Some popular 3D educational video games incorporate vast amounts of content with limited direct i... more Some popular 3D educational video games incorporate vast amounts of content with limited direct instruction. This exploratory study investigates player navigation to determine how wayfinding aids and level design impact interaction with embedded instructional content. To investigate player behavior, participants completed navigational tasks within a larger usability study of an environmental science video game, Mission HydroSci. This study adopts a mixed-method approach, including: (a) demographic questionnaires and geographic skills assessment, (b) virtual participant observation, (c) game logs of user actions, and (d) analysis of eye-tracking data related to in-game navigational aids. We found that participant self-reported average weekly gameplay, affect toward science, and navigation experience correlated to player interaction with some wayfinding aids and the speed in which participants completed tasks. In addition to these demographic correlations, in-game player movement and visual fixation duration present differences that may be valuable for future behavioral clustering. We use these results to discuss design implications for 3D virtual learning environments.
This research proposal focuses on individuals' experiences with documents in a 3D virtual environ... more This research proposal focuses on individuals' experiences with documents in a 3D virtual environment. Using a qualitative approach, I propose investigating players' interactions with in-game objects to better understand the relationship between information behavior and narrative spaces. Specifically, I will observe player actions in a story-rich virtual world followed by semi-structured interviews using virtual artifacts and stimulated recall. I will then conduct an interpretive phenomenological analysis of the interview transcripts. By better understanding how individuals experience information in a virtual story that affords agency, I may provide a new framework for investigating in-game actions or document experiences. Practical implications of this research may inform game designers of when to employ unguided information-seeking tasks or, instead, allow narrative and direct feedback to drive player behavior.
3D video games show potential as educational tools that improve learner engagement. Integrating 3... more 3D video games show potential as educational tools that improve learner engagement. Integrating 3D games into school curricula, however, faces various challenges. One challenge is providing visualizations on learning dashboards for instructors. Such dashboards provide needed information so that instructors may conduct timely and appropriate interventions when students need it. Another challenge is identifying contributive learning predictors for a computational model, which can be the core algorithm used to make games more intelligent for tutoring and assessment purposes. Previous studies have found that students' visual-attention is a vital aspect of engagement during gameplay. However, few studies have examined whether attention visualization patterns can distinguish students from different performance groups. Complicating this research is the relatively nascent investigation into gaze metrics for learning-prediction models. In this exploratory study, we used eye-tracking data...
Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology
How can we motivate social media users to critically analyze potential misinformation? Video game... more How can we motivate social media users to critically analyze potential misinformation? Video games may be one way. This project presents research on a social‐impact game, Fake It to Make It, which positions players as for‐profit misinformation disseminators. Drawing upon the BJ Fogg's Functional Triad for Persuasive Computers and paying particular attention to the usability and perceived credibility of Fake It to Make It, this research analyzed the game from a persuasive design lens using player‐participant data. This was accomplished through screen‐captured gameplay as well as interviews and retrospective think‐alouds. Additionally, to determine if the game affects abilities to assess claims on social media, pre‐ and post‐intervention media literacy assessments were utilized. With this data, the researchers provide design recommendations to increase usability, influence procedural knowledge on social media, and promote continued gameplay and greater emotional/behavioral impact.
Purpose: Some virtual, immersive stories are filled with documents that users must locate and int... more Purpose: Some virtual, immersive stories are filled with documents that users must locate and interact with to experience a narrative. Exploring a new area of inquiry in the information science field, this study focuses on individuals' experiences with documents in a particular 3D storytelling world.
Design/methodology/approach: Using a qualitative approach, this study examined user interactions with virtual documents to better understand the relationship between information behavior and narrative spaces. This study employed observations of users in a story-rich world, followed by semistructured interviews using virtual artifacts and stimulated recall.
Findings: Using an interpretative phenomenological analysis, this study found that (1) environmental and personal influences, (2) the search and the narrative experience and (3) expectation and confirmation events surround a user's experiences with documents in storytelling worlds. These influences and experiences determine the user's relationship with these documents, which may be considered narrative ephemera – objects that a user accumulates to create and structure a story. This model of narrative ephemera depicts the user's search for narrative cadence, fulfillment of competence needs and visions of story events or the user's own lived experiences. Individuals may experience these phenomena from a single document, shifting back and forth between the designers' intentions and the users' own realities.
Originality/value: This study represents a first attempt to investigate information behavior in a distributed narrative space: a virtual world filled with documents. This study reveals that commonly employed information behavior theories, as well as literary and motivation theories, may be well suited for investigating story worlds. Continued research in this area of inquiry may benefit educators as well as designers of digital stories.
Purpose: This paper provides an overview of the literature on digital games designed or adapted f... more Purpose: This paper provides an overview of the literature on digital games designed or adapted for information literacy instruction, as well as practical design recommendations.
Design/methodology/approach: The paper presents an analysis of a compiled set of peer-reviewed articles on games in the provision of information literacy instruction published between 2013–2018, categorized by game mechanics utilized.
Findings: Application of the inclusion criteria led to 12 papers considered relevant. Synthesis of the papers suggests that although studies indicate positive outcomes for information literacy games, such games continue to rely on transcription of declarative tasks to digital environments.
Originality/value: While previous literature reviews provide summaries on information literacy digital games, this paper not only presents an up-to-date review but also provides step-by-step instructions and worked examples for aligning information literacy learning mechanics with game mechanics.
Some popular 3D educational video games incorporate vast amounts of content with limited direct i... more Some popular 3D educational video games incorporate vast amounts of content with limited direct instruction. This exploratory study investigates player navigation to determine how wayfinding aids and level design impact interaction with embedded instructional content. To investigate player behavior, participants completed navigational tasks within a larger usability study of an environmental science video game, Mission HydroSci. This study adopts a mixed-method approach, including: (a) demographic questionnaires and geographic skills assessment, (b) virtual participant observation, (c) game logs of user actions, and (d) analysis of eye-tracking data related to in-game navigational aids. We found that participant self-reported average weekly gameplay, affect toward science, and navigation experience correlated to player interaction with some wayfinding aids and the speed in which participants completed tasks. In addition to these demographic correlations, in-game player movement and visual fixation duration present differences that may be valuable for future behavioral clustering. We use these results to discuss design implications for 3D virtual learning environments.
This research proposal focuses on individuals' experiences with documents in a 3D virtual environ... more This research proposal focuses on individuals' experiences with documents in a 3D virtual environment. Using a qualitative approach, I propose investigating players' interactions with in-game objects to better understand the relationship between information behavior and narrative spaces. Specifically, I will observe player actions in a story-rich virtual world followed by semi-structured interviews using virtual artifacts and stimulated recall. I will then conduct an interpretive phenomenological analysis of the interview transcripts. By better understanding how individuals experience information in a virtual story that affords agency, I may provide a new framework for investigating in-game actions or document experiences. Practical implications of this research may inform game designers of when to employ unguided information-seeking tasks or, instead, allow narrative and direct feedback to drive player behavior.
3D video games show potential as educational tools that improve learner engagement. Integrating 3... more 3D video games show potential as educational tools that improve learner engagement. Integrating 3D games into school curricula, however, faces various challenges. One challenge is providing visualizations on learning dashboards for instructors. Such dashboards provide needed information so that instructors may conduct timely and appropriate interventions when students need it. Another challenge is identifying contributive learning predictors for a computational model, which can be the core algorithm used to make games more intelligent for tutoring and assessment purposes. Previous studies have found that students' visual-attention is a vital aspect of engagement during gameplay. However, few studies have examined whether attention visualization patterns can distinguish students from different performance groups. Complicating this research is the relatively nascent investigation into gaze metrics for learning-prediction models. In this exploratory study, we used eye-tracking data...
Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology
How can we motivate social media users to critically analyze potential misinformation? Video game... more How can we motivate social media users to critically analyze potential misinformation? Video games may be one way. This project presents research on a social‐impact game, Fake It to Make It, which positions players as for‐profit misinformation disseminators. Drawing upon the BJ Fogg's Functional Triad for Persuasive Computers and paying particular attention to the usability and perceived credibility of Fake It to Make It, this research analyzed the game from a persuasive design lens using player‐participant data. This was accomplished through screen‐captured gameplay as well as interviews and retrospective think‐alouds. Additionally, to determine if the game affects abilities to assess claims on social media, pre‐ and post‐intervention media literacy assessments were utilized. With this data, the researchers provide design recommendations to increase usability, influence procedural knowledge on social media, and promote continued gameplay and greater emotional/behavioral impact.
Purpose: Some virtual, immersive stories are filled with documents that users must locate and int... more Purpose: Some virtual, immersive stories are filled with documents that users must locate and interact with to experience a narrative. Exploring a new area of inquiry in the information science field, this study focuses on individuals' experiences with documents in a particular 3D storytelling world.
Design/methodology/approach: Using a qualitative approach, this study examined user interactions with virtual documents to better understand the relationship between information behavior and narrative spaces. This study employed observations of users in a story-rich world, followed by semistructured interviews using virtual artifacts and stimulated recall.
Findings: Using an interpretative phenomenological analysis, this study found that (1) environmental and personal influences, (2) the search and the narrative experience and (3) expectation and confirmation events surround a user's experiences with documents in storytelling worlds. These influences and experiences determine the user's relationship with these documents, which may be considered narrative ephemera – objects that a user accumulates to create and structure a story. This model of narrative ephemera depicts the user's search for narrative cadence, fulfillment of competence needs and visions of story events or the user's own lived experiences. Individuals may experience these phenomena from a single document, shifting back and forth between the designers' intentions and the users' own realities.
Originality/value: This study represents a first attempt to investigate information behavior in a distributed narrative space: a virtual world filled with documents. This study reveals that commonly employed information behavior theories, as well as literary and motivation theories, may be well suited for investigating story worlds. Continued research in this area of inquiry may benefit educators as well as designers of digital stories.
Purpose: This paper provides an overview of the literature on digital games designed or adapted f... more Purpose: This paper provides an overview of the literature on digital games designed or adapted for information literacy instruction, as well as practical design recommendations.
Design/methodology/approach: The paper presents an analysis of a compiled set of peer-reviewed articles on games in the provision of information literacy instruction published between 2013–2018, categorized by game mechanics utilized.
Findings: Application of the inclusion criteria led to 12 papers considered relevant. Synthesis of the papers suggests that although studies indicate positive outcomes for information literacy games, such games continue to rely on transcription of declarative tasks to digital environments.
Originality/value: While previous literature reviews provide summaries on information literacy digital games, this paper not only presents an up-to-date review but also provides step-by-step instructions and worked examples for aligning information literacy learning mechanics with game mechanics.
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Papers by Alex Urban
Design/methodology/approach: Using a qualitative approach, this study examined user interactions with virtual documents to better understand the relationship between information behavior and narrative spaces. This study employed observations of users in a story-rich world, followed by semistructured interviews using virtual artifacts and stimulated recall.
Findings: Using an interpretative phenomenological analysis, this study found that (1) environmental and personal influences, (2) the search and the narrative experience and (3) expectation and confirmation events surround a user's experiences with documents in storytelling worlds. These influences and experiences determine the user's relationship with these documents, which may be considered narrative ephemera – objects that a user accumulates to create and structure a story. This model of narrative ephemera depicts the user's search for narrative cadence, fulfillment of competence needs and visions of story events or the user's own lived experiences. Individuals may experience these phenomena from a single document, shifting back and forth between the designers' intentions and the users' own realities.
Originality/value: This study represents a first attempt to investigate information behavior in a distributed narrative space: a virtual world filled with documents. This study reveals that commonly employed information behavior theories, as well as literary and motivation theories, may be well suited for investigating story worlds. Continued research in this area of inquiry may benefit educators as well as designers of digital stories.
Design/methodology/approach: The paper presents an analysis of a compiled set of peer-reviewed articles on games in the provision of information literacy instruction published between 2013–2018, categorized by game mechanics utilized.
Findings: Application of the inclusion criteria led to 12 papers considered relevant. Synthesis of the papers suggests that although studies indicate positive outcomes for information literacy games, such games continue to rely on transcription of declarative tasks to digital environments.
Originality/value: While previous literature reviews provide summaries on information literacy digital games, this paper not only presents an up-to-date review but also provides step-by-step instructions and worked examples for aligning information literacy learning mechanics with game mechanics.
Design/methodology/approach: Using a qualitative approach, this study examined user interactions with virtual documents to better understand the relationship between information behavior and narrative spaces. This study employed observations of users in a story-rich world, followed by semistructured interviews using virtual artifacts and stimulated recall.
Findings: Using an interpretative phenomenological analysis, this study found that (1) environmental and personal influences, (2) the search and the narrative experience and (3) expectation and confirmation events surround a user's experiences with documents in storytelling worlds. These influences and experiences determine the user's relationship with these documents, which may be considered narrative ephemera – objects that a user accumulates to create and structure a story. This model of narrative ephemera depicts the user's search for narrative cadence, fulfillment of competence needs and visions of story events or the user's own lived experiences. Individuals may experience these phenomena from a single document, shifting back and forth between the designers' intentions and the users' own realities.
Originality/value: This study represents a first attempt to investigate information behavior in a distributed narrative space: a virtual world filled with documents. This study reveals that commonly employed information behavior theories, as well as literary and motivation theories, may be well suited for investigating story worlds. Continued research in this area of inquiry may benefit educators as well as designers of digital stories.
Design/methodology/approach: The paper presents an analysis of a compiled set of peer-reviewed articles on games in the provision of information literacy instruction published between 2013–2018, categorized by game mechanics utilized.
Findings: Application of the inclusion criteria led to 12 papers considered relevant. Synthesis of the papers suggests that although studies indicate positive outcomes for information literacy games, such games continue to rely on transcription of declarative tasks to digital environments.
Originality/value: While previous literature reviews provide summaries on information literacy digital games, this paper not only presents an up-to-date review but also provides step-by-step instructions and worked examples for aligning information literacy learning mechanics with game mechanics.