Learning Within a Nodal Ecology Activated by Gamestar Mechanic

Robert J. Torres

Thu., June 11, 11:00–12:30, Browsing Library (2nd floor, West Central)

This presentation will guide participants through the learning ecology activated by Gamestar Mechanic, an educational videogame designed to give middle- to high-schoolers a set of experiences to develop basic game design skills. Findings come from a design–based research (Barab, 2006; Barab & Squire, 2004) study conducted in New York City in the fall of 2008 with middle schoolers.

The study investigated the potential a videogame could have in helping middle school students develop systems thinking skills, and the role context played in the learning process. Context was defined for this study as a “learning ecology” to signify a system of interconnected and interacting learning nodes populated by people and tools. A node here is a kind of microsystem (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 1998) or a semiotic conglomeration that is a part of a family of like nodes, each filled with people acting and interacting in similar ways, using a similar language, and using similar kinds of tools.

The overall study focused on testing the viability of Gamestar Mechanic and the learning ecology it afforded to improve participants’ systems thinking skills. A principal research question that guided the study was: Does a learning ecology generated and mediated by Gamestar Mechanic improve participants’ ability to engage in systems thinking? A second question was: How did participants come to develop systems thinking skills?

The conceptualization of the learning landscape as a nodal ecology was guided by research and theories pointing to meaning making, cognitive development, and identity formation as a process whereby individuals travel through various learning spaces (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 1998; Goldman-Segall, 1998; Lave & Wenger, 1991; White, 2008). The ecology for this study was framed around a set of seven interacting, interdependent “nodes”. Of special significance to the study was the emergence of a new node (called the ‘Rise’ node) that surfaced sometime after the first month of the 4 month–long study and was entirely driven by participants. Magnusson and Stattin’s (1998) notion of dynamic interactionism contributed to an analysis of reciprocal and non–linear relationships between participants and nodes. Dynamic interactionism considers processes going on within environmental contexts, the mental and biological processes going on internally for individuals, and the relations between the two. Relatedly, Magnusson and Stattin present a strong critique of the vast traditional research in the social sciences that by and large fails to consider holistic interactionism in favor of concepts like independent and dependent variables, which assume unidirectional causality. In this light, this study was conceptualized as a departure from traditional research and presents a holistic descriptive analysis (Gibson, 1986) of the interactional aspects between nodes within a learning ecology. The study’s seven nodes and their necessary interdependency account for claims regarding participant cognitive change. Each of the following nodes and their interrelationships with be discussed:

References

Barab, S. (2006). Design-based research: A methodological toolkit for the learning scientist. In R. K. Sawyer (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of the learning sciences. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Barab, S., & Squire, K. (2004). Design-based research: Putting a stake in the ground. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 13(1), 1-14.

Bronfenbrenner, U., & Morris, P. (1998). The ecology of developmental processes. In W. Damon & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Goldman-Segall, R. (1998). Points of viewing children's thinking. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Magnusson, D., & Stattin, H. (1998). Person-context interaction theories. In W. Damon & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

White, H. C. (2008). Identity and control: How social formations emerge. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.