Motivation Theory & Instructional Gaming

Flow state interaction

Csikszentmihalyi (1985)

By Demet Metan

Salen and Zimmerman (Rules of Play)

Frame – time and space

‘Magic circle’: The space where the game takes place. New reality is created byThe rules of the game Its players

Lusory Attitude

The state of mind to enter into the play of a game

Players accept the limitations because of the pleasure a game can afford.

Types of Motivation

Psychologists – Two kinds of motivation

Extrinsic: rewards (money, prestige)Intrinsic: the joy of doing something,

key in understanding the FLOW (example: a hobby)

Motivation and Flow Theory

In Flow, subjects describe their experiences as intrinsically rewarding. Csikszentmihalyi (1985)

Flow- When individuals engage in activities and lose awareness of time and space, they are involved with flow experiences.

Nine dimensions of "the flow"?

Clear goals Unambiguous and immediate feedback Skills that just match challenges Merging of action and awareness Centering of attention on a limited

stimulus field A sense of potential control A loss of self-consciousness An altered sense of time An autotelic experience

Change of Feelings

Csikszentmihalyi’s research on the feelings changed by the skills and challenge

Activities

"too difficult" to organize oneself towards more satisfying activities, instead pursue apathetic activities like watching TV

Games and Difficulty level

Similarly, many games today give the player chance to adjust the level of difficulty of the game for you to stay in the FLOW

Columns and other arcade games allow you to change the difficulty level (wikipedia)

Gaming and Education

The diagram below illustrates the potential for well-designed educational games

Games Play Flow Motivation Learning

Play versus Work

Play is a voluntary activity involving active often physical engagement that is pleasurable for its own sake (Lloyd P. Rieber, 1995)

Play versus Work (Blanchard,1995)

4 Range of Human Activities

Play

A(Playful Work)

External Goal

Not-play

Internal GoalWork Leisure

D(Non-play Leisure)

C(Non-play Work)

B(Playing at Leisure)

Conclusion

Educationists look for ways to use this motivation theory for teaching and learning

Ask themselves how to Make learning stratifying and

rewarding Intrinsically motivate people for

learning

Thanks

Questions and/or

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