Digital game-based learning, especially massively multiplayer online games, has been touted for its potential to promote student motivation and complex problem-solving competency development. However, current evidence is limited to anecdotal studies. The purpose of this empirical investigation is to examine the complex interplay between learners'…

The important but little understood problem that motivated this study was the lack of research on valid assessment methods to determine progress in higher-order learning in situations involving complex and ill-structured problems. Without a valid assessment method, little progress can occur in instructional design research with regard to designing…

Following a design-based research framework, this article reports two empirical studies with an educational MMOG, called "McLarin's Adventures," on facilitating 9th-grade students' complex problem-solving skill acquisition in interdisciplinary STEM education. The article discusses the nature of complex and ill-structured problem solving…