This thesis investigates two intertwined themes. The first concerns the development of a framework for understanding, and making appropriate use of, simulations and games as tools for learning. The second concerns the utilisation of the term PractitionerResearcher to reflect the unity of practice and research activity in creating 'working knowledge' (Symes 2000). These themes are intertwined in the sense that the route I take to understanding simulations and games is through the stance of a PractitionerResearcher. Conversely the thesis aims to draw out what it means to be a PractitionerResearcher through my engagement as a facilitator of simulations and games. I argue that the knowledge I generate as a PractitionerResearcher is utilitarian and pragmatic. Grounded in my practice as an adult educator it utilises theoretical perspectives chosen for immediate relevance rather than because of any claims to 'truth' or permanence. Understanding how this shapes and influences my practice was a complex, difficult process. Using an auto-ethnographic approach, Chapter 1 outlines the development of my 'working knowledge' as a PractitionerResearcher. It draws on selected personal experiences in my work as an adult educator using simulations and games for teaching and learning. While curiosity about historical facts initiated the research reported in Chapter 2, the chapter focuses on uses of historical precedent for generating greater understanding, and acceptance by participants, of simulations and games as teaching/learning strategies. It identifies a range of contributions - from war games, religious games, and children's play - to the structuring of modern educational simulations and games. Chapter 3 explores approaches to classifying simulations and games. Its development brought a gradual realisation of the futility of trying to establish a single definitive categorisation system for all simulations and games. Understanding how they can be arranged in a variety of different relationships provides a better insight into their general features and helps in making decisions about when and how to use specific activities. One outcome of the work for this chapter was the realisation of some simulations as 'open and infinite' in nature, and that XB - simulation of importance in my practice - is such a simulation. Chapter 4 uses concepts developed in the field of chaos theory to illustrate how certain simulations create messy but 'chaordic' (Hock 2002) rather than dis-orderly learning contexts. 'Chaos/chaotic' once meant only dis-order, 'messiness' and unpredictability. Twentieth century scientific discoveries illustrate that order is concealed within 'chaos' producing richly complex patterns when viewed from the right perspective. I argue that 'chaos' concepts can be usefully applied to open and infinite simulations to demonstrate how they are similarly 'chaordic'. XB (for eXperience Based learning) is an open, infinite chaordic simulation, and has been a driving force in my practice for six years. The case study in Chapter 5 introduces the 'world according to XB' and takes the reader 'inside' participants' experiences as the unfolding nature of their learning is revealed in the way they apply theories of organisational behaviour to immediate behaviours. Chapter 6 reflects on my experiences of facilitating XB, via a review of interactions with some past XB participants. The influence of such a learning process on my practice is analysed. The emotional impact of these interactions has brought a better understanding of my own practice, and the chapter considers the concept of 'dispassionate reflexivity' as an aid for the facilitator in such contexts. Chapter 7 examines the evolution and distinctive features of the PractitionerResearcher in more detail. As an educator, a consistent focus of my work has been simultaneously 'to know more' and 'to be able to do better' - and it is the interdependence of these that lies at the heart of what it means to be a PractitionerResearcher. It is my hope that this thesis offers a solution for practitioners wanting to combine 'research' and 'practice' into a practical and scientifically rigorous 'whole'. For such professionals the PractitionerResearcher model offers an integrated approach, combining and validating 'learning in action' and 'learning for action'.

This thesis examines single-player video gaming. It is an analysis of video game play: what it is, how it functions, and what it means. It is an account of how players learn to play. This is done through a set of close readings of significant video games and key academic texts. My focus is on the mechanisms and forces that shape gameplay practices. Building on the existing fields of ludology and media-studies video-game analysis, I outline a model of video game play as a cultural construction which builds upon the player's existing knowledge of real world and fictional objects, scenarios and conventions. I argue that the relationship between the video game player and the software is best understood as embodying a precise configuration of power. I demonstrate that the single-player video game is in fact what Michel Foucault terms a 'disciplinary apparatus'. It functions to shape players' subjectivities in order to have them behave in easily predicted and managed ways. To do this, video games reuse and repurpose conventions from existing media forms and everyday practices. By this mobilisation of familiar elements, which already have established practices of use, and by a careful process of surveillance, examination and the correction of play practices, video games encourage players to take on and perform the logics of the game system. This relationship between organic player and technological game, I suggest, is best understood through the theoretical figure of the 'Cyborg'. It is a point of intersection between human and computer logics. Far from the ludological assumption that play and culture are separate and that play is shaped entirely by rules, I show video game play to be produced by an array of complex cultural and technological forces that act upon the player. My model of video game play differs from others currently in circulation in that it foregrounds the role of culture in play, while not denying the technological specificity of the video gaming apparatus. My central focus on power and the construction of player subjectivities offers a way to move beyond the simplistic reliance on the notion that rules are the primary shaping mechanism of play that has, to date, dominated much of video game studies.

Master of Visual Arts / Digital/video games1 have entertained for 40 years and are a medium with the ability to reach a vast audience. In an article published in the Sydney Morning Herald, Charles Purcell reports that; “Globally, Halo 2 has sold more than 7 million copies. Both in the US and Australia it broke the film box-office record for the most earnings in the first 24 hours of release. The worldwide Halo 2 community on X-box Live has about 400,000 players… at the World Cyber Games in Seoul. Last year, gold medallist Matthew Leto won $US20,000 ($AUS27,0000) after his second consecutive Halo title.” 2. Game consoles have become a part of many lounge rooms just as the television did before them. Games are even commonplace in many coat pockets and carrying bags. This dissertation is concerned with the medium of digital/video games in relation to its effect on Game Art. It is also concerned with the concept of my studio work that deals with “evil” and the “uncanny” which are discussed in chapter four. My research looks at games and how they have developed and the relationship to contemporary art. A history of this development is explored in chapter two. My research will help me in developing an interactive piece. Throughout my current research the thoughts of author of The Second Self: Computers and the Human Spirit Sherry Turkle resonate: “…not what will the computer be like in the future, but instead, what will we be like? What kind of people are we becoming?” 3 It is interesting to consider the video/digital games as experiments of who we are or who we would like to be, little fantasies of empowerment. In a game we are able to live out our frustrations or fantasies in a closed and predictable experience.

Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1990. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 116-118). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (M.Sc.). / Written for the School of Computer Science. Title from title page of PDF (viewed 2007/08/30). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Sc.). / Title from title page of PDF (viewed 2008/01/30). Written for the School of Computer Science. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Sc.). / Written for the School of Computer Science. Title from title page of PDF (viewed 2008/12/05). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2008. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 141 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 116-123).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Georgia State University, 2008. / Title from file title page. Dominic Parrott, committee chair; Tracie Stewart, Cynthia Hoffner, Heather Kleider, Eric Vanman, committee members. Electronic text (94 p. : ill.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed July 2, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 81-88).

Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Pretoria, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references. Available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.