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An Exploration of High School Video Game Clubs. Nicolas Lenk Wayne State University

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An Exploration of High School Video Game Clubs. Nicolas Lenk Wayne State University Wayne State University Wayne State University Dissertations 1-1-2017 What Keeps Bringing The Kids Back? An Exploration Of High School Video Game Clubs. Nicolas Lenk Wayne State University, Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation Lenk, Nicolas, "What Keeps Bringing The Kids Back? An Exploration Of High School Video Game Clubs." (2017). Wayne State University Dissertations. 1831. https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations/1831 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@WayneState. It has been accepted for inclusion in Wayne State University Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@WayneState. WHAT KEEPS BRINGING THE KIDS BACK? AN EXPLORATION OF HIGH SCHOOL VIDEO GAME CLUBS by NICOLAS LENK DISSERTATION Submitted to the Graduate School of Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 2017 MAJOR: EDUCATION LEADERSHIP AND POLICY Approved By: ______________________________________ Advisor Date ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ © COPYRIGHT BY NICOLAS LENK 2017 All Rights Reserved DEDICATION To my soon-arriving children; I have not met you yet, but I am eagerly waiting to spend the rest of my life with you. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Most importantly I feel compelled to convey my sincere gratitude to my advisor Dr. Carolyn Shields. Her unwavering support for my research interest cannot be understated in its importance throughout this process. Furthermore, she has patiently guided me to explore important issues within k-12 education, and her thoughtful dialogue and debate has been a constant, appreciated, escort along my journey toward being a better educator. Next, I must mention my gratitude to my committee members: Dr. Jasmine Ulmer, Dr. Ben Pogodzinski, and Dr. Monte Piliawski. I have felt judgement from colleagues throughout this process for my choice of studying video game clubs, but none of that came from my committee members. I will always be grateful for their endorsement of my research interests; their encouragement and expertise throughout this process has been invaluable. Not once have they made me feel like my interests are unviable, unimportant, or immature; that positivity was critically important to me. I could not have completed this dissertation without their mentorship, and friendship. I will carry their lessons with me my whole career, and continue to spread the ideals they’ve instilled upon me. A very special thanks must go to my wife, Tara. She has been a diligent defender of my research interests, and a proactive, supportive, partner throughout this long process. Even though she has been going through the hardest part of her life, being pregnant and in her anesthesia residency, she has been the reliable rock I needed to lean on. I will eternally be grateful for her support. Thank you, Andy Hester, my best friend. You’re the best younger brother a person could ask for. You’ve taught me so many important lessons in life, and your reliable iii kindness and friendship has carried me through some of my darkest moments. I often find myself looking up to you, for you have deserved my admiration. I love you, man. The last significant recognition must go to my mother. I will never forget all the sacrifices she made throughout my childhood to give my brother and I as stable an upbringing as she could. It was rarely perfect with my mother, but her effort was always there and I want her to know I always noticed her sacrifices and hard work. I try to take all her great qualities with me throughout life. Lastly, I’d like to thank several people who have mentored me directly and indirectly, some people who have been role models that have gotten me to this point in my life, and others who deserve to be mentioned for their general impact on me. Thank you to the people of East Side Des Moines. I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I got hired at East High School, and that community brought me in and welcomed me like family. I will always be appreciative of your support and encouragement when I created my first video game club. If it was not for you, I would not have originally pursued this interest of mine. Thank you to The Friends: Sarah Friend, Thomas, Money, and Steph Money. You guys are just the best. Getting this done by Friendsgiving 2017 has been a goal of mine throughout the dissertation writing process. I long for the day when we live closer to each other again. I couldn’t ask for better friends. Thank you, Brian Jones, for creating The Little Shop of Physics; volunteering in your organization helped show me how a healthy outreach program looks. I will never forget how, even in times of great stress, you make the people around you feel like they’re iv a priority to you. I have tried to model my clubs after a lot of principles present in your ‘lil Shop. P.S. Thanks for introducing me to my wife. Thank you Mike Viney for being the most influential colleague of mine. I use you every day as my role model to becoming a better educator, and I thank you for all the effort you put into me. I hope we can live near each other again someday and continue our friendship. Thank you to my family at Cass Tech: Asenath, Mia, Leonard, Regina, Jason, Nate, Stacey, Benson, and Perry. Y’all have given me more than I could ask for in friends here in Detroit. I cannot imagine where I would be right now if I was not able to meet you in my first year here. Thank you so much for the support over the years, I hope I’ve been as good of a friend as you have been to me. A final thanks goes to all the passionate students in my clubs. A special shout out to a few students who have particularly stood out with their efforts for the clubs. In Iowa: Cynthia, Willie, Fredo, Thuan, Scott, Stephan, Angelo, Dylan, Chris T., Steven, Thoum, and Ryan L.; and in Michigan: Jonas, Jessee, Bread, Devin J., Luke, Rose, T’yanna, Sam A., My’kelle, Battle, Clifton, Vincent, Dashawn, Walter, Omari, Hazen, and Keenann. You are all permanently etched into my heart. I cannot thank you enough for all the effort you put into the clubs; this success of mine is yours as well. Doooitz! v ABSTRACT With the current trend of K-12 student interest in video games increasing, schools have a responsibility to take measures to meet their students’ passions that fall outside of state curricula. Extracurricular activities have historically filled this need; therefore, an after- school approach with video games is an appropriate way to address this student interest. The purpose of this multiple case study was to identify the qualities that students and teachers participating in high school after-school video gaming clubs report as being important to their experience. Using a theoretical framework of student engagement, this study explored the experience of the participating students and faculty. Through one-on- one interviews, focus groups, and survey results, the findings from this study suggest affective and behavioral engagement benefits from attending a video game club in which the teacher sponsor focuses on building strong relationships with the participating students. The affective engagement benefits include students reporting much deeper connections to their peers, teachers, and to their school. Specifically, students reported their deep appreciation for having a vector through school in which they could make high quality friends, and how they are able to have a relationship with their teacher that is more familiar and has the effect of making teachers feel less intimidating. Behavioral engagement benefits included student desires to behave in more prosocial ways, and students approaching school work in positive ways like spending more time on work and seeking academic help from their peers more frequently. The significance of this study resides in its potential to pair schools interested in connecting to their students through their new gaming interests, with the empirical data that reflects the positive and unknown effects of video game clubs. Recommendations include structural advice for practitioners of video vi game clubs, such as how to design effective video game clubs based on the desires of the students. Further research propositions consist of the exploration of a connection between video game club participation and academic achievement, and if sites with differing demographics and leadership choices also express similar student engagement benefits. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION .................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iii ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. xi LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... xii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1 Purpose Statement ........................................................................................................... 3
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