Mobile game-based learning in secondary education: Students’ immersion, game activities, team performance and learning outcomes

Abstract

Studies on game-based learning show positive effects, but insights into the relationship between students' game activities and the outcomes of these activities are lacking. In this study of the game "NoCredit, GameOver! ®" (NCGO), students' game activities are explored and related to their learning outcomes and performance in the game. Secondary school students used tablets to access virtual information about having debts and to perform tasks in an urban environment. Data were gathered from 181 students who completed questionnaires concerning their game activities in a team, immersion into the game and character assigned to them, and learning outcomes. The extent to which students empathized with the game characters appeared be negatively related to their interest in and knowledge of the subject. In addition, perceived content authenticity was negatively related with students' spending money wisely. Searching the internet with a team was positively related to students' selfreported spending money wisely. Visiting organizations, which was one of the scheduled game activities, showed a positive relationship with team game performance. Implications for teaching with games and future research are suggested.

Cooperative Mobile Learning for the Investigation of Natural Science Courses in Elementary Schools

“…Thus, the cooperative learning approach can improve learning effects. This result was similar to related research [12,16,20], which indicated students of low achievement increase their motivation and learning confidence.…”

“…Previous research found that mobile learning is not intended to be a complex learning process but should facilitate the learning process of students. Appropriate application development combined with mobile devices can enhance educational outcomes [12,16,20]. These results are consistent with previous studies, which indicated that mobile learning can be applied to improve students' satisfaction [34,35] and technology acceptance [35].…”

“…Many studies have explored the advantages of mobile learning and noted that mobile devices applied to teaching activities can effectively increase learning motivation and improve learning performance [19][20][21]. In particular, the research of Kalogiannakis and Papadakis [22] suggests the need for mobile learning, rather than the use of technology, to teach student-centered pedagogical learning.…”

“…However, previous research has noted that mobile learning activities in natural science courses without appropriate learning strategies and tools may result in disappointing student learning outcomes. Students must deal with both the natural sciences and digital learning environment simultaneously; this learning process may be too complex, thus affecting their learning [1,6,[20][21][22][23]. For these reasons, the most important issue is how to combine real situations and digital learning resources in an action learning environment to achieve the best learning outcomes.…”

The effect of students' developing their own digital games on their academic achievement and attitudes towards for English lessons

“…Learning with digital content significantly represents gamebased learning today. Huizenga, Admiraal, Ten Dam, and Voogt (2019) stated that teachers can continue their teaching outside the classroom thanks to mobile-based games. They stated that student behavior is important in the game process and that the desire to win the game may have negative results in terms of learning.…”