Research Interests

My reasearch explores the challenges of using games as the subject of learning.What does it mean to study and learn about games? What are the challenges? Can this teach us anything about learning? How can you make the most of what you already know about games? Is "knowing" games a new form of literacy?

My research explores these questions by designing collaborative online environments for people who are learning about games and studying games. I am trying to understand how learning happens in these environments and what can we do to improve them

I am a member of the Electronic Learning Communities and Experimental Games labs at Georgia Institute of Technology. My PhD advisor is Amy Bruckman.

(Website)

GameLog

GameLog is an online blogging environment for supporting reflection of gameplaying experiences. By writing about the games they play, users can begin to identify gameplay features and design elements present in multiple games, and how these features interact to provide particular experiences. GameLog also support users' understanding of how a game, and the gameplay experience, can change over time.

GameLog differs from traditional blogging environments because each user maintains multiple parallel blogs, with each blog devoted to a single game. When a user starts playing a new game, he simply starts a GameLog for that game and can then write his thoughts and feelings about it. When done playing, for whatever reason, he can "close" the GameLog. All GameLogs, closed or open, are always available for reading. Users can also comment on each other's entries.

GameLog is a public site and you are invited to register and use it. It has also been used in a few university courses as part of the regular curriculum.

•   From Gamers to Scholars: Challenges of Teaching Game Studies
  Zagal, J. P. and Bruckman, A. (2007), "From Gamers to Scholars: Challenges of Teaching Game Studies", Proceedings of the Digital Interactive Games Research Association Conference (DiGRA 2007), Tokyo, Japan, 575-582.


•   GameLog: Fostering Reflective Gameplaying for Learning
  Zagal, J., Bruckman, A. (2007), "GameLog: Fostering Reflective Gameplaying for Learning", Proceedings of the 2007 ACM SIGGRAPH Symposium on Videogames, San Diego CA, 31-38.

(Website)

Game Ontology Project (and Wiki)

The Game Ontology Project (GOP) is a framework for describing, analyzing and studying games. It is a hierarchy of concepts abstracted from an analysis of many specific games. GOP borrows concepts and methods from prototype theory as well as grounded theory to achieve a framework that is always growing and changing as new games are analyzed or particular research questions are explored.

The Game Ontology currently resides, in its entirety, on a wiki. It is available for perusal, comment, and participation. Any and all contributions are welcome. You don't even need to sign up!

•   Temporal Frames: A Unifying Framework for the Analysis of Game Temporality
  Zagal, J. P. and Mateas, M. (2007), "Temporal Frames: A Unifying Framework for the Analysis of Game Temporality", Proceedings of the Digital Interactive Games Research Association Conference (DiGRA 2007), Tokyo, Japan, 516-523.
•   Towards an Ontological Language for Game Analysis
  Zagal, J., Mateas, M., Fernandez-Vara, C., Hochhalter, B. and Lichti, N. (2005) "Towards an Ontological Language for Game Analysis",  In Proceedings of the Digital Interactive Games Research Association Conference (DiGRA 2005), Vancouver B.C., June, 2005. Included in the Selected Papers volume. [Full paper]
•   Evolution of Spatial Configurations In Videogames
  Fernandez-Vara, C., Zagal, J., Mateas, M. (2005). "Evolution of Spatial Configurations In Videogames",  In Proceedings of the Digital Interactive Games Research Association Conference (DiGRA 2005), Vancouver B.C., June, 2005. Included in the Selected Papers volume. [Short paper]
• Gameplay Segmentation in Vintage Arcade Games
  Zagal, J.P., Fernandez-Vara, C., Mateas, M. (forthcoming) "Gameplay Segmentation in Vintage Arcade Games",  Ludologica Retro, Volume 1: Vintage Arcade (1971-1984), Bogost, I. and Bittanti, M. (Eds)  

(Website)

Gamescapes Symposium

In September 2006 I organized and hosted a 2-day symposium that explored the medium of the videogame together with the relationship that interactive new media can have with learning and education. The event featured talks and demos of research happening at Georgia Tech.

Anival

Anival (short for "Animation Festival") project explored the design and development of an online community to support the collaborative creation of short animated films. In particular, we looked at non-software factors that contribute towards successful use of a multimedia authoring tool by non-expert children. We studied the use of Alice, a 3D authoring tool developed by some cool folk up at Carnegie Mellon University in the context of middle-school language arts classes. Our work focused on the social context the kids worked in as well as how this could be extended to an online environment such as a web-based community.

• Initial Concept Paper (doc format)
•   From Samba Schools to Computer Clubhouses: Cultural Institutions as Learning Environments
  Zagal, J.P., Bruckman, A. (2005) "From Samba Schools to Computer Clubhouses: Cultural Institutions as Learning Environments",  Convergence 11:1, 88-105
•   Kids Telling Fables Through 3D Animation
  Zagal, J.P., Piper, A.M. and Bruckman, A. - (2004) - Kids Telling Fables Through 3D Animation - GVU Tech Report: GIT-GVU-04-23     
•   Social and Technical Factors Contributing to Successful 3D Animation Authoring by Kids
  Zagal, J.P., Piper, A.M. and Bruckman, A. (2006) "Social and Technical Factors Contributing to Successful 3D Animation Authoring by Kids",  GVU Tech Report: GIT-GVU-06-14