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Serious Games and Edutainment Applications pp 61–84Cite as

Social Flow and Learning in Digital Games:A Conceptual Model and Research Agenda

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Abstract

Flow theory has had a major influence on game scholars’ and designers’ understanding of the psychology of enjoyment of digital games and how that enjoyment might contribute to learning. However, a fuller understanding of how flow is experienced in social play is needed because digital games are increasingly played in groups, because theories of game-based education increasingly prioritize cooperative learning methods and goals, and because there has been surprisingly little study of whether flow contributes to learning. This chapter synthesizes the relevant literature to conceptualize how games might foster flow and cooperative learning through social play. It also proposes a theoretical model and lays out a research agenda that can help guide future studies of social gameflow and learning, and inform the design of educational games and learning contexts.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    While cooperative learning has sometimes been distinguished from collaborative learning, “the two terms … are increasingly interchangeable and synonymous” (Johnson and Johnson, 2008, p. 404) and we treat them as such in this chapter.

  2. 2.

    Some prior research involving games and other activities has measured flow as a unidimensional concept by simply describing the flow state and asking research participants a few questions about whether they experienced it. However, the importance of examining relationships between each dimension of flow and particular formal features and genres (as well as how each dimension might contribute to learning) underscores the importance of measuring flow as a multidimensional concept, as we have proposed here (see also Hoffman and Novak, 2009).

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  • Choi, B., Lee, I., Choi, D., Kim, J.: Collaborate and share: An experimental study of the effects of task and reward interdependencies in online games. Cyberpsychol. Behav. 10(4), 591–595 (2007)

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  1. Communication Department, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA, 95053-0277, USA

    Christine M. Bachen & Chad Raphael

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  1. Christine M. Bachen
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Correspondence to Christine M. Bachen .

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  1. , Digital Design Studio, The Glasgow School of Art, The Hub, Glasgow, G51 1EA, United Kingdom

    Minhua Ma

  2. E514, School of Computing and Mathematics, University of Derby, Kedleston Road, Derby, DE22 1GB, United Kingdom

    Andreas Oikonomou

  3. , School of Electrical and Information, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5095, South Australia, Australia

    Lakhmi C. Jain

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Bachen, C.M., Raphael, C. (2011). Social Flow and Learning in Digital Games:A Conceptual Model and Research Agenda. In: Ma, M., Oikonomou, A., Jain, L. (eds) Serious Games and Edutainment Applications. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-2161-9_5

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