THE ROLE OF GAMES IN CONTEMPORARY EDUCATION: CHALLENGES FOR THE TEACHERS AND STUDENTS IN THE ERA OF BLENDED LEARNING – CORRELATION BETWEEN GRADES AND GAMES PERFORMANCE

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a surge in information and communications technology, propelled by the pandemic’s emphasis on remote learning. Interactive technologies like computers, tablets, and mobile phones hold promise for digitizing work and education, fostering creativity and immersion. Educators are increasingly exploring the integration of interactive and game-based tools into learning, inspired by the widespread popularity of gaming across age groups. Immersive game-based platforms, capable of integrating curricula and functioning in multiplayer settings, are emerging as a new trend in online learning, offering enhanced engagement for both students and teachers and improving test results. However, integrating games still presents challenges for teachers and students. Understanding the correlation between students’ grades and their performance in educational games is a significant challenge. While research suggests that game-based learning can positively impact academic achievement, further exploration is needed to grasp the nuanced relationship between in-game performance and traditional assessment metrics. Formative assessments through game-based solutions have gained popularity, but there is a lack of multiplayer classroom tools offering varied gameplay mechanics and content integration for creative learning. Research into the motivational aspects of multiplayer gaming, the impact of different gameplay dynamics on learning outcomes, and a comparison of multiplayer versus traditional approaches are areas for further exploration. Our study introduces a novel multiplayer game-based platform (Multiplayer Team Training Platform or MTT) addressing the challenges of uniform gameplay, offering a variety of gameplay dynamics and automated tracking of student performance in both single and multiplayer modes. A comparison between traditional assessment and game-based assessment in similar settings was undertaken with different classes, subjects, and age groups, and a comparative study was done to analyze the results of both experiments. The investigations showed that the Control Groups consistently outperformed, suggesting potential benefits of traditional teaching methods, especially under teacher’s supervision. However, it was also observed that repeated testing in the control groups did not necessarily result in enhanced retention of knowledge. Conversely, the game-based environment showed gradual improvement with gameplay repetition and reduced concerns about cheating among students. Strong positive correlations between subject grades and performance were found, indicating that higher-graded students excel in both environments, with lower-grade students showing a trend of better and continuous improvement, particularly in the game-based environment.