Session Information
19 SES 06 B, Parallel Paper Session 6B
Paper Session
Contribution
Computer and video game playing is increasingly common among young children both at homes and in schools around the world (Eurydice, 2005; Rideout, Foehr, & Roberts, 2010). Although it is often viewed as a waste of time, recent research proves the intrinsic value of computer game playing as well as supports the idea that findings from studies of game playing are applicable to a wide range of children’s activities (Gee, 2003; Shaffer, Squire, Halverson, & Gee, 2005; Squire, 2011).
However, most research on games has focused on the forms of games rather than on the interaction through which a game is accomplished in situ, in another word, how game is enacted in social interaction (Goodwin, 1995; Squire 2011). In this study, I focus on how participants “actively collaborate in constructing the game of the moment” (Goodwin, 1995). The phrase “the game of the moment” highlights the fluid and co-constructed nature of game playing. By investigating a spontaneously formed computer game playing group during free-choice time in a first-grade (ages 6-7) classroom, I focused on the following questions: What is game playing intended by design and by the teacher’s rules? What kinds of “game of the moment” are constructed? How do participants construct these games of the moment and their identity in game playing?
This study is informed by community of learning theory, which views that learning as legitimate peripheral participation involving the construction of identities (Lave & Wenger, 1991). In addition, sociocultural theories’ emphasis on mediational means (Cole & Wertsch, 1996) is also helpful to understand constructed nature of game of the moment. Cultural artifacts not only facilitate our activities, but also enable and determine the nature of the activities, as Vygotsky (1981:137) stated, “the psychological tool alters the entire flow and structure of mental functions.” At the same time, the meaning and use of cultural artifacts are structured and transformed through activities.
In this study, a group of game playing 1st graders in a classroom becomes the primary context and content to study learning and identity forming. However, forming or becoming a member of community is never an unproblematic enculturation process (Packer & Goicoechea, 2000), especially in classrooms where teachers control most of activities and students often lack of authentic motivation to participate. By examining such a spontaneously formed community of game playing in a first-grade class despite constraints of the class culture and rules, this study aims to understand young children’s membership and community practice from their perspectives, thus places children in the center of the investigation. The findings can offer suggestion for building authentic community of learners in school settings and improving children's learning experience.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Cole, M., & Wertsch, J. (1996). Beyond the individual–social antimony in discussions of Piaget and Vygotsky. In D. Kuhn (Ed.), Human development (pp. 250–256). New York: Karger. Erickson, F. (1991). Ethnographic microanalysis of interaction. In LeCompte M., Millroy W., and Preissle J. (Eds.), The handbook of qualitative research in education (pp. 201–225). San Diego, CA: Academic Press. Eurydice. (2005). Key data on education in Europe. Brussels: Eurydice. Retrieved from: http://www.okm.gov.hu/doc/upload/200601/key_data_2005.pdf. Gee, J. P. (2003). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. New York: Palgrave MacMillan. Goodwin, M. H. (1995). Co-construction in girls’ hopscotch. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 28(3), 261-281. Jordan, B., & Henderson, A. (1995). Interaction analysis: Foundations and practice. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 4(1), 39-103. Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Packer, M. J., & Goicoechea, J. (2000). Sociocultural and constructivist theories of learning: Ontology, not just epistemology. Educational Psychologist, 35, 227-241. Rideout, V. J., Foehr, U. G., & Roberts, D. F. (2010). Generation M2: Media in the lives of 8- and 18-years-olds. Menlo Park, CA: The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Shaffer, D. W., Squire, K. D., Halverson, R., & Gee, J. P. (2005). Video games and the future of learning. Phi Delta Kappan, 87(2), 105-111. Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Squire, K. (2011). Video games and learning: Teaching and participatory culture in the digital age. New York: Teachers College Press. Vygotsky, L. (1981). The genesis of higher mental functions. In J. V. Wertsch (Ed.), The concept of activity in Soviet psychology. Armonk, NY: Sharpe.
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