Defining perplexity and reflective thinking in a game-based learning environment
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/ILS-10-2022-0112 |
| Published date | 31 March 2023 |
| Date | 31 March 2023 |
| Pages | 110-127 |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Librarianship/library management,Library & information services |
| Author | Ekta Shokeen,David Weintrop,Anthony James Pellicone,Peter Francis Moon,Diane Ketelhut,Michel Cukier,Jandelyn Dawn Plane |
Defining perplexity and reflective
thinking in a game-based
learning environment
Ekta Shokeen,David Weintrop,Anthony James Pellicone,
Peter Francis Moon,Diane Ketelhut,Michel Cukier and
Jandelyn Dawn Plane
(Author affiliations can be found at the end of the article)
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to understandthe role of perplexity in young players’experiences
within an educational videogame and how reflective thinking can help them to get out of perplexing
scenarios.
Design/methodology/approach –We used a constructivistgrounded theory approach and the lenses of
Dewey’s conceptualization of perplexity and reflective thinking to examine young players’in-game
experiences.
Findings –We find that perplexity in gameplay is an experience that occurs when players encounter
uncertainty about where to go or what to do next in the game. Findings reveal that while playing an
educational game players engaged in two forms of perplexity –exploration-based and puzzle-based.
Additionally, we unpack how players overcomethese perplexing scenarios by reflecting on the information
providedin thegame.
Research limitations/implications –While in a state of perplexity, reflecting on the in-game
information aids playersto think and make meaning, thus supporting learning.We provide suggestions for
how to better utilize perplexityas an in-game design mechanism to encourage young players to reflect on in-
game information.
Originality/value –This empirical study is original in its context of studying the phenomenon of
perplexityin videogames and young players’in-game reflection experiences.
Keywords Perplexity, Reflection, Reflective thinking, Learning, Videogame
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Research on game-based learning (GBL) finds that navigating in-game environments
enhances students’problem solving, reasoning, decision making and computational
thinking abilities (Adachiand Willoughby, 2013;Gee, 2003;Zhao and Shute, 2019). Learning
is inherently situated in gameplay experience (Shute and Wang, 2015;Williams-Pierce,
2019), and students learn by responding to their failures within in-game challenges (Juul,
2013;Slov
ak et al.,2017;Cox et al., 2012;Nordin et al.,2014;Koster, 2013). Further, in-game
challenges motivate students to find solutions (Adachi and Willoughby, 2017;Hamlen,
2018). Recent research indicates that attending to players’in-game reflection can improve
learning opportunities for players (Iacovides and Cox, 2015;Khaled, 2018;Mekler et al.,
2018). It is well known that due to a lack of knowing what to do next in the game, students
The authors acknowledge the funding support of the [Anonymized]. Also, The authors thank the
students who participated in this study for sharing their experiences with us.
ILS
124,3/4
110
Received11 October 2022
Revised3 February 2023
Accepted1 March 2023
Informationand Learning
Sciences
Vol.124 No. 3/4, 2023
pp. 110-127
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2398-5348
DOI 10.1108/ILS-10-2022-0112
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/2398-5348.htm
experience “pleasant frustration”while playing games (Gee, 2003). However, sometimes
students experience unproductive frustration while solving in-game challenges (Odgers
et al.,2020;Shokeen et al., 2021). Currently, little is known about why some in-game
challenges bring productive frustration while others bring unproductive frustrations. It is
unclear what game elements make players productively reflect during gameplayand what
game elements do notpromote this type of productive reflection. Therefore,there is a need to
further examine students’in-game interactions to improve their learning opportunities
within games. It is this gap in the literature that we seek to fill by examining students’
experiences of in-game perplexity and reflective thinking experiences. Specifically, this
work pursues the followingresearch questions:
RQ1. What forms does perplexitytake for youth in a videogame-based context?
RQ2. What does it look likefor learners to employ reflective thinking to resolve in-game
perplexity?
To answer these questions, we used a constructivist grounded theory approach to analyze
17 middle-school students’experiences playing an educational game called HEX of the
Turtle Islands (hereafter referred to as HEX). We focus on understanding middle school
students’gameplay experiences as this is a critical age for cognitive development (Ellis,
2014;Hazar and Hazar, 2018). To develop the construct of perplexity within the GBL, we
utilized Dewey’s lenses of perplexity and reflective thinking (Dewey, 1933). We related in-
game challenges, a state of pleasant frustration in-game, to perplexity and reflectivethinking
as a way to get out of the perplexing scenarioin videogames. Our findings indicate what the
construct of perplexity looks like withingameplay and how a systematic reflective thinking
cycle can be used as an analytical lens for understanding how players resolve perplexing
experiences withingameplay.
This work presents a promising avenue of research for educators and designers by
discussing how perplexitycan be situated within a game to encourage students to reflecton
the ideas presented in the game. Thus, this work contributes to GBL in two ways. First,it
provides implications on how perplexity-inducing experiences can be designed within a
videogame. Second, it suggests how designers, researchers and educators can scaffold
students’reflective thinking processes by identifying where and how they might be
struggling in the perplexing scenarios within games. These findings show how well-
designed perplexity-inducing experiences within a videogame allow players to employ the
process of reflectivethinking and, as a result, serve as generative learning experiences.
Literature review
First, we review the GBL literature relatedto in-game challenges and theoretical framing of
perplexity and reflection for this study.Second, we review how the concept of reflection has
been used in prior gaming research and provide an updated version of reflective thinking
used in this study.
In-game challenges in game-based learning
Games are built on adaptive levelsof challenge for players that require them to think, which
makes them a powerful learning tool (Gee, 2003;Squire, 2006). Failure in games is
considered an opportunity for players to learn from their mistakes using continuous
feedback provided to them on their failures (Juul, 2013;Williams-Pierce, 2019;Zhao and
Shute, 2019). A wide variety of game genres provide in-game challenges in the form of
puzzles for players (Shuteand Wang, 2015;Scozzi et al.,2017;deFreitas, 2018). Puzzles often
Defining
perplexity and
reflective
thinking
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