BREAKAWAY: Examining the Educational Potential of Using a Narrative-Based Digital Game for Bullying Prevention

Bullying is one of the most common yet tolerated forms of violence. BREAKAWAY is an educational game purposefully designed to use entertainment-education and digital gaming to help youth around the world to learn about different types of bullying and coping strategies. This dissertation reports the design and results of a pilot study conducted in Buffalo, New York:(1) an attempted field experiment with pretest and posttest as well as a control group to assess the effectiveness ofBREAKAWAY gameplay and gameplay combined with facilitated group discussions; (2) a qualitative analysis of players' participatory sketching and writing; and (3) an observational study investigating players' narrative exposure and in-game choices. Overall, the findings demonstrated promising trends in using BREAKAWAY as a narrative-based educational tool for youth. Although the field experiment did not yield statistically significant results due to the small sample size, new measurement scales were tested and unconventional methods such as participatory sketching and screen recording provided complementary and invaluable insights from the participants. Taken together, the lessons learned from this dissertation can effectively inform the design and implementation of a large-scale field study.

Grantor dc:publisher

State University of New York at Buffalo

Year dc:date.issued

2018

Author dc:creator

• Wu, Yishin; 0000-0001-7560-3584

Contributors dc:contributor

• Wang, Hua "Helen"
• Communication

• communication
• educational technology

Statement dc:rights

• Users of works found in University at Buffalo Institutional Repository (UBIR) are responsible for identifying and contacting the copyright owner for permission to reuse. University at Buffalo Libraries do not manage rights for copyright-protected works and cannot assist with permissions.
• Copyright retained by author.

Language dc:language

eng

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/10477/77980

OAI record oai:identifier

https://ubir.buffalo.edu/oai/request?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=qdc&identifier=oai%3Aubir.buffalo.edu%3A10477%2F77980