ERIC Number: EJ1422339
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1040-0419
EISSN: EISSN-1532-6934
Available Date: N/A
Toward Defining and Assessing Creativity in Sandbox Games
Creativity Research Journal, v36 n2 p194-212 2024
Digital sandbox games such as "Minecraft" can be used to assess and support creativity. Doing so, however, requires an understanding of what is deemed creative in this game context. One approach is to understand how Minecrafters describe creativity in their communities, and how much those descriptions overlap with the established definitions of creativity in the literature. Based on prior work, we used a modified rubric for assessing a creative product in this study. We investigated the evaluation of a total of 52 "Minecraft" builds (i.e., structures that are created by the Minecrafters) from five YouTube videos. In addition to qualitatively coding the video transcripts, we also used natural language processing (NLP) for automatic coding of our data at scale. Our qualitative analysis of the YouTube transcripts revealed evidence for all but one dimension (i.e., humor) of the creativity rubric we used in our dataset. In addition, two new dimensions of creativity emerged in our qualitative coding process (i.e., realism and effort). Finally, the NLP model that we developed achieved about 80% accuracy in distinguishing the sentences that showed evidence of creativity. This study provides insights for research and educational practices of creativity in "Minecraft" or similar game or simulation environments.
Descriptors: Creativity, Video Games, Computer Games, Evaluation Methods, Video Technology, Natural Language Processing, Models, Definitions, Web Sites, Social Media, Transcripts (Written Records), Classification, Artificial Intelligence, Automation
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A