Kurt Squire
Biographic Data
| ID | 83530 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Kurt Squire |
| GIVEN NAMES | Kurt |
| FAMILY NAME | Squire |
| SIGNATURE | SQUIRE K |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Wisconsin–Madison |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-0465-7010 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 235 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 17 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2002 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Right-Wing Extremism in Mainstream Games
Hate speech, harassment, and an increasing prevalence of right-wing extremism in online game spaces are of growing concern in the United States. Understanding trends in how and to what extent extremist groups utilize online gaming spaces is vital in taking action to protect players. To synthesize the current state of extant research and suggest future directions, we conduct a systematic review of the literature on right-wing extremism in videogam…
Environment-selected directors”
In many legal frameworks, corporate directors are selected by shareholders. Proposed legislature in the US seeks to enable employee representation on corporate boards as well. Nevertheless, current approaches to corporate board selection could result in the systematic discounting of the needs of other, unrepresented stakeholder groups beyond shareholders and employees. To investigate this issue, we envisioned a new kind of corporate director---th…
Innovation in times of uncertainty
Purpose This paper (published in two consecutive issues of On the Horizon) aims to contextualize research on games for learning by describing the current drivers of innovation in learning technologies situated within broader trends in open educational publishing. Design/methodology/approach The paper begins with an overview of changes, driven largely by technology in educational technology and publishing. Using massively open online courseware as…
Learning Local Immigration History In and Out of the Museum
In this article we utilize three case studies from the US as models for structuring historical inquiry in museum education programs focused on local immigration history. We focus on how models of practice from museums can be utilized as part of authentic history education pedagogy - in particular conducting historical inquiry with archival material and creating engaging exhibits. The three cases we draw from are the Tenement Museum (New York City…
Participatory Scaling Through Augmented Reality Learning Through Local Games
From Egypt to Wisconsin
In 2011, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker introduced a budget repair bill that removed the rights of public sector unions to collectively bargain and inspired mass protests at the Wisconsin State Capitol and beyond. This article provides a first-hand account of these struggles from the perspective of online activists who designed DefendWisconsin.org, a digital organizing tool used widely during the protests. Although only one of several such sites…
Virtual worlds and learning
Purpose – This brief introductory paper aims to outline seven key principles for educators thinking about life in a continuously partial virtual world
Mobile media learning
Purpose This paper seeks to build a theory of mobile media learning by studying indigenous use of these media and theorizing what impact they might have on learning and education. Design/methodology/approach Using a critical approach, the paper reviews contemporary developments in mobile media learning particularly those happening outside of schools. It includes reviews of games and/or media, literature (particularly firsthand accounts published …
Designing Centers of Expertise for Academic Learning Through Video Games
Schools appear to be facing a crisis of engaging secondary students in meaningful learning. Many are recognizing that the learning principles embodied in computer and video games reflect the best theories of cognition, yet are underutilized as an educational resource. This article suggests an alternative model for game-based learning outside of schools. Drawing on case studies of youth participating in a year-long program, it describes an approac…
The Meaning of Race and Violence in Grand Theft Auto
This research study investigates how youths actually play Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and what meanings they make from it. This study finds that players use their own experiences and knowledge to interpret the game-they do not passively receive the games' images and content. The meanings they produce about controversial subjects are situated in players' local practices, identities, and discourse models as they interact with the game's semiotic …
From Content to Context
Interactive immersive entertainment, or videogame playing, has emerged as a major entertainment and educational medium. As research and development initiatives proliferate, educational researchers might benefit by developing more grounded theories about them. This article argues for framing game play as a designed experience. Players' understandings are developed through cycles of performance within the gameworlds, which instantiate particular th…
Guest editor’s notes
From users to designers
Educating the fighter
Purpose A growing number of educators are turning to games for a model of next‐generation learning environments. To date, there has been a lack of critical inquiry into what kind of learning occurs through game play, and how games get learned by their players. Aims to plug this gap Design/methodology/approach This paper is a critical study of Viewtiful Joe, a cult‐classic sidescrolling 2D fighting game for the Nintendo Gamecube. Noted for its dif…
Design-Based Research
The emerging field of the learning sciences is one that is interdisciplinary, drawing on multiple theoretical perspectives and research paradigms so as to build understandings of the nature and conditions of learning, cognition, and development. Learning sciences researchers investigate cognition in context, at times emphasizing one more than the other but with the broad goal of developing evidence-based claims derived from both laboratory-based …
Critical Design Ethnography
This article describes critical design ethnography, an ethnographic process involving participatory design work aimed at transforming a local context while producing an instructional design that can be used in multiple contexts. Here, we reflect on the opportunities and challenges that emerged as we built local critiques then reified them into a designed artifact that has been implemented in classrooms all over the world
Using Activity Theory to Understand the Systemic Tensions Characterizing a Technology-Rich Introductory Astronomy Course
In this report of our research on a computer-based three-dimensional (3-D) modeling course for learning astronomy, we use the central tenets of activity theory to analyze participation by undergraduate students and instructors, illuminating the instances of activity that characterized course dynamics. Specifically, we focus on the relations of participant (student) and object (3-D models and astronomy understandings) and how, in our course, objec…
Design-Based Research
The emerging field of the learning sciences is one that is interdisciplinary, drawing on multiple theoretical perspectives and research paradigms so as to build understandings of the nature and conditions of learning, cognition, and development. Learning sciences researchers investigate cognition in context, at times emphasizing one more than the other but with the broad goal of developing evidence-based claims derived from both laboratory-based …
From Content to Context
Interactive immersive entertainment, or videogame playing, has emerged as a major entertainment and educational medium. As research and development initiatives proliferate, educational researchers might benefit by developing more grounded theories about them. This article argues for framing game play as a designed experience. Players' understandings are developed through cycles of performance within the gameworlds, which instantiate particular th…
Critical Design Ethnography
This article describes critical design ethnography, an ethnographic process involving participatory design work aimed at transforming a local context while producing an instructional design that can be used in multiple contexts. Here, we reflect on the opportunities and challenges that emerged as we built local critiques then reified them into a designed artifact that has been implemented in classrooms all over the world
Designing Centers of Expertise for Academic Learning Through Video Games
Schools appear to be facing a crisis of engaging secondary students in meaningful learning. Many are recognizing that the learning principles embodied in computer and video games reflect the best theories of cognition, yet are underutilized as an educational resource. This article suggests an alternative model for game-based learning outside of schools. Drawing on case studies of youth participating in a year-long program, it describes an approac…
The Meaning of Race and Violence in Grand Theft Auto
This research study investigates how youths actually play Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and what meanings they make from it. This study finds that players use their own experiences and knowledge to interpret the game-they do not passively receive the games' images and content. The meanings they produce about controversial subjects are situated in players' local practices, identities, and discourse models as they interact with the game's semiotic …
Mobile media learning
Purpose This paper seeks to build a theory of mobile media learning by studying indigenous use of these media and theorizing what impact they might have on learning and education. Design/methodology/approach Using a critical approach, the paper reviews contemporary developments in mobile media learning particularly those happening outside of schools. It includes reviews of games and/or media, literature (particularly firsthand accounts published …
From Egypt to Wisconsin
In 2011, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker introduced a budget repair bill that removed the rights of public sector unions to collectively bargain and inspired mass protests at the Wisconsin State Capitol and beyond. This article provides a first-hand account of these struggles from the perspective of online activists who designed DefendWisconsin.org, a digital organizing tool used widely during the protests. Although only one of several such sites…
Participatory Scaling Through Augmented Reality Learning Through Local Games
From users to designers
Educating the fighter
Purpose A growing number of educators are turning to games for a model of next‐generation learning environments. To date, there has been a lack of critical inquiry into what kind of learning occurs through game play, and how games get learned by their players. Aims to plug this gap Design/methodology/approach This paper is a critical study of Viewtiful Joe, a cult‐classic sidescrolling 2D fighting game for the Nintendo Gamecube. Noted for its dif…
Learning Local Immigration History In and Out of the Museum
In this article we utilize three case studies from the US as models for structuring historical inquiry in museum education programs focused on local immigration history. We focus on how models of practice from museums can be utilized as part of authentic history education pedagogy - in particular conducting historical inquiry with archival material and creating engaging exhibits. The three cases we draw from are the Tenement Museum (New York City…
Using Activity Theory to Understand the Systemic Tensions Characterizing a Technology-Rich Introductory Astronomy Course
In this report of our research on a computer-based three-dimensional (3-D) modeling course for learning astronomy, we use the central tenets of activity theory to analyze participation by undergraduate students and instructors, illuminating the instances of activity that characterized course dynamics. Specifically, we focus on the relations of participant (student) and object (3-D models and astronomy understandings) and how, in our course, objec…
Design-Based Research
The emerging field of the learning sciences is one that is interdisciplinary, drawing on multiple theoretical perspectives and research paradigms so as to build understandings of the nature and conditions of learning, cognition, and development. Learning sciences researchers investigate cognition in context, at times emphasizing one more than the other but with the broad goal of developing evidence-based claims derived from both laboratory-based …
Critical Design Ethnography
This article describes critical design ethnography, an ethnographic process involving participatory design work aimed at transforming a local context while producing an instructional design that can be used in multiple contexts. Here, we reflect on the opportunities and challenges that emerged as we built local critiques then reified them into a designed artifact that has been implemented in classrooms all over the world
Guest editor’s notes
From users to designers
Educating the fighter
Purpose A growing number of educators are turning to games for a model of next‐generation learning environments. To date, there has been a lack of critical inquiry into what kind of learning occurs through game play, and how games get learned by their players. Aims to plug this gap Design/methodology/approach This paper is a critical study of Viewtiful Joe, a cult‐classic sidescrolling 2D fighting game for the Nintendo Gamecube. Noted for its dif…
From Content to Context
Interactive immersive entertainment, or videogame playing, has emerged as a major entertainment and educational medium. As research and development initiatives proliferate, educational researchers might benefit by developing more grounded theories about them. This article argues for framing game play as a designed experience. Players' understandings are developed through cycles of performance within the gameworlds, which instantiate particular th…
Designing Centers of Expertise for Academic Learning Through Video Games
Schools appear to be facing a crisis of engaging secondary students in meaningful learning. Many are recognizing that the learning principles embodied in computer and video games reflect the best theories of cognition, yet are underutilized as an educational resource. This article suggests an alternative model for game-based learning outside of schools. Drawing on case studies of youth participating in a year-long program, it describes an approac…
The Meaning of Race and Violence in Grand Theft Auto
This research study investigates how youths actually play Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and what meanings they make from it. This study finds that players use their own experiences and knowledge to interpret the game-they do not passively receive the games' images and content. The meanings they produce about controversial subjects are situated in players' local practices, identities, and discourse models as they interact with the game's semiotic …
Virtual worlds and learning
Purpose – This brief introductory paper aims to outline seven key principles for educators thinking about life in a continuously partial virtual world
Mobile media learning
Purpose This paper seeks to build a theory of mobile media learning by studying indigenous use of these media and theorizing what impact they might have on learning and education. Design/methodology/approach Using a critical approach, the paper reviews contemporary developments in mobile media learning particularly those happening outside of schools. It includes reviews of games and/or media, literature (particularly firsthand accounts published …
From Egypt to Wisconsin
In 2011, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker introduced a budget repair bill that removed the rights of public sector unions to collectively bargain and inspired mass protests at the Wisconsin State Capitol and beyond. This article provides a first-hand account of these struggles from the perspective of online activists who designed DefendWisconsin.org, a digital organizing tool used widely during the protests. Although only one of several such sites…
Participatory Scaling Through Augmented Reality Learning Through Local Games
Learning Local Immigration History In and Out of the Museum
In this article we utilize three case studies from the US as models for structuring historical inquiry in museum education programs focused on local immigration history. We focus on how models of practice from museums can be utilized as part of authentic history education pedagogy - in particular conducting historical inquiry with archival material and creating engaging exhibits. The three cases we draw from are the Tenement Museum (New York City…
Innovation in times of uncertainty
Purpose This paper (published in two consecutive issues of On the Horizon) aims to contextualize research on games for learning by describing the current drivers of innovation in learning technologies situated within broader trends in open educational publishing. Design/methodology/approach The paper begins with an overview of changes, driven largely by technology in educational technology and publishing. Using massively open online courseware as…
Environment-selected directors”
In many legal frameworks, corporate directors are selected by shareholders. Proposed legislature in the US seeks to enable employee representation on corporate boards as well. Nevertheless, current approaches to corporate board selection could result in the systematic discounting of the needs of other, unrepresented stakeholder groups beyond shareholders and employees. To investigate this issue, we envisioned a new kind of corporate director---th…
Right-Wing Extremism in Mainstream Games
Hate speech, harassment, and an increasing prevalence of right-wing extremism in online game spaces are of growing concern in the United States. Understanding trends in how and to what extent extremist groups utilize online gaming spaces is vital in taking action to protect players. To synthesize the current state of extant research and suggest future directions, we conduct a systematic review of the literature on right-wing extremism in videogam…
Computer Science (12 works) · Sociology (12 works) · Psychology (9 works) · Educational Games and Gamification (8 works) · Mathematics education (7 works) · Political science (6 works) · Digital Games and Media (5 works) · Multimedia (5 works) · Pedagogy (5 works) · Educational technology (4 works)