Sunday, February 12, 2017

MMORPG's,WOW, and Scientific Habits of Mind

Critique 2: 
Scientific Habits of Mind in Virtual Worlds by Constance Steinkuehler and Sean Duncan

‘Science is built up of facts, as a house is built of stones; but an accumulation of facts is no more science than a heap of stones is a house' John Dewey

John Dewey lists the Scientific Habits of Mind as:

1) Logical thinking

2) Quantitative analysis

3) Deductive reasoning

4) Proper questioning


5) Reliance on sound evidence

I find this list to be reminiscent of the list I use for teaching Studio Habits of the Mind: Engage/persist, envision, observe, express, reflect, explore. Both of these lists, commonalities and all, are the foundation of critical thinking and inquiry. We would not have science nor the arts without them. For this reason, this article really struck home some of the fundamental ideas I've been struggling with as a teacher. These things cannot be successfully evaluated on a standardized test, we're testing only the heap stones. 


Premise: Constance Steinkuehler and Sean Duncan propose that games-based learning and the communities they stimulate may be a viable alternative to create the scientific citizenry we need. Their research based empirical evidence from studying the MMORPG, World of Warcraft, concerns the potential for video-games and their forums to successfully foster and encourage the in-depth development of Dewey's Scientific Habits of Mind.  

Data Collection: good data sample and data scrubbing (extraneous info removed, with subject specific tags listed on spreadsheet) 1087 different posters.

Methods of Analysis: Steinkuehler and Duncan used a combination of a priori assumptions about the forms of scientific reasoning such virtual spaces ought to generate. Their goal was to focus on the actual scientific processes used not the "stones," hence they eliminated aspects that were content knowledge specific, and concentrated on looking at Scientific discursive practices (social knowledge construction, idea building, counter argument use, data/evidence use, alt explanations of data, and ref outside sources), systems and model-based reasoning (systems based reasoning, understanding feedback, model based reasoning, model testing/prediction, mathematical mod and computation), and tacit epistemology (Absolutist, Relativist, Evaluative knowledge types). From the data graph listed in the article, the most frequently used aspects of discursive thinking were Social knowledge Construction, Building on other's ideas, Use of counter arguments, and the Use of data/evidence. Systems based reasoning & understanding feedback were the most frequently used categories for systems/model based reasoning. Finally, the Evaluative thinking, where knowledge is processed by evaluation and open argument, was the tacit epistemological method most often used by the forum posters. 

Comparing the results of the study to Dewey's list, the forum posters engaged in all of the five habits. From my own forum discussions, it would be impossible to be taken seriously without this. Heated debates are the norm within these groups, mirroring the sort of tenacity and logical debate found in most philosophy debate clubs. 

A look at the data: According to Steinkuehler and Duncan, most conversations in the data set forum begin with a theoretical question (about game mechanics or game play), followed by an offering of evidence and a series of responses to discuss this theory. Often there is also an offering of an alternative hypothesis which is then discussed and debated by the group - the epitome of scientific discovery. Ironically enough, gamers sound a whole lot like scientists when in a heated debate about their content. 

In conclusion, this article gave academic evidence to what I've experienced within the totality of the gaming community, (not just video-gaming): Gamers, on the whole, love to debate and will debate fiercely, with evidence, provide alternative theories with evidence, question, deduce, and give you hours of quantitative as well as qualitative analysis on the latest game they are playing. Gamers can be a very discerning lot, refusing to shell out that wad of cash for a substandard game. These players rely on the forums to not only get better, but to delve as deep as they can to experience a virtual world. Observation is as necessary as breathing within these realms unless you want to be called a newbie for the next month. Evidence is king on the forums or you will be trolled unmercifully. All in all, the article is well written, if a little dry, scientifically evidenced with solid data and data collection methods, and I can see it being easily replicated with another game. A good piece. Even the hubby enjoyed this one. See you in the forums.

Full Article: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.405.1850&rep=rep1&type=pdf

2 comments:

  1. Hello,

    Great critique, I like the format you used to break down the components of the study and felt you make a logical and clear connection with the work of Dewey. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete

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