Disengagement from school represents the beginning stages of the general process which can end with dropout (Archambault et al., 2022; Henry et al., 2012). Disengagement, amplified by the recent impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, continues to impact the education of students in the United States, which if not addressed, can begin a cycle which may…

This narrative self-study explores an elementary school teacher's curriculum-making during a critical incident in their career (March 2020-May 2020 and August 2020-December 2020) teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using narrative inquiry and memory-work, I consider the tensions within curricular forces and identity and the ways in which my…

Research into children's screen time has primarily focused on the quantity of screen exposure. The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent, if any, there was an association between young children's media screen time and the quality of joint media engagement between parent, child, and media in the home. The problem addressed was that…

Research in digital game-based language learning (DGBLL) has shown support for the use of games to develop linguistic knowledge and social skills in the second language (L2) classroom (Cornillie et al., 2012c; Reinhardt, 2019; Sykes & Reinhardt, 2013). Digital games often align with the definition of tasks, but not many have been intentionally…

Digital educational games have been a part of the educational landscape since the early 1970s. Since then, there has been a proliferation in the quantity, format, type, and quality of digital educational games available to classroom teachers. Despite this, the body of literature surrounding the effectiveness of these digital educational games…

Esports has been adopted by high schools across the country and around the world as a school-based opportunity for students to engage in competitive video gaming. Growth of esports in secondary schools has been informed independently by student and industry interests, leaving school administrators little understanding surrounding the motives and…

In the age of computing, we rely on software to manage our days, from the moment we wake up until we go to sleep. Software predicts the future based on actualized data from the past. It produces procedures instead of experiences and solutions instead of care. Software systems tend to perpetuate a normalized state of equilibrium. Their application…

The playground is a space where play is encouraged and happens most freely. Online communities can be imagined as playgrounds. In addition to face-to-face playgrounds, these "online playgrounds" mediate the embodied experience, but in a different way. In the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), to better understand play, I shift…

This study explored parental and teacher perceptions of excessive technology and screen time and elementary students' academic performance, attention, addictive behaviors, behavior problems, and social interactions. This study's purpose was to gather teacher and parental input to understand the perceptions of how excessive technology and screen…

Objective: The rapid advancement in screen-based technology enables teenagers today to devote significant amounts of time to occupational engagement in the virtual context. Societal concerns regarding adolescent screen time have been well-substantiated by numerous studies that have revealed an inverse relationship between adolescent screen time…

This dissertation is a phenomenological study exploring the lived experiences of industry video game writers. The findings of the study highlight the areas of competence necessary for game writing in the workplace, including writing and storytelling, communication and collaboration, understanding systems and dynamics, tool proficiency, and…

Slow vocabulary development and poor comprehension among English Language learners (ELLs) (August, Carlo, & Snow, 2005) have resulted in an academic achievement gap between ELLs and native English-speaking learners in the United States (Klingner, Artiles, & Barletta, 2006; Wilde, 2010). This mixed-methods sequential explanatory research…

Video games are a growing multi-billion dollar industry. Pew Internet & American Life Project (2008) reported that 97 percent of teens ages 12 to 17 years play computer, web, portable, or console games. Of the various genres that were reported, 36 percent of teens played role playing games and 21 percent played massively multiplayer online…

Given society's increasingly technology centric play and workplace environment, Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOs) can be an excellent sandbox to develop future leaders of teams, which are the lifeblood of any organization. MMOs like World of WarCraft provide rich immersive experiences that allow leaders and followers the ability to create…

Assessing people's understanding of the causal relationships found in large-scale complex systems may be necessary for addressing many critical social concerns, such as environmental sustainability. Existing methods for assessing systems thinking and causal understanding frequently use the technique of cognitive causal mapping. However, the…