The Role of the Writer in Creating Narrative-Driven Digital Educational Games
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The Role of the Writer in Creating Narrative-Driven Digital Educational Games by Luke Conrad Jackson (M.Ed.) Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Deakin University February 2017 iii Acknowledgements In writing this thesis, I have been fortunate enough to find game industry experts willing to share their time and knowledge. From pioneers and thought-leaders to educational game writers and CEOs, everybody was ready to go the extra mile to make sure that I was as well-informed as possible. I remain humbled by their participation and encouragement. I would also like to acknowledge the support of my friends and family, who have always been willing to discuss and challenge my ideas, and ask me the ‘simple questions’ which so often led to a rethink or even a rewrite. In particular, I would like to thank my wife Kelly whose commitment to my studies has allowed me to undertake them so enthusiastically; and my daughter Greta (one of whose first words was “PhD”) for making the last three years so much fun. Peter Melville’s input during the proofreading phase was invaluable, as was my mother’s encouragement throughout. I would also like to mention both Gail and Jane, who have assisted with babysitting at crucial junctures. I would like to mention Antoine, whose weekly phone calls have provided me with amazing tangents to explore, and Georgia Firth, who was always willing to assist with my research in any way she could. Finally, I would like to thank my dad, Alun, who has been my unofficial supervisor since I enrolled in the Master of Education in 2011. He has been both a mentor and inspiration to me for his accomplishments within the academic field, and his positive attitude towards those who genuinely seek to make a contribution to knowledge. Of course, nobody can undertake an extensive piece of work such as a PhD without university support. I would like to thank Liaison Librarian Amy Sellers and Research Support Officer Nicola Ivory, whose advice regarding search strategies was invaluable. I would also like to thank my supervisors, Associate Professor Joanne O’Mara and Professor Julianne Moss. As leaders in their respective fields, I was fortunate that they agreed to take me on as a student. They not only offered insight into my chosen topic and educational theory, but gave me opportunities to contribute to the Education faculty, as a research assistant and casual academic. This inspired me and kept me connected to the world of education during the often grueling process of researching and writing. iv Abstract In an educational setting, digital games are typically used to facilitate the acquisition of knowledge or skills, and to promote attitudinal or behavioural change. Narrative-driven digital educational games seek to enhance learning by leveraging the narrative and mechanical affordances offered by digital games, including well-realised game worlds, sympathetic characters, and carefully-balanced reward systems. As the writer of two narrative-driven digital educational games, I have experienced first-hand the creative and logistical challenges one faces when creating games that must be both educational and entertaining. The narrative inquiry at the heart of this thesis is designed to explore these challenges by giving voice to those who are best placed to articulate them: the writers. Ultimately, this inquiry is intended to answer the question ‘How can the writers of narrative-driven digital educational games improve these games’ potential effectiveness using action and textual elements?’ In order to address this question, I spoke first with 4 expert writers from the broader games industry, who have been responsible for writing best-selling titles and cult classics. I wanted to canvas their opinions on the opportunities, and challenges, for educational game writers. They were candid in their responses, and suggested that writing narrative-driven digital games is difficult at the best of times; writing games that find the correct balance between entertainment and education adds another layer of complexity. After speaking with these experts, I undertook two interconnected studies to further elucidate the writing process for such games. In order to address what was already known about the effectiveness of narrative- driven digital educational games within the academic literature, I conducted a critical review of 130 peer-reviewed articles in which I examined the games’ success in achieving their educational aims. The results of this review suggest that, when done well, such games have the potential to promote engagement, enjoyment, motivation, knowledge acquisition, and attitude or behaviour change with learners of any age, within a range of disciplines, and in varying contexts. More than 60% of the articles included within this review suggested that the games they tested were successful in achieving all of their educational aims, while over 30% demonstrated mixed results. In most cases where a study showed a game to have achieved mixed results, the researchers may not have found an improvement in one area, such as knowledge acquisition, but they noted gains in others, such as engagement, motivation, and attitude change. In fact, these three outcomes were deemed to be have been achieved in over 85% of studies in which they were measured, while skill acquisition was deemed to have been effective in more than 90% of cases. v The drive to understand how and why such games work, and the skills required to bring these games to life, underpinned the second study contained within this dissertation. To explore these issues in detail, I analysed 5 highly-respected narrative-driven digital educational games, and interviewed the writers responsible for their creation. I then conducted a thematic analysis of game and interview data using the Games as Action, Games as Text framework (Beavis & Apperley, 2012). The findings reveal that designing such games requires specialised skills, attention to detail, and dedication on the part of those who write them. These writers must consider not only the usual mechanical, narrative, and educational elements that the player will encounter during play, but other key features. These include creating authentic learning opportunities; fostering multiliteracies; appreciating how the underpinning ideology might best be realised through gameplay; and understanding the impact of paratexts and the gaming context on the game play experience. The findings of this study confirm the educational potential of both purely educational games and games created for both mainstream and educational purposes. They also demonstrate the value of locating educational games within a wider programme of study. Games as Action, Games as Text (Beavis & Apperley, 2012) was originally designed as a curriculum development framework. This study represents the first time that it has been used to analyse digital games themselves, a process that has required me to define and elaborate upon some of its components. Having done so, I recommend that others use the framework to analyse educational and mainstream games, preferably in conjunction with the definitions of its features and guiding questions that I have created. I have concluded my study by providing recommendations for those who wish to build upon this work by using the framework as the basis for narrative-driven digital educational game design. vi Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................... III ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................. IV TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................................... VI LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................. IX CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 1 1.1 Background ........................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Rationale ............................................................................................................................ 4 1.3 Aim .................................................................................................................................... 6 1.4 Thesis structure .................................................................................................................. 7 1.5 Importance of the study and intended audience for the findings ....................................... 8 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................... 9 2.1 The importance of Story in society and culture ............................................................... 10 2.2 The socio-cultural importance of play ............................................................................. 12 2.3 Defining Narrative ........................................................................................................... 14 2.4 Chatman’s narrative elements applied to traditional and interactive texts ...................... 17 2.5 Understanding games for learning ................................................................................... 19 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ....................................................................