Students’ Learning Experiences in the Digital

AgeMick Grimley, Richard Green and

Trond NilsenUniversity of Canterbury,

New Zealand

Aims and Background

• Many students are now what Prensky (2001) calls Digital Natives

• They are accustomed to working digitally• But do they expect/benefit from a more digital

style of engagement as opposed to traditional expository methods (e.g. Lectures)

• In this paper I ask the question:– What is the students’ experience of learning through

computer games compared to traditional lectures?

Design

1st Year (Stage 1) University BA course (basic Educational Psychology concepts)– Year 1 (42 male, 17 female)

• Delivered in traditional mode (as lectures)– Year 2 (21 male, 10 female)

• Half traditional lectures, half transformed into computer game modules

Data Collection

• Csikszentmihalyi’s Experience Sampling Method (ESM) designed to capture real time experience and measure feelings of flow (flow being the highly motivational state and pleasant experience described in the writings of Csikszentmihalyi)– Experience sampling Form (Csikszentmihalyi,

Rathunde & Whalen, 1997, p52-53) – 1 per 1 hour lecture (randomly administered)

Experience IndicatorsFeelings About the Situation

Mood Scales Feelings about the Activity

Physical Indicator

How well were youconcentrating?Was it hard toconcentrate?How self consciouswere you?Did you feel goodabout yourself?Were you incontrol of thesituation?Were you living upto your ownexpectations?Were you living upto othersexpectations?

Alert – drowsyHappy – sadIrritable – cheerfulStrong – weakActive – passiveLonely – sociableAshamed – proudInvolved – detachedExcited – boredClosed – openClear – confusedTense – relaxedCompetitive – co-op

Challenges of theactivityYour skills in theactivityWas the activityimportant to you?Was the activityimportant to others?Were you succeedingat what you weredoing?Do you wish you hadbeen doing somethingelse?Were you satisfiedwith how you weredoing?How important wasthis activity in relationto your overall goals?

Did you feel any pain or discomfort as you were beeped?

Results• When delivery is digital compared to traditional delivery:

– Students’ report that their: • concentration is higher • mood is less sociable

– Students’ report that they are:• more involved • more confused • more competitive• more challenged• having less success• more self conscious• more alert • happier• less irritable• more active • more excited

ResultsAccording to Csikszentmihalyi we can characterise4 states of experience in a particular activity as: • high challenge & high skill = flow • low challenge & low skill = boredom• low challenge & high skill = relaxation• high challenge & low skill = anxiety

• This study showed that :– boredom was the most prevalent state for traditional

lectures – anxiety or flow were the most prevalent states for the

game experience.

Discussion-Over to you!Expected results? Unexpected Results?

concentration is highermore involvedmore competitivemore challengedmore alerthappierless irritablemore active more excitedTrad lecture flow state=boredGame mode flow state=flow

mood is less sociablemore confusedhaving less successmore self consciousGame mode flowstate=anxiety