Do digital games appeal more to boys?

By Winnie Tam, Centre for University and School Partnership, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

As digital games are increasingly used in education, understanding attitudes toward their use is important. A meta-analysis conducted by Liu and colleagues examined gender differences in attitudes towards digital games across 41 eligible studies, yielding 133 effect sizes. Females accounted for 51% of students studied.

Digital games were classified as either serious (designed for education, healthcare, etc., n=31) or entertaining (n=10). Attitudes were categorized by affect (emotional response), belief (perception of value), and self-efficacy (confidence in operating games). Effect size in the analysis referred to the difference in standardised mean scores between male and female. The results revealed that:

•            Males exhibited a significantly more positive attitude than females (ES = +0.21).

•            Attitude aspects significantly moderated outcomes, with males showing stronger affect (ES=+0.34) and self-efficacy (ES=+0.37), but no significant gender differences were detected in belief.

•            Males’ attitudes were consistently more positive in both entertainment games (ES = +0.39) and serious games (ES = +0.14).

While findings reinforced that males generally have a greater affinity for digital games, no gender differences were observed regarding their perceived value and usefulness. More research is needed to explore potential moderators, such as education level and interactions among these factors to better contextualize the results.

The effect of a gamification intervention in learning English as a foreign language

By Winnie Tam, Centre for University and School Partnership, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

A recent publication in Language Teaching Research compared the effects of a gamified collaborative intervention to non-gamified collaborative learning on students’ English reading outcomes and motivation. The participants were two classes of junior secondary students taught by the same teacher at a school in northern China. One class (N=52) was assigned to an experimental group receiving gamified instruction, while another class (N=52), the control group, received non-gamified instruction. All students were native speakers of Chinese learning English as a foreign language.

Both groups received their assigned program on learning word meaning through morphological analysis during ten 55-minute sessions from the same instructor with the same materials, but only the experimental group was exposed to physical game elements  guided by rules, responsive feedback, challenging tasks, cumulative feedback (e.g., cards,badges, small gifts) and students working in teams to tackle challenges and win awards.

Results, controlling for pretest scores,  indicated that the gamified group significantly outperformed the non-gamified group in reading comprehension (ES = +0.33) and enhanced students’ self-reported intrinsic motivation (ES = +0.47). There was no difference in morphological analysis scores between the experimental group and the control group (ES = +0.01).

Because the sample of this study included only two classes from one school and there were scant details on classroom equivalence, the results of the study cannot be generalized.

Comparing the impact of two game-based learning technologies on conceptual understanding of algebra

By Winnie Tam, Centre for University and School Partnership, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Chan and colleagues examined the impact of two game-based technologies on conceptual knowledge, procedural knowledge, and procedural flexibility in algebraic equation solving. The game-based technologies in this study were DragonBox Algebra 12+ (DragonBox) and From Here to There! (FH2T). DragonBox is a commercial app in which students move and combine pictures on the screen to isolate a box containing a dragon, similar to solving for x in algebraic equations. FH2T is a researcher-developed game in which students transform mathematical expressions from a start state (e.g., 16×29) to a specified goal state (e.g., 16×30 – 16×1) using gesture actions (e.g., tapping, dragging) on screen. While the designer of DragonBox disguises the algebraic symbols under images, the designer of FH2T presents algebraic notations in the game.

The sample was drawn from a large randomized controlled trial which took place in a suburban district in the southeastern US in the 2020-2021 academic year involving grade 7 students to test the efficacy of game-based and non-game-based technology. The current study only focused on 887 students who were assigned to the DragonBox (n=275) and the FH2T (n=612) conditions. The participants played their respective games for nine 30-min sessions across the school year. Students were assessed for algebraic knowledge and mathematics attitude before (pretest), during (midtest), and after (posttest) the nine intervention sessions. Results showed that students improved their conceptual knowledge across the three time-points of the algebra test, and significantly improved on procedural knowledge from pretest to midtest, but significantly dropped at posttest. Compared to pretest, students were 1.18 times less likely to have correct answers at posttest. Similarly, students’ performance on procedural flexibility increased at midtest but decreased at posttest.  Compared to pretest, students were 1.41 times less likely to provide correct responses at posttest. The effect was not significantly different between the two games.

The decrease in students’ procedural knowledge and procedural flexibility was puzzling.  The authors believed it could be explained by the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to school closures during pandemic, there was loss in students learning. By contrast, both game-based technologies improved the concept knowledge of algebra even under the impact of the ‘COVID-19 slide’.

The effect of gamification on fifth-grade students’ mathematics achievements and attitudes

By Hanhui Bao, Johns Hopkins University

Gamification means integrating games into a non-game environment. Researchers in Turkey conducted a pretest-posttest control group quasi-experiment, using gamification as the variable, to see if it affected students’ math achievement and feelings about math during a unit on fractions. The experimental group was supported by gamification material, while the control group was not.

The participants were 46 fifth-grade students at a school in the West Black Sea region of Turkey, randomly divided into two equal groups. The experiment lasted for six weeks, five hours per week. Students from both groups were equivalent on a math achievement test at baseline, yet   the means of post-test scores were statistically disparate (experimental group = 60.14, control group = 47.10). The analysis also showed that the experimental group students’ test scores were significantly different from pre-test to post-test (Z = 4.20, p < .05). These results indicate that that gamification was effective in improving fifth-grade students’ mathematics achievement. There was no noticeable influence in attitudes towards mathematics.