Gaming Activities and Motivation

Games and Motivation -
There are two particular articles that I enjoyed this week.

Gee’s (2004) article:
The author described that gaming is a way of learning, especially the “good games,” which he referred to as challenging and complex, which keeps the player motivated spending hours upon hours on the game. In my opinion, this could be considered a form of “addiction.” Dr. Ruth mentioned that a 12-year old can play video games for hours and yet, cannot sit still in a classroom more than 20 minutes. Why? If you ask the 12 year old, he or she simply replies that the games are fun. Fun? It is most likely that the desire to win is the motivator for these young (and old) game players.

Gee expressed that good games have ways of getting players to enjoy their experience while learning. This reminds me of the popular game Monopoly. It is fun in many ways; yet it actually offers players the chance to learn how to manage their “money” and “invest”; requiring that players have knowledge of monetary and business management skills.

In addition to providing learning opportunities for players, in my view, computer gaming has other positive aspects, such as:

• Stimulating the brain: For instance, Chinese chess and Mahjong are designed to stimulate the player’s thinking. In Asian communities, in many ways the noise of playing Mahjong is a ritual. So many Chinese people spend their time on a small square table, chatting and playing. Some Chinese doctors claim that Mahjong helps people who are diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease by decreasing the speed of deterioration because the game requires the players to have systematic thinking and memorization.

• Relaxing and coping with stress from work or school or even escaping from hectic or boring life for a few hours. Like comic books and graphic novels, gaming activities provide enjoyment (and distraction) and at the same time provide problem-solving skills – how to win the game.

Nicholson et al’s (2007) article:
Gaming activities in a public place can be very unwelcoming or even disturbing, especially at the library. In Nicholson et al’s (2007) pilot study, they found that “libraries are creating controversy by supporting gaming through in-house gaming activities.”

I work at a small private college library in the evenings. Last night there was a fourth grader at the library where I work. She yelled loud (celebratory) and disturbed other library users in the computer area. I realized that she was playing a Web-based game called Motorcycle Racing. Obviously, she was engrossed and stimulated by the animated racing. Unfortunately, next to her were two graduate students who were working on their term papers; disturbed trying to accomplish bona fide research. I had no choice but to ask her to leave the library.

A few years ago, the Johnson County Library system announced that Xbox 360 games would be placed in the meeting rooms at various branches. It instantly created controversy in the community, both with the public and library staff. The controversy was that this common space (the meeting room)was taken away for gaming activities. Considering the limited space of the branch libraries, it certainly was not a popular decision; yet the County Librarian had no intention to revoke the decision. Many negative opinions flew around the community. The new gaming center certainly attracted many "after school kids". Since there is only limit space for the gamers, some kids would occupy the computers to play web-based games while waiting for their turn to play the Xbox. As a result, adult patrons found that they had no computers to use because the waiting kids occupied most computers. Users had to wait at three to four hours to get on a computer, which turned many people away.

As time has passed, it seems that the introduction and implementation of gaming in the public library system has spread to every community. More and more communities have accepted gaming as part of the public library services. According to Nicholson et al’s research, 76% of public libraries promote gaming activities, supporting an acceptance of the introduction of gaming at the public library.

My own gaming experience:
I found an interesting game installed on my home PC. It is a very simple game. It only requires that players match up same patterns of tiles within a certain time. The faster you finish matching the tiles, the higher score you will receive. I found that I could not stop playing once I started (addicted...). This particular game is a brain training game, which requires the player’s attention, focus, memory, and speed.

In this class, we have discussed different motivation models in the past weeks. I can relate some of the theory or model to my own gaming experience, especially the Maslow’s theory of motivation (1943), which is based on human needs such as self-actualization, esteem needs, social needs, safety needs, and physiological needs.

This PC game provides-

Self-esteem: The game provides me a feeling of achievement and self-esteem when I accomplish higher scores.

Safety: I have a moment for myself (distraction), forgetting the troubles in my daily life. I can “hide” behind the keyboard. I feel safe.

Social needs: I can share my gaming activities with my friends who also play the game. I gain “respect” from my friends if I get a higher score than them because I am the "super gamer"!

Self-actualization: I discover “potential” through playing the game – I have a photographic memory.

Gaming activities have become part of library services in the past five years both at public and academic libraries. Nicholson et al’s study pointed out that at least 7 out of 10 public libraries support gaming. In fact, academic librarians have started implementing and developing gaming activities in information literacy class. Honestly, that is something that I had not imagined when I was at library school.

Some interesting related articles:

Clarke, G. et al (2010), Gaming for reading. Australasian Public Libraries and Information Services, 23(4), 161-165.

Harris, Amy & Rice, Scott E. (eds.) (2008).Gaming in Academic Libraries: Collections, Marketing, and Information Literacy. Chicago, IL: American Library Association.

Petkov, Marin& Rogers, George E. (2011). Using gaming to motivate today’s technology-dependent students. Journal of sTEm Teacher Education, 48(1), 7-12.

Yang, Shu-Ching & Huang, Kai-Lin (2011).Analyses of junior high school students’ online gaming experience and its relationship with self-concept, life adaptation and well-being.Journal of Educational Media & Library Sciences, 48(3), 432-442.