GETCHUR GAME ON!
Jason A. Engerman
LDT PhD Candidate
Game Day 2014!
Hello Everyone
THE HUMAN
CONDITION
THE HUMAN
CONDITION
THE HUMAN
CONDITION
THE HUMAN
CONDITION
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.”
MY RESPONSE
• Since when did we decide that institutions of “Learning”
were allergic to Fun?
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
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)
OUTLINE
• EconU for the Masses
– Part I
– Part II
• Boys and Their Toys: Video Games and the Common
Core
ECONU
ECONU PLAY
• EconU
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
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}
CLASS 1 GENERAL FINDINGS (831 RESPONSES)
Likes
Responses
•
•
•
•
•
Concept, interesting, clever
Control, Freedom, Game
Different style of teaching
Relation to Economics,
Realistic, Application
• Enjoyed and Fun!
•
“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.”
CLASS 1 GENERAL FINDINGS (831 RESPONSES)
Dislikes
• Lack of instructions
• Difficulty and going
bankrupt
• Unrealistic
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”
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!”
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.”
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!
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.”
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.“
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.”
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.”
INTERESTING CRITIQUES
“…give some purpose to the dorms and other nonacademic 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.”
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! ”
INTERESTING
CRITIQUES
“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.”
• “Also, when adjusting policy
sliders, it was very hit-andmiss 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. “
PART I MECHANICS
Likes
• Turn based system
• Ease of use
• (Aesthetics)
Dislikes
• Limited to no guidance
• Turn limit
• Certain buildings added no
value
• Scrolling up and down
• Navigating campus on
screen
• Glitches (Firefox, stalling)
REFINED
FINDINGS (PART I) • Enjoyable:
• Provoked Curiosity “Interest, concept,
idea”
• Risk Free Environment “Game”
• Related to the Content
REFINED
FINDINGS (PART I) • Guidance:
• Understanding “Frustration,
Confused”
• Scaffolding “Guide, Instructions”
– Game and Content
– Class and Content
• Articulation of Learning
PART II REVISED SURVEY (ENGERMAN/CLARIANA)
• 12 RESPONSE QUESTIONS
– MALE/FEMALE
– 2 YES/NO
– 7 LIKERT
– 2 OPEN RESPONSE
• 310 RESPONDENTS
METHODOLOGY FOR PART II
• Factor Analysis
• Discussed implications and possibilities
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).
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?
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.
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.
PART II NEXT STEPS
•
•
•
•
Dig into open ended responses
Follow Enjoyment
Collaborative learning
Ask about particular elements in the game (Cultural
impacts).
BOYS AND THEIR TOYS
SO LET’S PLAY!
TEXTALYSER ANALYSIS
TEXTALYSER ANALYSIS
TEXTALYSER ANALYSIS
TEXTISBEAUTIFUL ANALYSIS GENERAL (CLOUD)
TEXTISBEAUTIFUL ANALYSIS GENERAL (WEB)
TEXTISBEAUTIFUL ANALYSIS LIKED (CLOUD)
TEXTISBEAUTIFUL ANALYSIS LIKED (WEB)
TEXTISBEAUTIFUL ANALYSIS DISLIKED
TEXTISBEAUTIFUL ANALYSIS DISLIKED (WEB)
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)
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 realworld consequences are lowered. ” (Gee, 2007)
REFINED FINDINGS (PART I)
“I liked the fact that how EconU closely related to our
microeconomics and learning basic of economics helps
us to understand how a business is run.”
That is taking words beyond verbal meanings and placing
them into situated meanings through experiences towards
gain understanding (“VGL”, 2013).
REFINED FINDINGS (PART I)
“I understood why when you went into debt, you
had to start over- but I would have liked to have
been able to bring myself out of debt”
“The learner gets ample opportunity to operate within, but at
the outer edge of, his or her resources, so that at those
points things are felt as challenging but not “undoable.” (Gee,
2007)
REFINED FINDINGS (PART I)
“I wish that there had been a bit more elaborations on the instructions
because a lot of the game I had to figure out on my own and I'm still
not sure how exactly I got everything to work correctly.”
“I disliked that there was a lack of explanations of economics
concepts, either as pop-ups of "things to keep in mind" or just some
general reference list of guidelines. “
REFINED FINDINGS (PART I)
“it was fun to play and helped me think economically
about situations in the business world”
“I think economics was used in making decisions on
what to build and when to build”
“What I liked most about Econ U is that I can have an
opportunity to apply and experience what I learn in
Econ class for almost reality”
FINAL THOUGHTS
“…Play and learning are primordial human
urges. Unfortunately, we have come to take it
for granted that adulthood will kill play and
schools will kill learning as a human pleasure.
These assumptions are particularly dangerous
in the twenty-first century” (Gee, 2009)
REFERENCES
Gee, J. P. (2009). Games, learning, and 21st century survival
skills. Journal For Virtual Worlds Research, 2(1).
Gee, J. P. (2007). What video games have to teach us about learning
and literacy: Revised and Updated Edition. Macmillan.
Schell, J. (2008). The Art of Game Design: A book of lenses. CRC Press.
Squire, K. (2006). From content to context: Videogames as designed
experience. Educational researcher, 35(8), 19-29.
Video Games & Learning (Coursera, 2013). Gee Principle 13 Meaning
as Action.