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Measuring Game Engagement

Author

Listed:
  • Rosa Mikeal Martey
  • Kate Kenski
  • James Folkestad
  • Laurie Feldman
  • Elana Gordis
  • Adrienne Shaw
  • Jennifer Stromer-Galley
  • Ben Clegg
  • Hui Zhang
  • Nissim Kaufman
  • Ari N. Rabkin
  • Samira Shaikh
  • Tomek Strzalkowski

Abstract

Background . Engagement has been identified as a crucial component of learning in games research. However, the conceptualization and operationalization of engagement vary widely in the literature. Many valuable approaches illuminate ways in which presence , flow , arousal , participation , and other concepts constitute or contribute to engagement. However, few studies examine multiple conceptualizations of engagement in the same project. Method . This article discusses the results of two experiments that measure engagement in five different ways: survey self-report , content analyses of player videos, electro-dermal activity, mouse movements, and game click logs. We examine the relationships among these measures and assess how they are affected by the technical characteristics of a 30-minute, custom-built, educational game: use of a customized character , level of narrative complexity , and level of art complexity . Results . We found that the five measures of engagement correlated in limited ways, and that they revealed substantially different relationships with game characteristics. We conclude that engagement as a construct is more complex than is captured in any of these measures individually and that using multiple methods to assess engagement can illuminate aspects of engagement not detectable by a single method of measurement.

Suggested Citation

  • Rosa Mikeal Martey & Kate Kenski & James Folkestad & Laurie Feldman & Elana Gordis & Adrienne Shaw & Jennifer Stromer-Galley & Ben Clegg & Hui Zhang & Nissim Kaufman & Ari N. Rabkin & Samira Shaikh & , 2014. "Measuring Game Engagement," Simulation & Gaming, , vol. 45(4-5), pages 528-547, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:simgam:v:45:y:2014:i:4-5:p:528-547
    DOI: 10.1177/1046878114553575
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