Using API Data to Understand Learning in League of Legends: A Mixed Methods Study |
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| Authors: | Hannah R Gerber Kevin Sweeney Erica Pasquini |
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| Institution: | 1. School of Teaching and Learning, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX, USA;2. Department of Language Education, Arts, and Culture, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa;3. Department of Management, Marketing, and Information Systems, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX, USA;4. Department of Kinesiology, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX, USA |
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| Abstract: | This mixed-methods research was conducted to understand the impact of learning and player growth in a League of Legends summer camp. Eighteen adolescents engaged in a three-day sleep-over summer camp with various team building activities. Data collected included API metadata from pre- and post-camp as well as semi-structured interview data with youth who attended the camp. Exposing the participants to teamwork methods had a significant impact on changing how players approached competitive game play and engagement in digital environments. In particular, we find that participation in the summer camp led to significant changes in vision score, the most team-focused aspect of the game for which statistics were available. Furthermore, as demonstrated by the qualitative data, evidence suggests youth have an understanding for how teamwork can positively influence peer interactions within digital environments. These findings are important as they demonstrate that teaching team-focused activities can have a significant impact on the players of competitive esports games, and it also implies that the role of teamwork within various digital platforms needs deeper study. Findings indicate that a transfer of learning occurs between physical and digital spaces and that youth recognize the importance of teamwork and team-building activities in digital learning spaces. |
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| Keywords: | Application programming interface data adolescents videogames League of Legends teamwork |
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