Investigating the Diversity of User Experiences in an Educational Game

Abstract

The potential of educational videogames to provide immediate feedback on understanding, position children as experts as they experiment in an authentic virtual space, and differentiate learning experiences, is quite substantial. However, as with any instructional design, users’ experiences with these tools vary. For educational game designers and researchers, it is useful, and practical, to think about diversity in user experiences. This dissertation asks how different players perceive, make sense of, and take action on the same set of affordances within a game differently. The study investigates SURGE: Fuzzy Chronicles, a physics game targeting Newtonian mechanics, used within a 7th grade STEM class. The 97 players within the study were assessed using a pre and post test of physics understanding, as well as an engagement survey after playing. Their logged game data was also collected. A subset of 20 players selected as case studies were interviewed and their game play was screencaptured to record talk and screen actions. The data were analyzed quantitatively for patterns, and the case study data was coded to reveal the nature of interactions with SURGE that produced those patterns. Overall, SURGE supported learning for all participants, and completing more levels in the game predicted learning. However, findings suggest that higher performing players constructed a relationship with the game driven by their confidence and noticed weaker affordances of the game, while lower performers became frustrated with navigation and other game affordances. Self perception and social scaffolds also appear to impact gain. Interestingly, gamers learned more. Gamers’ ease with the game appears to arise from a lack of anxiety about gaming, in conjunction with a confidence about gaming and their capability to learn a new game.