Koptur, Evren. Transferable Learning Skills of an MMORPG: A World of Warcraft Quest

Koptur, Evren. Transferable Learning Skills of an MMORPG: A World of Warcraft Quest, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2016. https://etd.ohiolink.edu/pg_10?0::NO:10:P10_ACCESSION_NUM:kent1459175932

The basis of this study was focused entirely on the MMORPG World of Warcraft, and the “potential of transferable learning skills gained or improved by playing WoW to real life” (p. ii). This study was focused on “four different learning categories: experiential learning, collaborative learning, leadership, and autonomous learning respectively through playing WoW” (p. ii). Results of this study indicate that these four categories of learning do occur in the game, and participants “perceived [these skills/learning] to be transferable to real life in varying degrees” (p.ii). The author notes that further research is needed in every single aspect of this project.

This study got its data from 258 online survey participants. The survey was broken into the four categories mentioned above, and “[a]t the end of each category, the participants were asked to elaborate on a comment question associated with its category”(p. ii), additionally each participant participated in two interviews.

There are some concerns about the reliability of this research. Not only is the data organized in a hindering fashion, the ways in which the data was collected may affect the research greatly and may mess with the validity of the research as well. For example, demographics on and online were not taken into account, nor did the author take into account who might be attracted to take the study and how that may skew the data.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Connolly, Thomas. 2001 An alternate reality game or language learning: ARGuing for multilingual motivation

Connolly, Thomas. (2011). An alternate reality game or language learning: ARGuing for multilingual motivation. Computers Education, 57 (1) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360131511000261 The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usage of ARG games in relation to learning a foreign language. The study that was created was implemented as a project within the European Commission Comenius project to be used in secondary schools across Europe. The purpose of the study was to implement cooperation and learning within the school environment as well as to support the use of ARGs in teaching and show different learning tactics. The general outcome of the “experiment” was calculated using pre- and post- questionnaires to gauge student feedback on the project. According to the article student feedback was fairly positive toward the use of the ARG and seemed to motivate the students in a way that had not been done before. Many students in the ending survey stated that the...
Read more

Barr, Matthew. Student Attitudes to Games-Based Skills Development: Learning from Video Games in Higher Education.

Barr, Matthew. "Student Attitudes to Games-Based Skills Development: Learning from Video Games in Higher Education." Computers in Human Behavior, Vol. 80, 2018, pp. 283-294, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563217306684, doi:10.1016/j.chb.2017.11.030 The purpose of this study “was to document the attitudes of those students involved in the quantitative study and to explore how the game-based intervention was perceived.” (p. 283).  Researchers found a “broadly positive perception of the games' efficacy for skills development” (p. 283). Of the undergraduates that participated in the study, the in-game elements that participated felt contributed the most to skill development. “include the need to communicate with team mates in order to succeed, and the fluid, unpredictable nature of in-game challenges.” (p. 283). This study suggests, based on the factors that undergraduates think are the most important to developing useful skills (like communication, ...
Read more
Humphreys, L. (2016, December 9). Involvement shield or social catalyst: Thoughts on sociospatial practice of Pokémon GO. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2050157916677864  Humphreys acknowledges the rise of people leaving their couches to go outside and catch Pokémon with their friends. While she emphasizes that the game is not comparable to social networking applications, she does mention how it can contribute to increased social activity. They also mentions, however, that augmented reality games, such as Pokémon Go, can actually be a detriment to social situations. Instead of paying attention to the people around you, the pocket monsters popping up on your screen grasp your full attention. In this particular paper, Humphreys does not detail a research study on people, instead focusing on what the problem could be and how to fix it. Since we already established that Pokémon Go could lead to a lack of social interaction, regardless of the player’...
Read more