Literacy Game Research Articles

Students’ behaviour playing an online information literacy game

This paper describes how college students played the web-based BiblioBouts Information Literacy (IL) game, which ushers players through the library research process while they complete a research-and-writing assignment. The game teaches students basic IL skills including creating citations, judging citation completeness, assessing author expertise, assessing source relevance and credibility, judging quality, and assessing accuracy. BiblioBouts’ collaborative and social mechanisms help students leverage their own research efforts in finding sources, evaluating their usefulness, and choosing the best sources, with their classmates’ efforts so that everyone benefits. Players benefit from receiving hands-on practice and experience with the wide range of information literacy (IL) skills that confront them during the process from conducting library research to completing writing assignments. Both quantitative and qualitative game-play data were gathered from game-play logs, game diaries, focus group interviews with student game players, and personal interviews with instructors. These data were analyzed to determine typical game-play styles, how long students played the game, and the impact of scoring on the way the students played the game and engaged in IL activities. The results were used to improve game mechanics and player engagement. The R&D team’s experience building an online, interactive IL game demonstrates that game design must first focus on evaluations of player behavior followed by game-system improvements that are expected to affect the desired game-play behavior. The BiblioBouts game presents an innovative method for learning IL competencies and is unique in its social, collaborative, and interactive approach to educational gaming. It is hoped that this article will encourage IL librarians to explore games and other alternative forms of IL instruction.

Develop and Deliver Essential Information Literacy Programs

There is an explosion of talk about crucial, new literacies for the 21st Century, for example critical thinking, problem-solving, media literacy, technology literacy, digital literacy, visual literacy. The other day, there was even an article about “gaming literacy!” How does one make sense of it all?The common factor in all these literacies is “information” - information seeking, information use, information processing, information presentation, and information evaluation. And, these “information” elements come together in information literacy: the ability to engage in effective and efficient information problem-solving. Information literacy is the overarching and unifying literacy, and all libraries have a unique and essential role to play in delivering meaningful information literacy programs to people of all ages. In this keynote paper and address, Professor and Dean Emeritus Mike Eisenberg will define the concept and structure of library-based information literacy programs and offer strategies for developing and implementing information literacy programs that are comprehensive(reaching all users), predictable (consistent over time), and accountable(measured and reported).

Playing video games: learning and information literacy

PurposeThis paper aims to identify what motivates young people to play video games, and the extent to which video games are perceived as facilitating learning and information literacy.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopted a qualitative approach, interviewing a convenience sample of 28 young people who enjoy playing video games. They were aged between 12 and 19, and all resident in Northern England. The interview transcripts were analysed thematically.FindingsEntertainment and challenge were key reasons for playing video games. Of the respondents 89 per cent said they had learned something from gaming, including skills with real‐world application. Respondents used a variety of texts to solve gaming problems and to choose new games. Analysis of respondents' reported information behaviour showed that they were carrying out activities (e.g. searching, evaluating) that corresponded to models of information literacy, and these activities are mapped to the SCONUL Seven Pillars model. The interviewees showed determination in working out game problems and puzzles, rather than opting straight for an easy solution.Practical implicationsLibrarians and other educators should design information literacy games, which challenge learners, using a problem‐solving approach. They also need to take account of learners' varying preferences for game genres.Originality/valueThere have been relatively few empirical studies into information literacy in videogaming (the focus is more usually on digital literacy, or literacy in reading and interpreting text). The paper identifies gamer preferences and behaviours that should influence design of information literacy games, and extend the information literacy model to include an attitudinal focus, fostering persistence and determination to solve information problems.

The effect of scoring and feedback mechanisms in an online educational game

A research and development (R&D) team designed and developed the BiblioBouts online information literacy game to give undergraduate students opportunities to learn and practice information literacy skills using online library research tools and scholarly databases while they work on a research-and-writing assignment. To evaluate the alpha version of BiblioBouts, the R&D team analyzed game-play logs from two undergraduate classes and invited students who played the game in class to participate in focus group interviews. The resulting insights into the impact of scoring and game feedback on student game play were used to help instructors plan for game play in their classes and to help the R&D team improve BiblioBouts. These results also spawned game premises to guide the R&D team and other designers of educational games build better games.

University students benefitting from the medium of computer games: A case study

University students in South Africa come from diverse backgrounds. Exposure to different types of resources are limited for some students, especially those who stay in resource deprived conditions. This article proofs the significant role computer games can play in providing learning opportunities for resource deprived students. It also reveals the correlation between the resource-deprived students' preference for certain types of games and their game literacy levels. Depending on their resource levels, different intrinsic motivators cause students to continue playing these games, although recognition is the most important motivator. After exposure to the games as individuals and in groups the English Second Language (ESL) proficiency of the resource deprived learners showed a great improvement and this finding is supported by their way of coping with computers in a lecture. More exposure to the games allowed them to become more game literate which increased their scores in the games which in turn motivated them to learn more from the games.

No Selling the Genie Lamp: A Game Literacy Practice in The Sims

Drawing on the New Literacy Studies, the authors argue that game literacy takes multiple forms and is embedded in different practices associated with particular games and gaming communities. They examine one specific game literacy practice that involves players of The Sims creating challenges for other players, and they identify how playing and creating these challenges engages players as designers, modders, coach/mentors, teachers, and orchestrators of particular forms of discourse. The forms of writing that the players engage in, both in online game forums and in their stories about their Sims, is a new print literacy practice, as well as an integral part of a specific game literacy practice. The authors' analysis suggests that the ability to engage in ‘soft modding’ may be a crucial, though undervalued, aspect of game literacy in this context, and also illustrates how game literacies can be integrally tied to and, in turn, transform print literacies.

Using Gaming Literacies to Cultivate New Literacies

The use of games in educational contexts has recently received growing attention; however, many teachers struggle with finding a right context to adopt games in the classroom. To strengthen teachers’ beliefs about the educational value of games, this article explains the similarities and differences between new literacies and gaming literacy and defines gaming literacy from the “play” and “design” perspectives. This article presents examples of game use that will help teachers cultivate learners’ new literacies through gaming, understand how the game debriefing process can help scaffold students’ learning, and identify factors affecting the adoption of games in educational contexts. The audience for this article includes teachers and teacher educators who would like greater clarification regarding gaming literacy and its positive effects on the learning and development of new literacies.

Gameplay Habits among Middle School Students: A Descriptive Study

Computer games as new media culture have become increasing popular among young people. Today most children play a different genre of games at different times depending on their age, maturity, and opportunity. While some researchers advocate that similar to computer literacy and information literacy, game literacy will be one of the requirements for future generation of students, others raised concerns that excessive gameplaying can lead to aggressive behavior and isolation. A pilot study was conducted in a boy's school in the United Arab Emirates to find out gameplaying habits among 234 middle school students, age ranging from 11 to 19 years old. The results suggested that the students are not playing extreme games and they are playing games during the holidays. Further study is suggested to explore in other schools including the gameplay habits among the girls.

Key Dimensions of Contemporary Video Game Literacy: Towards A Normative Model of the Competent Digital Gamer

Recent developments in digital games technology, economy, and content have further expanded the popularity of the medium. At the same time, requirements for competent gaming or digital game literacy need to be reconsidered in the light of the rapid evolution of digital games. The paper outlines three important dimensions of contemporary video game literacy: (1) Resilience against effects of game content on automatic cognition (such as stereotypes and aggressive thinking), (2) the ability to cope with social affordances of multiplayer games, and (3) the ability to manage inertia processes in playing motivation that result in a perceived risk of losing investments of time and effort when deciding against playing. Finally, the importance to substantiate game literacy concepts with scientific theory and empirical research is articulated.

Ten Years of Strategies

The publication of The Literacy Game (Stannard and Huxford 2007) provides an opportunity for reflection on the wider context of literacy development in England, plus a celebration and critique of t...

Gameplay, Gender, and Socioeconomic Status in Two American High Schools

In a study of 195 high school students, differences by gender and socioeconomic status (SES) were found in their gaming habits and game literacy practices. Low-SES students generally preferred console video games, particularly those in the sports genre. They expressed frustration with the controls involved in long-form computer games such as those in the role-playing and first-person-shooter genres. Girls overwhelmingly rejected being identified as gamers, though they actively engaged in playing casual games in isolation. Very few students in any demographic group were found to participate in the game literacy practices described by Steinkuehler, and high-SES males were most likely to engage in these practices. These findings suggest cautious further research when generalizing from recommendations of how to harness games for education, such as those presented by Gee. Also, it appears that more attention to sports-themed digital games is warranted, particularly for those interested in reaching low-SES populations, as both boys and girls at the low-SES school played these games.

‘Writing’ computer games: Game literacy and new-old narratives

‘Writing’ computer games: Game literacy and new-old narratives

Playing the literacy game: a case study in adult education

Runner is a high‐quality educational game designed by the University for Industry (UfI/learndirect) to attract young adults who find learning in formal educational contexts difficult. A case study evaluation of this novel application of an adventure game genre to literacy learning is discussed, based on observations and interviews in three UK learning centres. We argue that (1) the success of this game in engaging with the target population calls for its consideration as an acceptable learning approach in an otherwise rather unimaginative curriculum world and (2) that learners made significant literacies gains beyond those expected by the game designers, UfI and the learners themselves.

A Biopsychosocial Analysis of the Video Game-playing Experience of Children and Adults in the United States

Understanding the video game-playing experience of children and adults has received little attention. This is an important area of study because, to be successful, media literacy education programs for video games must be able to address both the perceived benefits and any perceived negative consequences of game-playing. In the present qualitative study, children and adults were interviewed in focus groups. Groups were conducted with 17 fourth through sixth graders (8 girls), and with 51 undergraduates (7 females). Using a biopsychosocial model we identified and compared themes emerging from child and adult groups. The majority of participants reported both gains and losses in the physical, psychological, and social domains. Absorption in game-playing was common, and experienced by players differently, as either psychological gain and loss. Absorption seemed to increase the desire to initiate game actions. Child players were somewhat defensive when discussing violent game content. Study findings will be useful in developing video game literacy programs.

Ludology

Ludology

How to Pick a Fight

How to Pick a Fight

South African Resource-Deprived Learners Benefit from CALL through the Medium of Computer Games

In South Africa learners come from both resource-advantaged to resource-deprived environments. Exposure to different types of resources are limited for some learners. However, this article proves the significant role computer games can play in providing learning opportunities for both groups. This article indicates that, although resource-advantaged learners may benefit from computer-based drill and practice games, they prefer strategy-type games. Resource-deprived learners, however, prefer twitch-type games. Depending on their resource levels, different intrinsic motivators cause learners to continue playing these games, although for both groups recognition is the most important motivator. Lower levels of psychomotor skills and game literacy prove to be a problem for resource-deprived learners only in the early phases of learning to play computer games. Language proficiency showed a greater improvement for resource-deprived learners than for resource-advantaged ones.

Haikuas a discourse regulation device: A stanza analysis of Japanese children's personal narratives

ABSTRACTConversational narratives of 17 Japanese children aged 5 to 9 were analyzed using stanza analysis (Gee 1985; Hymes 1982). Three distinctive features emerged: (1) the narratives are exceptionally succinct; (2) they are usually free-standing collections of three experiences; (3) stanzas almost always consist of three lines. These features reflect the basic characteristics ofhaiku, a commonly practiced literary form that often combines poetry and narrative, and an ancient, but still ubiquitous game calledkaruta, which also displays three lines of written discourse. These literacy games may explain both the extraordinary regularity of verses per stanza and the smooth acquisition of reading by a culture that practices restricted, ambiguous, oral-style discourse. The structure of Japanese children's narratives must be understood within the larger context ofomoiyari“empathy” training of Japanese children. Empathy training may account for the production, comprehension, and appreciation of ambiguous discourse in Japanese society. (Cultural differences in discourse style, the relationship among oral language, literacy, and literature)