The strength and direction of the difficulty adaptation affect situational interest in game-based learning

Abstract

Research has shown that difficulty adaptation is a promising instructional technique in digital game-based learning. Nevertheless, although the strength and direction of difficulty adaptation can affect motivational outcomes, these effects remain insufficiently examined in game-based learning. This within-subject study examined how the strength and direction of difficulty adaptation affected motivational outcomes in digital game-based math learning. The participants were 167 Finnish fifth-graders who studied fractions with the Number Trace game. The game included 144 tasks, half were adapted according to participants’ playing performance. Situational interest and perceived difficulty were measured several times with in-game self-report items during the intervention. The manipulation check confirmed that difficulty adaptation was implemented successfully as task correctness and perceived difficulty changed according to the strength and direction of adaptation. Regarding motivational outcomes, two-way repeated-measures ANOVAs showed that the difficulty adaptation increased situational interest, but only when the task difficulty was substantially adapted downwards. Contrary to our expectations, a substantial upwards adaptation of the task difficulty significantly decreased situational interest. Minor adaptation of difficulty did not affect situational interest. The current study contributes to the field of adaptive digital learning environments by highlighting the effects of the strength and direction of difficulty adaptation on motivational outcomes. Theoretical, practical, and methodological implications of the findings are discussed.