Graphics, Imaging, and Games Lab

In this study, we are investigating the role of story in promoting girls’ engagement with and learning from games that aim to foster understanding of computer science concepts. Story is commonly cited as an element of games that might have particular appeal for girls (Kelleher, Pausch, & Kiesler, 2007). While we are skeptical of broad generalizations about girls’ or boys’ preferences for particular game features, we believe that stories have affordances for engagement and learning that might help to overcome, for example, stereotypes or misconceptions about domains such as computer science. Here we describe the initial stages of our research, including an analysis of the role of story in existing STEM games and the set of analog game prototypes that we have created to introduce several core concepts of computer science.