ANALYZING VIDEOGAMES TO LEARN HOW TO THINK CRITICALLY

Abstract

The reflections contained in this research work deal with the educational challenge launched by the cultural and social phenomenon of videogames, which have become more than pure forms of entertainment and fun, more and more metaphors of the big game of the reality of life. Many of the earliest scholarly studies emanated from the research laboratories of pedagogical departments were typically concerned with the possible effect of games and young players. For a long time videogames have been forgotten as educative medium because they have been considered as mere trifles – low art – carrying none of the weight, gravitas or credibility of more traditional media. The seemingly bewildering variety of game types makes it almost inevitable that game theorists, journalists and marketers have attempted to find ways of classifying and making more manageable the object of their attentions. By far the most frequently used tool has been genre. The generic classification of videogames is so widely employed that it is often easy to overlook it altogether or merely consider it as natural. One of the possible forms of videogame education is that of promoting its understanding and educative usage. The present work, starting from the construction of an evaluation grid, aims at analyzing videogame products in order to learn how to think critically. From an educational point of view, the data presented are meant to be functional tools to stimulate thinking activity and to activate appropriate mental processes in children. The research dealt with the analysis of 50 video games designed for children aged 3 to 10 years of age.