investiGaming is a publication of the Serious Game Design group in the Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies, and Media at Michigan State University, 2007-2009
This gateway is partially supported by grant 0631771 from the National Science Foundation.
The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent Michigan State University or the National Science Foundation.
Genre Educational GamesinvestiGaming › Tags › Genre Educational Games
Selected highlights from the GENRE EDUCATIONAL GAMES tag (scroll down to see the full list of entries with this tag, including links to the entries)
Gender and Gaming Preferences
• Gaming preferences are dynamic (they change over time and context) but in order to embrace a complex and unfamiliar genre, 9-13 year old female players needed a motivating catalyst or transitional support. (Carr, 2005)
• Distinctions in taste between male and female players reflect patterns in games access and consumption that spring from (very) gendered cultural and social practices. (Carr, 2005)
• To attribute gaming tastes directly, solely or primarily to an individual subjects’ gender, is to risk underestimating the complexities of both subjectivity and preference. (Carr, 2005)
• Gaming preferences are dynamic and contextual; they depend on where we are, what we know, who we know, what we’ve tried, and what we’ve grown tired of. (Carr, 2005)
• Girls have an interest in electronic games and enjoy playing, particularly when given the opportunity to socially interact with others. (Inkpen, 1994)
• Girls prefer playing digital games on computers rather than video game systems. (Inkpen, 1994)
Game Designer Gender and Target Audience Gender Impact Design
• Software that educators designed for girls were more likely to be classifiable as “learning tools,” whereas programs for both boys and students were most like “games.” (Huff, 1987)
• When placed in the role of game designers, 5th and 8th grade girls consciously designed their games with both male and female players in mind, while boys designed only for other boys. (Heeter, 2009)
• Game designers’ gender influenced the design outcome of games. (Heeter, 2009)
• Girls expected they would find the girl-designed games significantly more fun to play than the boy-designed games while boys imagined the boy-designed games would be significantly more fun to play than the girl-designed games. (Heeter, 2009)
Gender and Gaming and Technology Expertise
• Boys’ early and sustained experience with gaming places them at an advantage over girls with respect to computer competence and confidence. Educational deployment of game-based learning threatens to compound and intensify girls’ disadvantage. (de Castell, 2006 - You’re Going to Die).
• Click!, a narrative based game for girls, was developed to encourage girls to personally appropriate science and technology content through role-playing. Click! sought to influence development of girls’ personal identity to be favorable towards science and technology.(Nguyen, 2005; Hughes, 2008)
• On a learning game prototype, girls were harder to engage and motivate in games than boys are (Heeter 2005).
• On a learning game prototype, girls took more time to figure out how to play games and play slower than boys do (Heeter 2005).
Game Characters and Gender
• Of the 43 educational software programs for young children that were studied, 20 presented only male main characters, 18 included both male and female main characters, and 5 contained only female main characters. (Sheldon, 2004)
• Slightly more female main characters presented in educational software for young children exhibit counter stereotyped behavior than the male characters that were presented, yet were more gender-stereotyped in appearance. (Sheldon, 2004)
• Games offering a female avatar were neither more nor less appealing to 13-year-old girls playing games at an all-girl school. (Carr, 2005)
Educational Game Design for Female Players
• Playtesting a learning game separately with males and females revealed ways early prototypes failed to engage female players, and facilitated revisions and iterations to strengthen the appeal and playability for middle school girls. (Heeter, 2005; Winn 2006/2007)
• Female college students took more time to figure out how to play two unfamiliar prototype learning games, played more slowly, and made more errors than male college students. (Heeter 2005; Winn 2006/2007).
• A game which give players the freedom to engage in speedy play but also offer enticing possibilities of exploration allow for masculine and feminine play styles and should suit males and females better than a game that forces players into a play style inconsistent with their preferred ways of playing.(Heeter, 2008)
• In the context of a learning game, rewarding speedy play caused both boys and girls to make more mistakes and it caused girls to play faster than they naturally would. (Heeter, 2008)
• Educational game design and the way a teacher structures in-class educational game play both influence emergent play and learning. (Heeter, 2008)
Bennett, D., & Brunner, C. (2000)
Synopsis:
A discussion of the potential for designing electronic learning and gaming environments for children, especially appealing to girls.
Keywords:
journal, educational games, pink games, gender equity, gender inclusive
Full Text: Yes | Abstract: Yes | Highlights: Yes
Synopsis:
Discusses bias in educational computer software and analyzes how gender, ethnicity, and the global perspective are portrayed in educational computer software.
Keywords:
journal, academia, educational games, ethnicity,
Full Text: No | Abstract: Yes
Synopsis:
A study of eight girls, 9 to 13 years old, who were members of a lunchtime gaming club at their all-girls school in South London. 55 classmates were also surveyed.
Keywords:
conference, England, what women want, educational games, game design
Full Text: Yes | Abstract: Yes | Highlights: Yes
Synopsis:
Theoretical questions central to the re-mediation of educational knowledge and its representation are introduced and illustrated from the practical standpoint of developing one such educational computer game, “Contagion.”
Keywords:
conference, educational games, learning process, learning
Full Text: Yes | Abstract: Yes
Synopsis:
Reports on findings from a three-year, Canadian federally funded research project entitled “Education, Gender and Gaming” that examined why far more boys than girls play video games.
Keywords:
case study, conference, Canada, gender stereotypes, gaming culture, educational games, learning outcome
Full Text: Yes | Abstract: Yes | Highlights: Yes
Synopsis:
Case study illustrates a multidisciplinary team’s process of designing a learning game, “Life Preservers,” intended to have strong fun , science, and pedagogy AND to appeal to girls.
Keywords:
case study, conference, educational games, game design, learning, non gamers
Full Text: Yes | Abstract: Yes | Highlights: Yes
Synopsis:
Two studies explore the various player types found in commercial MMOs and educational games. Study 1 examined the impact of different in-game reward schemas on player types and Study 2 compared classroom play with one child per computer versus paired play of the same educational game.
Keywords:
book, chapter, educational games, MMO, player types, learning, learning process, motivation, co play
Full Text: Yes | Abstract: Yes
Synopsis:
An experiment randomly assigned 7th graders to play one of three different versions of a learning game: one which rewards speedy play, one which rewards exploration and one with no bonus points.
Keywords:
book, chapter, learning, player types, educational games
Full Text: Yes | Abstract: No | Highlights: Yes
Synopsis:
A three year study , with a content analysis of games envisioned by 5th and 8th graders, followed by a survey of students in the same age range reacting to video promos representing these envisioned games.
Keywords:
academia, journal, game design, survey, experiment, children middle school, girls designing games, gender inclusive, violence, avatars, humor, npcs, storytelling, genre educational games, Halo
Full Text: Yes | Abstract: Yes | Highlights: Yes
Synopsis:
Forty-three educators with programming experience were assigned to design educational software – some were told to design for boys, others for girls, and still others for “students.” Research looked at whether and how designer expectations about the target player impacted what they designed.
Keywords:
journal, psychology, gender stereotypes, educational games, learning, gaming culture, game design
Full Text: Yes | Abstract: Yes | Highlights: Yes
Synopsis:
Outlines the design process of creating Click! a role-playing science adventure game for middle-school girls and exemplifies an approach for creating experiences that promote agency.
Keywords:
book, chapter, gender stereotypes, middle school, empowerment, educational games, Click
Full Text: Yes | Abstract: Yes
Synopsis:
Studies how girls interact within a game environment, in the interactive science museum Science World BC during the summer of 1993. Part of a large-scale research project aimed at increasing the number of children who enjoy learning math concepts through games.
Keywords:
journal, case study, educational games, what women want, gaming social context
Full Text: Yes | Abstract: Yes | Highlights: Yes
Synopsis:
Describes the game including formative research for “Click! Urban Adventure,” a collaborative, cross-disciplinary project intended to incorporate lifelong interest in science and technology for pre-adolescent and early adolescent girls.
Keywords:
conference, case study, educational games, game design, middle school, IT careers, gender identity, storytelling
Full Text: Yes | Abstract: Yes | Highlights: Yes
Synopsis:
48 educational software packages for preschoolers were analyzed according to gender representations and stereotypes within the software.
Keywords:
journal, academia, educational games, preschool, femininity, masculinity, gender stereotypes, npcs,
Full Text: Yes | Abstract: Yes | Highlights: Yes
Synopsis:
Describes how game stories can promote action and how children’s attachment to characters affects a game’s likeability.
Keywords:
video, interview, educational games, children, avatars, storytelling, social change games, values at play
Full Text: Yes | Abstract: Yes
Synopsis:
Outlines the development process, using formative research to resolve conflicts within a multi-disciplinary design team engaged in creating educational game designed for 7th, 8th, and 9th grade students, where a subgoal was appealing to girls and boys.
Keywords:
journal, academia, educational games, game design, middle school,
Full Text: Yes | Abstract: Yes | Highlights: Yes