Virtual environments open up far-reaching possibilities with respect to knowledge impartation. Nevertheless, they have the potential to negatively influence learning behavior. As a possible positive determinant, especially in the digital context, the moment "game" can be listed. Accordingly, previous studies prove an overall positive…

The growing demand for sustainable products and services has led to the emergence of a range of entrepreneurial opportunities for innovative business solutions. These new opportunities require novel entrepreneurial skills to design, grow, and maintain sustainable businesses. However, existing educational games do not address the specific skills…

Game designers and researchers have sought to create gameful environments that consider user preferences to increase engagement and motivation. In this sense, it is essential to identify the most suitable game elements for users' profiles. Designers and researchers must choose strategies to classify users into predefined profiles and select the…

Personalized gamification explores user models to tailor gamification designs to mitigate cases wherein the one-size-fits-all approach ineffectively improves learning outcomes. The tailoring process should simultaneously consider user and contextual characteristics (e.g., activity to be done and geographic location), which leads to several…

Game-based learning (GBL) has long been recognized as an effective way to engage students in learning through games, but little emphasis has been placed on scaffolding support for students, which hinders their learning. Therefore, our design of Space Adventure GBL ties games closely to scaffolds at every stage and investigates what role games and…

Previous research and experiences have indicated the potential that games have in educational settings. One of the possible uses of games in education is as game-based assessments (GBA), using game tasks to generate evidence about skills and content knowledge that can be valuable. There are different approaches in the literature to implement the…

Technology has become an essential part of our everyday life, and its use in educational environments keeps growing. In addition, games are one of the most popular activities across cultures and ages, and there is ample evidence that supports the benefits of using games for assessment. This field is commonly known as game-based assessment (GBA),…

Several studies have been conducted in recent years into the effects of gamification on learner motivation. However, little is known about how learner profiles affect the impact of specific game elements. This article analyzes the effect of a gamified mathematic learning environment on the motivation and the motivated behaviors of 258 learners in…

The COVID-19 pandemic has suspended physical classes and influenced students from underprivileged groups more seriously due to their poor living conditions and digital disadvantages. To understand the impact of the constrained learning, we conducted a study on game-based learning to examine the effectiveness of computer-aided and autonomous…

The main challenge in higher education is student retention. While many methods have been proposed to overcome this challenge, early and continuous feedback can be very effective. In this article, we propose a method for predicting student final grades in a course using only their performance data in the current semester. It assists students in…

Gamification approaches to learning use game-inspired design elements to improve learning. Given manifold design options to implement gamification in virtual environments, an important but underexplored research area is how the composition of gamification elements affects learning. To advance research in this area, we systematically identified key…

Computational thinking (CT) skills are becoming increasingly relevant for future professionals across all domains, beyond computer science (CS). As such, an increasing number of bachelor's and master's programs outside of the CS discipline integrate CT courses within their study program. At the same time, tools such as notebooks and interactive…

This article aims to provide a systematic review of existing research on the use of digital game-based learning (DGBL) technology for foreign language (English) in preschool and elementary schools. Digital game-based technology enables learning to become more interactive and inspirational, thereby enhancing language acquisition. The authors…

Studies show that reduced literacy skills can negatively influence a child's self-esteem and future career opportunities. Literacy is significantly affected when problems exist in understanding the phonological component or sound structure of language, i.e., phonological awareness. Children with dyslexia in particular experience difficulties in…

Education and training are among the fields taking advantage of serious games (SGs). In this article, we present Gea 2: A New Earth, a digital SG developed as an immersive 3-D virtual learning environment, integrating several educational resources, including multimedia learning material, communication tools, and intelligent tutoring support. The…