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Machinima and Video-Based Soft Skills Training

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Machinima and Video-Based Soft Skills Training University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2010 Machinima And Video-based Soft Skills Training Curtis Conkey University of Central Florida Part of the Other Psychology Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Conkey, Curtis, "Machinima And Video-based Soft Skills Training" (2010). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 4222. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/4222 MACHINIMA AND VIDEO-BASED SOFT SKILLS TRAINING by CURTIS A. CONKEY M.S. Colorado State University, 1987 B.S. Brigham Young University, 1981 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Modeling and Simulation in the College of Sciences at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Spring Term 2010 Major Professors (co-chairs): Clint Bowers, Jan Cannon-Bowers © 2010 Curtis A. Conkey ii ABSTRACT Multimedia training methods have traditionally relied heavily on video based technologies and significant research has shown these to be very effective training tools. However production of video is time and resource intensive. Machinima (pronounced “muh- sheen-eh-mah”) technologies are based on video gaming technology. Machinima technology allows video game technology to be manipulated into unique scenarios based on entertainment or training and practice applications. Machinima is the converting of these unique scenarios into video vignettes that tell a story. These vignettes can be interconnected with branching points in much the same way that education videos are interconnected as vignettes between decision points. This study addressed the effectiveness of machinima based soft-skills education using avatar actors versus the traditional video teaching application using human actors. This research also investigated the difference between presence reactions when using avatar actor produced video vignettes as compared to human actor produced video vignettes. Results indicated that the difference in training and/or practice effectiveness is statistically insignificant for presence, interactivity, quality and the skill of assertiveness. The skill of active listening presented a mixed result indicating the need for careful attention to detail in situations where body language and facial expressions are critical to communication. This study demonstrates that a significant opportunity exists for the exploitation of avatar actors in video based instruction. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A special thanks to, my dissertation committee: Clint Bowers, Jan Canon-Bowers, Alicia Sanchez, Denise Nicholson, and Peter Kincaid. Jan was the one who would not let me get by with anything less than a dissertation that I was “excited” about. Well it took a while but I certainly found it. Thanks Jan for forcing me down the better road not the easy road. Clint was the one who finally woke this engineer up to the importance of social science. He advised that government scientist don‟t have the luxury of dealing with only engineering projects which finally woke me up to the importance of including Social Science in this dissertation. Thanks Clint, it wasn‟t as bad as all my whining made it sound. Then there is Alicia who despite being a five hundred miles away was always there to walk me through one more experimental detail. She‟s the best. Denise and Peter had to endure countless interruptions as I pitched another dissertation idea or worked another administration challenge. Thanks for being there. A special thanks to Peter Kincaid for establishing a PhD program with the challenges of “working adults” in mind. A special felt thanks for my father who read and reread this document with me more times than we care to recall. And even though he admitted he had little idea what I was writing about, he can ”tune up” writing in any language. A sincere thanks to the US Navy and the Department of Defense SMART scholarship program who both provided critical support to this PhD effort. Without their logistical and financial support, this dissertation would have been very difficult to achieve. Finally, I offer a huge eternal thanks to my wife Cathi! Thanks for hanging in there with me. It‟s been a long road but definitely worth the trip. No more late study iv nights, tedious data entry or repetitive audio recording. We have our weekends and evenings back! v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... ix LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................................... x LIST OF ACRONYMS ................................................................................................................. xi CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 1 Machinima .................................................................................................................................. 2 Problem Statement ...................................................................................................................... 3 The Purpose of This Study .......................................................................................................... 5 Research Questions ..................................................................................................................... 8 Definition of Terms................................................................................................................... 10 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................... 11 New Media ................................................................................................................................ 11 Simulations ........................................................................................................................... 13 Video Gaming ....................................................................................................................... 14 Generational Effects.............................................................................................................. 17 Modding ................................................................................................................................ 18 Machinima ............................................................................................................................ 20 Convergence ......................................................................................................................... 21 Distance Learning ................................................................................................................. 24 Production ............................................................................................................................. 26 Gaming Experience ............................................................................................................... 27 Agents & Avatars .................................................................................................................. 28 Realism ............................................................................................................................. 30 The Opportunity .................................................................................................................... 31 Learning Theory........................................................................................................................ 32 Dual Coding Theory ............................................................................................................. 32 Constructivism ...................................................................................................................... 33 Unstructured Learning .......................................................................................................... 33 Anchored Instruction ............................................................................................................ 34 Experiential Learning............................................................................................................ 35 Training “Soft-skills” ............................................................................................................ 35 Emotions in Training ............................................................................................................ 37 Embarrassment .................................................................................................................. 38 Assertiveness..................................................................................................................... 39 vi Active Listening ................................................................................................................ 39 Presence .................................................................................................................................... 41 Definitions of Presence ........................................................................................................
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