| The purpose of this study was to identify motivational elements for an online multiplayer educational computer game. A secondary purpose was to compare high, medium, and low participating group members' participation in the game with respect to the motivational elements. The educational game selected was "Quest Atlantis," a learning and teaching project that uses a 3D multi-user environment to immerse children in educational tasks.; In researching this game, design ethnography with naturalistic interpretations was used as a research method. Semi-structured interviews were the primary method of data collection. A total of twenty interviews were completed with participants playing the educational game. Prolonged observations were conducted where participants played the game in a natural setting. The constant comparison method of grounded theory was used for analyzing interview and observation records.; The qualitative methods used in this study provided additional insights into the previous research on motivation, offering a more complete list of motivational categories than did previous research. Thirteen categories emerged for the kids as the motivational elements to play this game: identity presentation, social relations, playing, learning, achievement, rewards, immersive context, fantasy, uniqueness, creativity, curiosity, control and ownership, and context of support. These categories are interpreted in a way that has experience-local meaning while also having experience-distance significance to others analyzing motivation in other contexts and conditions.; This study replicated the conclusions of previous research on motivation in finding that the constructs of curiosity, control, choice, fantasy, achievement, and rewards motivated learners. It advanced the field in finding that the availability of choice options to learners was more important than previously thought. It further offered the constructs of creativity, identity of learners, social relations, and active learning as important constructs in providing motivation. Most importantly, it integrated many past contributions in the field that were perceived as distinct, such as intrinsic and extrinsic motivators, playing and learning, and achievement and rewards into a coherent framework of motivation. This framework, "Multiple Motivations Framework," advances motivation as distributed among many elements, some of which are intrinsic and extrinsic to the learners, and which treats playing and learning together as a strong motivator. |
