for further research to flesh out these results• Type of video game• Training effects


SMITH, P.A. (2012) COOPERATIVE VERSUS COMPETITIVE GOAL STRUCTURES IN LEARNING GAME. A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA.

Cooperative Vs Competitive Goal Structures in Learning Games

Acquisition Proposition Acquisition based diner dash style resource management

game designed to teach which documents were needed when Game modified to be cooperative, in which two players could

work together or competitive in which two players tried to get a higher score

3 Experiments, 2 versions of game vs text based content Coop Vs Comp (no instructions for comp) Coop Vs Comp (told to compete) Coop Vs Comp (Winner gets a $10 iTunes card)

Participants – 160 Undergraduates 18-22


SMITH, P.A. (2012) COOPERATIVE VERSUS COMPETITIVE GOAL STRUCTURES IN LEARNING GAME. A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA.

Cooperative Vs Competitive Goal Structures in Learning Games

Results All game players had significant learning outcomes In Exp 1 (no instruction to compete), the cooperative group

reported a larger increase in intrinsic motivation. Exp 2 & 3 saw overall increases in intrinsic motivation. Winners of all competitive games had higher self efficacy than

losers. Game winners who won $10 had higher self efficacy than

cooperators in Exp 3. Conclusion – The use of competition in games is a complex

variable that can have impacts on learning, motivation and self efficacy. If you want to use it, read this paper!


SHAREK, D. J. (2012). INVESTIGATING REAL-TIME PREDICTORS OF ENGAGEMENT: IMPLICATIONS FOR ADAPTIVE VIDEO GAMES AND ONLINE TRAINING. A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY.

Investigating Real-Time Predictors of Engagement

Gridblocker Isometric tile-based puzzle game in which player must move a

block until the block ends up standing over a goal. Multiple levels of increasing complexity.

3 conditions Linear – Players get a harder level when they complete the

previous easier level Choice – Players choose whether the next level will be easier or

harder than the just completed level Adaptive – Uses an algorithm to determine the difficulty of the

upcoming level Goal – To test the impact of condition on engagement Participants – 340 people recruited through Amazon


SHAREK, D. J. (2012). INVESTIGATING REAL-TIME PREDICTORS OF ENGAGEMENT: IMPLICATIONS FOR ADAPTIVE VIDEO GAMES AND ONLINE TRAINING. A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY.

Investigating Real-Time Predictors of Engagement

Initial results indicated that those in the adaptive or choice conditions did not report significantly: Higher engagement Higher personal affect Lower levels of cognitive load

Adaptive algorithm analysis: Choice players should have played easier levels less often than they

chose Those in adaptive condition played fewer levels yet achieved

greater difficulty than other conditions. No differences in length of time played.

Conclusion – Adaptive leveling when done appropriately can lead to exposure to more challenge (and choice can lead to players selecting less challenge)


WANG, L. & CHEN, M. (2012). THE EFFECTS OF LEARNING STYLE AND GENDER CONSCIOUSNESS ON NOVICE’S LEARNING FROM PLAYING EDUCATIONAL GAMES. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT & E-LEARNING: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, 4(1), 63-77.POWERS, K. L., BROOKS, P. J., ALDRICH, N. J., PALLADINO, M. A., & ALFIERI, L. (2012). EFFECTS OF VIDEO-GAME PLAY ON INFORMATION PROCESSING: A META-ANALYTIC INVESTIGATION. PSYCHOMOMIC BULLETIN & REVIEW, 1-25.CHEN, Z.; LIAO, C.C.Y.; CHENG, H.N.H.; YEH, C.Y.C.; & CHAN, T. (2012). INFLUENCES OF GAME QUESTS ON PUPILS’ ENJOYMENT AND GOAL-PURSUING IN MATH LEARNING. EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY & SOCIETY, 15(2), 317-327.GREEN, C. S., SUGARMAN, M. A., MEDFORD, K., KLOBUSICKY, E., & BAVELIER, D. (2012). THE EFFECT OF ACTION VIDEO GAME EXPERIENCE ON TASK-SWITCHING. COMPUTERS IN HUMAN BEHAVIOR, (28) 984-994.ANDERSEN, E.; O’ROURKE, E.; LIU, Y.; SNIDER, R.; LOWDERMILK, J.; TRUONG, D.; COOPER, S.; & POPOVIC, Z. (2012). THE IMPACT OF TUTORIALS ON GAMES OF VARYING COMPLEXITY. PAPER PRESENTED AT CHI’12, AUSTIN, TX.




SMITH, P.A. (2012) COOPERATIVE VERSUS COMPETITIVE GOAL STRUCTURES IN LEARNING GAME. A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA.SHAREK, D. J. (2012). INVESTIGATING REAL-TIME PREDICTORS OF ENGAGEMENT: IMPLICATIONS FOR ADAPTIVE VIDEO GAMES AND ONLINE TRAINING. A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY.

2012

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