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International Conference on Quantitative Ethnography

ICQE 2019: Advances in Quantitative Ethnography pp 3–13Cite as

Examining Identity Exploration in a Video Game Participatory Culture

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Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 1112))

Abstract

To adapt to the needs of a 21st century context, educational researchers and practitioners could benefit from leveraging the potential of virtual learning environments such as games and the participatory cultures that surround them to support learning as a transformational and intentional process of identity exploration. This research offers a theoretically-comprehensive look into how a participant in an online game community forum engaged in identity exploration processes. Publicly-available longitudinal data was downloaded from Kerbal Space Program (KSP) players, which informed the development of an illustrative case study selected to elucidate how individual processes of identity exploration manifest. Lines of player data were deductively coded as representative of identity exploration and visualized using Epistemic Network Analysis to represent shifts in integration of identity constructs over time. Findings suggest that player participation in the community forum can support statistically significant identity change and highlight future areas of research in this field.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

    Amanda Barany & Aroutis Foster

Authors
  1. Amanda Barany
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  2. Aroutis Foster
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Amanda Barany .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Brendan Eagan

  2. University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Morten Misfeldt

  3. University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Amanda Siebert-Evenstone

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Barany, A., Foster, A. (2019). Examining Identity Exploration in a Video Game Participatory Culture. In: Eagan, B., Misfeldt, M., Siebert-Evenstone, A. (eds) Advances in Quantitative Ethnography. ICQE 2019. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1112. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33232-7_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33232-7_1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-33231-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-33232-7

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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