Skip to main content

Immersion and Narrative Design in Educational Games Across Cultures

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Serious Games and Edutainment Applications

Abstract

Games have great potential as teaching tools, in part due to their immersive, intrinsically motivating narratives which compel players to deeply engage with their worlds. However, little research has been done into how the culture of the player shapes the design and impact of the narrative, and therefore the design of an educational game so it can most effectively teach to particular cultures. To help resolve this issue, several theories of narratives, education, immersion and cultural issues in games were investigated, in order to find the core aspects and common aspects about what can make educational game narratives culturally relevant and immersive. The outcome of this investigation is the INDEC framework, which demonstrates how to structure an educational game’s design to incorporate cultural issues, in order to identify how engaging a game would be to players across different cultures.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 189.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 249.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 249.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Aylett, R.: Narrative in Virtual Environments - Towards Emergent Narrative. Proceedings of the AAAI Fall Symposium on Narrative Intelligence (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  • Barab, S.A., Gresalfi, M., Ingram-Goble, A.: Transformational play: using games to position person, content and context. Educ. Res. 37(7), 525–536 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bavelier, D., Green, C.S., Seidenberg, M.S.: Cognitive development: gaming your way out of dyslexia? Curr. Biol. 23(7), R282–R283 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Belk, R.: Objectification and Anthropomorphism of the Self: Self as Brand, Self as Avatar. In XVIII ISA World Congress of Sociology Isaconf, 13–19 July (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  • Bizzocchi, J., Ben Lin, M.A., Tanenbaum, J.: Games, narrative and the design of interface. Int. J. Arts Technol. 4:460–479 (2011). Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1504/IJART.2011.043445.

  • Brown, E., Cairns, P.: A Grounded Investigation of Game Immersion. CHI’04 extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems, 24–29 April, pp. 1297–1300 (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, J.S., Collins, A., Duguid, P.: Situated cognition and the culture of learning. Educ. Res. 18(1), 32–42 (1989)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burn, A., Schott, G.: Heavy hero or digital dummy? Multimodal player-avatar relations in final fantasy 7. Vis. Commun. 3(2), 213–233 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burr, V.: Social constructionism. Routledge, London (2015)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Csikszentmihalyi, M.: Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Harper and Row, New York (1990)

    Google Scholar 

  • De Mul, J.: The game of life: narrative and ludic identity formation in computer games. In: Representations of Internarrative Identity, pp. 159–187. Palgrave MacMillan, London (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  • Dickey, M.D.: Game design narrative for learning: Appropriating adventure game design narrative devices and techniques for the design of interactive learning environments. Educ. Technol. Res. Dev. 54(3), 245–263 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dickey, M.D.: Murder on Grimm Isle: the impact of game narrative design in an educational game-based learning environment. Br. J. Educ. Technol. 42(3), 456–469 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duhn, I.: Globalising childhood: assembling the bicultural child in the New Zealand early childhood curriculum, Te Whariki. Int. Crit. Child. Policy Stud. J. 1(1), (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  • English, T., Chen, S., Swann, W.B.: A cross-cultural analysis of self-verification motives. In: Handbook of Motivation and Cognition Across Cultures, pp. 119–142 (2008). doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-373694-9.00006-4

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Fang, T.: Understanding Chinese culture and communication: the Yin Yang approach. Glob. Leadersh. Pract. 171–187 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  • Garris, R., Ahlers, R., Driskell, J.E.: Games, motivation and learning: A research and practice model. Simul. Games. 33(4), 441–467 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall, E.T.: Beyond culture. Anchor-Doubleday, New York (1977)

    Google Scholar 

  • Hargood, C., Millard, D., Weal, M.: Measuring narrative cohesion: A five variables approach. Narrative and Hypertext Workshop at Hypertext 11, Eindhoven (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  • Hazel, P.: Toward a narrative pedagogy for interactive learning environments. Interact. Learn. Environ. 16(3), 199–213 (2008). doi:10.1080/10494820802113947

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hodge, R., Kress, G.R.: Social semiotics. Cornell University Press (1988)

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofstede, G.: Culture’s consequences: International differences in work-related values. Sage, Beverly Hills/London (1980)

    Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins, H.: Game design as narrative architecture. Computer. vol. 44 (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  • Juul, J.: Games Telling stories? - A brief note on games and narratives. Game Studies, 1, pp. 1–12. Available via: http://www.gamestudies.org/0101/juul-gts/ (2001)

  • Kaplan, R.B.: Cultural thought patterns in inter-cultural education. Lang. Learn. 16(1–2), 1–20 (1966)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kickmeier-Rust, M.D., Mattheiss, E., Steiner, C.M., Albert, D.: A psycho-pedagogical framework for multi-adaptive educational games, p. 103. Developments in Current Game-Based Learning Design and Deployment (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  • Kiili, K.: Digital game-based learning: towards an experiential gaming model. Internet High. Educ. 8(1), 13–24 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kirchgessner, M., Ketelhut, D.J.: Video games and learning: teaching and participatory culture in the digital age. Sci. Educ. 96(5), 963–965 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kleinman, A., Lin, T.Y.: Normal and abnormal behavior in Chinese culture, vol. 2. Springer Science & Business Media (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  • Koda, T., Ishida, T., Rehm, M., André, E.: Avatar culture: cross-cultural evaluations of avatar facial expressions. AI & Soc. 24(3), 237–250 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kozulin, A.: Psychological Tools: A Sociocultural Approach to Education. Harvard University Press (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  • Kramsch, C.: Language and culture. Oxford University Press (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  • Lexia Learning.: Lexia: rapid personalised learning. http://www.lexialearning.com/. Accessed 17 Apr (2016)

  • Malone, T.W.: Heuristics for Designing Enjoyable User Interfaces: Lessons from Computer Games. Proceedings of the 1982 conference on Human factors in computing systems (1982)

    Google Scholar 

  • McCusker, K.A., Harkin, J., Wilson, S., Callaghan, M.: Intelligent assessment and content personalisation in adaptive educational systems. In Information Technology Based Higher Education and Training (ITHET), International Conference on IEEE. (pp. 1–7) (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  • Padilla-Zea, N., Gutiérrez, F.L., López-Arcos, J.R., Abad-Arranz, A., Paderewski, P.: Modeling storytelling to be used in educational video games. Comput. Hum. Behav. 31, 461–474 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peirce, N., Conlan, O., Wade, V.: Adaptive educational games: Providing non-invasive personalised learning experiences. Digital Games and Intelligent Toys Based Education, Second IEEE International Conference on (pp. 28–35) (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  • Qin, H., Rau, P.L.P., Salvendy, G.: Measuring player immersion in the computer game narrative. Int. J. Hum. Comput. Interact. 25(2), 107–133 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robin, B.R.: Digital storytelling: a powerful technology tool for the 21st century classroom. Theory Pract. 47(3), 220–228 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salen, K., Zimmerman, E.: Games as narrative play. In: Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals, pp. 420–459. The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  • Salisbury, J.H., Tomlinson, P.: Contextualising Flow in Games (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  • Souza, I., Rios, V., Alves, L.: Games e cultura: Búzios: ecos da liberdade–uma leitura da história da Bahia. VIII Brazilian Symposium on Games and Digital Entertainment, vol. 1, pp. 95–103. SBGames, Rio de Janeiro (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  • Squire, K.: From content to context: videogames as designed experience. Educ. Res. 35(8), 19–29 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vasalou, A., Khaled, R., Gooch, D., Benton, L.: Problematizing cultural appropriation. In: Proceedings of the First ACM SIGCHI Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play, pp. 267–276. ACM, New York (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wachob, P.: The chinese learner: cultural orientations for language learning. Change: Monogra. 1, 22–34 (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wu, Q., Tsang, B., Ming, H.: Social capital, family support, resilience and educational outcomes of Chinese migrant children. Br. J. Soc. Work. 44(3), 636–656 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zemliansky, P.: Design and Implementation of Educational Games: Theoretical and Practical Perspectives. IGI Global (2010)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Vanissa Wanick gratefully acknowledges the grant from Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), Brazil, (number: 9520- 13-9).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to James Baker .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Baker, J., Wanick, V., Asiri, M., Wills, G., Ranchhod, A. (2017). Immersion and Narrative Design in Educational Games Across Cultures. In: Ma, M., Oikonomou, A. (eds) Serious Games and Edutainment Applications . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51645-5_26

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51645-5_26

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-51643-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-51645-5

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics