Addressing Disparities of Motivation and Gender in Middle-School Literacy Education Within Game Design

• In Event: Roundtable Session 5
  In Roundtable Session: Instructional Technology SIG: Sociocultural and Motivational Factors in Game-Based Learning

Abstract

A common priority for educational computer game design is to equally involve and engage males and females. An educational game was implemented to determine how well the game was created using the alignment theory as a design constraint and how students learned using this type of game. The unit targeted learning objectives of the 8th grade literacy unit: reading comprehension, critical thinking and text analysis. The ARCS motivational model was used to understand the relationships between learning, motivation and gender-related game play behaviors. Statistical results indicated the most significant predictors of motivation were groups who received discussion about the topic before playing the game and those who enjoyed simulation activities. There were no significant predictors for learning outcomes.

Authors

• Brett E. Shelton, Utah State University

• Andrew Walker, Utah State University

• Mary Ann Parlin, Utah State University

• Sean Milton Duncan, Southwest Research Institute

• Jon Scoresby, Wisdomtools Inc