While educational games have been increasingly popular in education, insufficient studies have comprehensively reviewed their effectiveness. To complement this missing link, this study explored ...game-based learning outcomes including academic achievements, problem-solving, and critical thinking abilities, knowledge, learning efficiency, skills, student attitudes, and behaviors. Both negative and positive effects of educational games on motivation were also explored based on comprehensive literature analysis. The role of engagement in game-based learning was studied, coupled with the ways to enhance student engagement. We also explored the importance of gamified components in student satisfaction and provided constructive suggestions for designers and practitioners. Future research should highlight learning analytics and data mining techniques of educational game-based learning and try to find out solutions to address various problems to improve the effectiveness of educational games.
Many studies have shown the positive impact of serious educational games (SEGs) on learning outcomes. However, there still exists insufficient research that delves into the impact of immersive ...experience in the process of gaming on SEG‐based science learning. The dual purpose of this study was to further explore this impact. One purpose was to develop and validate an innovative measurement, the Game Immersion Questionnaire (GIQ), and to further verify the hierarchical structure of game immersion by construct validity approaches, including exploratory factor analysis (EFA) (n = 257) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) (n = 1044). The second purpose was to investigate the impact of game immersion on science learning through SEG play (n = 260). Overall, the results supported the internal structure of the GIQ with good reliability and validity, and the inter factor bivariate correlations for each construct indicated a high internal consistency. Players did learn from playing an SEG, and game immersion experience did lead to higher gaming performance. Moreover, players' gaming performance plays a role in mediating the effect of immersion on science learning outcomes through SEG play. However, as players became more emotionally and subjectively attached to the game, the science learning outcomes were not definitively reliable.
This meta-analysis was conducted to systematically synthesize research findings on effects of gamification on cognitive, motivational, and behavioral learning outcomes. Results from random effects ...models showed significant small effects of gamification on cognitive (
g
= .49, 95% CI 0.30, 0.69,
k
= 19,
N
= 1686), motivational (
g
= .36, 95% CI 0.18, 0.54,
k
= 16,
N
= 2246), and behavioral learning outcomes (
g
= .25, 95% CI 0.04, 0.46,
k
= 9,
N
= 951). Whereas the effect of gamification on cognitive learning outcomes was stable in a subsplit analysis of studies employing high methodological rigor, effects on motivational and behavioral outcomes were less stable. Given the heterogeneity of effect sizes, moderator analyses were conducted to examine
inclusion of game fiction
,
social interaction
,
learning arrangement of the comparison group
, as well as situational, contextual, and methodological moderators, namely,
period of time
,
research context
,
randomization
,
design
, and
instruments
. Inclusion of game fiction and social interaction were significant moderators of the effect of gamification on behavioral learning outcomes. Inclusion of game fiction and combining competition with collaboration were particularly effective within gamification for fostering behavioral learning outcomes. Results of the subsplit analysis indicated that effects of competition augmented with collaboration might also be valid for motivational learning outcomes. The results suggest that gamification as it is currently operationalized in empirical studies is an effective method for instruction, even though factors contributing to successful gamification are still somewhat unresolved, especially for cognitive learning outcomes.
This research aims to investigate the use of jigsaw and educational game to maximize the sophomores’ reading skill. To find out the sophomores’ burden in reading activities, the researcher ...distributed questionnaires and did the data analysis by combining the qualitative and quantitative research methods. The researchers investigated 20 students to find out the combination influence of jigsaw and educational games to enhance the students’ reading skill. The students found reading difficult since it covered many features and a lot of vocabulary items and idiomatic expressions that the readers were supposed to understand as well. This is also because they had to understand other aspects like translation, scanning, and skimming. It moreover made the reading activity frustrating. The combination techniques of Jigsaw and educational game proved effective and fun since the result from the students’ test showed positive; around 80% of the sophomores understood the reading texts better which could be seen in the test result from the reading texts’ questions. The researcher combined descriptive qualitative and quantitative data to report the students’ result towards the reading texts. From the qualitative method, researcher investigated the students’ attitude towards reading 3 subjects by observing, taking notes and interviewing the students. From the quantitative data, the researcher investigated the students’ ability in reading by distributing a test instrument to get the students’ scores before and after they got the treatment of the jigsaw and educational games in the Reading 3 class. The tests were taken from TOEFL reading part test. The researcher chose the reading texts from the TOEFL passages since the sophomores got TOEFL materials for their Reading 3. Twenty students from STIBA took part. The results showed that if the researcher applied the combination strategies both jigsaw and educational games, the students’ understanding improved, and they also got fun learning activities in Reading 3.
Aesthetics play a pivotal role in enriching the learning experience and are indispensable for fostering optimal educational environments. This study aims to identify the factors that shape aesthetic ...experiences within educational gaming contexts. Employing a qualitative methodology, data were scrutinized through inductive content analysis. A review of pertinent literature on aesthetic elements from 1994 to 2022 yielded 250 selected resources. Subsequently, based on purposive sampling, 108 sources were analyzed. These sources were systematically coded and recorded in a table as key phrases pertaining to the key components of elements of game aesthetics. In the final phase, eight faculty members with expertise in educational technology and art, specializing in educational games, evaluated the factors influencing aesthetic experiences. Their collective expertise affirmed the face and content validity of the identified factors. The findings revealed six key factors that significantly shape the aesthetic experience in educational games. These factors are instrumental in fostering player immersion, as they significantly influence attention, visualization, and emotional engagement. The findings also highlight the imperative for game designers and developers to incorporate these factors into future educational games to enhance the quality of game-based learning.
Playing the role of project manager requires a certain level of knowledge and experience from previous projects, thus enabling better decision making. The use of serious games increasingly allows ...newer project managers to gain the necessary experience and knowledge in a controlled environment. Since several serious games have been developed, the need then arose to conduct a study to measure the level of coverage these simulators provide to the PMBOK. Fifteen games were included in this study and it is remarkable the effort that has been made to improve these tools, as it was found that of the 12 games, 7 covers at least 3 of the 5 process groups found in the PMBOK. It was also found that more than 80% of the serious games cover time management and that less than 20% of the games do not cover the procurement area. Our study recommends that comparative studies be done between simulators in ways to evaluate the improvements that newer simulators bring. Studies to evaluate the teaching learning method of the simulators should also be conducted so that the efficiency of this teaching learning method can be evaluated.
Although there is a consensus on the instructional potential of Serious Games (SGs), there is still a lack of methodologies and tools not only for design but also to support analysis and assessment. ...Filling this gap is one of the main aims of the Games and Learning Alliance (http://www.galanoe.eu) European Network of Excellence on Serious Games, which has a focus upon pedagogy‐driven SGs. This paper relies on the assumption that the fundamental aspect of SG design consists in the translation of learning goals/practices into mechanical element of gameplay, serving to an instructional purpose beside that of play and fun. This paper proposes the Learning Mechanics–Game Mechanics (LM‐GM) model, which supports SG analysis and design by allowing reflection on the various pedagogical and game elements in an SG. The LM‐GM model includes a set of pre‐defined game mechanics and pedagogical elements that we have ed from literature on game studies and learning theories. Designers and analysts can exploit these mechanics to draw the LM‐GM map for a game, so as to identify and highlight its main pedagogical and entertainment features, and their interrelations. The tool may also be useful for teachers to evaluate the effectiveness of a given game and better understand how to implement it in educational settings. A case study is reported to illustrate the framework's support in determining how gameplay and pedagogy intertwine in an SG. Finally, the paper presents the results of two comparative user tests demonstrating the advantages of the proposed model with respect to a similar state‐of‐the‐art framework.
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