Female Under-Representation in Computing Education and Industry - A Survey of Issues and Interventions <s> D. Educational games as a motivating tool and its implications <s> Book Reviews From Barbie to Mortal Kombat: Gender and Computer Games. Justine Cassell and Henry Jenkins, eds. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1998. 360 pp., 57 illustrations, 26 color. Cloth: $35.00. Boys and girls are different; of this, there is no question. But how does the biological and social construct of gender relate to computer games and, more importantly, to our computer-driven culture? In From Barbie to Moral Kombat: Gender and Computer Games, editors Justine Cassell and Henry Jenkins address this question. The book grew out of a one-day symposium on gender and computer games sponsored by Women's Studies at MIT that was organized to bring together both game industry representatives and academics for the purpose of discussing computer games for girls. However, the discussion went much further, providing a thought-provoking analysis of the limitations and opportunities females face as they are socialized in a world that is both male-dominated and computer-based. As Cassell and Jenkins point out in their introduction to the book, males have tended to control the computer games industry, create games for themselves, and market exclusively to boys. In the words of one games executive. "I have more left handed players than I have female players and I don't make games for left-handed people. Why should I make them for [girls]?" (5). This attitude presents a multiplicity of problems. First, boys have been attracted to computer games more than girls have and thus use them to hone their computer skills. In a world where computer literacy is a requirement in education and for high-status employment, girls could be at a disadvantage. Second, the content of the games frequently undermines girls (a key reason why girls are not drawn to them). Popular games, frequently depicting violent action, often exclude or objectify girls, showing them, if at all, as "damsels in distress" or passive bystanders. These images could erode girls' confidence and sense of empowerment and contribute to a misogynistic attitude among boys. Third, the games industry is resistant to change. Major retailers, such as Toys 'R' Us or Kaybee, will take a game off the shelves in a few weeks if it fails to show an immediate profit, thus giving new products that might be more appealing to girls a chance to catch on. To be sure, not all girls feel marginalized by the computer games industry. Henry Jenkins relates a conversation he overheard in which a schoolgirl expressed her enthusiasm for "Tomb Raider," and other writers speak of the puzzle or exploration games, such as "Tetris," "Myst," and "Donkey Kong Country," which are attractive to girls as well as boys. Nevertheless, as of the 1990s, eighty percent of computer game playing among children aged nine to fifteen was done by boys, who also comprised ninety percent of the readership for games magazines. Further, most of the games readily available failed to address the preferences of the female half of the population. The contributors to From Barbie to Mortal Kombat offer divergent solutions to these problems. … <s> BIB001 </s> Female Under-Representation in Computing Education and Industry - A Survey of Issues and Interventions <s> D. Educational games as a motivating tool and its implications <s> After reviewing the work on gender bias in software design, a model of gender-role influenced achievement choice taken from Eccles [7] is presented. The paper concludes that (1) though laudable, reduction of gender bias in software design is not the most straightforward way to reduce gender inequity in the choice of computing as a career, (2) the model itself makes more clear some of the ethical issues involved in attempting to achieve gender equity on computing, and (3) efforts to reduce gender inequity in the choice of computing as a career need to be evaluated in the light of this model. <s> BIB002 </s> Female Under-Representation in Computing Education and Industry - A Survey of Issues and Interventions <s> D. Educational games as a motivating tool and its implications <s> Research published by University of Rochester neuroscientists C. Shawn Green and Daphne Bavelier has grabbed national attention for suggesting that playing "action" video and computer games has the positive effect of enhancing student's visual selective attention. But that finding is just one small part of a more important message that all parents and educators need to hear: Video games are not the enemy, but the best opportunity we have to engage our kids in real learning. <s> BIB003 </s> Female Under-Representation in Computing Education and Industry - A Survey of Issues and Interventions <s> D. Educational games as a motivating tool and its implications <s> Contents: Preface. Introducing the Problem. Computer Anxiety: A Matter of Gender. The Social Context of Computing. Expectancies and the Computer. A Threat in the Air. Working Toward Solutions. Solutions: Single-Sex Schools and Classrooms? <s> BIB004 </s> Female Under-Representation in Computing Education and Industry - A Survey of Issues and Interventions <s> D. Educational games as a motivating tool and its implications <s> The aim of this study was to assess the learning effectiveness and motivational appeal of a computer game for learning computer memory concepts, which was designed according to the curricular objectives and the subject matter of the Greek high school Computer Science (CS) curriculum, as compared to a similar application, encompassing identical learning objectives and content but lacking the gaming aspect. The study also investigated potential gender differences in the game's learning effectiveness and motivational appeal. The sample was 88 students, who were randomly assigned to two groups, one of which used the gaming application (Group A, N=47) and the other one the non-gaming one (Group B, N=41). A Computer Memory Knowledge Test (CMKT) was used as the pretest and posttest. Students were also observed during the interventions. Furthermore, after the interventions, students' views on the application they had used were elicited through a feedback questionnaire. Data analyses showed that the gaming approach was both more effective in promoting students' knowledge of computer memory concepts and more motivational than the non-gaming approach. Despite boys' greater involvement with, liking of and experience in computer gaming, and their greater initial computer memory knowledge, the learning gains that boys and girls achieved through the use of the game did not differ significantly, and the game was found to be equally motivational for boys and girls. The results suggest that within high school CS, educational computer games can be exploited as effective and motivational learning environments, regardless of students' gender. <s> BIB005
Games have become an integral part of our social and cultural environment and have a particular appeal to both children and adolescents  . Research shows that the intrinsic motivation demonstrated towards games provides the opportunity for their use as a learning tool [54] ,  . This has been combined effectively with academic content to create -Digital Game-Based Learning‖ BIB003 . This has been used extensively in computer science education for both instructional content and skills acquisition aspects of the subject. The use of games in this context is due to the -game cycle‖ effect which should encourage players or learners to return to the gaming environment due to the immersive and engaging experience  . The numbers of females playing entertainment games are on the increase with a good number becoming ardent gamers relative to the males  , [79] . However, this increase has not been replicated with educational games. Some researchers have linked this to the presence of gender stereotypic scripts embedded in educational games  , BIB002 . Empirical studies on the use of games for educational purposes indicate that boys develop greater familiarity, confidence and ability due to the gender stereotypic scripts which tend to present the computer learning environment as a male domain BIB001 , BIB005 . Research indicates that stereotypic scripts found in educational software result in more girls and women suffering from computer anxiety in comparison to men or boys BIB002 . A reaction against this has been the development and use of gender neutral software which explores the reduction or removal of -male type‖ representations from the software design. These -male type‖ representations include software features such as: violence, competition, explosions, war scenes etc. Gender neutral software has been shown to provide girls and women with better opportunities to explore systems and arrive at solutions BIB004 . However, there are arguments about the most appropriate representations of gender neutral elements as the use of non-gendered characters such as cute animals could be considered condescending and unrealistic by both genders  . In contrast to the use of gender-neutral software, genderspecific software is software where different versions are created for boys and girls. Some studies suggest that genderspecific software is often based on gender stereotypes leading to undesirable outcomes for both genders  . A typical example of an undesirable and possibly stereotypic representation includes the exaggeration of feminine features, gender-linked roles and goal oriented learning models which have been identified to reduce self-efficacy and development of competence  . According to  , high self-efficacy is critical in problem solving because it influences the use of cognitive strategies. Considering that computer science educational materials are predominantly software-based, the proliferation of stereotypic scripts and their effects are far reaching to learners of all ages.