Reconsidering the motivation of learners in educational computer game contexts

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify motivational elements of an online multi-player educational computer game that uses a 3D multiuser environment to immerse children ages 9-12 in educational tasks. The methodological approach design ethnography, a process that involves using ethnographic methods when the researchers are both observers and designers of the context being studied, was employed for researching this game. Interviews were completed with twenty participants playing the educational game and prolonged observations were conducted where participants played the game in a natural setting. The constant comparison method of grounded theory was used for analyzing interview and observation records. The qualitative methods used in this study allowed for additional insights into previous research on motivation. In addition to the 5 constructs identified in previous motivation research on videogames (challenge, curiosity, control, fantasy, and choice), 10 additional motivational elements to play the game emerged from an analysis of interviews with and observations of the 20 children participating in this study. These were identity presentation, social relations, playing, learning, achievement, rewards, immersive context, uniqueness, creativity, and context of support.

Boşanmanın Öğrenciler Üzerindeki İzleri: Sınıf Öğretmenlerinin Perspektifinden

“…Çünkü boşanma olgusu, psikolojik, sosyal ve ekonomik açıdan aile üyelerini derinden etkileyen uzun ve zorlu bir süreçtir (Akyüz, 1978;Geniş vd., 2019;Tatlıoğlu ve Demirel, 2016;Uzun, 2013). Çocukların da, bu süreçten en çok olumsuz yönde etkilenen grup olduğu söylenebilir (Geniş vd., 2019;Korkmaz, 2022;Tuzun, 2004;Uzun, 2013). Boşanma sonucunda ailesi ile olan güvenli bağlarını da kaybeden çocukların, depresyon ve kaygı düzeylerinin arttığı (İşler, 2023), utanç duygusu (Cebeci ve Ceylan, 2009) ve duygusal zorluklar yaşadığı belirlenmiştir (Afifi vd., 2009;Bloch vd., 2007;Huurre vd., 2006;Kaya ve Gündüz, 2019;Tebeka vd., 2016).…”

Usability Evaluation of Educational Games: An Analysis of Culture as a Factor Affecting Children’s Educational Attainment

“…In developing serious games, game designers are often challenged when dealing with fantasy content and context integration owing to the lack of workable design and evaluation models for them [9], but the best educational software will still fail if learners are unmotivated towards learning. Educational software designers thus need to develop a context that will motivate learners and enrich their learning process [10].…”

Comparison of object‐oriented and robot programming activities: The effects of programming modality on student achievement, abstraction, problem solving, and motivation

“…Based on this definition, learning motivation can be considered as a continuity of learning efforts (Ngan & Law, 2015). Students are unlikely to be successful in any learning setting that does not trigger their motivation (Tüzün, Barab, & Thomas, 2019). When students hold inner motivation for tasks that require conceptual understanding, they are more likely to exhibit better learning performance (Carlborg, Tyrén, Heath, & Eriksson, 2019).…”