Role Player's Perspectives on Learning

David Simkins

Extended Abstract

Role playing games offer an opportunity to fill another person's shoes, to inhabit their world, and to make decisions within their constraints. Role play is an effective tool for therapy (Enright & Fitzgibbons, 2002; Moreno, 2008) and learning (Van Ments, 1999). This study finds that at least some participants seek to explore the game's world through the eyes of their character, and to use that experience to understand alternate world views from their own and those readily available in their community. In this the character becomes a viewpoint into an embodied understanding of other ways of being in the world as well as an outlet for the participant's own imagination, and a productive place for the participant to try out new identities.

This study includes interviews and analysis of audio recorded game play of participants in Live Action Role Playing (LARP) events. The interviews asked why the players play the games they play, what they believe they learned from their game play, and how they see the games they have played affecting their life to date. The interviews were semi-structured (Lindlof & Taylor, 2002) and were thematically coded. This study is part of a larger study of role playing communities currently in its sixth year, and the researcher had the opportunity to use previous examples from the participant's game play as a form of stimulated recall (Marland, 1984) to help prompt deeper and more concrete exploration of the effects of games with the participants during the interviews.

In addition to the already identified significance of role play as a part of identity building as effective participants in groups, leaders, etc. (Fine, 1983; Gee, 2003; Steinkuehler, 2005), the interviews revealed that this population of role players is self-consciously playing with recognized parts of story (theme, characterization, setting, metaphor, etc.) to create a world where one can engage with questions that are relevant and interesting in their own lives. In this exploration, players project themselves into other roles and learn how to act within them. They understand the roles are limited - that by playing a doctor, one is not experiencing all of what it means to be a doctor, but that with good storytelling they approach the experience and share in part of what it means to be have a doctor's knowledge, ability, and concerns.

These experiences within the game are affected by aspects of the game and the organization supporting the game. The explicit rules, the social climate, the story told, the environment, and the method of resolving disagreement within the game space all impacted the game experiences for participants. The results suggest that manipulating these elements may alter the efficacy of a LARP intervention. As these kinds of interventions are used throughout curriculum, and particularly in Social Studies, understanding this dynamic may help us create better immersive learning opportunities.

References

Enright, R. D., & Fitzgibbons, R. P. (2002). Helping clients forgive: An empirical guide for resolving anger and restoring hope. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Fine, G. A. (1983). Shared fantasy: Role playing games as social worlds. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Gee, J. P. (2003). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. New York: Pallgrave Macmillan.
Lindlof, T. R., & Taylor, B. C. (2002). Qualitative communication research methods. London: Sage Publications.
Marland, P. W. (1984). Stimulated recall from video: Its use in research on the thought processes of classroom participants. In O. Zuber-Skerrit (Ed), Video in higher education (pp. 156-165). London. Kogan Page.
Moreno, J. L. (2008), The essential psychodrama. Fox, J. (Ed.). New Paltz, NY: Tusitala Publishing.
Steinkuehler, C. A. (2005). The new third place: Massively multiplayer online gaming in American youth culture. Tidskrift Journal of Research in Teacher Education, 3, 17-32.
Van Ments, M. (1999). The effective use of role-play. London: Kogan Page.