Playing at Reality
Playing at Reality Exploring the Potential of the Digital Game as a Medium for Science Communication Alexander Lewis Aitkin October, 2004 A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of The Australian National University Centre for the Public Awareness of Science Faculty of Science Declaration I certify that this thesis does not incorporate without acknowledgment any material previously submitted for a degree or diploma at any university and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it does not contain any material previously published or written by another person except when due reference is made in the text. The empirical work described within was not carried out with any other person. Alexander Lewis Aitkin Acknowledgements With thanks to Sue Stocklmayer and Chris Bryant – respectively my supervisor and adviser at the Centre for the Public Awareness of Science – for guidance and comments on my drafts. And with special thanks to my parents, to whom I dedicate this work. Abstract Scientific culture is not popular because the essential nature of science – the models and practices that make it up – cannot be communicated via conventional media in a manner that is interesting to the average person. These models and practices might be communicated in an interesting manner using the new medium of the digital game, yet very few digital games based upon scientific simulations have been created and thus the potential of such games to facilitate scientific knowledge construction cannot be studied directly. Scientific simulations have, however, been much used by scientists to facilitate their own knowledge construction, and equally, both simulations and games have been used by science educators to facilitate knowledge construction on the part of their students.
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