Advancing the Study of Educational Gaming: A New Tool for Researchers

Abstract

Most of the published research in educational gaming has had methodological limitations. Process data critical to understanding under what conditions games can promote learning are typically not collected, and unreliable student and teacher self-reports are often the primary data source used when assessing the educational efficacy of many games. To address these and other methodological issues, the authors have developed a research software tool, OpenVULab1, which can record screen activity during game2 play in classroom settings remotely and unobtrusively, together with a synchronized audio track of player discussion. This chapter describes the structure, operation, and affordances of the tool and reports on the results of a field trial designed to evaluate its utility. In this trial, 42 college students were studied using OpenVULab as they played a coursework-related web-based learning game. The chapter concludes with an analysis of the trial outcomes, showing how they concretely demonstrate the methodological advantages that the use of OpenVULab offers researchers.