Using OpenSimulator, we constructed a 3D virtual playground that affords competition‐themed social gaming, role‐play gaming and design‐themed architectural gaming among high‐functioning autistic (HFA) children. A mixed‐method, multi‐case study was conducted to examine the association between the game task and setting features, learners' participation patterns, and their game‐based social interaction performance. Eight 10–14‐year‐old HFA children participated in the study. Data were collected via screen recording and observation of participants' gaming actions and reactions. We conducted a behavioral analysis with the recorded social interaction performance of participants in the virtual gaming sessions. The study found that virtual reality‐based gameplay promoted the social interaction performance of HFA children. The study findings also suggested that gameplay should be adapted based on the competencies and in‐situ reactions of learners.

No abstract

Game-based learning (GBL) has increasingly been used to promote students’ learning engagement. Although prior GBL studies have highlighted the significance of learning engagement as a mediator of students’ meaningful learning, the existing accounts failed to capture specific evidence of how exactly students’ in-game actions in GBL enhance learning engagement. Hence, this mixed-method study was designed to examine whether middle school students’ in-game actions are likely to promote certain types of learning engagement (i.e., content and cognitive engagement). This study used and examined the game E-Rebuild, a single-player three-dimensional architecture game that requires learners’ application of math knowledge. Using in-depth gameplay behavior analysis, this study sampled a total of 92 screen-recorded and video-captured gameplay sessions attended by 25 middle school students. We adopted two analytic approaches: sequential analysis and thematic analysis. Whereas sequential analysis explored which in-game actions by students were likely to promote each type of learning engagement, the thematic analysis depicted how certain gameplay contexts contributed to students’ enhanced learning engagement. The study found that refugee allocation and material trading actions promoted students’ content engagement, whereas using in-game building tools and learning support boosted their cognitive engagement. This study also found that students’ learning engagement was associated with their development of mathematical thinking in a GBL context.

Background. Middle school students’ math anxiety and low engagement have been major issues in math education. In order to reduce their anxiety and support their math learning, game-based learning (GBL) has been implemented. GBL research has underscored the role of social dynamics to facilitate a qualitative understanding of students’ knowledge. Whereas students’ peer interactions have been deemed a social dynamic, the relationships among peer interaction, task efficiency, and learning engagement were not well understood in previous empirical studies. Method. This mixed-method research implemented E-Rebuild, which is a 3D architecture game designed to promote students’ math problem-solving skills. We collected a total of 102 50-minutes gameplay sessions performed by 32 middle school students. Using video-captured and screen-recorded gameplaying sessions, we implemented behavior observations to measure students’ peer interaction efficiency, task efficiency, and learning engagement. We used association analyses, sequential analysis, and thematic analysis to explain how peer interaction promoted students’ task efficiency and learning engagement. Results. Students’ peer interactions were negatively related to task efficiency and learning engagement. There were also different gameplay patterns by students’ learning/task-relevant peer-interaction efficiency (PIE) level. Students in the low PIE group tended to progress through game tasks more efficiently than those in the high PIE group. The results of qualitative thematic analysis suggested that the students in the low PIE group showed more reflections on game-based mathematical problem solving, whereas those with high PIE experienced distractions during gameplay. Discussion. This study confirmed that students’ peer interactions without purposeful and knowledge-constructive collaborations led to their low task efficiency, as well as low learning engagement. The study finding shows further design implications: (1) providing in-game prompts to stimulate students’ math-related discussions and (2) developing collaboration contexts that legitimize students’ interpersonal knowledge exchanges with peers.

In this study, the researchers explored the usage of a virtual reality (VR)–based social skills learning environment for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Using OpenSimulator, the researchers constructed a desktop VR-based learning environment that supports social-oriented role-play, gaming, and design by children with ASD. Seven 10–14 years old children with ASD participated in this VR-based social skills program for 20+ hr on average. Data were collected via screen recording and observation of play- and design-oriented social skills enactment and pre- and postintervention Social Communication and Skills Questionnaires. Participants demonstrated an increased level of successful social skills performance from the baseline to the intervention phase. The findings provided preliminary evidence for the usage of a VR-based social skills learning environment for children with ASD.