Online gaming is becoming increasingly social and interconnected. Millions of players learn from each other in game-related communities on platforms like Reddit and Twitch.tv. However, few studies have been conducted to examine socially constructed learning in such environments. The purpose of this study was to explore learning in game-related communities using the Game Community of Inquiry Scale (GCoIS). GCoIS is a validated instrument inspired by the community of inquiry framework and developed for measuring constructed learning in these outlets. Over 1000 participants completed an online questionnaire that included the GCoIS and additional variables (e.g. demographics, gaming habits, and gaming metacognition) for measuring possible associations. Results pointed to gender, age, online participation, and metacognition about gaming as significant predictors of GCoIS. Findings suggest that gaming communities can serve as opportunities for meaningful learning when novice members are welcomed and assisted by experts and support is given to older and female gamers.
AdinolfSTurkayS (2018) Toxic behaviors in Esports games: player perceptions and coping strategies. In: Proceedings of the 2018 annual symposium on computer-human interaction in play companion extended abstracts (eds MuellerF, et al.), Melbourne, VIC, Australia, 28–31 October, pp. 365–372. New York: ACM.
2.
AndersonTRourkeLGarrisonDR, et al. (2001) Assessing teaching presence in a computer conferencing context. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks5(2): 1–17.
3.
ApperleyTParikkaJ (2018) Platform studies’ epistemic threshold. Games and Culture13(4): 349–369.
4.
ArbaughJBCleveland-InnesMDiazSR, et al. (2008) Developing a community of inquiry instrument: testing a measure of the community of inquiry framework using a multi-institutional sample. The Internet and Higher Education11(3–4): 133–136.
5.
BowmanNDWeberRTamboriniR, et al. (2013) Facilitating game play: how others affect performance at and enjoyment of video games. Media Psychology16(1): 39–64.
6.
ChessSShawA (2015) A conspiracy of fishes, or, how we learned to stop worrying about #gamergate and embrace hegemonic masculinity. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media59(1): 208–220.
7.
ConsalvoM (2012) Confronting toxic gamer culture: a challenge for feminist game studies scholars. Ada: A Journal of Gender, New Media, and Technology1(1). Available at: https://adanewmedia.org/2012/11/issue1-consalvo/
8.
CoteAC (2017) “I can defend myself”: women’s strategies for coping with harassment while gaming online. Games and Culture12(2): 136–155.
9.
DeLisiMVaughnMGGentileDA, et al. (2013) Violent video games, delinquency, and youth violence. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice11(2): 132–142.
10.
DiwanjiVReedAFerchaudA, et al. (2019) Don’t just watch, join in: exploring information behavior and copresence on Twitch. Computers in Human Behavior105: 106221.
11.
DouglasM (2013) Essays on the Sociology of Perception. New York: Routledge.
12.
Egenfeldt-NielsenSSmithJHToscaSP (2019) Understanding Video Games: The Essential Introduction. New York: Routledge.
13.
FoxJTangWY (2017) Women’s experiences with harassment in online video games: rumination, organizational responsiveness, withdrawal, and coping strategies. New Media & Society19(8): 1290–1307.
14.
FoxJGilbertMTangWT (2018) Player experiences in a massively multiplayer online game: a diary study of performance, motivation, and social interaction. New Media & Society20(11): 4056–4073.
15.
GandolfiE (2016) To watch or to play, it is in the game: the game culture on Twitch. tv among performers, plays and audiences. Journal of Gaming & Virtual Worlds8(1): 63–82.
16.
GandolfiE (2018) Enjoying death among gamers, viewers, and users: a network visualization of Dark Souls 3’s trends on Twitch.tv and Steam platforms. Information Visualization17(3): 218–238.
17.
GarrisonDRArbaughJB (2007) Researching the community of inquiry framework: review, issues, and future directions. The Internet and Higher Education10(3): 157–172.
18.
GarrisonDRAndersonTArcherW (2001) Critical thinking, cognitive presence, and computer conferencing in distance education. American Journal of Distance Education15(1): 7–23.
19.
GongXZhangKZCheungCM, et al. (2019) Alone or together? Exploring the role of desire for online group gaming in players’ social game addiction. Information & Management56(6): 103139.
20.
HalversonER (2012) Participatory media spaces: a design perspective on learning with media and technology in the twenty-first century. In: SteinkuehlerCSquireKBarabS (eds) Games, Learning, and Society: Learning and Meaning in the Digital Age. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 244–270.
21.
HarasimL (2012) Learning Theory and Online Technologies. New York: Routledge.
22.
HauYSKimYG (2011) Why would online gamers share their innovation-conducive knowledge in the online game user community? Integrating individual motivations and social capital perspectives. Computers in Human Behavior27(2): 956–970.
23.
HaydayEJCollisonHKoheGZ (2020) Landscapes of tension, tribalism and toxicity: configuring a spatial politics of esport communities. Leisure Studies40(2): 139–153.
24.
HinkleDEWiersmaWJursS (2009) Applied Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences. International 5th ed.Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
25.
HomerBDHaywardEOFryeJ, et al. (2012) Gender and player characteristics in video game play of preadolescents. Computers in Human Behavior28(5): 1782–1789.
26.
HuMZhangMWanY (2017) Why do audiences choose to keep watching on live video streaming platforms? An explanation of dual identification framework. Computers in Human Behavior75: 594–606.
27.
JiaALShenSEpemaDH, et al. (2016) When game becomes life: the creators and spectators of online game replays and live streaming. ACM Transactions on Multimedia Computing, Communications, and Applications (TOMM)12(4): 47.
28.
JungCW (2020a) Role of gamers’ communicative ecology on game community involvement and self-identification of gamer. Computers in Human Behavior104: 106–164.
29.
JungCW (2020b) The role of game genres and gamers’ communication networks in perceived learning. Palgrave Communications6: 69.
30.
KolbDA (1984) Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
31.
KozanKCaskurluS (2018) On the Nth presence for the Community of Inquiry framework. Computers & Education122: 104–118.
MurnionSBuchananWJSmalesA, et al. (2018) Machine learning and semantic analysis of in-game chat for cyberbullying. Computers & Security76: 197–213.
34.
NakandalaSCiampagliaGLSuNM, et al. (2017) Gendered conversation in a social game-streaming platform. In: Proceedings of the international conference on web and social media: ICWSM’17 (ICWSM’17), Montréal, QC, Canada, 15–18 May, pp. 162–171. Palo Alto, CA: AAAI Press.
O’RiordanSFellerJNagleT (2016) A categorisation framework for a feature-level analysis of social network sites. Journal of Decision Systems25(3): 244–262.
37.
PayneKKeithMJSchuetzlerRM, et al. (2017) Examining the learning effects of live streaming video game instruction over Twitch. Computers in Human Behavior77: 95–109.
38.
PrzybylskiAKWeinsteinN (2019) Violent video game engagement is not associated with adolescents’ aggressive behaviour: evidence from a registered report. Royal Society Open Science6(2): 171474.
39.
RainieHAndersonJQAlbrightJ (2017) The Future of Free Speech, Trolls, Anonymity and Fake News Online. Washington, DC: Pew Research Center.
40.
ReitmanJGAnderson-CotoMJWuM, et al. (2020) Esports research: a literature review. Games and Culture15(1): 32–50.
41.
RourkeLAndersonTGarrisonDR, et al. (2001) Assessing social presence in asynchronous text-based computer conferencing. Journal of Distance Education14(2): 50–71.
42.
SaldanaJ (2016) The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers. 3rd ed.London: SAGE.
43.
ShenCSunQKimT, et al. (2020) Viral vitriol: predictors and contagion of online toxicity in World of Tanks. Computers in Human Behavior108: 106343.
44.
SherrickBHoeweJ (2018) The effect of explicit online comment moderation on three spiral of silence outcomes. New Media & Society20(2): 453–474.
45.
ShiJRenwickRTurnerNE, et al. (2019) Understanding the lives of problem gamers: the meaning, purpose, and influences of video gaming. Computers in Human Behavior97: 291–303.
46.
SirolaASavelaNSavolainenI, et al. (2021) The role of virtual communities in gambling and gaming behaviors: a systematic review. Journal of Gambling Studies37: 165–187.
47.
SkousenTSafadiHYoungC, et al. (2020) Successful moderation in online patient communities: inductive case study. Journal of Medical Internet Research22(3): e15983.
48.
SoyturkIGandolfiEFerdigRE (2020) Development of a Game Communities of Inquiry Scale (GCoIS). International Journal of Gaming and Computer-Mediated Simulations (IJGCMS)12(3): 1–22.
49.
SpadaMCaselliG (2017) The metacognitions about online gaming scale: development and psychometric properties. Addictive Behaviors64: 281–286.
50.
SquireK (2010) From information to experience: place-based augmented reality games as a model for learning in a globally networked society. Teachers College Record112(10): 2565–2602.
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
