Meng-Jung Tsai

Gender differences in Taiwan high school students’ computer game playing

Abstract The purpose of this study is to explore gender differences among adolescents who play computer games: key areas of study include hours played, motivation, enjoyment experienced, and the impacts on the students’ lives. The data were obtained from 535 Taiwan high school students. Results indicated that males spent more time playing computer games than did females and also enjoyed it more. Results also indicated that male students are more strongly motivated to play computer games. Gender differences exist in both the frequency and the types of games the subjects played. It is interesting to note that even with significant gender differences, both genders overwhelmingly concluded that playing computer games has helped the quality of their friendships. Finally, results also showed a slight gender difference regarding the predictors of Taiwan high school students’ game playing enjoyments.

Split-attention and redundancy effects on mobile learning in physical environments

This study investigated split-attention and redundancy effects in a mobile learning environment on leaf morphology of plants as a function of different combinations of media. Eighty-one fifth-grade students were randomly assigned to the following three conditions: texts with pictures embedded in the mobile device (TP condition); texts embedded in the mobile device and real objects that are outside of the mobile device (TO condition); and texts with pictures embedded in the mobile device and real objects that are outside of the mobile device (TPO condition). Differences in performance on comprehension tests and learning efficiency were examined across conditions. The TP condition was expected to perform better than the TO condition due to a split-attention effect. The TP and TO conditions were expected to perform better than the TPO condition due to a redundancy effect. The results indicated no difference between the TP and the TO condition in comprehension and learning efficiency, but the TP and TO conditions performed better than the TPO condition on both measures. The implications of the results for research and design of mobile learning environments are discussed.

Eye-hand coordination strategies during active video game playing

All participants used multiple eye-hand strategies while playing digital games.Different active video games induced different latencies and gaze points.Children had different latencies and fixation than adults during game playing.Eye-tracking technology may explore eye-hand coordination in game-based learning. The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the eye-hand coordination patterns while playing two virtual-reality active video games in healthy children and adults. Eleven children (mean age 8.09years) and ten adults participated in the study. Each participant played two digital games, Slap Stream and Kung Foo, from EyeToy Play software. Eye movements were recorded using Mobile Eye eyetracker. Eye-hand coordination strategies and the time when virtual object appeared, the gaze shifted to the object, the reach started, the gaze shifted away, and the reach ended were coded from the video. The latencies between these events were computed and compared between adults and children and between games. The fixation duration, number of fixations, and number of gaze points were also computed for each games areas of interests. Results showed that (1) all participants used multiple eye-hand strategies while playing active video games with some strategies more than others; (2) the Kung Foo game (with one target appearing on the screen) and the Slap Stream game (with potentially multiple targets appearing on the screen) induced different latencies and gaze points between children and adults; and (3) children had longer latencies and shorter fixation durations than adults. The study thus provides in-depth understanding of different patterns of eye-hand coordination in relations to active video game playing. The significant differences in coordinative control strategies found between adults and children as well as between game types provide a basis for further research in both child development and game-based learning fields.

Developing the Computer Programming Self-Efficacy Scale for Computer Literacy Education

Computer programming has been gradually emphasized in recent computer literacy education and regarded as a requirement for all middle school students in some countries. To understand young students’ perceptions about their own learning in computer programming, this study aimed to develop an instrument, Computer Programming Self-Efficacy Scale (CPSES), for all students above middle school levels. Based on Berland and Lee’s computational thinking framework, this study developed the CPSES items at a literacy level and finally the instrument included the five subscales: Logical Thinking, Algorithm, Debug, Control, and Cooperation. An exploratory factor analysis and reliability tests were conducted in this study. The reliability alpha was .96 for the overall scale, and ranged from .84 to .96 for the subscales. This study also confirmed the positive correlation between computer programming experience and computer programming self-efficacy. In addition, for low- and middle-experienced learners, significant gender differences were found in two subscales: Algorithm and Debug. The CPSES can be applied as an evaluation tool in computer education, robotics education, as well as integrated STEM or STEAM education in which computer programming was regarded as a part of computer literacy.