Playing in the digital sandbox: An exploration of social play ...

Playing in the digital sandbox: An exploration of social play behaviours in Minecraft

Katherine Pauls A Thesis In

The Department Of

Education Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts (Child Studies) at

Concordia University Montreal, Quebec, Canada

? Katherine Pauls, July 31, 2017

CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY

School of Graduate Studies

This is to certify that the thesis prepared

By:

Katherine Pauls

Entitled: Play in the Digital Sandbox: An Exploration of Social Play Behaviours in

Minecraft

and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Master of Arts (Child Studies)

complies with the regulations of the University and meets the accepted standards with respect to

originality and quality.

Signed by the final Examining Committee:

_____________________________________ Chair

Dr. Holly Recchia

_____________________________________ Examiner

Dr. Nina Howe

_____________________________________ Examiner

Dr. Harriet Petrakos

_____________________________________ Supervisor

Dr. Sandra Chang-Kredl

Approved by _______________________________________________

Dr. Saul Carliner Interim Chair of Department

______________ 2017

______________________________________________________

Andr? Roy Dean of Faculty

Abstract This qualitative study looks at children's social play behaviours during online Minecraft play, focusing on the research questions: 1. What types of social behaviours are taking place in digital play? 2. Do social play behaviours look different in digital play than in Parten's (1932) foundational study? Through observation of four online play sessions of five participants, ages 710, and follow-up interviews, a rich description of social play behaviours was recorded and six play episodes were selected for further analysis. The researcher began by addressing how nonplay behaviours can still be categorized as play in a virtual world. By using Parten's social play theories as a framework for interpreting what was observed, the researcher was able to give examples of all six social play categories outlined by Parten (1932): non-play, onlooker, solitary, parallel, associative and cooperative. Four thematic findings emerged: the importance of communication in a virtual world, rapid transitions during play, YouTube's influence on onlooker play and the cognitive potential of solitary play. The researcher concluded that with minor adjustments, Parten's classic categories can be applied to this example of online Minecraft play. This study adds to the small pool of research on social play behaviours during online play and has implications for teachers, parents and video game designers.

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Acknowledgments I would like to thank Dr. Sandra Chang-Kredl for all her care and support throughout this project. I know without a doubt that I could not have completed this thesis without your support. There are no words to express the gratitude I feel for all the edits, emails and cups of coffee you shared with me. Your generosity with your time and wisdom has not gone unnoticed. Thank you. I would also like to thank my committee members, Dr. Nina Howe and Dr. Harriet Petrakos, for the time and encouragement as I journeyed through this project. Thank you for being flexible and willing to take time out of busy schedules to walk alongside me. Thank you to the parents of the participants in this study. Thank you for allowing your children to play Minecraft on the study server. Thank you, participants, for being willing to play and for helping bring this project to life. Lastly, I would like to thank my family. Thank you, Nathan, for the love and compassion you have shown over the last two years. I could not have accomplished this without your support and willingness to step in and fill the gaps I was leaving at home. I look forward to playing video games with you again! And to `Owen', the inspiration for my project, thank you for always showing interest in what I was doing, whether it was homework or coding. I love playing games with you and I look forward to not having to tell you I'm too busy to play when you ask.

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Table of contents

LIST OF FIGURES LIST OF TABLES INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1 ? LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction to Minecraft Children's digital play and Minecraft

Minecraft studies Minecraft in the community and classroom Transmedia game play Maker culture and Minecraft Family and contextual factors Parental influence on gaming Joint media-engagement Understanding children's social and cognitive play Parten's social play categories Parten re-visited Cognitive play Smilansky-Parten Matrix Present Study CHAPTER 2 ? METHODS Recruitment Observation Method Interview Data collection and Analysis Ethics Participants

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p. 3 p. 5 p. 7 p. 8 p. 10 p. 10 p. 11 p. 11 p. 12 p. 14 p. 14 p. 16 p. 17 p. 18 p. 19

p. 21 p. 22 p. 23 p. 24 p. 26 p. 27

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