Integrating self-explanation functionality into a complex game environment: Keeping gaming in motion

Previous research has shown that either asking students to explain their answers or providing explanatory feedback can be effective ways to increase learning from an educational game. This study focused on an educational physics game about Newton's 3 Laws of Motion called SURGE: The Fuzzy Chronicles. Eighty-six middle school students played one of three versions of the game: (1) the base version with no tips or questions, (2) the self-explanation version with self-explanation questions prompts, and (3) the explanatory feedback version with gameplay tips. There were no significant overall learning differences between the three groups, but students in the base version successfully answered more questions about Newton's second law than students in the self-explanation group. This may have been due to students in the base condition progressing significantly further through the game than students in the self-explanation group. The results suggest that the cognitive load for gameplay as well as game flow must be managed in order for students to take advantage of explanation functionality in educational tools designed to increase deeper, germane processing.

[1]  Richard E. Mayer,et al.  Multimedia learning and games. , 2011 .

[2]  Y. Kafai,et al.  Children’s Participation in a Virtual Epidemic in the Science Classroom: Making Connections to Natural Infectious Diseases , 2006, Journal of science education and technology.

[3]  Jonathan P. Rowe,et al.  The effects of empathetic virtual characters on presence in narrative-centered learning environments , 2008, CHI.

[4]  James C. Lester,et al.  Lifelike Pedagogical Agents for Mixed-initiative Problem Solving in Constructivist Learning Environments , 2004, User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction.

[5]  J. Sweller.  Cognitive Load Theory: Cognitive Load Theory: Recent Theoretical Advances , 2010 .

[6]  Richard E. Mayer,et al.  Multimedia Learning , 2001, Visible Learning Guide to Student Achievement.

[7]  R. Mayer,et al.  Personalized messages that promote science learning in virtual environments , 2004 .

[8]  Fotini Paraskeva,et al.  Multiplayer online games as educational tools: Facing new challenges in learning , 2010, Comput. Educ..

[9]  P. Wouters,et al.  A meta-analysis of the cognitive and motivational effects of serious games , 2013 .

[10]  Catherine H. Crouch,et al.  Reducing the gender gap in the physics classroom , 2006 .

[11]  Chung-Yuan Hsu,et al.  Facilitating Third Graders’ Acquisition of Scientific Concepts through Digital Game-Based Learning: The Effects of Self-Explanation Principles , 2012 .

[12]  Miguel Nussbaum,et al.  The atomic intrinsic integration approach: A structured methodology for the design of games for the conceptual understanding of physics , 2012, Comput. Educ..

[13]  Kristian Kiili,et al.  On Educational Game Design: Building Blocks of Flow Experience , 2005 .

[14]  Ray S. Perez,et al.  Computer Games and Team and Individual Learning , 2007 .

[15]  Cheryl I. Johnson,et al.  Adding Instructional Features That Promote Learning in a Game-Like Environment , 2010 .

[16]  R. Mayer,et al.  Role of guidance, reflection, and interactivity in an agent-based multimedia game , 2005 .

[17]  M. Csíkszentmihályi.  Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience , 1990 .

[18]  Albert T. Corbett,et al.  Why Students Engage in “Gaming the System” Behavior in Interactive Learning Environments , 2008 .

[19]  R. Mayer,et al.  Engaging students in active learning: The case for personalized multimedia messages. , 2000 .

[20]  Traci Sitzmann.  A META-ANALYTIC EXAMINATION OF THE INSTRUCTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS OF COMPUTER-BASED SIMULATION GAMES , 2011 .

[21]  Jan L. Plass,et al.  Gender and player characteristics in video game play of preadolescents , 2012, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[22]  Kim A. Kastens,et al.  Epistemic Actions in Science Education , 2008, Spatial Cognition.

[23]  Robert L. Goldstone,et al.  Transformational Play as a Curricular Scaffold: Using Videogames to Support Science Education , 2009 .

[24]  Daniel Wendel,et al.  The Simulation Cycle: Combining Games, Simulations, Engineering and Science Using StarLogo TNG , 2009 .

[25]  Ruth Wylie,et al.  The Self-Explanation Principle in Multimedia Learning , 2014 .

[26]  James Minogue,et al.  Investigating the impact of video games on high school students' engagement and learning about genetics , 2009, Comput. Educ..

[27]  M. P. Jacob Habgood,et al.  Motivating Children to Learn Effectively: Exploring the Value of Intrinsic Integration in Educational Games , 2011 .

[28]  Timo Lainema,et al.  Foundation for Measuring Engagement in Educational Games , 2008 .

[29]  M. Csíkszentmihályi.  Flow. The Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York (HarperPerennial) 1990. , 1990 .

[30]  B. White.  ThinkerTools: Causal Models, Conceptual Change, and Science Education , 1993 .

[31]  David Kirsh,et al.  The Intelligent Use of Space , 1995, Artif. Intell..

[32]  S. Barab,et al.  Relating Narrative, Inquiry, and Inscriptions: Supporting Consequential Play , 2007 .

[33]  Daniel T. Hickey,et al.  Designing Assessments and Assessing Designs in Virtual Educational Environments , 2009 .

[34]  Douglas B. Clark,et al.  Games, Learning, and Society: Prediction and Explanation as Design Mechanics in Conceptually Integrated Digital Games to Help Players Articulate the Tacit Understandings They Build through Game Play , 2012 .

[35]  Thomas Bay,et al.  Gaming the system , 2011 .

[36]  Brian C. Nelson,et al.  Exploring Newtonian mechanics in a conceptually-integrated digital game: Comparison of learning and affective outcomes for students in Taiwan and the United States , 2011, Comput. Educ..

[37]  Wilfried Brauer,et al.  Spatial Cognition III , 2003, Lecture Notes in Computer Science.

[38]  Cheryl I. Johnson,et al.  Applying the self-explanation principle to multimedia learning in a computer-based game-like environment , 2010, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[39]  Clark A. Chinn,et al.  Children's Responses to Anomalous Scientific Data: How Is Conceptual Change Impeded?. , 2002 .

[40]  Paul P. Maglio,et al.  On Distinguishing Epistemic from Pragmatic Action , 1994, Cogn. Sci..