GLS Conference

This project focuses on United States Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s playing and learning in the social deduction video game, Among Us. Using sociocultural learning theory as a lens, this project analyzes Ocasio-Cortez’s gameplay videos posted in Twitch. Attention will be given to her interactions with others to identify situated meanings and social moves that allow her to become a more legitimate participant in the community. This project analyzes how Ocasio-Cortez uses discourse to position herself, as well as how her actions are perceived and acted upon by others. The discursive social moves she engages in where coded as “noob positioning” and her actions that showed lack of literacy in the game were coded as “noob moves.” Another type of interaction identified was coded “experts explaining things” which was often a reaction to noob moves or noob positioning. These types of interactions are likely a ubiquitous occurrence in communities of practice and affinity groups. 

As part of developing and researching a virtual reality (VR) game intended to increase access to and broaden participation in STEM learning, designers and researchers from [Institution] and interns from [Institution], a post-secondary institute for learners with autism, ADHD, and other learning differences, are immersed in an intensive co-design process. Co-design embraces the ‘nothing about us without us’ movement by ensuring stakeholder voices, in this case neurodiverse learners, have a prominent role throughout the design process. In this poster, we’ll describe our co-design process, key lessons learned, important game-design decisions, and the experiences and perspectives of individual co-design participants. Recommendations will be provided to help guide others who are interested in implementing a co-design process of their own.

Many great thinkers have called for us to imagine a better possible future but how do we facilitate learning to do so? (Freire, Le Guin, Butler). Stories help us imagine the way the world works and what is possible within it (Horkheimer & Adorno). Storytelling in design and critical ways of imagining story are crucial to helping our future generations create survivance in eras of massive change (Vizenor). Utilizing and combining methods from Critical Computational Literacy, Critical Media Literacy, Critical Race Theory, Indigenous STEAM, Transformative Learning and Constructionist art making, this poster session explores how we might co-design counterstory centered learning environments that both utilize and critically examine digital technology in our lives. 

As part of an NSF-funded project, this study reports on data collected from neurotypical and neurodiverse learners to inform the development of an inclusive informal STEM learning game. Data was collected from 66 neurotypical and 41 neurodiverse participants regarding their preference for different values of scene brightness, hue, and amount of clutter. Results indicate that while optimal values were similar across the two groups, neurodiverse participants had stronger and more consistent preference for those values. Implications for game development are discussed.

To fans of the role-playing game (RPG) genre, this legacy of antiquated depictions of Blackness is perhaps best exemplified by Barret Wallace from SquareSoft’s videogame Final Fantasy VII (1997). Robust, imposing, and equipped with a literal gun for an arm; Barret was for many their first Black playable character in an RPG. Embodying much of the industry's ideas on race, Barret was in many ways a window into how Blackness operated in gaming: controllable but secondary, righteous but unhinged, and hypermasculine yet desexualized. In 2020 SquareEnix would be faced with updating Barret from the gruff Mr.T-modeled entity of the ‘90s to a modern character befitting Final Fantasy VII: Remake.

As one of few notable characters of color who have been readapted for shifting cultural expectations, Barret Wallace provides a unique character study of racial representation across gaming contexts and time. Using Barret as a subject, this poster seeks to explore three questions: How has the character changed between releases? How do these changes reflect an evolving representational context in video games and society? And, how might Barret’s current depiction serve as a lens to interpret Blackness?

This Extended Reality (XR) video game, Flatland XR, explores collaborative embodiment of geometric reasoning. The technological simulations utilize Augmented Reality (AR) that projects virtual holograms of two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) geometric shapes layered on top of the users’ physical world. Recent advances in shared holographic AR (shAR), have allowed for a multi-user learning experience for collaborative manipulation of the same hologram, creating opportunities for research in embodied learning. Embodiment for our simulation uses physical motion, gestures, and perception of shapes. This alternative modality of learning provides different affordances for understanding geometry by illustrating dynamic transformations, 3D objects, and allows for joint task and simulation feedback. This project explores eight different geometric simulations modeled after the 1800s fictional novella, Flatland, about an imaginary world run by geometric shapes.

Gameful learning design involves systematic approaches to instructional design to make learning activities more game-like and playful. A panel of five speakers (researchers, middle-school teachers, and a professional trainer) will discuss an ongoing teacher professional learning (PL) program called Gamify!, which introduces subject-area teachers to gameful learning design and gamification. To foster personally meaningful and engaging learning experiences for students, the online PL program emphasizes the use of gameful design approaches to fulfill the underlying psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness theorized by self-determination theory. Classcraft, an online platform that supports gameful learning experiences, is a central component of the PL. Ten to twelve teachers from six schools are creating and implementing two five-day gameful lessons with approximately 300 students in grades 6–8 by May 2022. Discussion topics will include implementation outcomes, preliminary research findings, the challenges of meaningfully gamifying K–12 instruction, and other lessons learned.

Mission HydroSci (MHS) is a game-based virtual learning environment to build important science knowledge and competencies in ways that fit the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS, 2013). MHS was developed with the support of funds from the U.S. Department of Education and has been played by over 1000 middle school students. Based on significant student learning gains from the first grant period and a plan for extended evaluation as well as moving to scale and sustainability our team has been awarded a second grant. The poster will present (1) key aspects of gameplay, (2) learning outcomes and lessons learned from the first grant period, and (3) plans for additional development, evaluation and sustainability.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been used as a tool for social good in applications from global warming to universally accessible healthcare. Despite its potential, AI can fail to positively affect the target community if the community’s expert knowledge is not involved in the project design. My research is about re-inventing participatory design in the age of AI by bringing together the fields of AI, human-computer interaction, education, and team science. Specifically, I seek to bring AI experts into local communities, and through participatory methods and education, produce community-centered tools that reflect the community’s interests and priorities. Using design-based research methods, I seek to demonstrate how AI tools can help urban LatinX communities in the Southwestern United States, and then build models that are broadly applicable. By doing this, we will make sure that AI will be a tool that empowers and serves the people that need it the most.

The popular, award-winning game Zoombinis has been around since the 90s, with an updated version launched in 2015 for new devices. Since that relaunch, research has been conducted on the effectiveness of the game and related bridging activities for the teaching and learning of computational thinking (Author, 2021; Author, 2021b; Author, 2019; Author, 2018; Author, 2017). Recently, efforts have been made to design and test executive function (EF) scaffolds that surround puzzles from the game, permitting learners who may have EF challenges, such as issues with working memory, attention, and metacognition, to demonstrate their skills with computational thinking (CT), a logical approach to problem solving which can be applied to any problem, task, or system. On this poster, we’ll present the Zoombinis scaffolds, the intent of their design, and the results of their use with teachers and students, grades 3-8, as part of a larger CT-education project.

In the United States, 1 in 3 teens will experience physical, sexual, psychological or emotional abuse by someone they are in a relationship with before they become adults (Talk About It, n.d.). Yet teens often have difficulty differentiating between the characteristics of healthy romantic relationships and abusive behaviors that erode boundaries and undermine their safety and wellbeing, especially in the early stages when the signs are subtle (Olson, 2009). In response to this crisis, a team of game designers has produced a low-cost research-based 2-player cooperative tabletop game. The Big Build Up enables teens to discover the tactics often used to manipulate and control others, even when the effects of those behaviors may not be immediately obvious, and practice strategic decision-making boundary-setting skills in the safe space of gameplay.

The Rapid Prototyping Game is an educational game that pairs best teaching practices with game design. By grouping game elements into manageable categories, and isolating specific components, students can analyze how adding, subtracting, or combining game elements can create dynamic changes in a game. Most students focus on entertainment when playing games without ever thinking analytically about why they are having fun or why they enjoy a game. The Rapid Prototyping Game teaches them to make meaningful choices as they learn the iterative process through play.

We've seen how games can change classrooms and communities for the better, but can they really help all of humanity survive — and even thrive? The United Nations has 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These are must-reach targets for the year 2030, and have been crafted with the purpose of supporting continued comfortable human life on Earth. At Epic, we've taken these goals to heart. We're providing lesson plans that you can use with Fortnite Creative to educate a new generation on the importance of sustainability across many aspects of life.

Whack-a-Mole is a melanoma identification training game developed to evaluate the effectiveness of different identification training techniques using immediate personalized feedback. Two widely implemented training systems are used to identify malignant melanoma through a skin exam: ABCDE, a mnemonic for the five factors that increase likely diagnoses, and the ugly duckling sign (UDS). The game system randomized the training types the player received, in addition to a hybrid approach and a control condition. The game delivered standard and motivational feedback to a subset of players in each of these conditions as they identified moles. Both the standard feedback and motivational feedback led to higher perceived self-efficacy as compared to conditions with no feedback, regardless of whether or not the player was successful at identifying malignant moles.

The COVID- 19 pandemic has created challenges for student mental health in higher education. Emerging literature documents the various challenges that today’s college students encounter, but students’ coping strategies are understudied. Our work examines how college students utilize gaming as a tool to transition into a new campus environment and address mental health. Using a grounded theory approach, our analysis of interviews with freshmen on one campus during Fall 2021 revealed that college students use mental health apps and games in response to pandemic-related stress and anxiety. Students also articulated connecting to their peers as well as to themselves. We argue that gaming plays a critical role in this historic time by supporting students in their pandemic-lives on a college campus under stressful circumstances.

Moderation in online games and community forums significantly impacts in-game user experience. Establishing clear and consistently enforced rules of engagement can help reduce the normalization of disruptive behavior and the proliferation of anti-democratic beliefs.
To understand the current policies governing gamer behavior, we conducted a comprehensive audit of online legal documents and regulations related to popular online multiplayer games. Such documents include end-user license agreements, terms of services, codes of conduct,  community rules, and privacy policies.
We focused on the discourse of game company policy texts and how developers and publishers define such terms as harassment, stalking, threatening, defamation, extremism, and hate speech. We paid particular attention to responsibility and accountability, consequences for breaking the rules, severity of potential retributions, and proposed implementations of these policies.
Our synthesis of current trends and themes will contribute to developing more effective and consistent policies towards governing and moderating user behavior.