2012

1. Top Ten Research Findings in Games 2012 Dr. Alicia Sanchez Defense Acquisition University

2. Ground Rules • The Top 10 Research Findings for 2012 have been decided by me alone. • All papers included have empirical results • Papers selected not solely based on quality, but on relevance to this particular conference • In some cases I have not presented all of the results that were found by these researchers • I will make my presentation available • I can’t make the research papers available • Everything in this presentation has been subject to my interpretation Sanchez’sTop 10 of 2012

3. 10 Denner, J.; Werner, L.; & Ortiz, E. (2012). Computer games created by middle school girls: Can they be used to measure understanding of computer science concepts? Computers & Education, 58(1), 240-249. Computer Games Created by Middle School Girls • Stagecast Creator Software • Voluntary after school program for computer programming • Each student created 1-5 games, each taking 4-6 weeks to complete (108 total games) • 4 genres of games were built: maze, maze with focused context, action, trivia • Coding strategy employed to assess games • Participants – 59 girls in a voluntary after school program for computer programming, 72% Latina. • Participants had no prior coding experience Sanchez’sTop 10 of 2012

4. 10 Denner, J.; Werner, L.; & Ortiz, E. (2012). Computer games created by middle school girls: Can they be used to measure understanding of computer science concepts? Computers & Education, 58(1), 240-249. Computer Games Created by Middle School Girls • Results: • Games were coded and the following conclusions were drawn: • Programming games may be a promising approach to engaging underrepresented students in the concepts and capabilities that will prepare them for computer science courses and careers • Students struggled with complex concepts • Students did not leverage full capabilities of software • Discussion – Using game development as a learning tool can yield some results Sanchez’sTop 10 of 2012

5. 9 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 Sanchez’sTop 10 of 2012

6. 9 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 conscoutperformedhigh gender conscdivergers on project performance, but both gender consc groups of convergers performed equally • High gender conscconvergersoutperformedhigh gender conscdivergers on project performance, but low gender conscconvergers 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 divergersand convergers differently. Sanchez’sTop 10 of 2012

7. 8 Panoutsoploulos, H. & Sampson, D.G. (2012). A Study on Exploiting Commercial Digital Games into School Context. Educational Technology & Society, 15(1), 15-27. A Study on Exploiting Commercial Digital Games into School Context • Sims 2 – Open for Business • Researchers tested • Math objectives • General Ed objectives • Changes in attitudes about math teaching & learning • Participants: 56, 13-14 year olds in Athens, Greece • Math scores pre intervention not significantly different Sanchez’sTop 10 of 2012

8. 8 Panoutsoploulos, H. & Sampson, D.G. (2012). A Study on Exploiting Commercial Digital Games into School Context. Educational Technology & Society, 15(1), 15-27. A Study on Exploiting Commercial Digital Games into School Context • Results • Did not result in higher or lower math achievement • Better achievement for games in general education • No difference in attitudes towards math teaching and learning • Conclusion- Off the shelf games can do just as well, if not better than standard curriculum for some objectives Sanchez’sTop 10 of 2012

9. 7 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 Sanchez’sTop 10 of 2012

10. 7 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 • 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. Sanchez’sTop 10 of 2012

11. 6 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 Sanchez’sTop 10 of 2012

12. 6 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 Sanchez’sTop 10 of 2012

13. 5 The Impact of Tutorials on Games of Varying Complexity • Games – Refraction, Hello Worlds & Foldit • Puzzle games of varying complexity with Folditbeing 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! Sanchez’sTop 10 of 2012 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.

14. 5 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! Sanchez’sTop 10 of 2012 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.

15. 4 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 Sanchez’sTop 10 of 2012

16. 4 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 • 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! Sanchez’sTop 10 of 2012

17. 3 Meluso, A.; Zheng, M.; Spires, H.A.; & Lester, J. (2012). Enhancing 5th graders’ science content knowledge and self-efficacy through game-based learning. Computers & Education, 59, 497-504. Enhancing Science Content Knowledge and Self-Efficacy through Games • Crystal Island • Online 3-D game funded by NSF designed to teach science concepts focused on narrative-centered learning • Collaborative Vs Single player • Effects of condition on science content learning and science self-efficacy were evaluated • Participants – 66 Fifth graders Sanchez’sTop 10 of 2012

18. 3 Meluso, A.; Zheng, M.; Spires, H.A.; & Lester, J. (2012). Enhancing 5th graders’ science content knowledge and self-efficacy through game-based learning. Computers & Education, 59, 497-504. Enhancing Science Content Knowledge and Self-Efficacy through Games • Results • Students did not differ on science self-efficacy between conditions, but all players demonstrated increases in science self-efficacy after playing Crystal Island • Students did not differ on science content knowledge between conditions, but all players made significant learning games from pre-post test assessments after playing Crystal island • In this case, cooperative did not have significant impacts over single player game-play Sanchez’sTop 10 of 2012

19. 2 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 Sanchez’sTop 10 of 2012

20. 2 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! Sanchez’sTop 10 of 2012

21. 1 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 Sanchez’sTop 10 of 2012

22. 1 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) Sanchez’sTop 10 of 2012