The 60 fifth and sixth grade students took a Pupil�s Attitude Toward Technology survey at the beginning and end of the study. The children were put together in groups with five students in each group. The groups varied in numbers of boys and girls. During the first half of the study the children played a variety of games once a week. During the second half of the study each group designed their own video game using Macromedia Authorware with the help of a programmer.
The study�s authors selected games from the following genre: games designed for girls, adventure games, war games, sports games, puzzle games and simulations. Students rated the games they played each week. Study findings show that both genders liked simulation, puzzle, sports and adventure games. Girls did not like first-person shooter games and boys did not like games that involved a girl at school. Van Eck also reported that �games with the widest appeal among both boys and girls immerse players in exploratory environments that allow for individual control and focus on problem solving.� Even though the game Sim Safari was enjoyed by both groups, however, the girls were more interested in creating comfortable surroundings for the characters while the boys added things like swamps and crocodiles.
When it came to designing games in the second part of the study most groups chose adventure games that �allowed players to explore and environment in the process of solving problems. Boys were more interested in making conflict a central issue. Girls were more interested in avoiding direct conflict. After working with the programmer, all children discovered that designing games in not necessarily about science, it also involves writing, drawing and working together. Girls were more prone to say the designing games can be done by both sexes, but a surprising number of boys still felt that games should be designed by men.
This researcher used games in her 4th grade classroom as a time to practice skills and as reward for good behavior. Both sexes were interested in game play and time was allotted for all to have a chance. My daughter has been playing adventure games such as Freddy Fish and Nancy Drew and simulation games such as Zoo Tycoon since she was quite small. The Technology Facilitator needs to keep current on the research about the �Digital Divide� between boys and girls and do her best to maintain equitable resources in her district.
Van Eck extensive list of references indicates the thorough research that he did before designing his study. His uses hyperlinks throughout the article to allow the reader to learn more about the Pupil�s Attitude Toward Technology survey and the computer games that were utilized in the study. Van Eck started the Advanced Instructional Media Laboratory of the University of Memphis as part of the Instructional Design and Technology for the College of Education's Department of Instruction and Curriculum Leadership and has been conducting studies since 1999.
Van Eck, R. (2006). Using games to promote girls� positive attitudes towards technology. Innovate 2 (3).
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