Thomas D Grace
Research Keywords: game-based-learning; design research; online community governance; moderation; cooperation; systems thinking; multiplayer games
Contact: tgrace(at) uci (dot) edu
I started my career in the Information Systems department at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa and was mainly responsible for teaching technical courses within the context of Information Systems/Informatics. I designed and taught classes on topics relating to information system design and development. I designed courses with the goal to build problem-solving skills and leverage design-based thinking. I always tried to make sure that my learning activities included hands-on experiences and made sure to include real-world examples and game-based learning when possible.
I am currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Informatics working with Professor Katie Salen Tekinbaş in the Made With Play lab at the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences (ICS) at the University of California Irvine. My research explores the complexity behind the design of online spaces and virtual worlds with a focus on how 'rules of play', online governance, and moderation might influence community interaction. Online multiplayer games and virtual spaces are designed around a system of rules and I am interested in exploring how communities interact within and around these systems. I aim to explore how the design of an online game or virtual spaces might influence interactions among the players, specifically exploring how design influences communication, cooperation, competition, and inclusivity. I consider it important to look at the ‘rules of play’ designed into a game along with the systems designed outside the game, such as governance structures and moderation policies.
While I am currently researching the design of virtual spaces, I am also interested in the design of games and how those designs scaffold learning experiences. My first adventure in researching games was to explore the use of digital games in the context of University level programing and business process management education. I have also worked on improving design methodologies with improving how the persona design technique could be used in the design of technology involving young people.
Publications List
Thomas D Grace, Christie Abel, and Katie Salen. 2023. Child-Centered Design in the Digital World: Investigating the Implications of the Age-Appropriate Design Code for Interactive Digital Media. In Proceedings of the 22nd Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference (IDC '23). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 289–297. https://doi.org/10.1145/3585088.3589370
Thomas D. Grace, Ian Larson, and Katie Salen. 2022. Policies of Misconduct: A Content Analysis of Codes of Conduct for Online Multiplayer Games. Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact. 6, CHI PLAY, Article 250 (October 2022), 23 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3549513
Du, Y., Grace, T. D., Jagannath, K., & Salen-Tekinbas, K. (2021). Connected Play in Virtual Worlds: Communication and Control Mechanisms in Virtual Worlds for Children and Adolescents. Multimodal Technologies and Interaction, 5(5), 27. https://doi.org/10.3390/mti5050027
[Honourable Mention] Abel, C. A., & Grace, T. D. (2020). Designing dyadic caregiver-child personas for interactive digital media use. Proceedings of the Interaction Design and Children Conference, 198–204. https://doi.org/10.1145/3392063.3394391
Cohen, J., & Grace, T. (2019). Motivational and Occupational Self-efficacy Outcomes of Students in a BPM Course: The Role of Industry Tools vs Digital Games. In F. Daniel, Q. Z. Sheng, & H. Motahari (Eds.), Business Process Management Workshops (pp. 567–579). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11641-5_45
Mudarikwa, G., & Grace, T. D. (2018). Agile system development methodologies usage and acceptance in South African banking firms: An exploratory analysis. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the South African Institute of Computer Scientists and Information Technologists, 248–257. https://doi.org/10.1145/3278681.3278711
Cohen, J., Bancilhon, J.-M., & Grace, T. (2018). Digitally connected living and quality of life: An analysis of the Gauteng City-Region, South Africa. The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries, 84(1), e12010. https://doi.org/10.1002/isd2.12010
Grace, T., & Cohen, J. (2016). Business Process Management and Digital Game Based Learning. Proceedings of the Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS) 2016, San Diego CA https://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2016/ISEdu/Presentations/35
Grace, T. (2016). Digital game-based learning: Effects on students’ perceptions and achievements in a business process management course [Master’s Thesis]. http://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/handle/10539/22119