To What Extent Does Storytelling in Video Games Help Students with Their Moral Learning Development

Research Article
Open access

To What Extent Does Storytelling in Video Games Help Students with Their Moral Learning Development

Dongyan Yang 1*
  • 1 One Direction Academy    
  • *corresponding author thomas273069@126.com
LNEP Vol.61
ISSN (Print): 2753-7048
ISSN (Online): 2753-7056
ISBN (Print): 978-1-83558-579-5
ISBN (Online): 978-1-83558-580-1

Abstract

The video enterprise is developing rapidly, and with the emergence of new games, their new strengths and boundaries have introduced greater proposals to suppose about the relationship between video games and character ethical development. Video games are a high-quality medium for storytelling in contrast to books or films, as gamers can immerse themselves in them extra deeply and as a consequence have a higher experience. Storytelling is a vital section of video games due to the fact we can analyze a lot from enjoying these video games and achieve a lot of perception into existence and ethical values. Storytelling in video games performs an essential position in the ethical improvement of younger people, and the storylines of video games can assist younger human beings in studying ethical values, boost advantageous behaviour, and enlarge their experience of social accountability and empathy. In any case, the special elements of video video games supply beneficial thought for improvements in ethical education. In the future, solely with the aid of returning to the essence of ethical training and searching at the testimonies advised in video games, searching at ethical training via the connotations of the plots in video games, and appreciation of the relationship between ethical schooling and video video games in an extra rational way, can we mix the two in an extra scientific way to reply the name for a new structure of ethical schooling in the new era.

Keywords:

Storytelling, High-quality medium, Perception, Ethical education, Connotations

Yang,D. (2024). To What Extent Does Storytelling in Video Games Help Students with Their Moral Learning Development. Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media,61,174-184.
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1. Introduction

With the continuous development of video games, as well as academic research is more and more open and forward-looking, the rapid development of video games and Internet information, has resulted in the development of video games blowout. Whether at home or abroad, video games have just become an important entertainment and lifestyle for most teenagers. Why do teenagers like to play games? Because games are easier for children to immerse themselves in than novels and comics, films and music. Video games are a better medium for storytelling than books or films because they give players more visual feedback and interaction [1,2]. Video games and the growth of young people are closely related. The positive impact of video games on adolescents has been gradually recognised by researchers and scholars, affirming their value in shaping the moral education of adolescents. Apart from providing entertainment and relaxation, storytelling is also an important part of video games, and we can analyse a lot of things from these video games, and the storytelling in the games can also have a positive impact on the moral development of adolescents. Storytelling in games can help adolescents learn moral values, and develop positive behaviour, social responsibility and empathy. It also provides them with moral education. Linking moral education in games can help adolescents better understand and apply the moral lessons they have learned, combining the theory of role reversal with the theory of situated cognition, so that they can better cope with real-life challenges and problems.

The video game gives an exceptional narrative structure from that of realism. Firstly, the 'core gameplay' is defined, and then the world is set up on the groundwork of that core gameplay. Characters, situations and different factors are built in quite unbiased modules, which then suit into the framework of the 'core gameplay'. At the same time, the recreation has to furnish a vicinity for the player's alternate persona to be active, so that a collection of duties that the participant has to the whole (either voluntarily or with the aid of choice) and the rewards and punishments for success/failure end up central to the narrative of the video game, and round these interesting tales the participant can ride many new sensations and strengthen new insights into the world for themselves and reflections, which is very essential for younger people [3-5].

For example, This War of Mine teaches us to reflect on war and racism; Spiritfarer teaches us to be grateful and love of life; It Takes Two teaches us not to give up or run away when faced with difficulties, but to be brave and seek solutions; Assassin's Creed teaches us to pursue the idea of freedom; World of Warcraft teaches us that good and evil have no boundaries and that race is not about glory; in short, young people can be influenced by the plots of video games in one way or another when they play them, thus generating a lot of insights.

2. Literature Review

Moral education is a purposeful activity to exert moral influence on the educated. Its content material consists of increasing ethical cognition and consciousness, cultivating ethical emotions, exercising ethical will, organising ethical beliefs, cultivating ethical qualities, and growing ethical habits. The entire process of ethical education usually consists of the primary elements of raising awareness, cultivating emotions, exercising will, organising beliefs, and cultivating habits. Compared to regular information education, ethical schooling has such necessary characteristics as comprehensive, synchronous, multi-terminal, repetitive, realistic, and gradual. The techniques and capacity of ethical schooling are basically decided according to the characteristics of ethical fine preparation and the real scenario of the skilled people. In general, the coverage of fine preparation is adopted, combining the software of ethical know-how with the precision of ethical existence ride of skilled people, combining person demonstration with collective influence, and combining usual stimulation with public opinion education. From the point of view of the division of types, ethical education is the cultivation of the ethical awareness of students in personal life, national and social public life, and professional life in accordance with personal morality, national public morality, and social and professional morality. From the point of view of hierarchical division, ethical training is to teach students ethical ideals, ethical standards, and ethical codes, motivate their noble behaviour, inform their correct behaviour, and restrain their wrong behaviour.

Cultivating and teaching new technology to establish the correct view of existence and values is the beginning and end of all teaching work. It takes ten years for a tree to grow, and a hundred years for a person to grow. Youth is the golden period of life. Your mind is like a simple clean sheet of paper that wants to be guided by scientific skepticism and mindfulness, however, it is clear that for some time now some nearby schooling departments have given top priority to problem teaching [6]. The emphasis on lecture room knowledge, grades and scores, and comparative enrolment fees has not noticed the bodily and mental fitness and ideological and ethical training of younger people, resulting in a vulnerable socialist consciousness among some younger people. The lack of society's perfect beliefs has even led many college students to take in addition education, employment and discovering a precise job as their motivation, houses, vehicles and cash as their existence goals, and the pursuit of relief and pleasure as their final goal, with individualism, the worship of cash and hedonistic ideas spreading, developing and turning into habitual; Younger people, who are predicted to end up profitable with vigour and enthusiasm, lack ideal ethical cultivation and true behaviour, have an indistinct thought of lifestyles and a vulnerable notion of the prison system, and some even take the course of the crime. This phenomenon is surprising and worrying, and noticeably affects the best orientation and cost orientation of the new generation, causing deviations and misconceptions in the course of young people's lives.

Educational narratives do not refer to the "story" but to the "meaning" and its understanding. One of the characteristics of narrative texts is vivid description, full of images, delicate emotions, simple style, etc. It resonates with the reader, leading to a constant "nod" of approval and thus an understanding of the educational meaning it carries. Compared to reading prose, reading narrative texts is a kind of "informal reading", but the effect seems to be better: the gain comes from "understanding" rather than "accepting". Storytelling can help us to accept these facts more easily than the rigidity of someone telling us reasons and justifications. When we listen to a story, we become immersed in it, and in the end, it can help us understand the truth better, so storytelling can be very helpful in moral education.

With the progress of the times, science and technological know-how have advanced. There are now a variety of types of entertainment, and one of the most outstanding is video games. Video video games are additionally divided into many specific types, such as single-player games, journey survival games, puzzle games, etc. Compared to movies and books, video games are commonly viewed to be a fantastic way to tell a story, due to the fact every participant can have an immersive journey and for that reason be greater concerned in the story. Many memories in video video games have ethical instructions and gamers can examine greater or much less about their values in the course of the recreation [7,8].

I think many different types of video games can be of some help when we are not addicted to them. For example, puzzle games can help us exercise our brains and develop our different thinking patterns and different views of the world. Fighting games can develop our sense of competition and also relieve the stress of school or life, giving us the motivation to continue learning. Adventure survival games can develop our teamwork skills and our own patience, and they can also improve our concentration as the player's attention is more focused while playing. Games have always been the most important form of learning [9-11]. As the young animals play with each other, for example, they practise how to hunt and escape predators. Children playing house together also prepares them for their own entry into society. There is no clear line between play and learning. Playing games is also a form of learning. Some sophisticated video games and online games do not appeal to children because they contain shooting and fighting scenes. People who play games fall into four broad categories. One type is the "killer" type, who enjoys scenes of fighting and violence. They are the earliest video game enthusiasts, but not all of the new generation of gamers. The second type is the "explorer" type, they like the novelty of the game, they can look around and experience the feeling that they can't experience in reality. The third type is the "socializer", who likes to interact with other players. Most presidents of guilds are of this type. The fourth type, and probably the most numerous, is the "achiever", who looks for growth and a sense of self-actualization in the game.

The main type of game I would like to study is the 3A category, which is defined as high-quality, big-budget production games. In this case, 3A means three A's, indicating that the game has reached a very high level in the three areas of technology, art and gameplay, and usually requires a large investment of money and manpower. These games are generally characterised by excellent graphics, in-depth storylines, smooth gameplay experiences and rich and varied gameplay mechanics [5]. The type of game I want to focus on is the adventure survival game, because this kind of game generally has a rich and colourful story, the characters are also portrayed in the flesh and blood, so players are impressed. The games I chose were It Takes Two, Spiritfarer and This war of mine. In the game world, gamers see, hear and are in a position to manipulate the surroundings as if they had been in the actual world, whilst factors such as the game's story narrative preserve them immersed. Narrative describes the player's story, background, and characters, which make the participant sense like they are sections of the story. While experiencing the game, the participant now not solely participates in the current sport world, but additionally actively participates in constructing the game's narrative. In addition, the function of narrative in the recreation has additionally changed. In the early games, the presence of the story used to be extra about supplying historical past facts for the sport so that the participant ought to attain the dreams of the game. Nowadays, recreation narrative and gameplay are viewed equally essential by developers, and a desirable recreation narrative shape can frequently assist the recreation to gain fantastic success and convey a higher sports journey to the player. At the same time, as the recreation itself becomes greater superior and more complicated in technological know-how and gameplay, the recreation narrative evolves in a range of ways. It can be viewed that the manufacturing of unbiased video games has soared in recent years, and there have been extra and greater experimental games, which have similarly broadened the narrative mode of the game [12,13].

About It Takes Two, this game requires two gamers to go on a journey together, the place they take over two roles of Cody and May, a couple who dislike every different and have become dolls via a spell. Together they are trapped in a delusion world a place where surprising matters are hidden around each and every corner and they have to overcome challenges collectively whilst saving their damaged relationship. At the behest of their love guru, Dr. Harkin, Cody and May reluctantly strive to store their damaged relationship, whilst a range of completely happy and difficult game challenges will forestall them from returning to regular relationships. It Takes Two is an action-adventure game developed through Hazelight Studios, first printed all through the EA Play stay exhibit held on 18 June 2020 and handy on 26 March 2021 on Microsoft Windows (Steam, Origin), PlayStation 4, PlayStation PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S structures.

About Spiritfarer, In the game, the participant takes on the position of Stella (her partner is the adorable cat Daphdil, which is managed through some other participant in neighbourhood co-op mode). Stella is on a mission to turn out to be the new Spiritfarer: a legendary ferryman from the underworld who sails the seas full of delusion islands to discover them a domestic and finally put them to relaxation at the gates of eternity. Your position will inform you of lovely villages crammed with rice paddies, snow-covered lighthouses and the bustling capital of souls, gathering assets and upgrading your ship along the way to discover the extensive world of Spiritfarer.

About This war of mine, the game is now officially announced that the game has been recognized by the Polish government as a video game textbook for the Ministry of Education. This is a 2D survival simulation game inspired by the Siege of Serra during the Pokh War from 1992 to 1996. Players play as survivors trapped in the ruins of the war, in addition to the shelter to maintain food and clothing, but also have to choose to help or rob other people's resources to maintain the human struggle to survive. The game has been praised since its launch, because every character has his own story and reason to live, and every player has suffered a night when he and other partners are starving to death, and whether he can ruthlessly plunder the last grain of an unarmed old couple. In fact, "This War of Mine" presents the cruelty of war and the good and evil of human nature in a simple but profound video game selection. Guiding players to think about the importance of life and moral values, the actual process of playing the game, the outcome of the game (whether victory or defeat) and the reflection of even more than the entertainment of the game itself, is indeed a highly educational teaching material.

3. Theoretical Framework

The most appropriate method is inquiry learning. It is the process of constructing knowledge based on problem-solving activities. In the process of teaching, students should learn knowledge related to the problems they are exploring by constantly discovering and solving problems through meaningful problem situations, thus forming problem-solving skills and independent learning abilities. In other words, exploratory learning refers to the learning mode in which students actively participate experience, and form their own knowledge and understanding through these activities. Games are perfect for this, and the depth of the story in many games allows us to learn a lot and realize more. Constructivist learning theory holds that learning is not a simple transfer of knowledge from teacher to student, but a construction of knowledge by the student himself. Constructivist learning theory stresses the student-centred approach, in which the learner is not a passive recipient, but the main body of information processing and the active constructor of knowledge meaning. The spirit of player-centred, active participation, communication and cooperation with others embodied in video games is very similar to the constructivist theory of learner-centred, which stresses the idea of constructing knowledge by stimulating the learner's subjective initiative and collaborating with others to complete the construction of knowledge meaning. Most of the vivid plots narrated in video games have similar story templates that can be found in real life, and these stories can influence our values and make us reflect on things so that we can change ourselves and establish the right values.

4. Methods

A qualitative research design was chosen for this study in order to explore in-depth whether Chinese junior and senior high school students had certain thoughts about the moral aspects involved or whether new perceptions of their story narratives arose after playing video games. The qualitative research methodology facilitated a comprehensive exploration of the participants' perspectives, thus providing a nuanced understanding of the phenomenon under study.

4.1. Sampling&Participants

I will use a purposive sampling strategy and a total of 50 junior and senior high school students will be recruited for this study. The researchers are targeting a balanced mix of male and female students between the ages of 12 and 18. All participants must have had experience playing video games, (it does not matter if they enjoy playing video games or not, but they must know the whole story). Participants will be recruited from different middle and high schools in urban and suburban areas to get a variety of experiences. This purposeful selection of participants is intended to ensure diversity in age, gender, academic achievement, and socioeconomic background.

4.2. Data Sources

Data will be collected through semi-structured interviews conducted individually with each participant. Semi-structured interviews allow for flexibility, enabling participants to express their experiences and feelings freely while ensuring the research questions are addressed consistently across all interviews. The interviews will be conducted in a private setting to ensure confidentiality and to create a comfortable environment for participants to share openly.

4.3. Data Preparations

The verbatim transcription of the interview recordings after the data-collecting phase is over will guarantee the accuracy and comprehensiveness of the data. To ensure participant privacy, identifying information will be deleted from the transcripts. In order to ease categorization and coding, the anonymised transcripts will subsequently be put into a qualitative data analysis program.

4.4. Data Analysis

In this research proposal, I outline the planned data analysis methodology for a qualitative study that aims to investigate whether story plots told in 3Avideo games have some impact on adolescents in terms of moral learning. The data to be analysed will consist of interview transcripts collected from students who have played 3Avideo games. The focus of the analysis will be to identify the changes in thoughts, perceptions, and values that students have learned about the storylines told in the games as a result of playing them. I will analyse the information collected to identify correlations and differences and explore whether the research participants have different feelings and perceptions about the game plot when playing the game.

5. Discussion

5.1. It Takes Two

The game requires 2 players to go on an adventure together, where they take over two roles of Cody and May, a couple who dislike each other and have been turned into dolls by a spell. Together they are trapped in a fantasy world where unexpected things are hidden around every corner and they have to overcome challenges together while saving their broken relationship. At the behest of their love guru, Dr. Harkin, Cody and May reluctantly try to save their broken relationship, while a variety of joyful and difficult game challenges will prevent them from returning to a normal relationship.

Just like the players who work together in the game, the delicate family warmth and the playful comedy plots complement each other. Also, the two feelings work together to form a perfect closure to the entire story of It Takes Two. Cody and May work together in the game, but blame each other when they are in trouble [14]. Like most marriages in reality, they are bound to each other, but they cannot avoid the destruction of their love by their parents. It's easy to fall in love, but not easy to get married, so it's important for adults to understand that. Cody and May are finally reunited after all the hardships they have gone through, and their once-shattered relationship is repaired. To have a happy and long-lasting relationship, partners need to trust each other and, more importantly, have a sense of faith in each other through thick and thin. The core of the appeal of It Takes Two is that the hero and heroine work together throughout to get through one difficult situation after another. A good relationship needs to go through trials and tribulations in order to stand up to the test when it matters. Life can't be all about sharing the sweetness, and its sharing of bitterness makes you hold each other tighter.

It Takes Two is a game about a couple's relationship, their conflicts and struggles, and how they work together to overcome difficulties. The game covers many moral and educational aspects, such as :

Cooperation and Communication, the protagonists of the game, a couple, must constantly work together to overcome various difficulties. They must learn to communicate and understand each other's needs and wishes in order to reach a consensus and complete their tasks.

Understanding and Tolerance: arguments and conflicts often occur between couples, but the game's protagonist couple must learn to understand and tolerate each other and respect each other's thoughts and feelings, thus easing conflicts.

Courage and Resilience: the game's protagonist couple must face various difficulties and challenges and must learn courage and resilience, not to give up easily and to trust in their own and each other's abilities.

All in all, It Takes Two is a thought-provoking game that allows players to enjoy working together while reflecting on whether they have problems in their own relationship lives as Cody and May's and how they can improve their relationships with their partners or family members. The game also encourages players not to give up or run away when faced with difficulties, but to be brave and seek solutions.

5.2. Spiritfarer

Spiritfarer is an award-winning management game that revolves around the topic of death and is a soothing and healing game. In the game, the player will spend leisurely good times with ghost passengers and create lasting memories. Each soul friend will have their own regrets and wishes all through their operations and help to give them back their confidence and the courage to love life again, healing them as well as yourself! Finally, you will learn how to say goodbye to your cherished friends.

Players need to build a ship to explore the world, then help and care for the souls and eventually send them to the afterlife. Players can farm, mine, fish, harvest, cook and cross the mysterious sea in their own way.

The plot of Spiritfarer is also the one that makes you want to know what's behind it. In fact, the whole setting is the world after a person's death, but there is no fighting or killing, let alone demons and monsters, but ordinary people who even resemble the people in reality around them. The main character, Stella, was a dying companion in life, and she comes to this world as the perfect ferryman to take those she was with, fulfill their wishes here, and send them away to the gates of eternity, where dust returns to dust and everything returns to what it was. Each passenger who comes on board has their own personality, and the animal characters represent their character traits, different preferences and temperaments [15]. Each passenger will leave a deep impression on the player as they complete their tasks, and even if a very annoying passenger makes a rude request, there will be no thanks when it is fulfilled, but when you send them to the Eternal Gate, knowing their heartache and helplessness, you will be sad to see them leave. And those who are already kind and emotional will be even more unforgiving when they disembark. After a long game of sending off passengers one by one, the game ends with the player sending off Stella. When Stella arrives at Eternity's Gate with her cat in the boat, it's a moment to understand the reluctance to part with a good game; a moment to realize how long you've been playing; a moment to truly understand how heart-warming the embrace is; a moment to wish to be stuck at Eternity's Gate forever!

Throughout the game, players will learn many moral lessons such as care, acceptance, compassion and selflessness, of which the following are some concrete examples:

Care and Acceptance. By listening to them, the player builds trust and an emotional connection with them, helping them to feel cared for and accepted. This idea of care and acceptance is very important in moral education, as it helps us to build deeper connections with others and to foster mutual growth and development.

Compassion and Empathy. In the game, players are faced with many different emotions and challenges, such as loss, grief and fear. This idea of compassion and empathy is also very important in moral education, as it helps us to build empathy and understanding with others, so that we can better cope with the difficulties and challenges of life.

Selflessness and Giving. In the game, players have to put in a lot of time and effort to help souls fulfil their wishes and send them on to the afterlife. This spirit of selflessness and dedication is also very important in moral education, as it helps us to understand our responsibilities and obligations so that we can better contribute to others and society.

Life may be like this. In each stage of life, we will have a group of friends who accompany with us in this period of journey, but they are destined to come and go and run to their chosen direction of life. We may not be able to decide for them, but we also should be grateful and love of life. It is their appearance that enriched our life memories, and finally left us to a final close embrace. Then, they left our lifeboat. The traces they leave in our boat are like stars in the sky, accompanying with us all the way. Perhaps by saving others, we are also saved by others.

5.3. This War of Mine

In This War of Mine, players do not play as elite soldiers, but as a group of civilians trying to survive in a city under siege. Players face food and medical shortages, as well as the constant threat of snipers and enemy scavengers in this game. This game will give players a new perspective on what it's like to be at war. Should you do everything you can to protect everyone in the shelter, or make the necessary sacrifices to survive in the long term? The player has to make a life-or-death decision with their morality [16]. As there are no good or bad decisions in war, survival is everything and we must face reality as soon as possible.

This War of Mine also includes the following DLCs:

Children: A fresh look at the hardships of surviving war from the perspective of a child of war.

Father's Promise: A touching story of hope and loss in a war-torn city.

The Last Broadcast: As a broadcaster, you face the moral dilemma of deciding what price to pay for the truth.

The Ashes Burn Dark Anna: Trapped in a war zone, she must confront a weighty question - what is more important - preserving human heritage or protecting lives?

This War of Mine is a very special game that puts the player in the role of a civilian living in the middle of a war and having to deal with all the stress and difficulties that war brings. This game not only gives the player a very realistic gaming experience, but also teaches some moral lessons.

The game makes the player aware of the destruction and suffering that war brings to human society. In the game, the player has to deal with the lack of basic materials such as food, water and medical supplies, as well as the security threats and psychological pressures that war brings, which makes the player deeply aware of the destruction and suffering that war brings to human society, and thus creates a desire for a peaceful society [17].

The game allows the player to feel the conflict between survival and morality. In the game, the player has to perform various actions to survive, which may violate some moral codes. For example, the player may have to rob others of material goods to meet their own survival needs, or kill other survivors to protect themselves. These situations provide insight into the conflict between survival and morality, leading to a reflection on moral values.

The game makes the player aware of the importance of compassion and empathy. In the game, the player is confronted with a variety of difficulties and pressures, as well as the plight and suffering of other survivors. These situations make the player acutely aware of the importance of compassion and empathy and thus provoke a reflection on human nature.

This War of Mine has been approved by the Polish government as a video game textbook for the Polish Ministry of Education. Teachers use the game to guide their students through discussions about war, morality and philosophy, helping children to develop a correct worldview and values. In its announcement, the Polish government said that "This War of Mine" has been repeatedly appreciated and awarded by the international community and that the game can help us learn a lot about the atrocities of war, expose the cruelty of war and make students think about the issue of life and ethical views in war, which has a realistic and reflective meaning.

These three games have a lot in common. Firstly, the storytelling of video games can help young people to study moral values. Storylines in video games generally have clear themes and moral lessons. Through the game's storyline, young people can analyse what is right, what is not right and why it is right or not right [18]. For example, some storylines may also include teaching young people about moral values such as honesty, courage and support for others. These moral values are a necessary part of young people's development, supporting them to reinforce the right values and beliefs and ultimately to become a person of character.

Secondly, the storytelling aspect of the game can develop positive behavioural habits in young people. The main characters in the games are often positive figures. They have virtues such as courage, a sense of justice and compassion. Through the actions of the game's protagonists, young people can learn positive habits; for example, the game's protagonists can show courage and resilience in the face of hardship and danger. This will inspire young people to behave in the same way when faced with difficulties in real life.

Finally, storytelling in games can enhance young people's sense of social responsibility and empathy. The storylines in games often deal with social issues such as discrimination, poverty and environmental protection. Through game storylines, young people are able to understand the existence of these social issues and feel the impact of these issues on society and themselves, which will prompt them to pay more attention to social issues in real life, thus developing their sense of social responsibility and empathy.

5.4. Other Types of Games

In modern society, games have become one of the main forms of entertainment and leisure for young people. Some of these games have a positive meaning and not only give young people pleasure but also provide them with moral education. Making the connection between the moral lessons in the game can help players to better understand and apply the moral lessons they learn, and thus better cope with real-life challenges and problems. Here are some examples. In the following, I will present some examples of positive games and discuss the moral education they provide.

Develop creativity and problem-solving skills. Minecraft is a very popular sandbox game that allows players to create their own world within the game. In this game, players have to survive by collecting resources, making tools and building houses. The game helps young people to learn about self-management, resource management and creativity. Exploring, learning and experimenting will help young people develop courage and patience, creativity and problem-solving skills. For example, players are expected to respect the privacy and property of others and not to steal or violate the rights of others.

Learn to deal with human relationships. Animal Crossing is a great game for youngsters in which players can take on the role of the inhabitants of a village and live with the animals in the village. In the game, players need to survive by farming, fishing and collecting. The game helps youngsters to learn social skills by interacting and communicating with other inhabitants, which helps them to learn how to get along with others and improve their social skills [19]. For example, players need to respect the feelings of others, refrain from bullying and denigrating others, and maintain the order and harmony of the town, so they need to learn how to build positive relationships, how to deal with interpersonal conflicts, how to cooperate with others and how to allocate resources wisely.

Learn time management skills. The Sims is a simulation game developed by TheSimsStudio and is a global bestseller. Players can set their gender and basic appearance, decide on character traits, create houses and furnishings, and guide Sims through life, parties, work, outings and more. This game helps young people to learn, self-manage and manage their time. The game helps youngsters to learn how to plan their time and improve their time management skills. There is also some moral education in the game, trying to simulate their life, making the best management of their time and living their life through God's perspective.

Some games recreate a period of history as accurately as possible, and giving youngsters an insight into the background of that period of history can also help to bring the learning experience alive for them. Assassin's Creed: Origins, for example, has an exploration mode that takes players to various places in ancient Egypt, and Titanic: Glory, recreates history as accurately as possible, even down to the star signs on the night of the Titanic's voyage.

Overall, these games not only bring pleasure to young people but also help them to gain moral education. These moral education components include the ability to manage themselves, manage resources, socialise, and respect others. By playing these games, young people can learn how to get along with others, how to plan their time, how to complete various tasks and improve their social skills time management skills, problem-solving skills, etc.

6. Conclusion

In conclusion, I believe that the story narratives in video games enable young people to learn a lot about proper morality, and thus get along better with those around them, and have a deeper sense and clearer plan for their own lives. For example, This War of Mine teaches us to reflect on war and racism; Spiritfarer teaches us to be grateful and love of life; It Takes Two teaches us not to give up or run away when faced with difficulties, but to be brave and seek solutions; Assassin's Creed teaches us to pursue the idea of freedom; World of Warcraft teaches us that good and evil have no boundaries and that race is not about glory; in short, young people can be influenced by the plots of video games in one way or another when they play them, thus generating a lot of insights. The video game consequently gives an exceptional narrative structure from that of realism. Firstly, the 'core gameplay' is defined, and then the world is set up on the groundwork of that core gameplay. Characters, situations, and different factors are built in quite unbiased modules, which then suit into the framework of the 'core gameplay'. At the same time, the recreation has to furnish a vicinity for the player's alternate persona to be active, so that a collection of duties that the participant has to the whole (either voluntarily or with the aid of choice) and the rewards and punishments for success/failure end up central to the narrative of the video game, and round these interesting tales the participant can ride many new sensations and strengthen new insights into the world for themselves and reflections, which is very essential for younger people [20]. Teenagers are at a stage where they are interested in new things, and the stories in video games, and the spirit of the main characters can make them want to strive to become better people and achieve their dreams too. So, when children play these games, they can learn a lot from the storyline of the game, and they can also learn the unique personalities of the characters in the game so that they can try to become like the main characters in the game themselves. Therefore, parents and teachers should encourage children to play games appropriately, as long as the time spent playing is controlled, then playing games is also a good way for children to relax, children can learn a lot in the process of playing themselves, and thus want to become better in real life, which is a very positive thing.


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[6]. Baloo, R(2022)101 Reasons That Video Games Can Be Educational Available at https://royalbaloo.com/video-games-educational/[Accessed 01.09.2023]

[7]. Glasa, J. (2009). ‘Computer simulation and predicting dangerous forest fire behaviour’. International Journal of Mathematics and Computer in Simulation. Issue 2, Volume 3.

[8]. Hodges, C. (2004). ‘Designing to motivate: Motivational techniques to incorporate in e-learning experiences’. The Journal of Interactive Online Learning 2(3). [Online]. http://www.ncolr.org/jiol/issues/PDF/2.3.1.pdf [Accessed 07. 09. 2023].

[9]. Carnley, Z(2021)How Hades' Contextual Storytelling Helped Earned Its Numerous Awards, Available at https://gamerant.com/hades-story-awards/[Accessed 05.09.2023]

[10]. Marine, G(2008)Digital Storytelling: An Emerging Tool for Student and Teacher Learning, Available at https://www.proquest.com/openview/b228b959bbf72e00acc9c627ff6fc070/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750[Accessed 27.08.2023]

[11]. Alismail, H.(2015).Integrate Digital Storytelling in Education. Available at https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1082416.pdf[Accessed 20.08.2023]

[12]. Gils, F.(2005)Potential Applications of Digital Storytelling in Education.3rd Twente Student Conference on IT, Enschede June, University of Twente, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science. Available at https://wwwhome.ewi.utwente.nl/~theune/VS/Frank_van_Gils.pdf[Accessed: 12.09.2023]

[13]. Kuroko, S.(2020)An academic perspective on how games can help us learn and understand the world. Available at [Accessed 01.09.2023]

[14]. Nathan(2023)What is a story-based learning approach? Available at https://www.robowunderkind.com/blog/storytelling-as-a-teaching-technique-why-teach-story-based-lessons[Accessed 12.09.2023]

[15]. Pavlovic, D.(2020).Video Game Genres: Everything You Need to Know. Available at https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/tech-takes/video-game-genres[Accessed 12.09.2023]

[16]. L, jiayu(2021).The application of narrative teaching method in teaching English grammar in high school. Available at: https://www.gwyoo.com/lunwen/jxztlw/jxflw/202107/744209.html [Accessed:14.09.2023]

[17]. W, changjiang. (2022)Why teachers need to read and write educational narratives. Available at https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/2rQiG7op-7C0D1c2F6J8eQ[Accessed 10.08.2023]

[18]. Anderson, C. (2019) Storytelling is a powerful communication tool — here’s how to use it, from TED. Available at https://ideas.ted.com/storytelling-is-a-powerful-communication-tool-heres-how-to-use-it-from-ted/ [Accessed: 10.08.2023]

[19]. Bosch, M.(2020)A good game for reflection, This War of Mine becomes an electronic textbook for the Polish Ministry of Education. Available at https://www.commonsense.org/education/reviews/this-war-of-mine [Accessed online 03.09.2023]

[20]. Yu, W.(2022)Benefits of video games for education. Available at https://mbd.baidu.com/ug_share/mbox/4a83aa9e65/share?product=smartapp&tk=ffc6cc25423cc5d3d69114876a770383&share_url=https%3A%2F%2Fsa93g4.smartapps.baidu.com%2Fpages%2Fsquestion%2Fsquestion%3F_swebfr%3D1%26qid%3D689896600242757652%26rid%3D4060235696%26_swebFromHost%3Dbaiduboxapp&domain=mbd.baidu.com [Accessed 05.09.2023]


Cite this article

Yang,D. (2024). To What Extent Does Storytelling in Video Games Help Students with Their Moral Learning Development. Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media,61,174-184.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.

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Volume title: Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Social Psychology and Humanity Studies

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Conference date: 1 March 2024
Series: Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media
Volume number: Vol.61
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References

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[5]. Thomas, A(2021)5 Reasons Video Games Should Be More Widely Used In School, Available at https://today.tamu.edu/2021/09/06/5-reasons-video-games-should-be-more-widely-used-in-school/[Accessed 30.08.2023]

[6]. Baloo, R(2022)101 Reasons That Video Games Can Be Educational Available at https://royalbaloo.com/video-games-educational/[Accessed 01.09.2023]

[7]. Glasa, J. (2009). ‘Computer simulation and predicting dangerous forest fire behaviour’. International Journal of Mathematics and Computer in Simulation. Issue 2, Volume 3.

[8]. Hodges, C. (2004). ‘Designing to motivate: Motivational techniques to incorporate in e-learning experiences’. The Journal of Interactive Online Learning 2(3). [Online]. http://www.ncolr.org/jiol/issues/PDF/2.3.1.pdf [Accessed 07. 09. 2023].

[9]. Carnley, Z(2021)How Hades' Contextual Storytelling Helped Earned Its Numerous Awards, Available at https://gamerant.com/hades-story-awards/[Accessed 05.09.2023]

[10]. Marine, G(2008)Digital Storytelling: An Emerging Tool for Student and Teacher Learning, Available at https://www.proquest.com/openview/b228b959bbf72e00acc9c627ff6fc070/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750[Accessed 27.08.2023]

[11]. Alismail, H.(2015).Integrate Digital Storytelling in Education. Available at https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1082416.pdf[Accessed 20.08.2023]

[12]. Gils, F.(2005)Potential Applications of Digital Storytelling in Education.3rd Twente Student Conference on IT, Enschede June, University of Twente, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science. Available at https://wwwhome.ewi.utwente.nl/~theune/VS/Frank_van_Gils.pdf[Accessed: 12.09.2023]

[13]. Kuroko, S.(2020)An academic perspective on how games can help us learn and understand the world. Available at [Accessed 01.09.2023]

[14]. Nathan(2023)What is a story-based learning approach? Available at https://www.robowunderkind.com/blog/storytelling-as-a-teaching-technique-why-teach-story-based-lessons[Accessed 12.09.2023]

[15]. Pavlovic, D.(2020).Video Game Genres: Everything You Need to Know. Available at https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/tech-takes/video-game-genres[Accessed 12.09.2023]

[16]. L, jiayu(2021).The application of narrative teaching method in teaching English grammar in high school. Available at: https://www.gwyoo.com/lunwen/jxztlw/jxflw/202107/744209.html [Accessed:14.09.2023]

[17]. W, changjiang. (2022)Why teachers need to read and write educational narratives. Available at https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/2rQiG7op-7C0D1c2F6J8eQ[Accessed 10.08.2023]

[18]. Anderson, C. (2019) Storytelling is a powerful communication tool — here’s how to use it, from TED. Available at https://ideas.ted.com/storytelling-is-a-powerful-communication-tool-heres-how-to-use-it-from-ted/ [Accessed: 10.08.2023]

[19]. Bosch, M.(2020)A good game for reflection, This War of Mine becomes an electronic textbook for the Polish Ministry of Education. Available at https://www.commonsense.org/education/reviews/this-war-of-mine [Accessed online 03.09.2023]

[20]. Yu, W.(2022)Benefits of video games for education. Available at https://mbd.baidu.com/ug_share/mbox/4a83aa9e65/share?product=smartapp&tk=ffc6cc25423cc5d3d69114876a770383&share_url=https%3A%2F%2Fsa93g4.smartapps.baidu.com%2Fpages%2Fsquestion%2Fsquestion%3F_swebfr%3D1%26qid%3D689896600242757652%26rid%3D4060235696%26_swebFromHost%3Dbaiduboxapp&domain=mbd.baidu.com [Accessed 05.09.2023]