Problem-solving for STEM learning: navigating games as narrativized problem spaces for 21^st century competencies

Area of Science:

• Educational Technology
• Learning Sciences
• Game-Based Learning

Background:

• The 21st century workplace demands specific competencies, often misaligned with traditional classroom learning.
• Complex problem-solving is a critical skill identified across numerous studies, especially in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).
• Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) present unique environments for skill acquisition.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how World of Warcraft (WoW) supports problem-solving skill development in Singaporean youth.
• To examine the interplay of learning and identity formation within digital game environments.
• To propose a new model for understanding situated and embodied problem-solving.

Main Methods:

• Ethnographic investigation of a single youth gamer within the World of Warcraft (WoW) affinity space.
• Analysis focused on learning and identity becoming within the game's context.
• Exploration of problem-solving through a triadic-D model (domain, disquisitional, discursive).

Main Results:

• Problem-solving in WoW is characterized by a triadic-D model: domain, disquisitional, and discursive practices.
• These practices operate within self, social, and structural dialectics.
• Identity becoming is intrinsically linked to the problem-solving trajectory within the game.

Conclusions:

• Problem-solving in digital game spaces like WoW is a situated and embodied process.
• This research broadens the understanding of problem-solving and identity formation in STEM learning.
• MMORPGs offer valuable contexts for developing 21st-century competencies.