The purpose of this study was to investigate pupils' and teachers' experiences of using the simulator computer game Minecraft in connection with the Swedish school competition Future City. The study examines how students (ages 14-15) and teachers have experienced the use of Minecraft, what the students have learned in relation to everyday education and the different forms of education during Future City and also examine which patterns that exists in the experiences of the students, with personal interest of and knowledge of Minecraft as a benchmark. The study was conducted through individual semi-structured interviews with both students and teachers. The analysis of the results is based upon a theoretical perspective that includes a socio-cultural view of learning, as well as the lines of reasoning in previous research about computer games and learning. As a general approach towards the study, and in a way, a justification of the chosen research method, a hermeneutic approach was used. ICT and learning as a field of research is not used as a theoretical basis for the analysis, but is presented because the use computer games in education can be considered as use of ICT (computers). The purpose is also to present the frontier in which research about computer gaming and learning originates. Findings indicate that the students' personal interest and knowledge of Minecraft are determining factors concerning how they are experiencing the game in education, as well as what they perceive that they are learning through it. For example, students with high personal interest and knowledge of Minecraft tend to be more focused on the game play and creative activity, while students with low or no interest and prior experiences of the game tend to be excluded from the activity, either voluntarily or by more the experienced students. Both students and teachers think that the benefits with Minecraft in education are mainly motivational in terms of learning, but that the game is poorly adapted for educational purposes.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:lnu-38761 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Dang, Denny |
| Publisher | Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för utbildningsvetenskap (UV) |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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