Malmö University Publications
Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Gaming as Actions: Students Playing a Mobile Educational Computer Game
Malmö högskola, School of Teacher Education (LUT), Nature-Environment-Society (NMS).ORCID iD: 0000-0002-6830-1542
Malmö högskola, School of Teacher Education (LUT), Nature-Environment-Society (NMS).
2009 (English)In: Human IT, ISSN 1402-1501, E-ISSN 1402-151X, Vol. 10, no 1, p. 26-59Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

This article presents an empirical study performed in the light of socio-cultural theories, emphasizing the usage of tools as a part of human learning. The aim was to explore what actions emerged in the interac-tion with, and were mediated by the mobile educational computer game Agent O, when collaboratively played outdoors by seventeen 15-16 year old science students. Video recording was used to gather data. The outcome is a visual and written description of eight more prominent actions and sub-actions that occurred while gaming, including not only actions in direct connection to the actual gaming session, but also actions that emerged in the situation as a whole: the social practice within which the gaming took place. The gaming students came to act as a sort of student-gamer-performer-hybrids, alternating between different roles. These and the other gaming actions seemed to have worked as a source of motivation for the students.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Human IT, Högskolan i Borås , 2009. Vol. 10, no 1, p. 26-59
Keywords [en]
computer games, learning, handhelds, augmented reality, socio-cultural theory, tool-mediated-actions
National Category
Social Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-2820Local ID: 8725OAI: oai:DiVA.org:mau-2820DiVA, id: diva2:1399620
Available from: 2020-02-28 Created: 2020-02-28 Last updated: 2022-06-27Bibliographically approved
In thesis
1. Simulated "real" worlds: Actions mediated through computer game play in science education
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Simulated "real" worlds: Actions mediated through computer game play in science education
2010 (English)Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

Over the last decade, a great variety of visionary ideas and beliefs have been brought forward, regarding the potentials of using computer games as a tool for learning and mediation in educational settings. This thesis aims at contributing to research in this field, by empirically exploring what happens when students play and reflect on their computer game play in science education. Three empirical studies and a research review have been conducted. The first study was part of a design-based research project on mobile learning, and involved 17 students (aged 15−16) playing the mobile educational game Agent O. The two following studies involved 72 students (aged 13−15) playing the COTS game SimCity 4, in connection with the annual Swedish school competition Future City. Research questions aimed at clarifying, in a science learning context, what aspects of scientific practice are: (1) mediated through computer game play; (2) used and referred to by students, when reflecting upon their actions during computer game play. This work is not about science education. Instead, it studies actions mediated by computer games, and possible implications for science education. The focus is on mediated actions that occur during computer game play and their potential relevance to school science learning. Two tendencies are important as a background to the thesis. Firstly, the rapidly increased use of digital media among young people. Secondly, the challenge digital media pose for education, generally, and in this case science education, more particularly. The results suggest a number of ways in which computer game play can play a role in science education. Findings show that computer games may provide platforms for engagement in scientific practice, support authentic experiences, and constructively constrain students’ actions, by confronting them with simulated complexities. Computer game play is an activity of great variation, that can take many directions, and outcomes may therefore correspond to teachers’ expectations in some cases, while leading to quite different outcomes in others. It is noteworthy that during game play the students in these studies were primarily playing a game, not simulating a “real” world situation. They did not relate to occurrences outside the game world, unless they were specifically instructed to do so. Conclusions further indicate that instruction is a crucial factor, to benefit from potentials of computer game play in educational settings.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Malmö University, 2010. p. 108
Series
Malmö Studies in Educational Sciences: Doctoral Dissertation Series, ISSN 1651-4513 ; 50Studies in Science and Technology Education, ISSN 1652-5051 ; 30
Keywords
computer game play, science education, computer games, game-based learning, mediated action, empirical studies, Agent O, SimCity 4
National Category
Social Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-7580 (URN)9993 (Local ID)978-91-86295-02-8 (ISBN)9993 (Archive number)9993 (OAI)
Note

Note: The papers are not included in the fulltext online.

Paper II, III an IV in dissertation as accepted manuscripts.

Available from: 2020-02-28 Created: 2020-02-28 Last updated: 2024-03-01Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

No full text in DiVA

Other links

http://etjanst.hb.se/bhs/ith/1-10/engs.pdf

Authority records

Nilsson, Elisabet M.Svingby, Gunilla

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Nilsson, Elisabet M.Svingby, Gunilla
By organisation
Nature-Environment-Society (NMS)
In the same journal
Human IT
Social Sciences

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar

urn-nbn

Altmetric score

urn-nbn
Total: 41 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf