Tracking Triplets: Motivation and Trace Data Within a Digital Card Game

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 12
  In Roundtable Session: Metacognition and Motivation

Abstract

Digital games provide a naturalistic setting to study processes related to learning. By investigating trace data created by players’ interactions within games, researchers can understand processes, such as motivation and Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) that previously have only been studied through self-report or time- and resource-intensive methods. Within this study, we investigate motivational constructs as predictors of actions and performance within a challenging digital card game, Triplet. We find that grit, self-efficacy, and disposition toward problem solving associate with SRL game actions, whereas only disposition toward problem solving associates with in-game performance and persistence. Unexpected results in how some actions associated with motivations and performance highlight the need to consider game and play context in drawing conclusions.

Authors

• Allison S Liu, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

• Luke Gostling, North Carolina State University

• Teomara Rutherford, University of Delaware