Getchur Game On!

1. Getchur Game On! Jason A. Engerman LDT PhD Candidate Game Day 2014!

2. Hello Everyone

3. The Human Condition

4. The Human Condition

5. The Human Condition

6. The Human Condition

7. Education’s Condition • “I’m am here to teach, not entertain!” • “Boredom is not a problem for the best students. If students tried harder or learned better they wouldn’t be bored.” • “All these kids want to do is play, not learn.”

8. My Response • Since when did we decide that institutions of “Learning” were allergic to Fun?

9. Games and Learning • “If games are ‘possibility spaces,’ then researchers need to account for how players inhabit them and the mechanisms by which meanings become interpreted from these experiences” (Squire, 2006) Jessie Schell, The Art of Game Design, 2008

10. Games and Learning • There is no reason to think about games simply as “fun.” At the same time, there is no reason to equate learning with being “serious.” … (Gee, 2009)

11. Outline • EconU for the Masses • Part I • Part II • Boys and Their Toys: Video Games and the Common Core

12. EconU

13. EconU Play • EconU

14. Study Overview • Part I • 2 Professors for Econ 102 • 3 Classes (SP13-FA13) • Approximately 1626 Survey Responses • Part II • 1 Professor for Econ 102 • Revised Survey • Approximately 310 Survey Responses

15. Methodology for Part I Garden Variety Thematic Analysis (Braun & Clark, 2006) • Textalyser and Textisbeautiful (General Codes) • Parsed out Likes and Dislikes (Revised Codes) • Textalyser and Textisbeautiful (General Themes) • Take a deeper look (Refined Themes) • {notes, inquiry, bracketing, reflexive}

16. Class 1 General Findings (831 Responses) Likes Responses “It is very helpful to me to learn about Economies. I have an interest in Econ through this EconU. It is very interesting!!!” “I really liked how EconU allowed me to bring my economics knowledge into a ‘real life’ setting. I enjoyed learning how these different concepts positively and negatively affected my campus.” • Concept, interesting, clever • Control, Freedom, Game • Different style of teaching • Relation to Economics, Realistic, Application • Enjoyed and Fun!

17. Class 1 General Findings (831 Responses) Dislikes Responses “The lack of instructions about basic components of the game was very frustrating” “I disliked how easily and quickly it was to go bankrupt” “It seemed a bit unrealistic that they were 100% without any food or housing on campus” • Lack of instructions • Difficulty and going bankrupt • Unrealistic

18. Telling Responses “Honestly, I am not very interested in the game. However, I like it because I can feel the real world so that I can practice the economic knowledge I have learned through EconU. I dislike nothing when I play EconU.” “I thought it was very confusing. When the game started, people and cars are moving and it created anxiety. I had no idea what I was suppose to do. It was a fun game to play!”

19. Telling Responses • “The game was really exciting and enjoyable. I love it so much. The ‘sims’ was too cute. It helps me making wise decisions. The problem is it is too hard for me at first because there is no instructions or tutorials to help me understand. The discussion was no help. Hiring a new workers (in the game) was useless for me because I do not understand the table below the game. I love it so much. Interesting.”

20. People Enjoyed this game “I like the close relationship that it had to real life situations, and I disliked the complexity of buying a really expensive building. In addition, even when i purchased it I still did not receive my trophy. It was great! I really did enjoy it.” It was hard to keep the game on every turn without any economic thought and decision. However, while the game was on, it intrigued me to think economically and I eventually enjoyed that game. I am so happy for that earning all of trophies which are 10!

21. People Enjoyed this game • “I liked how challenging the game was. It involved more thinking then just clicking and placing buildings. It made you think back to all the concepts we have learned throughout the year to try and benefit the most. At first it took a little getting use to but other then that I liked it.”

22. Critical Thinking “…I completely understand why it is as complex as it is though, which makes it extremely realistic and therefor educational. I also found it extremely hard to turn a profit later on in the game around turns 70-85 because of cuts in federal funding and an increase in food costs. I don't know how realistic those cuts and percentage increases would be.“

23. Critical Thinking “It seemed to me that the demand didn't change at all (except when events happened). For example if I built a school of Liberal Arts, the demand for Liberal Arts was still the same, but the game didn't allow you to build multiple schools of a certain type.”

24. Critical Thinking “The game ends as soon as I get bankrupt. I think I should have a chance to bring my school from debts to margins.”

25. Interesting critiques “…give some purpose to the dorms and other non-academic buildings. The dorms should've increased the population limit. The math and arts buildings can never pay themselves off, while buildings that should cost much more (due to research equipment) make a lot more money. Also, show the actual power/energy use, and make it a point to use the facilities.”

26. Interesting critiques • “I can't figure out what many of the buildings such as the student union did. Perhaps more explicit explanations could be added for these buildings? Additionally, for all intents and purposes, the only reason I knew to put coal plants in was 1) intuition and 2) trial & error through multiple runs. More explanations of what these in-game investments actually do! ”

27. Interesting Critiques • “Also, when adjusting policy sliders, it was very hit-and-miss with effects on happiness. Maybe give a preview or a rough estimate based on the adviser level. Also, I'm still not sure what the maximum and minimum land value is, since there's no chart explaining it anywhere. “ “There was times where I made choices I did not like or did not realize how they would effect me and I would dig myself a hole in the game. I wish i could just start over and restart the game from scratch.”

28. Part I Mechanics Likes Dislikes Limited to no guidance Turn limit Certain buildings added no value Scrolling up and down Navigating campus on screen Glitches (Firefox, stalling) • Turn based system • Ease of use • (Aesthetics)

29. Refined Findings (Part I) • Enjoyable: • Provoked Curiosity “Interest, concept, idea” • Risk Free Environment “Game” • Related to the Content

30. Refined Findings (Part I) • Guidance: • Understanding “Frustration, Confused” • Scaffolding “Guide, Instructions” • Game and Content • Class and Content • Articulation of Learning

31. Part II Revised Survey (Engerman/Clariana) • 12 response questions • Male/Female • 2 yes/no • 7 Likert • 2 open response • 310 Respondents

32. Methodology for Part II • Factor Analysis • Discussed implications and possibilities

33. Part II Results (r=.53) • How helpful do you feel EconU was, as an addition to your economics course? • I felt that EconU was helpful in bringing microeconomics concepts “to life”. • I enjoyed playing EconU more than other means of learning economics (textbooks, course lecture, exams, etc).

34. Part II Results (r=.48) • How frequently did you consider economic concepts from Econ102 when playing EconU? • How helpful do you feel EconU was as an addition to your economics course?

35. Part II Findings & Implications • This survey reports out on how helpful students perceived EconU to be to their understanding of Economics  • Overwhelmingly, enjoyment and helpfulness dominated their experiences.

36. Part II Findings & Implications • Did it lead to more time on task ??? Deeper understanding of concepts??? • If we knew about scores then we could talk more about the learning impact of the enjoyment factor of the game.

37. Part II Next Steps • Dig into open ended responses • Follow Enjoyment • Collaborative learning • Ask about particular elements in the game (Cultural impacts).

38. Boys and Their Toys

39. So Let’s Play!

40. Textalyser analysis

41. Textalyser analysis

42. Textalyser analysis

43. Textisbeautiful analysis general (Cloud)

44. Textisbeautiful analysis general (Web)

45. Textisbeautiful analysis Liked (Cloud)

46. Textisbeautiful analysis Liked (Web)

47. Textisbeautiful analysis Disliked

48. Textisbeautiful analysis Disliked (Web)

49. Refined Findings (Part I) “I liked the fact that it was an entertaining way of learning”; “I like that it is a creative way to utilize economic concepts” “Lenses 2, 3 & 4” (Schell, 2008)

50. Refined Findings (Part I) “It can always be reset so that I can try a lot of times to improve my performance.” “Learners can take risks in a space where real-world consequences are lowered. ” (Gee, 2007)