Abstracts Category : Other

Multiplayer Educational Role Playing Games (MPERPGs) and the Application of Leadership

by Andrew Stafford Clayton

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate how Multiplayer Educational Role-Playing Games (MPERPGs) influenced leadership behaviors for students at Squadron Officer School (SOS), Maxwell AFB, AL. The conceptual framework focused on virtual worlds or Immersive Learning Environments (ILEs) and the Full Range Leadership Model (FRLM). Additionally, the leadership learning theories for this study were constructionist, situated, and experiential learning. By combining the conceptual framework and leadership learning theories together into a holistic model, a new Immersive Learning Environment Model (ILEM) was developed. The central research questions for this study sought to understand how MPERPGs influenced students FRLM behaviors in the virtual world and real world at Squadron Officer School (SOS). The research design utilized a case study approach, using focus groups, interviews, and field observations to investigate the influence MPERPGs have on participants leadership. The findings of this study showed that communication, role-playing, consequences, and realism developed and applied within a simulated, scenario-based virtual world experiential exercisealso known as, a MPERPG influences participants leadership behaviors in the virtual and real world. The findings of this study added to the existing body of knowledge by understanding how constructionist, situated, and experiential learning when applied to an immersive learning environment provided a new comprehensive learning and leadership learning model that can be used in educational settings for the development of leadership skills.