Minds in Play: Computer Game Design As a Context for Children's Learning

@book{citeulike:470590, abstract = {Video games more than any other media have become an essential part of contemporary children's culture. Whereas most research efforts have concentrated on discussing the effects of game playing, Minds in Play takes a close look at games as a context for learning by placing children in the roles of producers rather than consumers of games. Kafai follows a class of sixteen fourth-grade students from an inner-city public elementary school as they were programming games in Logo to teach fractions to third graders. In this context, programming became a medium for children's personal and creative expression: in the design of their games children engaged their fantasies and built relationships with other pockets of reality that went beyond traditional school approaches.}, author = {Kafai, Yasmin B. }, citeulike-article-id = {470590}, comment = {In Kafai et al (1998): "Kafai (1995) investigated a class of fourth-grade students who were involved in programming computer games to teach fractions to younger students. A core assumption in educational game making was that students would construct their own fraction representations and in this process establish better connections between different fraction representations (such as written, symbolic, graphic) and connections to everyday objects. While students significantly increased their understanding of fractions, one of the problematic aspects in Kafai’s study was the integration of fraction content and game ideas. With the exception of one game designer, all students developed games with extrinsic fraction integration. Extrinsic integration describes a context in which game idea and fraction content are unrelated (e.g., the game player is shooting rockets and solving fraction problems when missing rockets), whereas intrinsic integration describes a context in which game ideas and fraction content are related (e.g., the game player has to assemble fractions of a map to progress through the game)." (p 153) ---=note-separator=--- Chapter 1 · Learning Through Design: Review of Theory and Research Issues 1 Research Issues Pursued in the Game Design Project 1 Review of Theory: Learning through Design 6 Review of Research: Learning of Logo Programming and Fractions 17 Chapter 2 · Creating and Researching the Learning Environment 30 Creating the Learning Environment: Game Design Project 30 Researching the Learning Environment 37 Chapter 3 · Project Evolution 51 Evolution of Game Ideas 52 Design Styles 70 Discussion of Project Evolution 83 Chapter 4 · Case Studies of Game Designers 88 Amy as a Game Designer 90 Sid as a Game Designer 149 Albert as a Game Designer 199 Chapter 5 · Learning Through Design: A Comparative Evaluation 246 Results of the Comparative Evaluation 249 Discussion of Results From the Comparative Evaluation 267 Chapter 6 · Discussion of Conclusions 286 1. Making Games For Learning 288 2. Individual Styles Developing over Time 290 3. Learning Culture of the Game Design Project 293 4. Learning about "Learning through Design" 296 5. Programming as a Tool for Personal Expression and Knowledge Reformulation 298 6. Constructing Mathematical Representations for Learning 301 7. Some Thoughts about Future Computational Learning Environments for Young Designers 304}, howpublished = {Hardcover}, isbn = {0805815120}, keywords = {computers, constructionism, design, game, games, gmx, learning, mathematics, mathgamespatterns}, posted-at = {2006-01-19 15:57:45}, priority = {3}, publisher = {Lawrence Erlbaum Associates}, title = {Minds in Play: Computer Game Design As a Context for Children's Learning}, url = {http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=citeulike09-20\&path=ASIN/0805815120}, year = {1995} }

TY - BOOK ID - citeulike:470590 L3 - citeulike-article-id:470590 TI - Minds in Play: Computer Game Design As a Context for Children's Learning PB - Lawrence Erlbaum Associates SN - 0805815120 N2 - Video games more than any other media have become an essential part of contemporary children's culture. Whereas most research efforts have concentrated on discussing the effects of game playing, Minds in Play takes a close look at games as a context for learning by placing children in the roles of producers rather than consumers of games. Kafai follows a class of sixteen fourth-grade students from an inner-city public elementary school as they were programming games in Logo to teach fractions to third graders. In this context, programming became a medium for children's personal and creative expression: in the design of their games children engaged their fantasies and built relationships with other pockets of reality that went beyond traditional school approaches. KW - computers KW - constructionism KW - design KW - game KW - games KW - gmx KW - learning KW - mathematics KW - mathgamespatterns N1 - In Kafai et al (1998): "Kafai (1995) investigated a class of fourth-grade students who were involved in programming computer games to teach fractions to younger students. A core assumption in educational game making was that students would construct their own fraction representations and in this process establish better connections between different fraction representations (such as written, symbolic, graphic) and connections to everyday objects. While students significantly increased their understanding of fractions, one of the problematic aspects in Kafai’s study was the integration of fraction content and game ideas. With the exception of one game designer, all students developed games with extrinsic fraction integration. Extrinsic integration describes a context in which game idea and fraction content are unrelated (e.g., the game player is shooting rockets and solving fraction problems when missing rockets), whereas intrinsic integration describes a context in which game ideas and fraction content are related (e.g., the game player has to assemble fractions of a map to progress through the game)." (p 153) N1 - Chapter 1 · Learning Through Design: Review of Theory and Research Issues 1 Research Issues Pursued in the Game Design Project 1 Review of Theory: Learning through Design 6 Review of Research: Learning of Logo Programming and Fractions 17 Chapter 2 · Creating and Researching the Learning Environment 30 Creating the Learning Environment: Game Design Project 30 Researching the Learning Environment 37 Chapter 3 · Project Evolution 51 Evolution of Game Ideas 52 Design Styles 70 Discussion of Project Evolution 83 Chapter 4 · Case Studies of Game Designers 88 Amy as a Game Designer 90 Sid as a Game Designer 149 Albert as a Game Designer 199 Chapter 5 · Learning Through Design: A Comparative Evaluation 246 Results of the Comparative Evaluation 249 Discussion of Results From the Comparative Evaluation 267 Chapter 6 · Discussion of Conclusions 286 1. Making Games For Learning 288 2. Individual Styles Developing over Time 290 3. Learning Culture of the Game Design Project 293 4. Learning about "Learning through Design" 296 5. Programming as a Tool for Personal Expression and Knowledge Reformulation 298 6. Constructing Mathematical Representations for Learning 301 7. Some Thoughts about Future Computational Learning Environments for Young Designers 304 AU - Kafai, Yasmin PY - 1995/// UR - http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=citeulike09-20&path=ASIN/0805815120 ER -