Understanding learning within a commercial video game: A case study Allan Fowler B.Bus, MBA, M.Ed. a thesis submitted to the faculty of design and creative technologies AUT University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of doctor of philosophy School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences Auckland, New Zealand 2014 i DECLARATION I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously published or written by another person nor material which to a substantial extent has been accepted for the qualification of any other degree or diploma of a University or other institution of higher learning, except where due acknowledgement is made in the acknowledgements. ........................... ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This thesis has been undertaken at the Faculty of Design and Creative Technologies of AUT University in Auckland, New Zealand. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the people who have given me invaluable feedback and support throughout the development, research, and completion of the research project and the production of this thesis. I received considerable support from many colleagues, peers, and leading academics at the various conferences I have been fortunate enough to attend. Thank you. I apologise if I fail to mention all the people who helped me, but the list would fill several pages. First and foremost, I would like to thank my supervisor, Dr. Brian Cusack for your support, feedback, and guidance over the last five years. Without your support, I am very sure this research would not have been possible. I also thank you for the opportunity and support to go to Boston, this was an incredible experience, and I could not have managed it without the support of AUT. I would like to thank my wife, Qiao Hao and my children, Ciaran and Annah. You have been my inspiration and motivation. Thank you for your understanding, guidance and constant support. I also want to thank the many people at Northeastern University for their help and guidance: Associate Professor Magy Sief El-Nasir, Associate Professor Rupal Patel, Professor Susan Gold and Kali Gold, thank you for hosting me. I want to also acknowledge the team of incredible people at Northeastern that helped me: Associate Professor Alessandro Canossa, Dr. Jeremy B. Badler, Dr. Joshua Gross, Dr. Kate Connaghan, Dr. Sree Durga, Ms. Dara-Lynn Pelechatz, and all the staff and students in the lab, thank you for looking after/putting up with me. I also would like to acknowledge some of the people that I met at the Games for Learning and Society Conference: Professor James Paul Gee, Professor Rick Halverson and his wife Associate Professor Erica Halverson, Professor Kurt Squire and his wife, Associate Professor Constance Steinkuehler. Although I did not get to meet Professor Valerie Shute, your paper was a source of inspiration for this study, thank you. I would like to thank Dr. Alex Games and Microsoft Corporation for making it possible for me to attend this valuable and important conference. I also want to thank the team at SMI USA: Mr. Mark Mento, Mr. Jonathan Hyland, and Ms. Lisa Richardson. Your generosity, support and advice was beyond iii amazing. Without your support, this research would not have been achievable. To the team at 2D Boy, thank you for making such an awesome game and for letting me use images from your game in the production of this thesis I want to thank the co-authors and the many reviewers that helped me by providing the valuable feedback and support needed to get my conference and journal papers published, thank you. I would like to dedicate this thesis to my late Mother, Margaret Fowler. You instilled in me the value and importance of continuous improvement. You will always be in my heart. iv ABSTRACT There has been considerable interest and debate about the value of video games. There are researchers that suggest that video games are useful tools for engaging learners in engaging and authentic learning experiences (Gee, 2003; McGonigal, 2012; Shaffer, Squire, Halverson, & Gee, 2005; Squire, 2008; Steinkuehler, 2005). However, there are researchers that suggest that video games are harmful, addictive, or exploitive (Chan & Rabinowitz, 2006; Fisher, 1994; Spain & Vega, 2005; Phillips, Rolls, Rouse, & Griffiths, 1995) and disruptive to the learning experience (Kirriemuir & McFarlane, 2003). There has been considerable research on the educational value of educational video games, and the findings have found that the educational video games are very engaging and interesting. However, as the organisations that make the educational games lack the production budgets results in the video games not being widely adopted by the target consumer. Furthermore, many of these video games incorporate what Bruckman (1999) referred to as ‘chocolate covered broccoli’ approach. This is when a video game is presented as a reward for completing a learning outcome (Bruckman, 1999). Through a review of the literature, gaps in the literature on the educational value of commercial video games were identified. Therefore, this research sought to undertake an empirical study into what types of learning transpires while using a commercial video game. As the process of learning is typically an internal process, the task of identifying if and when learning transpired is sometimes challenging. Although traditional methods of assessments and verbal reflection provide some indicators that learning may have transpired, this research sought to obtain additional evidence through using observational methods. This additional method was possible through advances in video based eye tracking cameras. The availability of high-resolution desk mounted video based eye tracking camera made it possible for this research to obtain quantitative data on potential indicators of cognition or problem solving; endogenous eye blinks and fixations that lasted longer than 600 milliseconds (ms). Ponder & Kenned (1927) suggest that the endogenous (having an internal cause or origin) blink is an indicator of human cognition. This theory has been supported by more recent researchers (Stern, Walrath, & Goldstein, 1984; Orchard & Stern, 1991; Tanaka & Yamaoka, 1993). The other indicator or cognition is when the eye fixates on a specific object or stimuli. The duration the eyes are fixed on a particular object v can potentially indicate the amount of processing that is taking place (Just & Carpenter, 1976; Just & Carpenter, 1980). This study used a desktop video-based eye tracking camera to monitor and record the endogenous eye blinks and eye fixations. While the studies into the value of educational video games have provided a valuable contribution to knowledge, very few investigated the transferability of the learning that took place within the game to an external context. To address this limitation, the study conducted in this paper measured pre and post exposure to the learning principles embedded in the treatment. Furthermore, this study observed any improvements in the embedded learning concepts through a physical exercise that replicated the in-game learning concepts to an out-of-game test. The research questions are: RQ 1: What learning takes place when playing the video game World of Goo? RQ 2: Does problem solving ability improve through playing video games? RQ 3: Do the participants that played the video game World of Goo learn tower construction from playing the game? This study identified that conceptual learning did transpire through exposure to a commercial video game. The adult participants exhibited this learning through in-game performance and how to play the game. The children exhibited this learning through demonstrating an advanced understanding of the embedded learning concepts within the game to the out-of-game tests. Furthermore, the children exhibited improvements in in-game performance and reductions in cognition and cognitive problem solving after they were exposed to additional treatment. These findings will be valuable to educators who find it challenging to educate twenty-first-century learners. These learners have grown up with Internet- connected multimedia devices and the pedagogical concepts embedded in traditional media (books, video) may not provide a complete learning experience that they are familiar with. Further, these findings will be valuable for video game developers as the method employed could be used by developers to help identify the parts of the game that the user is struggling with. These findings could also be used by developers or regulators in helping identify the most appropriate target age group for the game. These findings could also be used in future research as this research validated a method for collecting empirical data on individual cognition. vi PUBLICATIONS “The impact of playing commercial Fowler, A. Canossa, A., & Nesbitt, K. video games on learning in young (2015). The impact of playing children: An exploratory study” commercial video games on learning in young children: An exploratory study, In Proceedings of the 2015 Conference on Interactive Entertainment, In press. “Measuring Learning in Video Fowler, A., Cusack, B., & Canossa, A. Games: A Case Study” (2014, December). Measuring Learning in Video Games: A Case Study. In Proceedings of the 2014 Conference on Interactive Entertainment (pp. 1-7). ACM: New York, NY. “Measuring learning in video games: Fowler, A. & Cusack, B. (2014b). A proposed method” Measuring learning in video games: A proposed method. International Journal on Computer Games and Multimedia (JCGM)¸ 1(1) 42-47 “A Proposed Method for Measuring Fowler, A. & Cusack, B. (2014a). A Learning in Video Games" Proposed method for measuring learning in video games, In Proceedings of the Asian Conference on Technology in the Classroom 2014, Osaka, Japan “An International Study on Learning Arya, A., Chastine, J., Preston, J., & and Process Choices in the Global Fowler, A. (2013). An International Game Jam” study on learning and process choices in the Global Game Jam. International Journal of Game-Based Learning (IJGBL), 3(4), 27-46.