Examination of Children’ Playing Game Tendencies and Digital Game Preferences Based on Gender

Year 2022, Volume: 7 Issue: 1, 7 - 23, 19.04.2022

Ekrem Bahçekapılı , Merve Yıldız , Erhan Çiftci , Hasan Karal

https://doi.org/10.53506/egitim.1076103

Cited By: 1

Abstract

This study reports on a survey of 4-8th grade students’ (N=10139) playing game tendencies and digital game preferences based on gender. Descriptive statistics were used to determine the children’ playing game tendencies and digital game preferences. And also, frequent pattern mining was used to discover which digital games are played frequently and together by children. The findings showed that children have an increase time spent playing games on weekend and boys tend to playing game more than girls. On the other hand, action games stood out as the most common choice among the children both girls and boys. In terms of game language, Turkish and English games were preferred almost equally. In addition, children mostly preferred digital games that can be played online, offering in-app purchases, and played on mobile devices. According to the frequency of playing, it was found that the children mostly preferred to play Minecraft, followed by Subway Surfers and Hay Day, respectively. In terms of gender, it was concluded that girls mostly preferred Subway Surfers, while boys played Hay Day. When the games were considered according to the frequency of playing together, Temple Run and Subway Surfers games among girls, and FIFA and Piano Tiles games among boys can be played together. The research reveals more detailed information about children’ game preferences in terms of gender.

Keywords

Playing game tendency, Digital game preference, Gender, Children, Frequent pattern mining

References

• And, M. (2003). Oyun ve bügü. Türk kültüründe oyun kavramı [Game and magic. Game concept in Turkish culture]. İstanbul: Yapı Kredi Publ.
• Caillois, R. (1961). Man, play and games. Barash, M. (Trans.). Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
• Colman, A. M. (2016). Game theory and experimental games: The study of strategic interaction. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
• Crawford, C. (1984). The art of computer game design. Retrieved from, http://www.worldcolleges.info/sites/default/files/The_Art_of_Computer_Game_Design_-_Chris_Crawford.pdf
• Çavuş, S., Ayhan, B., & Tuncer, M. (2016). Bilgisayar oyunları ve bağımlılık: Üniversite öğrencileri üzerine bir alan araştırması [Computer games and addiction: A field study on university students]. İletişim Kuram ve Araştırma Dergisi [Journal of Communication Theory and Research], 43, 265-289.
• Çetin, E. (2013). Tanımlar ve temel kavramlar [Definitions and basic concepts]. In M. A. Ocak (Ed.), Eğitsel dijital oyunlar: Kuram, tasarım ve uygulama [Educational digital games: Theory, design and implementation] (pp. 2-18). Ankara: Pegem Akademi.
• de Leeuw, J. R. J., de Bruijn, M., de Weert-van Oene, G. H., & Schrijvers, A. J. (2010). Internet and game behaviour at a secondary school and a newly developed health promotion programme: A prospective study. BMC Public Health, 10(1), 1-8.
• Doğu, B. (2006). Popüler kültürün tüketim aracı olarak bilgisayar oyunlarında sunulan yaşam tarzı [Lifestyle represented in computer games as popular culture's medium of consumption] (Unpublished master’s thesis). Ege University, İzmir.
• Eni, B. (2017). Lise öğrencilerinin dijital oyun bağımlılığı ve algıladıkları ebeveyn tutumlarının değerlendirilmesi [Evaluation of digital game addiction and response of high school students] (Unpublished master’s thesis). Haliç University, İstanbul.
• Griffiths, M. D., & Hunt, N. (1995). Computer game playing in adolescence: Prevalence and demographic indicators. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 5(3), 189-193.
• Han, J., Kamber, M., & Pei, J. (2011). Data mining concepts and techniques (3th ed.). Waltham: Elsevier.
• Harrington, P. (2012). Machine learning in action. New York: Manning Publications.
• Hastings, E. C., Karas, T. L., Winsler, A., Way, E., Madigan, A., & Tyler, S. (2009). Young children's video/computer game use: Relations with school performance and behavior. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 30(10), 638-649.
• Hawi, N. S., Samaha, M., & Griffiths, M. D. (2019). The digital addiction scale for children: Development and validation. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 22(12), 771-778.
• Horzum, M. B. (2011). Examining computer game addiction level of primary school students in terms of different variables. Education and Science, 36(159), 56-68.
• Horzum, M. B., Ayas, T., & Balta, Ö. Ç. (2008). Computer game addiction scale for children. Turkish Psychological Counseling and Guidance Journal, 3(30), 76-88.
• Huizinga, J. (1955). Homo ludens: A study of the play element in culture. Boston: Beacon Press.
• İnal, Y., & Çağıltay, K. (2005, May). İlköğretim öğrencilerinin bilgisayar oyunu oynama alışkanlıkları ve oyun tercihlerini etkileyen faktörler [The computer game playing habits of primary school students and the factors affecting their game preferences]. Eğitimde Yeni Yönelimler II - Eğitimde Oyun Sempozyumu [New Trends in Education II - Game in Education Symposium], Ankara.
• Jia, K. L. (2009, November). Research of word sense disambiguation based on mining association rule. Third International Symposium on Intelligent Information Technology Application Workshops, Nanchang.
• Kabali, H. K., Irigoyen, M. M., Nunez-Davis, R., Budacki, J. G., Mohanty, S. H., Leister, K. P., & Bonner, R. L. (2015). Exposure and use of mobile media devices by young children. Pediatrics, 136(6), 1044-1050.
• Kinzie, M. B., & Joseph, D. R. D. (2008). Gender differences in game activity preferences of middle school children: Implications for educational game design. Educational Technology Research & Development, 56(5), 643-663.
• Kirriemuir, J. (2002). Video gaming, education and digital learning technologies. D-lib Magazine, 8(2).
• Kukul, V. (2013). Oyunla ilgili tarihsel gelişim ve yaklaşımlar [Historical development and approaches about the game]. In M. A. Ocak (Ed), Eğitsel dijital oyunlar: Kuram, tasarım ve uygulama [Educational digital games: Theory, design and implementation] (pp. 20-31). Ankara: Pegem Akademi.
• Lenhart, A., Smith, A., Anderson, M., Duggan, M., & Perrin, A. (2015). Teens, technology and friendships. Retrieved from, https://apo.org.au/node/56457.
• Männikkö, N., Ruotsalainen, H., Demetrovics, Z., Lopez-Fernandez, O., Myllymäki, L., Miettunen, J., & Kääriäinen, M. (2018). Problematic gaming behavior among Finnish junior high school students: Relation to socio-demographics and gaming behavior characteristics. Behavioral Medicine, 44(4), 324-334.
• McMillan, J., & Schumacher, S. (2010). Research in education: Evidence-based ınquiry (7th ed.). London: Pearson Education.
• Murthy, T. S., Gopalan, N. P., & Venkateswarlu, Y. (2018). An efficient method for hiding association rules with additional parameter metrics. International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics, 118(7), 285-290.
• Oflu, A., & Yalçın, S. S. (2019). Video game use among secondary school students and associated factors. Arch Argent Pediatr, 117(6), 584-591.
• Ordonez, C. (2006). Association rule discovery with the train and test approach for heart disease prediction. IEEE Transactions on Information Technology in Biomedicine, 10(2), 334-343.
• Phan, M. H. (2011). Video gaming trends: Violent, action/adventure games are most popular. Usability News, 13(2).
• Phan, M. H., Jardina, J. R., & Hoyle, W. S. (2012). Video games: Males prefer violence while females prefer social. Usability News, 14(1).
• Quaiser-Pohl, C., Geiser, C., & Lehmann, W. (2006). The relationship between computer-game preference, gender, and mental-rotation ability. Personality and Individual Differences, 40(3), 609-619.
• Sezgin, S. (2016, May). Eğitimde oyunlaştırma üzerine sistematik bir bakış [A systematic view on gamification in education]. VIII. International Congress of Educational Research, Çanakkale.
• Sutton-Smith, B. (2004a). Cultivating courage through play. Voices, 30(1/2), 25-28.
• Sutton-Smith, B. (2004b). The ambiguity of play: Rhetorics of fate. In H. Bial and S. Brady (Eds.), The performance studies reader (pp. 132-138). New York: Routledge.
• Taştekin, E. (2019). Ortaokul öğrencilerinin dijital oyun oynama alışkanlıklarının öğrenci ve veli bakış açısından incelenmesi [Review of the secondary school students' digital game playing habits from both students and parents perspectives] (Unpublished master’s thesis). Balıkesir University, Balıkesir.
• Taylan, H. H., Kara, H. Z., & Durğun, A. (2017). A study on computer game habits and game preferences of secondary and high school students. PESA International Journal of Social Studies, 3(1), 78-87.
• Thorne, H. T., Smith, J. J., Morgan, P. J., Babic, M. J., & Lubans, D. R. (2014). Video game genre preference, physical activity and screen-time in adolescent boys from low-income communities. Journal of Adolescence, 37(8), 1345-1352.
• Torun, F., Akçay, A., & Çoklar, A. N. (2015). Analyzing of computer games effects on social life and academic behaviour of the secondary school students. Karaelmas Journal of Educational Sciences, 3(1), 1-11.
• Tüzün, H. (2004). Motivating learners in educational computer games (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Indiana University, Bloomington.
• Uluyol, Ç., Demiralay, R., Şahin, S., & Eryılmaz, S. (2014). The review of gaming preferences and habits of teacher candidates’: Gazi University case. Journal of Instructional Technologies & Teacher Education, 3(2), 1-7.
• Veltri, N., Krasnova, H., Baumann, A., & Kalayamthanam N. (2014, August). Gender differences in online gaming: A literature review. 20th Americas Conference on Information Systems, Savannah.
• Wan, C. S., & Chiou, W. B. (2006). Why are adolescents addicted to online gaming? An interview study in Taiwan. Cyberpsychology & Behavior. 9(6), 762-766.
• Yang, Y. T. C. (2012). Building virtual cities, inspiring intelligent citizens: Digital games for developing students’ problem solving and learning motivation. Computers & Education, 59(2), 365-377.
• Yee, N. (2006). The demographics, motivations and derived experiences of users of massivelymultiuser online graphical environments. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 15(3), 309– 329.
• Yiğit, E. (2017). Çocukların dijital oyun bağımlılığında ailelerin bazı değişkenler açısından incelenmesi [The investigation of families in children's digital game addiction in terms of some variables] (Unpublished master’s thesis). Yüzüncü Yıl University, Van.