Challenging games help students learn: an empirical study on engagement, flow and immersion in game-based learning

In this paper, we investigate the impact of flow (operationalized as heightened challenge and skill), engagement, and immersion on learning in game-based learning environments. The data was gathered through a survey from players (N = 173) of two learning games (Quantum Spectre: N = 134 and Spumone: N = 40). The results show that engagement in the game has a clear positive effect on learning, however, we did not find a significant effect between immersion in the game and learning. Challenge of the game had a positive effect on learning both directly and via the increased engagement. Being skilled in the game did not affect learning directly but by increasing engagement in the game. Both the challenge of the game and being skilled in the game had a positive effect on both being engaged and immersed in the game. The challenge in the game was an especially strong predictor of learning outcomes. For the design of educational games, the results suggest that the challenge of the game should be able to keep up with the learners growing abilities and learning in order to endorse continued learning in game-based learning environments.</p

Martian Boneyards: Sustained Scientific Inquiry in a Social Digital Game

Social digital gaming is an explosive phenomenon where youth and adults are engaged in inquiry for the sake of fun. The complexity of learning evidenced in social digital games is attracting the attention of educators. Martian Boneyards is a proof-of-concept game designed to study how a community of voluntary gamers can be enticed to engage in sustained, high-quality scientific inquiry. Science educators and game designers worked together to create an educational game with the polish and intrigue of a professional-level game, striving to attract a new audience to scientific inquiry. Martian Boneyards took place in the high-definition, massively multiplayer online environment, Blue Mars, where players spent an average of 30 hours in the game over the 4-month implementation period, with some exceeding 200 hours. Most of the players’ time was spent in scientific inquiry activities and about 30% of the players’ in-game interactions were in the analysis and theory-building phases of inquiry. Female players conducted most of the inquiry, in particular analysis and theory building. The quality of scientific inquiry processes, which included extensive information gathering by players, and the resulting content were judged to be very good by a team of independent scientists. This research suggests that a compelling storyline, a highly aesthetic environment, and the emergent social bonds among players and between players and the characters played by designers were all responsible for sustaining high quality inquiry among gamers in this free-choice experience. The gaming environment developed for Martian Boneyards is seen as an evolving ecosystem with interactions among design, players’ activity, and players’ progress.Ph

K-12 Astronomy Education

No Abstrac

Hands-On Universe: Bringing Astronomical Explorations to the Classroom

For the past three years, with support from the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy, Hands-On Universe (HOU) has developed and piloted an educational program that enables high school students to request their own observations from professional observatories. HOU students download CCD images to their classroom computers and use HOU's powerful image processing software to visualize and analyze their data. HOU also provides comprehensive curriculum that integrates many of the topics and skills outlined in the national goals for science and math education into open-ended astronomical investigations. Over the next several years HOU will develop activities and tools for middle school students and informal education centers as well as implementing HOU in regional high school networks across the nation

Scaffolding Zoombinis: Adding Executive Function Scaffolds to the Popular, Classic Game

The popular, award-winning game Zoombinis has been around since the 90s, with an updated version launched in 2015 for new devices. Since that relaunch, research has been conducted on the effectiveness of the game and related bridging activities for the teaching and learning of computational thinking (Asbell-Clarke et al, 2021; Rowe et al, 2021b; Almeda et al, 2019). Recently, efforts have been made to design and test executive function (EF) scaffolds that surround puzzles from the game, permitting learners who may have EF challenges, such as issues with working memory, attention, and metacognition, to demonstrate their skills with computational thinking (CT), a logical approach to problem solving which can be applied to any problem, task, or system. On this poster, we present the Zoombinis scaffolds, the intent of their design, and the results of their use with teachers and students, grades 3-8, as part of a larger CT-education project