Reflecting on educational game design principles via empirical methods

ORCiD

Osvaldo Jiménez: 0000-0002-6515-4145

Document Type

Conference Presentation

Department

Computer Science

Conference Title

Proceedings of International Conference of the Learning Sciences, ICLS

Date of Presentation

1-1-2014

Abstract

In designing environments for children to use for learning, there are many design decisions that are made by the game's creators that can affect their effectiveness. One such example that many creators determine is the amount of story to embed in an educational game. To learn more about the importance of story in educational games, 77 fourth grade students in one elementary school were randomly assigned to play one of three versions of an educational video game with varying levels of story. The goal of the videogame is to give students practice with fractional-whole operations. In addition to logging interactions students made during gameplay, pre and post-tests that capture students' fractional knowledge in a classroom environment are reported and discussed. Results indicate that while story may not seem to be a critical factor in improving learning, its benefits and impact on learning may be more nuanced and complex.

ISSN

1814-9316

Volume

2

Issue

January

First Page

665

Last Page

672

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