اثرات انگیزش درونی و بیرونی همسالان در گروه بازی آنلاین چند نفره مبتنی بر یادگیری مشارکتی

We combined Massively Multiplayer Online Game and technology-based collaborative learning methods to examine peer motivational factors influencing intention to learn; these have seldom been jointly examined. We proposed two new constructs, peer intrinsic motivation and peer extrinsic motivation, and investigated their effect on a player's intention to learn individually and collaboratively. Our survey and interview findings showed that an individual player's peer intrinsic and extrinsic motivations had significantly positive influence on his or her intention to learn collaboratively and individually. Implications for academics, educators, game developers, and players are discussed

Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG) and technology-based collaborative learning have been separate streams of research; we decided to examine how they jointly affected peer motivational factors influencing intention to learn. As a hedonic IS, MMOG is a unique type of electronic game: “MMOGs are highly graphical 2- or 3-D videogames played online, allowing individuals, through their self-created digital characters or ‘avatars,’ to interact not only with the gaming software (the designed environment of the game and the computer-controlled characters within it) but with other players’ avatars as well. These virtual worlds are persistent social and material worlds, loosely structured by open-ended (fantasy) narratives, where players are largely free to do as they please – slay ogres, siege castles, barter goods in town, or shake the fruit out of trees” [18]. Previous studies have shown that a player spends on average of almost 26 h per week playing MMOGs [24], with a significant impact on the player's behavior. However, the occurrence of such behavior from the motivational perspective, and the motivational drivers for learning collaboratively in this environment are not yet well known. A number of researchers have suggested that the use of MMOG is a new generation of educational platform (e.g., [4], [5] and [13]), allowing players to interact with each other and learn together through collaborative game-play. Research on MMOG game-based learning has shown that several unique characteristics of MMOG (e.g., avatar/virtual identity, co-presence, group identity and transparency) may trigger learning behavior in the gaming context. When examining the constructivist belief of learning from the IS perspective, learning in MMOG can be seen as a process resulting from the adoption and continuous use of the game. This process can be triggered by intrinsic and extrinsic motivation as perceived by the players. In addition to individual engagement in the learning process, MMOG game-based learning can occur and be motivated through online player-to-player interaction. We therefore examined the occurrence of collaborative learning behavior and motivational drivers in MMOG, attempting to extend the concept of motivation to play at the peer level, bridging the characteristics of MMOG by using peer motivations. We also investigated the effect of peer motivation on players’ behavioral intention to learn in the context of MMOG.

Our study proposed two new constructs, peer intrinsic motivation and peer extrinsic motivation from a psychological perspective, and examined their effect on players’ intentions to learn in the context of a hedonic IS using a multi-method protocol. The survey results indicated that individual players’ peer intrinsic motivations positively influenced their intention to learn collaboratively, while individual players’ peer extrinsic motivations significantly influenced their intentions to learn individually. Our findings suggest that a specific design of the game may be able to induce feelings of envy together with collaborative victory among MMOG players, and may also to provoke a collective enjoyable atmosphere.