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…

This study aimed to investigate the perceived affordances of incorporating esports into higher education using an ecological systems approach that examined the multiple factors shaping behaviours at the individual, interpersonal, and organisational levels. A total of 40 participants, comprising 32 students and 8 teachers, were invited to take part…

The purpose of the present experiments was to systematically replicate Step it UP! Game interventions with adults with disabilities. Participants were divided into two competing teams, and the team with the highest step count participated in a prize drawing. Experiment 1 (N = 9) evaluated the efficacy of an extended version of the Step it UP! Game…

Numerous children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit abnormal eye gaze pattern in communication and social interaction. In this study, we aim to investigate the effectiveness of the hide-and-seek virtual reality system (HSVRS) in improving gaze fixation abilities in children with ASD. Our hypothesis is that engaging in a…

Many of today's educators learned math in elementary and secondary schools with approaches very different from those outlined in the current standards, and it is difficult to teach for proficiencies educators have not yet developed in themselves. How can teachers find time for this kind of professional learning with all the other responsibilities…

A series of experiments conducted in Central Europe (Hungary, Austria) and East Asia (Japan) probed whether 5- to 10-year-old children (n = 436, 213 female) and adults (n = 71, 43 female; all data collected between July 2020 and May 2023) would infer traits and choose partners accordingly, in a novel touchscreen game. The participants observed…

Role-playing games (RPGs) are storytelling activities that mediate co-authorship through a variety of in-game, out-of-game, and intertextual relationships. Liminal interactions sometimes occur during RPG play that blur these categories. To understand the purposes and processes of "liminal play," this study analyzed data from a yearlong…

Numerous scholars have empirically explored the impact of gamification on enhancing students' learning, yielding varied findings regarding the effectiveness of gamification, but whether students of different learning styles are all supportive of gamified education and game elements is still an open question. This study examined whether and why…

Adjusting practice to different goals and characteristics is key to learning, but its development remains unclear. Across 2 preregistered experiments, 190 4-to-8-year-olds (106 female; mostly White; data collection: December 2021-September 2022) and 31 adults played an easy and a difficult game, then chose one to practice before a test on either…

This case study used individual interviews to investigate graduate students' sensemaking in upper-level electrostatics in the context of problems that can be efficiently solved for the electric potential using Laplace's equation. Although there are many technical mathematical issues involved in solving Laplace's equation, the focus of this…

Board games can be a highly engaging and motivating resource to support physics teaching at all educational levels. However, the development of board games to facilitate the communication of complex science subjects may not be an easy task for those with no prior experience in designing games. For instance, the various classification of…

Background: As one of the gamification elements, leaderboard, especially absolute leaderboard, is widely used in educational gamification systems. However, empirical studies on the optimal use condition of the leaderboard and underlying influence mechanisms are deficient. Objectives: This study explored which difficulty was more conducive to…

In the 21st century, the advancement of technology has changed how people, especially the younger generation communicate and socialise with each other, as well as how they learn, acquire and process information. Therefore, this study aims to explore the impact on the employment of digital game-based learning in Arabic class at the tertiary level.…

Game-based training research has produced various definitions and measures for learner motivation. Inconsistent findings on learner motivation may have contributed to the misapplication of one type of motivation to explain another; inhibiting future research and generating false implications. This study compared 172 students in game-based or…

Educational board games are a promising teaching method due to their low cost, playful, exploratory, and engaging nature. By drawing on analogical research, we created a game whose structure of spatial relationships mirrored the structure of rational numbers. We expected that children playing this game would improve their knowledge of fractions.…