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research intro
literature reviews
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examine cause-and-effect relationships
over long periods of time (years, instead
of days or even hours).
2.4.3 Gender images
In Bryce and Rutter’s (2002) key review of
gender and gaming research it is noted
that much of the discussion to date has
focused around the content of the games,
as opposed to deeper analysis of genderspecific
motivation to play games. In other
words, there is a focus on analysing the
representations within a game, rather than
on the experience of playing. Predominant
in both mass-media coverage and
research, for example, is the character of
Lara Croft from the Tomb Raider series of
games. The focal point of debate is
whether Lara presents a positive role
model or an unhelpful vision of the ‘perfect
woman’ (Kennedy 2002). Research in the
field that has looked across a number of
different games, however, emphasises that
there is “a general lack of female game
characters, and the sexualised and
stereotypical representations of those
included female characters” (Bryce and
Rutter 2002a; Dietz 1998; Greenfield 1994;
Kafai 1996; Kinder 1996).
In considering the appeal of characters,
there are concerns that females are
alienated if they do not have identities in
the game they can relate to. This has led to
crude attempts by the gaming industry to
attract female game players, by producing
both hardware and software that reinforces
classical gender stereotypes, eg pink
games consoles, or games based around
dolls (Cassell and Jenkins 1998).
In contrast, however, there is little debate
on why males seem happy, as with the
example of Tomb Raider, to assume a
female persona or on the implications
for young male players of the dominant
models of male personality and
appearance represented in games
such as Grand Theft Auto.
Research into role-playing games,
however, suggests that the question of
gender and character identification may
not be quite so straightforward as earlier
commentators suggested. In role-playing
games where avatars are created by
players, for example, there seems to be a
pattern that the first creations do indeed
mimic the player’s gender and age identity,
but that later characters play with gender,
age, ethnicity and sexual orientation. This
play with identity is widely believed to be so
common that experienced players do not
assume an avatar
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reflects the player. In
recent research with 16 to 28 year-old
boys, they expressed no interest in young
female avatars in the MMORPG (Massively
Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game)
they were playing, assuming they would be
middle-aged men in reality (Burn et al
2003). Bryce and Rutter conclude by
arguing that:
“It is apparent that gaming practices are
undergoing rapid social and technical
changes and, at the same time, it is
noticeable that gendered perceptions of
gaming are changing... this is not a
phenomenon unique to gaming and is
consistent with the increased participation
of females in other leisure activities.”
Their conclusion is that gender relevance
to games and gaming is a complex and
rapidly evolving issue, and effectively
needs to be researched within a wider
social context than that of the gaming
experience alone.
3 GAMES AND LEARNING
3.1 LEARNING THEORIES
In order to understand the potential role of
mainstream games in supporting learning,
we need first to ask what we mean by
‘learning’. This is harder than it looks as
there are multiple and evolving definitions
of learning, with significant areas of
disagreement both as to what it means
to learn, and what forms of learning are
valuable. The table below is adapted
from Smith (1999) and defines key
‘battle lines’ in this debate.
These models view learning, as
alternatively a process which leads to
change in behaviour, change in ways of
thinking, achievement of personal potential
or development of capacity to operate
within particular communities. Today,
however, many researchers would argue
that these processes are not mutually
exclusive, indeed, one particularly
pragmatic researcher in the field of games
and learning argues that the model we
apply to learning should depend on what it
is that we are trying to ensure people learn
at any given time (Prensky 2001):
“It seems to me… that there is another way
of looking at all of this... and that is: ‘How
do they learn what?’... We must fit the ‘how
do people learn?’ question to ‘what it is
they are learning?’” (p80/82)
Given the state of the debate is seems
clear that the potential roles and value of
games in education will |
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| Aspect |
Behaviourist |
Cognitivist |
Humanist |
Social and Situational |
| View of the learning process |
Changes behaviour |
Process entirely in the head of the learner (including insight, information processing, memory, perception) |
A development of personal potential |
Interaction/ observation in a group context, akin to an apprenticeship |
| Site of learning |
External resources and tasks are what matters |
Making connections in learner’s head is what really matters |
Emotion, attitude and thinking are important |
Learning needs a relationship between people and environment |
| Purpose in education |
Produce behavioural change in desired direction |
Develop capacity and skills to learn better |
Become self-reliant, autonomous |
Full participation in communities of practice, ie you graduate from apprentice to craftsman |
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