The Educational Potentials of Digital Games for Cultivation of Abstract Thinking in Children: a conceptual-phenomenological analysis of ‘Minecraft’

نوع مقاله : مقاله علمی- پژوهشی

نویسنده

استادیار گروه هنرهای رسانه ای، دانشگاه صداوسیما، تهران، ایران.

چکیده

This paper adopts a conceptual–phenomenological approach to examine Minecraft’s potential to foster abstract thinking in children. Drawing on Piaget’s cognitive development theory, Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, Dewey’s philosophy of experience, and Gadamer’s hermeneutics of play, it integrates conceptual analysis of in-game structures such as three-dimensional blocks, Redstone circuits, spatial relations, symbolism, and metaphor with a phenomenological exploration of children lived gameplay experiences. Fourteen key components of abstract thinking are identified, including spatial visualization, symbolic and logical reasoning, algorithmic thinking, analogy, systems thinking, planning, imagination, and metacognitive reflection. Empirically, the study is supported by interviews and participant observations with 25 children aged 10–12 over five weeks. The findings indicate that Minecraft’s iterative processes of building, testing, and redesign, together with collaborative interaction and low-risk experimentation, enhance spatial and logical skills while promoting higher-order thinking, symbolic understanding, and early forms of theorization. The game’s multimodal environment further supports visual meaning-making, pattern recognition, and self-regulation. Overall, Minecraft is presented not merely as a space for play, but as a philosophically and educationally significant medium that contributes to the development of conceptual thinking and offers a model for rethinking learning environments in contemporary education.

کلیدواژه‌ها

موضوعات

عنوان مقاله [English]

The Educational Potentials of Digital Games for Cultivation of Abstract Thinking in Children: a conceptual-phenomenological analysis of ‘Minecraft’

نویسنده [English]

  • Mohsen Karami
Assistant Professor, Department of Media Arts. IRIB University, Tehran, Iran
چکیده [English]

This paper adopts a conceptual–phenomenological approach to examine Minecraft’s potential to foster abstract thinking in children. Drawing on Piaget’s cognitive development theory, Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, Dewey’s philosophy of experience, and Gadamer’s hermeneutics of play, it integrates conceptual analysis of in-game structures such as three-dimensional blocks, Redstone circuits, spatial relations, symbolism, and metaphor with a phenomenological exploration of children lived gameplay experiences. Fourteen key components of abstract thinking are identified, including spatial visualization, symbolic and logical reasoning, algorithmic thinking, analogy, systems thinking, planning, imagination, and metacognitive reflection. Empirically, the study is supported by interviews and participant observations with 25 children aged 10–12 over five weeks. The findings indicate that Minecraft’s iterative processes of building, testing, and redesign, together with collaborative interaction and low-risk experimentation, enhance spatial and logical skills while promoting higher-order thinking, symbolic understanding, and early forms of theorization. The game’s multimodal environment further supports visual meaning-making, pattern recognition, and self-regulation. Overall, Minecraft is presented not merely as a space for play, but as a philosophically and educationally significant medium that contributes to the development of conceptual thinking and offers a model for rethinking learning environments in contemporary education.

کلیدواژه‌ها [English]

  • Minecraft
  • Abstract Thinking
  • Interactive Digital Games
  • Conceptual–Phenomenological Analysis
  • Philosophy of Educatio

مراجع

Aarseth, E. (1997). Cybertext: Perspectives on ergodic literature. Johns Hopkins University Press.
Anderson, J. R. (1993). Rules of the mind. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Arnheim, R. (1969). Visual thinking. University of California Press.
Bell, J. (1986). Thinking in logic: Introduction to the concepts of modern logic. Harper & Row.
Boekaerts, M., Pintrich, P. R., & Zeidner, M. (Eds.). (2000). Handbook of self-regulation ( 13–39). Academic Press. (Zimmerman, B. J., “Attaining self-regulation: A social cognitive perspective,” 13–39)
Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. R. (Eds.). (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. National Academy Press.
Creswell, J. W. (2013). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (3rd ed.). Sage.
Digital Game–Based Learning Research Group. (2024). Effects of digital game interventions on early childhood development: A meta-analysis. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 22(3), 210–228.
Dewey, J. (1934). Art as experience. Perigee.
Fisher, R., & Ury, W. (1991). Getting to Yes: Negotiating agreement without giving in. Penguin.
Flavell, J. H. (1979). Metacognition and cognitive monitoring: A new area of cognitive–developmental inquiry. American Psychologist, 34(10), 906–911.
Flavell, J. H. (2000). Development of children’s understanding of mind. Cognition, 34(1), 21–23.
Flusser, V. (1983). Towards a philosophy of photography (A. P. Franks, Trans.). Reaktion Books.
Forrester, J. W. (1994). Learning through system dynamics as preparation for the 21st century. MIT Press.
Gagné, R. M. (1985). The conditions of learning and theory of instruction (4th ed.). Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
Gadamer, H.-G. (1986). The relevance of the beautiful and other essays (N. Walker & R. Marshall, Trans.). Cambridge University Press.
Gardiner, M. F. (2000). Mind and brain: Dialogues in cognitive neuroscience. Oxford University Press.
Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. Basic Books.
Gentner, D., & Holyoak, K. J. (1997). Reasoning and learning by analogy: Introduction. American Psychologist, 52(1), 32–34. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.52.1.32
Gentner, D., & Stevens, A. L. (Eds.). (1983). Mental models. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Gee, J. P. (2007). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy (2nd ed.). Palgrave Macmillan.
González-Slattery, J., Brown, L., & Miller, T. (2025). Effects of Minecraft-based learning: A systematic review. Journal of Educational Technology, 45(2), 123–145.
Hernandez, A., Smith, B., & Lee, C. (2024). Integrating Minecraft into STEM curricula: A mixed-methods evaluation. International Journal of STEM Education, 11(1), Article 5. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-024-00369-2
Hillier, B., & Hanson, J. (1984). The social logic of space. Cambridge University Press.
Hanson, J. (1998). Decoding homes and houses: Studies in architectural sociology. Cambridge University Press.
Inhelder, B., & Piaget, J. (1964). The early growth of logic in the child: Classification and seriation (E. Lunzer, Trans.). Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, R. T. (1995). Creative controversy: Intellectual challenge in the classroom. Interaction Book Company.
Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R. T., & Holubec, E. J. (1998). Cooperation in the classroom. Interaction Book Company.
Kress, G., & van Leeuwen, T. (2006). Reading images: The grammar of visual design (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Kuhn, D. (1999). A developmental model of critical thinking. Educational Researcher, 28(2), 16–25. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X028002016
Kuhn, D. (2005). Education for thinking. Harvard University Press.
Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. University of Chicago Press.
Latour, B. (2005). Reassembling the social: An introduction to actor–network theory. Oxford University Press.
Lee, D., Roberts, J., & Kim, S. (2024). Cultivating metacognition through commercial video games: The case of Minecraft. Frontiers in Education, 9, Article 101234. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2024.101234
Lipman, M. (2003). Thinking in education (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Meadows, D. H. (2008). Thinking in systems: A primer. Chelsea Green.
Morales, P., & Chen, L. (2023). Training spatial reasoning with Minecraft Education Edition: A school-aligned intervention. Educational Technology & Society, 26(4), 50–62.
Newell, A., & Simon, H. A. (1972). Human problem solving. Prentice Hall.
Nussbaum, M. C. (1997). Cultivating humanity: A classical defense of reform in liberal education. Harvard University Press.
Papert, S. (1980). Mindstorms: Children, computers, and powerful ideas. Basic Books.
Patel, R., & Singh, A. (2024). Virtual block-building workshops and spatial skill development in elementary students. Computers & Education, 190, Article 104613. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2024.104613
Peirce, C. S. (1931). Collected papers of Charles Sanders Peirce (Vol. 2). Harvard University Press.
Perkins, D. N. (1985). The mind’s best work. Harvard University Press.
Perkins, D. N., & Salomon, G. (1989). Are cognitive skills context-bound? Educational Researcher, 18(1), 16–25.
Piaget, J. (1962). Play, dreams and imitation in childhood. Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Piaget, J. (1972). The psychology of the child (B. Gabain & H. Weaver, Trans.). Basic Books.
Piaget, J. (1973). To understand is to invent: The future of education (G. A. Roberts, Trans.). Grossman.
Polya, G. (1957). How to solve it. Princeton University Press.
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital game-based learning. McGraw-Hill.
Senge, P. M. (1990). The fifth discipline: The art & practice of the learning organization. Doubleday.
Slavin, R. E. (1995). Cooperative learning: Theory, research, and practice. Allyn & Bacon.
Sternberg, R. J. (1996). Successful intelligence: How practical and creative intelligence contribute to outstanding achievement. Plume.
Sternberg, R. J. (2003). Wisdom, intelligence, and creativity synthesized. Cambridge University Press.
Thibodeau, P. H., & Boroditsky, L. (2011). Metaphors we think with: The role of metaphor in reasoning. PLoS ONE, 6(2), e16782. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0016782
Vandenberg, S. G., & Kuse, A. R. (1978). Mental rotations, a group test of three-dimensional spatial visualization. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 47(2), 599–604. https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.1978.47.2.599
Van Manen, M. (1990). Researching lived experience: Human science for an action-sensitive pedagogy. State University of New York Press.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard University Press.
Vygotsky, L. S. (2004). Imagination and creativity in childhood (M. E. Sharpe, Trans.). Journal of Russian & East European Psychology, 42(1), 7–97.
Wellman, H. M., & Liu, D. (2004). Scaling of theory-of-mind tasks. Child Development, 75(2), 523–541. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2004.00691.x
Wing, J. M. (2006). Computational thinking. Communications of the ACM, 49(3), 33–35. https://doi.org/10.1145/1118178.1118215
Zhang, Y., Wang, H., & Chen, M. (2025). A metaverse-like STEM environment in Minecraft Education Edition: Impacts on systems thinking and collaborative problem solving. Journal of Virtual Worlds Research, 18(1), 1–20.
Zimmerman, B. J. (2000). Attaining self-regulation: A social cognitive perspective. In M. Boekaerts, P. R. Pintrich, & M. Zeidner (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation (13–39). Academic Press.
ارسال نظر در مورد این مقاله
CAPTCHA Image
مجله پژوهش های فلسفی
دوره 19، شماره 53 - شماره پیاپی 53
مقالات
شماره 53 زمستان 1404
دی 1404
صفحه 331-360

فایل ها

هم رسانی

ارجاع به این مقاله

آمار