Abstract:

Virtual and online systems have expanded in terms of features, video capabilities, and interconnectedness that provide real-time data, facial recognition for attentiveness, and other options to engage participants and inform the presenter. In the entertainment sector, digital games, have become more dynamic, emergent, and complex. Artificial intelligence, hardware advances, virtual and augmented reality, and mobility have left an indelible mark on formal and informal learning environments. Regardless of the tool, platform, or context, collective human capacity to understanding learning, education, and interactions with and within these systems lags the evolution of technology. In evolving spaces, it is crucial to provide mechanisms to examine learning, build theory, and espouse practices that enhance learning in digital spaces. Many researchers have applied, evaluated, and developed learning theory, as well as expanded our perspectives and views on humans and their interactions with these contexts. More importantly, researchers have developed new practices, methods, and tools to frame research, capture and extract data from these environments, and contextualize the inferences from the patterns discovered among the data. These research practices continue to evolve.

This work describes three previous studies with video games. Games were used because they are bounded systems and a digital Petri dish to expand what we know about research practices involving technology and learning. The work posits three key perspectives: 1) games are ubiquitous complex systems; 2) existing frameworks from the learning sciences and human-computer interaction research provide excellent ways to conceptualize research questions, variables, and inferences; and 3) understanding these systems provides a valuable analog to the implementation of research in a globalized world that is increasingly virtual. These emerged from several years of research and include several key questions associated with special considerations, challenges, or pitfalls when deciding on a system, research questions, framework, etc. Three studies are shared, the first of which involved an experimental design to examine personality and behavior within the World of Warcraft. Personality was assessed via the NEO-FFI in relation to player actions within the game, which were recorded and coded using an observational protocol similar to those used in classrooms. Findings documented that players personality is manifested in their avatars, regardless of the personae they claim to have adopted. The second study applied a digital Delphi approach (i.e., iterative, sequential, mixed methods) to gather information from a novel game (i.e., the League of Legends) and develop an instrument to ascertain key factors involved in performance. Information was principal to in-game success. The final study applied a sequential mixed-methods approach to determine the nature of player assertions about success in the game and evaluate those assertions relative to artifacts from game play (i.e., using educational data mining and learning analytics). Findings indicate that many assertions are easily examined or refuted using authentic game data. Overall, the work frames a heuristic for research based on six principles (Framework, System, Agency, Methods, Analyses, and Inferences) and broader implications for learning, assessment, research, and design in an interconnected and globalizing technological spaces.

Keywords:

Video games, methods, methodologies, learning.