Adopting a pretest-posttest experimental design with repeated measures, this study examined the effects of three types of game-based learning supports in the form of modeling on knowledge development that contributed to successful math problem solving and students' perceived game flow. Forty-one sixth-grade students participated in the study and…

Educational games are becoming increasingly prevalent. Recently, adaptive game-based learning to accommodate diverse learners has received considerable attention. The current study aims to explore the effect of adaptive scaffolding from a multidimensional engagement perspective. A total of 61 students from a Taiwan secondary school studied…

How to improve students' problem-solving skills and creativity and adapt them to the new situation of the twenty-first century is a rather important educational objective at present, and is expected to be for a long time to come. Project-based learning (PBL) is considered to be an approach that can develop students' higher-order thinking skills,…

Prior studies on game-based learning provide limited and mixed results in the transfer of skills learned during game play to contexts outside of the game. This study tested the effects of playing a blocked-based programming educational game implemented with in-game cognitive supports on students' ability to learn and apply computational thinking…

Online educational games have been widely used to support students' mathematics learning. However, their effects largely depend on student-related factors, the most prominent being their behavioral characteristics as they play the games. In this study, we applied a set of learning analytics methods (k-means clustering, data visualization) to…

The current study investigated students' gameplay behavioral patterns as a function of in-game learning supports delivery timing when played a computer-based physics game. Our sample included 134 secondary students (M = 14.40, SD = .90) from all over the United States, who were randomly assigned into three conditions: receiving instructional…

We report on a design-based research study that was conducted over three iterations. It chronicles the design, development, and implementation of School Scene Investigators, a forensic science game series for middle school students that utilizes mobile augmented reality. Played on mobile devices while exploring the school environment, School Scene…

In-game learning supports aim to help students solve game levels (i.e., game-related supports), and connect to underlying content (i.e., content-related and hybrid supports). Students with different levels of prior knowledge may have different needs for in-game supports. In this study, we designed a 2D physics game with game-related,…

Over three years, our research team has designed various learning supports for promoting content knowledge and solving game levels. In this case study, we examined the optimal design and the evaluation of learning support videos for a physics educational game. Often studies focus on investigating the effects of research-based principles without a…

Mobile serious games are increasingly utilized as educational tools in elementary schools, and a considerable body of research has focused on evaluating such games' educational effectiveness. However, such work has generally ignored learning processes, and especially how knowledge is constructed. Given the important role of knowledge construction…

Games can be rich environments for learning and can elicit evidence of students' conceptual understanding and inquiry processes. Illuminating students' content-specific gameplay decisions, or methods of completing game tasks related to a certain domain, requires a context that is open-ended enough for students to make choices that demonstrate…

Video games' capacity to facilitate complex and interactive modes of engagement has led to their portrayal as particularly effective means for designing authentic and situated learning environments, which overcome the artificial and abstract nature of conventional teacher-centered schooling. Focusing on the intentional use of progressive-oriented…

Gamification research in educational settings has produced mixed results on student learning outcomes. Educational researchers and practitioners both struggle with identifying when, where, and how to use gamification design concepts. The present study provides findings from a meta-analysis that integrated the empirical, quantitative research on…

In this synthesis, we systematically review research on educational games with adaptivity. Although an adaptive gaming experience provides personalization to learning, the complexity of design makes it difficult to evaluate its effectiveness. In this systematic review, we adopt three analytic approaches: (1) bibliometric analysis, (2) qualitative…

Although educational games have been used for a considerable time, their true potential for enhancing achievement and motivation is still being explored. We argue in this paper that we may get closer to realizing this potential if the theoretical underpinning of educational games is improved. We developed a simple interactive math game based on…