Digital Game Based Learning in the institutional-academic study of history: theory and practice of learning modality of video game cybertexts

Abstract

Introduction. The universal and state importance of history is dissonant with the inertial methods of its institutional and academic study, which are often inadequate to modern media culture. This requires updating educational historical practices, integrating popular media texts that can increase interest in historical knowledge and offer new rhetorical modalities. The purpose of the article is a comprehensive, comparative-oriented analytics of the use of Digital Game Based Learning in history education. Materials and Methods. Theoretically and methodologically, the work draws on the concepts of "procedural rhetoric", "cybertext," and "rhetoric of simulations," as well as the method of narrative research of cultural artifacts, comparative analysis, and classification approach. The practical part utilizes the methodological principles of Digital Game Based Learning strategy formulated by M. Prensky, the qualitative-case study approach of R. Stacke and the media-phenomenological educational principle of S. Freitas. Freitas. A set of quantitative and qualitative methods are also applied to investigate the level of motivation in learning and to compare academic performance. Results. The conducted research revealed that within the framework of DGBL practices video games, their narrative and gameplay content, represent a special interactive cybertext that transmits new knowledge and procedurally forms multiple competencies. According to the type of realization of historical information in video games, they are divided into three main types: conceptual, narrative and aesthetic. The dynamics of the obtained results indicate that the use of DGBL methodology increased on average by 36% the degree of interest in the study of history. The vast majority of students (83-86%) found history classes using the DGBL methodology useful for them. At the same time, a rather high (about 50%) degree of distrust in using the DGBL method was found among teachers and parents of students. Conclusion. Based on the results of the study, it was determined that video games can be legitimized as educational cybertexts with innovative mediarrhythmic tools. Our experiment demonstrated that the use of narratively relevant video games in the system of institutional-academic study of history markedly increases students' motivation and allows them to better understand and explore the essence of historical development as a multifactorial and multimodal process. However, taking into account the identified difficulties and problems in the implementation of DGBL, it is concluded that this method should be extended, first of all, to optional educational practices and the sphere of independent work of students. At the same time, in order to achieve a positive educational effect, it is important that familiarization with a particular video game should have additional educational and methodological support.