Learning Games Research Articles

Effect of Gamification Combined with Mobile Learning on Chinese Language Speaking Skills of Second-Year Foreign Students at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies

Background and Aims: In the era of the mobile internet, transforming language learning content into interesting game tasks could stimulate students' interest in learning and improve engagement and learning outcomes. The study aimed to evaluate the impact of gamification combined with a mobile learning approach on students' Chinese language speaking skills and satisfaction. The significance of the study was to innovate teaching methods and improve oral expression. Students were guided to participate in interactive learning by designing gamified learning tasks with clear objectives. Methodology: This study utilized a pre-experimental design featuring a one-group pretest-posttest model. The sample of this study was 30 second-year foreign students studying at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies derived from a cluster random sampling method. The research tools were (1) Course lesson plan, (2) Chinese language speaking skill test, and (3) Student satisfaction questionnaire. Conduct pre-test and post-test on the sample using the Chinese speaking proficiency test, and analyze the mean, standard deviation, paired sample t-test, and one sample t-test of the data using statistics. Result: After using gamification combined with mobile learning, students' Chinese language speaking skills improved by 13.75%, surpassing the predetermined criteria of 70% and the difference was statistically significant at 0.05. Based on the scores from the statistical student satisfaction questionnaire, the overall results of Gamification combined with mobile learning by students are at a high level with (M=4.02, S.D. = 0.77) Conclusion: The study confirms that learning management using gamification combined with mobile learning significantly enhances Chinese language speaking skills it stimulates students' interest in learning, develops their independent learning ability, boosts their motivation and initiative, and caters to their individual learning needs. This is a new trend in future education.

Leveraging Gamification in Science Learning for Secondary Students

This project aims to study the usefulness of incorporating gamification for science learning, for secondary school students. Ever since, the Science subject has been a hassle to the students, as well as the teachers. Therefore, a web-based system with gamification has been proposed. The waterfall model was chosen as the project's methodology, which consists of planning, analysis, design, implementation, testing, and documentation phases. Firebase was used as the cloud database to ease data storage and analysis. The selection was made to ensure the data from interactive activities such as watching films and doing exercises was securely gathered and used. Students earned points, badges, and were ranked as they performed assignments, adding a competitive element to the learning experience. A usability test was carried out to assess the success of the gamified learning platform using PSSUQ (Post-Study System Usability Questionnaire). The survey participants were chosen randomly from a group of high school students and teachers. After using the gamified website, they were asked to submit feedback by answering 16 constructed questions. Positive feedback was gathered from the survey, as most of the questions recorded mean values between 4.0 and 4.5. Hopefully, this study will provide further information regarding the effectiveness of gamification in learning, particularly in science learning for secondary students.

Mixed reality strategies for piano education

Head-mounted mixed reality interfaces, in which a user perceives a seamless blend of real, virtual or remote content, have great potential in a wide range of educational contexts. In this paper, we explore the use of mixed reality (MR) in piano education. We begin with a review of previous examples of virtual and mixed reality for piano teaching and learning, identifying four major categories of functionality: remote teaching, learning to read musical notation, providing alternative notation systems to Western musical notation, and enhancing users’ understanding and experience of music. Following this review, we present an application designed to demonstrate the use of MR for facilitating remote student-teacher piano lessons. Additionally, hand-tracking enables real-time, bi-directional visualization of both the student’s and teacher’s hand movements while playing, which is a crucial communication channel in piano instruction. We also present the Piano Theory Hub, an interactive area for independent learning and practice designed to compliment remote instructions. The Piano Theory Hub uses MR to provide spatial in situ explanations and exercises on notes, intervals, scales, and chords. User studies were conducted to evaluate both remote and solo aspects of the application. The first study with 10 participants revealed a strong sense of immersion and co-presence with the teacher during remote lessons. Trials also revealed that, in addition to virtual hands, visual highlighting of key-presses was found to improve visualisation of the remote users’ play. The second study, with 15 participants found the Piano Theory Hub to be helpful for beginners and some intermediate players, with feedback suggesting improvements in user experience and highlighting the limitations of replacing traditional piano teachers. Our experiments demonstrate that MR can be successfully employed for the following strategies for piano education: hand interaction coaching, flexible virtual hand and piano visibility, augmented feedback including key highlighting, gamified learning elements, and flexible teacher positioning options. Overall, the findings suggest that mixed reality holds promise as an effective tool for remote piano learning and music education, offering immersive and engaging learning experiences.

Bibliometric Analysis on Educational Games in Preschool Children's Learning

Bibliometric Analysis on Educational Games in Preschool Children's Learning

Personalization in educational gamification: Learners with different trait competitiveness benefit differently from rankings on leaderboards

Leaderboards are among the most prevalent game elements and are widely used in educational gamification. However, most research has primarily compared learning scenarios using leaderboards with those not using leaderboards, ignoring the role of specific components of leaderboards such as rankings. Given that learners’ perceptions of leaderboards depend on their rankings, this study investigated how rankings (high vs. low) and learners’ trait competitiveness (high vs. low) influence learning in educational gamification. Sixty-one high-trait-competitiveness and sixty-two low-trait-competitiveness learners were randomly assigned to either high-ranking or low-ranking conditions. The results revealed the moderating role of trait competitiveness in the relationship between leaderboard rankings and learning. Interestingly, higher rankings were more beneficial in enhancing learning motivation of learners with low trait competitiveness, while lower rankings had more positive effects on performance of those with high trait competitiveness. Additionally, negative emotions mediated the relationship between rankings and learning performance, while the mediating effect of learning motivation was only significant for learners with low trait competitiveness. The implications of these findings for the design of effective gamified learning environments based on learners’ characteristics were discussed.

The influences of virtual-reality- and animation-supported gamified learning processes on students’ learning achievement and behavioral intention in retailing management courses

The application of virtual reality (VR)/animation-enhanced technologies to various educational settings has received increasing attention from academics and educators. However, empirical investigation of this issue using an integrated theoretical perspective is scarce in management education. Additionally, prior studies that specifically investigate the influences of the technological attributes of VR/animation-enhanced technologies and learners’ perceptions and experiences in management education contexts are scarce. This study thus investigates this issue by adopting the viewpoints of technological attributes and individual perceptions and experiences to comprehend students’ situated experiential learning. Therefore, to examine whether such a learning method improves learning achievement by enhancing long-term memory, this study conducted a quasi-experiment to understand how technological attributes influence students' cognitive and affective responses, confidence, and satisfaction, thus affecting behavioral intention and learning achievement. A total of 230 students participated in this study. The stimulus-organism-response model, situated learning theory, and flow theory were integrated in this study to explore the relationships between the factors of psychological state and students' experiential learning processes. All hypotheses were supported, except confidence did not significantly influence students' behavioral intention and learning achievement after four weeks. The implications for theory and practice of this study are subsequently discussed.

Broad Distributed Game Learning for intelligent classification in rolling bearing fault diagnosis

As a new Single Layer Feedforward Network (SLFN) architecture, Broad Learning System (BLS) has been widely used in the field of fault diagnosis because of its fast-training speed and high generalization capability. However, when features in different classes of signals are similar or weak, BLS generates a large number of redundant features that may be difficult to classify accurately. In view of this, a new Broad Distributed Game Learning (BDGL) method is proposed in this paper, which maps data into the game space by constructing two non-parallel game hyperplanes to achieve game and segmentation of different similar features, thereby making the data linearly differentiable in the game space. Meanwhile, a linear distribution constraint term is designed to reduce noise fitting and weak feature learning in training data learning by limiting the complexity of model parameters, thereby making the solution of the objective function simpler and faster. By comparing the Precision, Recall, F-score, Kappa and Accuracy of BDGL and the comparison methods on the two types of rolling bearing experimental data, the results show that BDGL has a high classification accuracy. In addition, the experimental results on small and noisy samples once again demonstrate the effectiveness of BDGL, which provides an efficient solution for rolling bearing fault diagnosis.

Effects of Collaborative Support on Learning in Serious Games for Programming

This study examines the effectiveness of a collaborative support method in enhancing programming learning outcomes in a serious game. The game Code Hasp was developed to facilitate the comparison between two support methods, worked examples and a collaborative peer support approach. A total of 111 elementary school students participated, divided into two groups. The experimental group received collaborative support from teammates alongside worked examples, while the control group relied solely on worked examples. Pre- and post-test results and in-game data revealed that the collaborative support method improved learning efficiency and problem-solving skills. A notable effect of the process was the emergence of a leadership role in most collaborative groups. The game’s support design and shared goal structure mitigate potential problems associated with unbalanced participation. These findings suggest that collaborative support systems in serious games are a promising strategy for promoting engagement and improving learning outcomes in programming education.

Causal mechanisms of the psychological needs for online gamified learning and the impact on learning engagement among college students

ABSTRACT This study explores the development process of psychological needs in online gamified learning (OGL) among university students and examines its impact on learning engagement. Grounded in Self-Determination Theory (SDT), the research conducted a purposive sampling survey involving 483 university students with diversified academic backgrounds. Results from Mplus-based analysis show: Perceived autonomy correlates positively with perceived relatedness and perceived competence; Autonomy-Supportive Motivation is positively linked to the three basic psychological needs; Perceived autonomy, perceived relatedness, and perceived competence are positively associated with intrinsic motivation; Intrinsic motivation further correlates positively with learning engagement; and intrinsic motivation, along with the basic psychological needs, mediates the relationship between autonomy-supportive motivation and learning engagement in college students within a OGL environment. Additionally, the study found that external orientation negatively moderated the link between autonomy-supportive motivation and perceived autonomy in college students. The main value of this study is that it reveals the logical relationships within students’ psychological needs in the context of OGL, validating the development process of students’ psychological needs and its impact on learning engagement, emphasizing the crucial two-way interaction between teachers and students, and creating an indirect impetus driven by external contexts, causal factors, and behavioral structures.

Improving students’ responsibility in tennis courses: “The Silent Movement” model for physical education programme

Background: Tennis courses are a mandatory component prepared for prospective physical education teachers in universities. However, many students do not achieve optimal learning outcomes due to the irresponsible attitude of students, which can hinder the learning process. Research Objective: The purpose of this study is to develop and produce a tennis learning model (Silent Movement Tennis) for increasing the sense of personal and social responsibility in students. Silent Movement Tennis is the latest model in tennis learning, and there has been no previous research. Method: This research used the ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation) method in producing a learning model called “Silent Movement Tennis,” which consists of 4 movement skill activity posts that must be carried out by every student with a sense of responsibility. The respondents of this study are all 4th semester students (academic year 2023-2024), totalling 30 people, consisting of 9 females and 21 males at a university in the city of Palembang. The Silent Movement Tennis model was also validated by 3 experts consisting of 1 learning planning expert, 1 tennis practitioner, and 1 developmental psychologist and analysed using the Content Validity Index (CVI) and Content Validity Ratio (CVR). Finding/Result: The results of validation by experts who have been analysed show the value of the Content Validity Index (CVI) shows an average score of 3.63, and the Content Validity Ratio (CVR) analysis shows an average score of 0.27, which means the model developed is appropriate, relevant, or good, and also high content validity to increase the sense of social and personal responsibility for students. Conclusion: Silent Movement Tennis model as an alternative model to improve basic tennis skills and student responsibility. Future research efforts must focus on the design and implementation of sports values programs, namely by developing learning games and other sports based on the TPSR model to foster and develop a sense of personal and social responsibility that is important for students to become an adaptive and resilient generation, which ultimately contributes to their future success.

Empowering Student Transition and Engaging Students Using Actionbound: A Gamified Collaborative Community Learning Platform

Transition to University is a significant milestone for students who are embracing new experiences and challenges. It is particularly vital for international students who have to adapt to a new and different learning environment in the UK. Successful transition and sense of belonging in a new institution lay foundation for students’ academic success. However, transition is a process rather than an event. Accordingly, fostering a collaborative community learning environment and facilitate peer networks and community support becomes critical. It enables social interactions and active learning by engaging students in collaborative group activities, which would in turn support students’ transition to and belonging in a new learning environment. With the advancement of technology, computer-assisted and computer-supported collaborative learning flourished in 21st century. The emergence of mobile digital technology leads to the design of gamification in learning, known as game-based learning or gamified collaborative community learning in order to engage students in fun and interactive activities. ‘Actionbound’ is one of the versatile gamification platforms and mobile apps which can engage students in collaborative community learning with gamified activities. It enables users to create, share and participate in interactive scavenger hunts, tours, games and quizzes. It allows users to design custom challenges, incorporate multimedia content and track players’ progress in real-time. It engages participants to work collaboratively to solve challenges and complete tasks. At UHBS, we have used Actionbound to support the student transition into the University’ learning journey at the start of term. We used scavenger hunt game and quiz functions within Actionbound to direct students to collaborate in teams to solve the challenges and tasks. In this action research, students found Actionbound fun and loved the competitive nature with points and leaderboards. It helped them build network and form friendship. Together, they solved puzzles and tackled challenges which supported their transition and got them prepared for learning in a new environment. Moving forward, as an ongoing action research, we would like to extend the use of Actionbound to term time and in module delivery so to track students’ engagement with the collaborative learning platform and investigate the impact on their academic performance.

The Effect of Gamification Implementation on Collaboration Skills, Engagement, and Learning Achievement of Students in Class X SMA XYZ

This study explores the impact of gamification on students' collaboration skills, engagement, and learning achievement in the context of 21st-century education. Utilizing an experimental method, the research was conducted to observe the effects of implementing gamification, particularly through the Quizizz application, in classroom learning. The findings revealed that students in the experimental group, who experienced gamified learning, showed significant improvement in collaboration skills, engagement, and academic achievement compared to the control group. The application of gamification provided an interactive and engaging learning environment that promoted active participation and collaboration among students. The use of gamification as a learning strategy not only enhances students' soft skills but also contributes positively to their overall academic performance. These results suggest that gamification is an effective tool in modern educational settings, providing valuable insights for educators and policymakers to enhance learning outcomes.

The impact of different combinations of game elements for gamified learning in higher education on student learning outcomes: a multilevel meta-analysis

ABSTRACT This study employed a multilevel meta-analysis to assess the overall effectiveness of gamified learning on educational outcomes in higher education based on 143 effect sizes from 32 studies published between 2013 and 2024. The analysis specifically evaluated the impact of different combinations of game elements on cognitive, skill-based, and affective learning outcomes and explored the moderating variables influencing gamified learning effects. The findings reveal that gamified learning (g = 0.515) has a moderate impact on student learning outcomes compared to non-gamified conditions. More specifically, the impact of gamified learning on cognitive learning outcomes (g = 0.716) and skill-based learning outcomes (g = 0.605) is moderately high, while its effect on affective learning outcomes is moderately low (g = 0.317). The most effective combinations of game elements for enhancing the cognitive, skill-based, and affective learning outcomes are ‘Performance/Measurement + Ecological + Social + Personal,’ ‘Performance/Measurement + Social + Personal,’ and ‘Performance/Measurement + Ecological + Social + Personal + Fictional,’ respectively. These findings can guide educators in designing gamified learning experiences that significantly enhance various learning outcomes. Additionally, the learning domain and intervention duration moderated the impact of gamified learning.

Utilizing a Digital Escape Room to Improve Students’ Grasp and Understanding of Qualitative Research Methods

Utilizing the potential in game mechanisms for learning purposes is not new. This version of gaming for learning is about developing a Digital Escape Room (DER) revolving around a specific subject: qualitative research methods. Qualitative research methods have proved to be a difficult topic for many UG and PG students. It is thus important to develop tasks that will enable these students to obtain a deep learning experience. The significance of this project lies in that both qualitative and quantitative research methods seem to be difficult to learn for students. It seems to be a curriculum that the students need to invest more time learning than they expect and are willing to spend. Hence, seeking to utilize the potential that lies in immersive gaming. One of the aims of this project is to investigate if and how the DER approach will suit the step-by-step approach that is often used in qualitative research methods courses. Will this approach of solving puzzle-by-puzzle, and then combining answers in order to unlock the next level enable an emergence of more understandings of what the qualitative research is about? In this theoretical paper (work-in-progress), we will look at the DER literature and describe how the different components of the DER will contribute to pedagogical support regarding learning outcomes. In this next phase of this project, we are planning to develop our DER based on the current literature and previous evaluations of DERs, we will also conduct more semi-structure interviews, and further investigation is underway.

Enhancing Speech-to-Text and Translation Capabilities for Developing Arabic Learning Games: Integration of Whisper OpenAI Model and Google API Translate

This study tackles language barriers in computer-mediated communication by developing an application that integrates OpenAI’s Whisper ASR model and Google Translate machine translation to enable real-time, continuous speech transcription and translation and the processing of video and audio files. The application was developed using the Experimental method, incorporating standards for testing and evaluation. The integration expanded language coverage to 133 languages and improved translation accuracy. Efficiency was enhanced through the use of greedy parameters and the Faster Whisper model. Usability evaluations, based on questionnaires, revealed that the application is efficient, effective, and user-friendly, though minor issues in user satisfaction were noted. Overall, the Speech Translate application shows potential in facilitating transcription and translation for video content, especially for language learners and individuals with disabilities. Additionally, this study introduces an Arabic learning game incorporating an Artificial Neural Network using the CNN algorithm. Focusing on the “Speaking” skill, the game applies to voice and image extraction techniques, achieving a high accuracy rate of 95.52%. This game offers an engaging and interactive method for learning Arabic, a language often considered challenging. The incorporation of Artificial Neural Network technology enhances the effectiveness of the learning game, providing users with a unique and innovative language learning experience. By combining voice and image extraction techniques, the game offers a comprehensive approach to enjoyably improving Arabic speaking skills.

"Trust the Process": An Exploratory Study of Process Visualizations for Self-Reflection in League of Legends

Self-reflection, a process consisting of evaluation, attribution, and adaptation, is recognized as key to learning in esports games. To better facilitate self-reflection, many games and third-party tools feature retrospective visualizations that provide players with details about their performance. However, previous work suggested that existing visualizations, which typically aggregate data, do not present sufficient information to players. In this work, we explore the impact of process visualizations, which present gameplay as a sequence of actions, on self-reflection and performance in a League of Legends training exercise through a mixed-methods study. Our results found that players who reflected using a process visualization significantly improved their performance and demonstrated significant differences in how they evaluated themselves compared to those who reflected using an aggregate visualization. We discuss what these results mean in relation to self-reflection and learning in esports and how they impact the future use of process visualizations in games.

Low Latency Feedback: Contrasting Training Outcomes of Immediate versus Delayed Feedback in Speedrunning Super Mario Bros.

With the rise of popularity and societal importance of video games, trends of grinding play for excessive amounts of time to improve proficiency becomes more and more common. This bears not only physical and mental health risks, but has already shown to be detrimental for skill acquisition, defeating its purpose in the first place. For the sake of health promotion, well-being, and the advancement of self-regulated learning, we specifically investigate the impact of detailed feedback on player performance. As research about comparable activities in related domains suggest inconclusive implications for when feedback in video game learning should be presented, we particularly explore the impact of delivering immediate versus delayed feedback, during or after play. Using (n = 30) participants and the well-investigated Super Mario Bros., we communicate insights in favor for deploying feedback immediately when polishing one's video game related skills such as in speedrunning.

The effect of gamified e-learning on marine ecology education: insights from Iranian maritime students

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a gamified e-learning experience in marine ecology among Iranian maritime students. A pre-test/post-test design was adopted to achieve this purpose, focussing on the gamified experience itself rather than comparing it with traditional instructional approaches. The statistical population consisted of 15 undergraduate students at a maritime institute in Tehran, Iran, who were randomly selected. Reliability tests were conducted to collect data, and the test’s validity was approved by teachers and experts in the field of environmental education. Its reliability was determined to be 0.75 using the Kuder-Richardson methodology. Participants engaged in a gamified learning experience over a 2-week period. The study highlighted the post-test results and participants’ perceptions within the gamified learning environment. The results revealed that e-learning paired with gamification had a positive impact on students’ engagement and understanding of geographically remote ecological topics, including coral reefs, mangrove forests, seagrass beds and endemic species of the regions. These findings provide valuable insights for environmental teachers, learners, authorities and curriculum developers in maritime educational systems, emphasising the potential benefits of incorporating gamified learning experiences in educational curricula.

A Conceptual Framework for the Development of Effective Serious Games for Learning

Currently, the interest in using serious games as a tool for learning and teaching in traditional educational processes has increased significantly. Therefore, serious games for learning are gaining increasing attention from researchers and domain experts (educators), as they are both looking for methods and tools to improve the quality of learning. Even though there are many existing design frameworks, models, and methodologies that offer valuable insights into the possibilities and limitations of serious games for learning, they focus mostly on high-level aspects and requirements of these games. Therefore, they do not fully help in understanding how such aspects can be concretely fulfilled. In this research, we investigate, characterize, and categorize the functional requirements and aspects needed for developing effective serious games for learning. This investigation aims to construct a conceptual framework to fill the gap in the current design frameworks. The proposed conceptual framework is used to understand the game´s structure and behavior with a focus on both aspects of serious games (educational and entertainment aspects), in other words, providing a way to think about the relationships between serious game components and the learning objectives of the game. The main contributions of the proposed conceptual framework are to facilitate and support the design and development process of these games as well as to enhance the collaborative work within a multidisciplinary development team. Finally, to show the feasibility and applicability of the conceptual framework, a practical example is presented to demonstrate the use of this framework. Furthermore, we conducted an evaluation process for implementing the conceptual model. The evaluation shows promising results in helping participants, particularly those with gaming experience, to understand and identify the roles of each component in the game and recognize the game's learning objectives. This will eventually lead to design and develop effective learning games in a flexible and easy-to-use way.

A Child-Centred Design Evaluation of a Learning Game to Improve Children’s Legal Capability

Children lack awareness and understanding of their rights and the law. There is a need to address this gap and empower children to become advocates for their rights when they encounter law-related issues. A promising approach to achieving this is through the use of games. In particular, games focused on learning have evolved into novel tools that can raise awareness as well as help children acquire essential skills. In this paper, we present a child-centred design approach to evaluating the initial version of a learning game designed to help children across a wide age range (3-15 years) and with diverse characteristics, improve their legal knowledge, skills, and confidence. This study supports the integral role and value of child participation in testing the usability of a law-based learning game and shaping its design. A mixed methods approach, grounded in user-centred principles, was employed to assess the first prototype (P1) of the game. 45 children from various schools and early years settings in South Yorkshire and the Midlands, UK were involved. This included children from: 1) advisory groups, 2) case study groups, and 3) game development groups, with an age range of 4 to 16 years old. School staff were also invited to give their feedback. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered through questionnaires, and field note observations, and analyses were conducted through both thematic analysis and non-parametric statistical methods. We found the game was received positively overall, but further development was needed to make it accessible and engaging, especially for the youngest participants. Importantly, participants of diverse ages and characteristics shared valuable insights into enhancements to make the game more intuitive, interactive, and enjoyable, and these findings informed the development of the beta version of the game.