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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities

Measuring Player Perceptions Of Freedom And Control In Modded And Unmodded Versions Of Bethesda's Skyrim: A Qualitative Play Study, Mark Kretzschmar May 2019

Measuring Player Perceptions Of Freedom And Control In Modded And Unmodded Versions Of Bethesda's Skyrim: A Qualitative Play Study, Mark Kretzschmar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This interdisciplinary dissertation explores perceptions of control in modded and unmodded versions of Bethesda's sandbox video game Skyrim. Sandbox games are known for greater choice options that suggest greater perceptions of control for gamers. Sandbox games also generally encourage the use of user-generated creations called modifications (mods) that users can download to personalize their games. While we need philosophy to understand and define control as a concept, we also need psychology to understand how users perceive control in media studies. At present, qualitative academic research that measures gamer perceptions of control is non-existent as is research on how users articulate …


Gamification: Badges And Feedback, Brian Macon May 2019

Gamification: Badges And Feedback, Brian Macon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Gamification, the implementation of game elements in a non-game context, is a rapidly growing field of research. One element of gamification that has experienced a rapid growth in popularity is the use of digital badges. Despite widespread adoption in educational settings, there are still gaps in the understanding of their effects on motivation, engagement, learning, and other factors. Furthermore, feedback delivered through badges can include a symbolic reward for successful completion of a task, providing a credential for gaining a skill, or acknowledging mastery of a particular piece of knowledge. This study implemented digital badges in online courses at a …


Hearing The Voices Of The Deserters: Activist Critical Making In Electronic Literature, Laura Okkema May 2019

Hearing The Voices Of The Deserters: Activist Critical Making In Electronic Literature, Laura Okkema

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Critical making is an approach to scholarship which combines discursive methods with creative practices. The concept has recently gained traction in the digital humanities, where scholars are looking for ways of integrating making into their research in ways that are inclusive and empowering to marginalized populations. This dissertation explores how digital humanists can engage critical making as a form of activism in electronic literature, specifically in the interactive fiction platform Twine. The author analyzes the making process of her own activist Twine game The Deserters and embeds the project within digital humanities discourses on activism and social justice, hypertext, electronic …


Emergent Narrative: Stories Of Play, Playing With Stories, Eric Murnane Jan 2018

Emergent Narrative: Stories Of Play, Playing With Stories, Eric Murnane

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Emergent narrative, a phenomenon of unexpected contextual stories arising through play, has been researched in the field of game studies since 1999. However, that discussion largely lies in the realm of theoretical stories which are generated by either the system or the player. The purpose of this dissertation is to deepen our understanding of emergent narrative by examining real-world examples of the phenomenon. Four hundred player posts were gathered from forums relating to the video game Skyrim (a large, open world fantasy roleplaying game) and analyzed using a mixed-method framework which is informed by digital ethnography, fan studies, and game …


School Has A Bad Storyline: Gamification In Educational Environments, Irene L. Pynn Jan 2017

School Has A Bad Storyline: Gamification In Educational Environments, Irene L. Pynn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

School often has low engagement and frustrating or absent options for the kind of agency the Federal Government's 2016 National Education Technology Plan now recommends educators include in their curriculum. Video games offer opportunities for people to participate in critical problem solving through creative projects. From balancing character statistics, to collaborating with other players, to making ethical and tactical decisions that can change the outcome of the story, successful games draw on the player's interest in learning and analyzing numbers, locations, visual clues, narrative elements, people, and more. One useful example may be found in visual novels (VNs), a medium …


The Impact Of User-Generated Interfaces On The Participation Of Users With A Disability In Virtual Environments: Blizzard Entertainment's World Of Warcraft Model, Donald Merritt Jan 2015

The Impact Of User-Generated Interfaces On The Participation Of Users With A Disability In Virtual Environments: Blizzard Entertainment's World Of Warcraft Model, Donald Merritt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

When discussing games and the experience of gamers those with disabilities are often overlooked. This has left a gap in our understanding of the experience of players with disabilities in virtual game worlds. However there are examples of players with disabilities being very successful in the virtual world video game World of Warcraft, suggesting that there is an opportunity to study the game for usability insight in creating other virtual world environments. This study surveyed World of Warcraft players with disabilities online for insight into how they used interface addons to manage their experience and identity performance in the game. …


Making Waves, Mixing Colors, And Using Mirrors: The Self-Regulated Learning Support Features And Procedural Rhetoric Of Three Whole-Body Educational Games, Emily Johnson Jan 2015

Making Waves, Mixing Colors, And Using Mirrors: The Self-Regulated Learning Support Features And Procedural Rhetoric Of Three Whole-Body Educational Games, Emily Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the question, "How can the procedural rhetoric of three whole-body educational games improve the understanding of self-regulated learning with digital technology?" It explores three whole-body educational games (WBEGs) using a quantitative study, a case study, and analyses of their procedural rhetoric to better understand the roles these types of games can have in teaching digital literacy and self-regulated learning (SRL) skills. The three WBEGs, Waves, Color Mixer, and Light and Mirrors, are each intended to teach science concepts to players. These games are similarly structured in that they all invite players to immerse themselves in the game …


Financial Forest, Karen Carlson Jan 2014

Financial Forest, Karen Carlson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Regular savings behavior is critical for low-income Americans to achieve financial mobility. New technology tools are being used to improve personal awareness and attention to financial goals. This thesis reviews mobile learning (mLearning) research and leading commercial personal finance smartphone apps, both of which inform the design of Financial Forest, a savings app. Participants in the 4-week Financial Forest savings study are found to have a statistically significant improved perception of the difficulty of building an emergency fund.


Secondary World: The Limits Of Ludonarrative, David Dannelly Jan 2014

Secondary World: The Limits Of Ludonarrative, David Dannelly

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Secondary World: The Limits of Ludonarrative is a series of short narrative animations that are a theoretical treatise on the limitations of western storytelling in video games. The series covers specific topics relating to film theory, game design and art theory: specifically those associated with Gilles Deleuze, Jean Baudrillard, Jay Bolter, Richard Grusin and Andy Clark. The use of imagery, editing and presentation is intended to physically represent an extension of myself and my thinking process and which are united through the common thread of my personal feelings, thoughts and experiences in the digital age.


Ar Physics: Transforming Physics Diagrammatic Representations On Paper Into Interactive Simulations., Yao Zhou Jan 2014

Ar Physics: Transforming Physics Diagrammatic Representations On Paper Into Interactive Simulations., Yao Zhou

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A problem representation is a cognitive structure created by the solver in correspondence to the problem. Sketching representative diagrams in the domain of physics encourages a problem solving strategy that starts from 'envisionment' by which one internally simulates the physical events and predicts outcomes. Research studies also show that sketching representative diagrams improves learner's performance in solving physics problems. The pedagogic benefits of sketching representations on paper make this traditional learning strategy remain pivotal and worthwhile to be preserved and integrated into the current digital learning landscape. In this paper, I describe AR Physics, an Augmented Reality based application that …


Gayme: The Development, Design And Testing Of An Auto-Ethnographic, Documentary Game About Quarely Wandering Urban/Suburban Spaces In Central Florida., David Moran Jan 2014

Gayme: The Development, Design And Testing Of An Auto-Ethnographic, Documentary Game About Quarely Wandering Urban/Suburban Spaces In Central Florida., David Moran

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

GAYME is a transmedia story-telling world that I have created to conceptually explore the dynamics of queering game design through the development of varying game prototypes. The final iteration of GAYME is @deadquarewalking'. It is a documentary game and a performance art installation that documents a carless, gay/queer/quare man's journey on Halloween to get to and from one of Orlando's most well-known gay clubs - the Parliament House Resort. "The art of cruising" city streets to seek out queer/quare companionship particularly amongst gay, male culture(s) is well-documented in densely, populated cities like New York, San Francisco and London, but not …


Digital Interactive Games For Assessment: A Study Of The Effectiveness Of A Digital Game As A Measure Of Students' Understanding Of Boolean Logic, Mohammad Ali Haji Jan 2014

Digital Interactive Games For Assessment: A Study Of The Effectiveness Of A Digital Game As A Measure Of Students' Understanding Of Boolean Logic, Mohammad Ali Haji

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Digital games have been used mostly for entertainment but recently researchers have started to use digital games in other areas such as education and training. Researchers have shown that digital games can provide a compelling, creative, and collaborative environment for learning. However, the popularity of computers and the Internet brings this question to mind: Are the assessment methods falling behind and remaining traditional? Will the traditional methods of learning and knowledge assessment be sufficient for this new generation who are starving for new technology? This study investigates the effectiveness of using a digital interactive game as an assessments method - …


Game Assessment For Miltary Application, Patricia Mcneese Jan 2009

Game Assessment For Miltary Application, Patricia Mcneese

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The primary purpose of conducting this research was to establish game assessment guidelines and characteristics for integrating elected characteristics of games into ongoing instructional approaches. The cost of repurposing commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) games could offer a considerably lower cost alternative than the cost of creating a new instructional game developed for a specific instructional goal. The McNeese Game Assessment Tool (MGAT), created for the assessment of games in this usability study, is currently in a beta stage and was found to have potential for future game assessment. The overall assessment indicated that the tool was effective in analyzing game products for …


Recreational Technology And Its Impact On The Learning Development Of Children Ages 4-8: A Meta-Analysis For The 21st Century Cl, Joey Templeton Jan 2007

Recreational Technology And Its Impact On The Learning Development Of Children Ages 4-8: A Meta-Analysis For The 21st Century Cl, Joey Templeton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research focuses on technology (specifically video games and interactive software games) and their effects on the cognitive development of children ages 4-8. The research will be conducted as a meta-analysis combining research and theory in order to determine if the educational approach to this age group needs to change/adapt to learners who have been affected by this technology. I will focus upon both the physical and mental aspects of their development and present a comprehensive review of current educational theory and practice. By examining current curriculum goals and cross-referencing them to research conducted in fields other than education (i.e. …