TY - GEN
T1 - How to Evaluate Games in Education
T2 - 7th International Conference on Smart Learning Environments
AU - Barbero, Giulio
AU - Bonsangue, Marcello M.
AU - Hermans, Felienne F.J.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Adding game elements to higher education is an increasingly common practice. As a result, many recent empirical studies focus on studying the effectiveness of gamified or game-based educational experiences. The findings of these studies are very diverse, showing both positive and negative effects, and thus calling for comparative meta-studies. In this paper we review and analyze different studies, aiming to summarise and evaluate controlled experiments conducted within different scientific disciplines. We focus on the clarity of non-experimental conditions’ descriptions and show that in most cases (a) educational methods used in control groups’ activities are poorly described, (b) educational materials used in control groups’ activities are often unclear, and (c) the starting conditions are unclear. We also noticed that studies in the fields of computer science and engineering, in general, report results more clearly than in other fields. Based on the above finding, we conclude with a few recommendations for the execution of future empirical studies of games in education for the sake of allowing a more structured comparison.
AB - Adding game elements to higher education is an increasingly common practice. As a result, many recent empirical studies focus on studying the effectiveness of gamified or game-based educational experiences. The findings of these studies are very diverse, showing both positive and negative effects, and thus calling for comparative meta-studies. In this paper we review and analyze different studies, aiming to summarise and evaluate controlled experiments conducted within different scientific disciplines. We focus on the clarity of non-experimental conditions’ descriptions and show that in most cases (a) educational methods used in control groups’ activities are poorly described, (b) educational materials used in control groups’ activities are often unclear, and (c) the starting conditions are unclear. We also noticed that studies in the fields of computer science and engineering, in general, report results more clearly than in other fields. Based on the above finding, we conclude with a few recommendations for the execution of future empirical studies of games in education for the sake of allowing a more structured comparison.
KW - Game-based learning
KW - Gamification
KW - Literature-review
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85196867343&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85196867343&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-99-5961-7
U2 - 10.1007/978-981-99-5961-7_4
DO - 10.1007/978-981-99-5961-7_4
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85196867343
SN - 9789819959600
SN - 9789819962808
T3 - Lecture Notes in Educational Technology
SP - 32
EP - 41
BT - Smart Learning for A Sustainable Society
A2 - Anutariya, Chutiporn
A2 - Liu, Dejian
A2 - Kinshuk,
A2 - Tlili, Ahmed
A2 - Yang, Junfeng
A2 - Chang, Maiga
PB - Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Y2 - 31 August 2023 through 1 September 2023
ER -