A Delphi Study on the Design of Digital Educational Games

Abstract

The biggest challenge for the Digital Educational Games Design refers to how to integrate game mechanics and learning mechanics into the gameplay in order to enhance motivation and engagement and improve learning outcomes. This study is the pilot phase of a Delphi method that proposes guidelines for the design of Digital Educational Games. The participants of the Delphi study were academic experts from the scientific field of Digital Educational Game Design. In the first round of the study, a questionnaire of six open-ended questions was sent. The second round questionnaire consisted of 46 closed-ended questions in order to estimate agreement between the participants. The third round questionnaire consisted of one open-ended question. According to the results of the study, the learning and game mechanics elements that have been suggested by the participants as the most important elements are those that promote constructivism, authentic learning environments, personalized learning, and fun. The experts mentioned as very important and challenging element, the way learning mechanics should be integrated into the context of the gameplay. What is proposed to achieve the learning objectives and bring the maximum extent of engagement into the game, is that the learning objectives should be included in activities that do not clearly reveal the learning objectives themselves but incorporate them into symbolic representations of everyday life experiences and examples, that are fun for the users and motivate them for high interaction during the gameplay.