|
|
Playing soldiers: An Ethnographical study of virtual military units
Kos, Andrej ; Hrabec, Ondřej (advisor) ; Doubek, David (referee)
The text aims to explore the environment and culture of virtual military units in the Arma 3 video game using an ethnographical approach. It analyses their structure and agency in terms of the theoretical views of concepts such as Communities of practice and the Protheus effect. It also considers the theories of role-playing and psychodrama. Immersion and player identity are also discussed on a theoretical level. Participant observation and focused interviews were chosen as data collection methods. The data was captured in the form of video recordings and further analysed. The text continues to focus on the analysis of the data sections presented and the emergence of three crucial aspects: the acquisition of technical skills by the players, their gradual enculturation into the gaming community, and, finally, the specific mode of experience these virtual activities offer, and emotional aspect of said experience. It is argued in the text that the specific technical knowledge that players acquire, combined with the connection to a specific context created and maintained by the group itself, allows the establishment of a specific relationship between the player and his virtual character that enables a particular form of authentic experiencing of the game content. These findings continue to be...
|
|
|
Learning through experience, its potential, mechanisms and connected phenomena
Kos, Andrej ; Smetáčková, Irena (advisor) ; Štech, Stanislav (referee)
This thesis aims to illuminate the potential for personal growth in learning through experience. The paper also tries to describe the principles of learning and connected phenomena and the mechanisms, through which its acteurs gain the option to achieve personal growth. To support its theoretical claims, an observation has been conducted in the duration of circa four months among three after-school activity groups. The observed phenomena have then been interpreted in terms of theoretical concepts of learning, experiencing, the dynamics of small groups and personal growth provided earlier in the paper. Based on the observation, a system of "learning situations" has been constructed and its characteristics and mechanism, through which its acteurs can achieve personal growth, explained. Key words: Learning, social learning, group activities, free-time activities, personal growth, leadership, social attachement
|
guest ::
