You are encouraged to attend the defence. The details of the defence and attendance information is included below: 

Date: July 21, 2025
Time: 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM (PT)  

Defence mode: Hybrid 
In-Person Attendance: Senate Chambers, UNBC Prince George Campus  
Virtual Attendance: via Zoom 

LINK TO JOIN: Please contact the Office of Graduate Administration for information regarding remote attendance for online defences. 

To ensure the defence proceeds with no interruptions, please mute your audio and video on entry and do not inadvertently share your screen. The meeting will be locked to entry 5 minutes after it begins: please ensure you are on time.  

Thesis entitled: UTILITARIAN EVALUATION OF EDUCATIONAL GAMES IN POST-SECONDARY STUDENTS

Abstract: Educational games have become a niche genre, with few games produced for the post-secondary market. This study intended to investigate game mechanics by providing an educational game for first-year university math courses. Participants displayed such an aversion to the educational game genre that the study shifted to a qualitative investigation of students’ attitudes toward educational games. Interviews revealed that math aversion was a more powerful deterrent than expected, but additional themes included unexpected preconceptions toward games, social identity factors, and themes involving trust; students simply did not trust that a game with an educational purpose would be worth their time. A larger theme was utilitarian vs hedonic evaluation: once the game was introduced as ‘educational’, the students assessed it for its utility value, not just its hedonic value. Utilitarian assessment of educational games appears to be an underexplored factor in educational game adoption, particularly in adult users such as post-secondary students. These interviews, along with an examination of exergame usage as an analogue for adult educational game users, suggest that balancing utilitarian and hedonic mechanics is key. Further research is needed to identify an ideal balance for “fun tools” to enhance educational game adoption rates in post-secondary. 

Defence Committee:  
Chair: Dr. Catharine Schiller, University of Northern British Columbia  
Supervisor: Dr. Kafui Monu, University of Northern British Columbia  
Committee Member: Dr. Jennifer Hyndman, University of Northern British Columbia  
Committee Member: Dr. Christine Ho Younghusband, University of Northern British Columbia  
External Examiner: Mrs. Julie Howard, University of Northern British Columbia