Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2015, Instructional Technology (Education)

The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the nexus of video games, mobile devices, and augmented reality in an educational light. This is accomplished in part by studying the self-reported demographics, attitudes, habits, and motivations of players of Google's commercial augmented reality mobile game Ingress. An application of a review of the literature informs how games like Ingress can be leveraged for educational means. Presented is a review of relevant literature, including the historical development of the nature of play and learning, the history and educational usage of massively multiplayer online games and simulations, the use of mobile devices in games and learning, how augmented reality is developing and being used in educational and noneducational settings, and what effects playing video games may have on the player, including problematic gameplay and addiction, gendered concerns, aggressive thoughts and actions, and physical changes identified in gamers or promoted using games. Also included is an examination of a theoretical framework of discovery learning that ties instructional design, learning, and games to Ingress. Data is gathered with an online survey of Ingress players worldwide. A total of 2,276 cases from 59 countries were analyzed. The instrument used has been modified from an original aimed at other massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). The results presented here showed significant demographic and motivational differences between players and between games. Principle component and multiple regression analyses revealed a number of components that describe the motivations of players and related predictors. By comparing these components to scores on an addiction scale, self-reports on interpersonal skills and learning items, valid and reliable predictors emerged. The components identified differ from those found when surveying players of other massively multiplayer online games. Reliable scales for components, an (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Teresa Franklin PhD (Advisor); Seann Dikkers PhD (Committee Member); Greg Kessler PhD (Committee Member); David Moore PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Demographics; Education; Educational Software; Educational Technology; Instructional Design

Master of Fine Arts, The Ohio State University, 2022, Design

Reading is a complex web of intricately connected technical skills, comprehension strategies, and socio-emotional behaviors. Included in this process is willingness – willingness to pick up a book for leisure and engage with its characters, story, and themes merely because you find it satisfying and interesting to do so. But not everyone has such a positive relationship with literacy-related content; as children grow older, their perception of both themselves and the act of reading often tend to shift based on their experiences in the classroom, leading an increasing number of adolescents to lose the motivation to read. This phenomenon, known as aliteracy, can occur as a result of personal fear, disinterest and lack of relevancy, or feeling restrained in the modes and tools available to connect with others. Though several classroom initiatives – including teacher scaffolding, read aloud story time, and collage – have been shown to improve aliterate learners' relationship to text, such activities require a great deal of effort and training on the part of the teacher. Educational games stand out as a promising way to overcome the inconsistencies and demands of these initiatives while increasing intrinsic motivation in players. However, the success of games as reading interventions is dependent on their design and how well they foster feelings autonomy, competence, and social relatedness – the three key elements of motivation according to Self-Determination Theory. In my research, I'm interested in how interactivity can serve as the bridge between reading and gameplay to not only bring these two domains together but also to deepen their motivational impact on readers and players. The two games described in this thesis serve as experiments in fostering feelings of intrinsic motivation in students by integrating interactions that give players heightened control over the game's narrative, interface, and multimodality. Within this document, I expand on the development of t (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Scott Swearingen (Advisor); Maria Palazzi (Committee Member); Sébastien Proulx PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Design

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2021, Management

Games provide a unique social locus for observing certain aspects of human interactions and conversations—particularly with regard to the use of physical objects in combination with gestures to map conceptual blends onto those objects. Gameplay is a special activity that puts foregrounds the social capacities of interacting with and through physical objects. As such, the specialized setting makes it easier to see some things about distributed and extended cognition. This account will be illustrated through examples from real world gameplay data to investigate aspects of human interaction in the resolution of coordination problems, development of social frames, and the intersection with narrative modes of thinking. The ultimate product of this exploratory work, based on my findings, is a novel set of chained conceptual models for how players experience the complexity of games. The exploration into this combination of fields and foci, through the lens of gameplay, will prove to be of interest not only to game studies scholars, but also to scholars studying distributed or extended cognition, discourse or narrative analysis, material culture, coordination problems, or cognitive preloading and offloading.

Committee: Richard Boland (Committee Co-Chair); William Deal (Committee Co-Chair); Vera Tobin (Committee Member); Mary Grimm (Committee Member) Subjects: Linguistics; Management; Social Psychology; Sociolinguistics

Psy. D., Antioch University, 2018, Antioch Seattle: Clinical Psychology

With video game usage--and criticism on its activity--on the rise, it may be helpful for the psychological community to understand what it actually means to play video games, and what the lived experience entails. This qualitative, phenomenological study specifically explores user behaviors and decisions in the simulated life video game, The Sims. Ten participants completed one- to two-hour long semi-structured interviews, and the data was transcribed, organized into 1,988 codes, which were clustered into 30 categories, and from which six themes ultimately emerged. These resulting themes are: self-representation; past, present, and future; purpose for play; self-reflection; co-creation; and familiarity. The essence of playing The Sims includes a degree of self-representation through gameplay choices, projecting one's own past, present or future into the game, and play that is motivated by distinct reasons or benefits. Gameplay in The Sims also involves a sense of familiarity, the interaction of inspirations coming from both the user and the game, and the users' reflections on the connection between themselves and the game. Relationships between the six resulting themes and the current literature on video game psychology are reviewed, and future research and clinical implications are discussed.

Committee: Jude Bergkamp Psy.D. (Committee Chair); Kirk Honda Psy.D. (Committee Member); Elizabeth Fanning Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Artificial Intelligence; Psychology

Bachelor of Science (BS), Ohio University, 2010, Media Arts and Studies

Due to their unique capability to be altered by those experiencing them, games have the potential to tell a more immersive story and evoke a stronger emotional response than traditional entertainment media. Moreover, it is in the nature of open world games to facilitate the most personal and immersive gameplay and narrative experience. Admittedly, sacrifices have to be made on both sides in order for the best match of gameplay and narrative to be found. By studying the shortcomings of other sandbox games, and carefully balancing modular developer controlled content with player freedom, or at least the appearance of player freedom, this potential can be attained.

Committee: Beth Novak (Advisor) Subjects: