The purpose of this study was to examine student preferences for and performance on gender-oriented versus gender-neutral educational computer games. As a secondary purpose, this looked at the issue of whether educational computer games affect girls’ and boys’ perceptions of the study of mathematics and the relevance of mathematics to their lives.
Some theorists have stated that gender-neutral educational media do not have the same appeal to students as gender-oriented media. This study sought to answer the specific question of whether students preferred using gender-neutral or gender-oriented computer games related to the subject of math.
A descriptive-correlational research design combined with a qualitative research data-collection approach was used. Data included pre-game-playing and post-game-playing interviews, performance data based on computer game scores, and the researcher’s observations. The study was conducted in the spring of 2003 with the two fourth-grade classes at a Midwestern public elementary school.
Study participants were asked to play three specific computer games: a female-oriented game, a male-oriented game, and a gender-neutral game. The gender orientation of the three games had been determined by the researcher based on an in-depth study of the body of relevant literature on gender-related characteristics of video and computer games.
The findings showed that participants, both the girls and the boys, identified Mind Twister Math, the gender-neutral game as their favorite game. When participants were asked to name their second favorite game, their responses were along gender lines, i.e., the girls chose Phoenix Quest, the female-oriented game as their second favorite, while the boys chose NFL Math, the male-oriented game, as their second favorite. Findings indicated that boys scored higher on all three computer games; however, with repeated sessions of play, the girls’ scores increased significantly and the girls’ final scores were drawing close to the boys’ final scores.
The study also found that both girls and boys believed the subject of math was relevant to their daily lives both before and after the game-playing. Game-playing significantly affected the girls’ and boys’ perceptions of liking or disliking the subject of mathematics. The study concludes that math-related educational computer games that are gender-neutral in orientation can appeal to both girls and boys and can positively affect their perceptions of the subject of mathematics.