Presents a case study of the experiences of six girls with the "Phoenix Quest" (PQ) computer game and compares the responses of 41 boys and 57 girls to the same game. PQ was designed to explore language and mathematics in ways appealing to girls. Celebrating and challenging a female protagonist was important to girls. (SLD)

This study surveyed undergraduates (27 men, 83 women) to investigate gender differences in mental rotation. It compared pretesting on the Vandenberg Test of Mental Rotation (VTMR) and posttesting after two sessions of computer games. Men typically scored higher on pretest VTMR. After playing a game requiring mental rotation of figures, women…

Documents current adolescent electronic game-playing habits, exploring associations among preference for violent games, frequency and location of play, and self-concept. Identifies marked gender differences in game-playing habits and in scores on a self-perception profile. Finds that for girls, more time playing video or computer games is…

Examined electronic game-playing habits of 900 children. Found that time commitment to game-playing decreased from fourth to eighth grade. Boys played more than girls. Preference for general entertainment games increased across grades while educational games preference decreased. Violent game popularity remained consistent; fantasy violence was…

Describes a study that evaluated computer games, or components of the games, that would lend themselves for use in an educational setting, particularly with adults. Highlights include game selection criteria; gender differences; motivation; learning styles; game features that were essential and those that were distracting; playing strategies; and…

Based on the view that the level of market penetration of video games combined with the high levels of realism portrayed in these games make it important to investigate the messages video games send children, this report details a study of the 10 top-selling video games for each of 6 game systems available in the United States and for personal…

Investigated the effect of computer programs that require the use of spatial skills on third and fourth graders' spatial ability. Students who used a software program that required rotation of objects scored better than other students on a measure of figural classification, but not on a measure of object rotation. (BC)

Describes a study of elementary school children that examined computer use in the home and at school. Highlights include frequency of activities; playing games on home computers; word processing at school; gender differences; and negative impact of school use of computers and positive impact of home computer use on attitudes toward computers. (LRW)

Games have long been used as instructional tools, but actual research examining that concept has been sparse. Increased sophistication and lower cost in hardware and software for personal computers has created a budding movement to incorporate computer games into learning environments. This paper discusses criteria for selecting an instructional…

Describes a study of middle school students' use of educational software that was conducted to determine whether it was being used as intended. Popular programs used by girls and by boys are described and compared, particularly "Oregon Trail," and use as entertainment instead of education is discussed. (Contains three references.) (LRW)

Investigated the effects of playing violent versus non-violent video games on the interpretation of ambiguous provocation situation. Found that children playing a violent video game responded more negatively to three of six ambiguous provocation story questions than children playing the non-violent video game. Data suggest that playing violent…

A lack of gender-sensitive computer games exacerbates female disinterest in technology. Girls-only focus groups revealed phenomena that may help software developers awaken girls' enthusiasm for computing. For instance, girls placed a premium on richly textured video and audio, on collaborating rather than competing, on interacting with male…

A study examined the incorporation of computer games into English classrooms, seeking to explore computer games as text, players' engagement with them, literacies needed, and the interchangeability of traditional and newer technology. Subjects were students enrolled in a coeducational private middle school or a state secondary school, and used two…

Reports on themes emphasized at the April 1994 Computer Game Developers Conference held in Santa Clara (California), including the exploding CD-ROM marketplace and the potential and challenge of using CD-ROM's multimedia capacity to build cinema-quality stories and characters into computer games. Strategies for introducing more complex plots are…

The paper describes a participant observation study of a 3 week summer art program for Apache middle school students on the White Mountain Reservation. Computer art skills, specifically animation using a menu-driven computer paint program, were the focus of the investigation. Because it was in the context of a summer program, instruction was…