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Special Issue "Game-Based Learning, Gamification in Education and Serious Games 2023"

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A special issue of Computers (ISSN 2073-431X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2023) | Viewed by 4108

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Carlos Vaz de Carvalho

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Guest Editor

Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto, Instituto Politécnico do Porto, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal
Interests: learning technologies; game-based learning; serious games; e-learning; multimedia
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Hariklia Tsalapatas

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Thessaly, 38333 Volos, Greece
Interests: serious games; game-based learning; assessment and evaluation; design thinking

Prof. Dr. Ricardo Baptista

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Guest Editor

INESC TEC – Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores, Tecnologia e Ciência, ISCE Douro – Instituto Superior de Ciências da Educação do Douro, Universidade Aberta, 1269-001 Lisboa, Portugal
Interests: serious games; game-based learning; assessment and evaluation; virtual reality

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Video games are highly immersive applications that keep the players in a state of focused motivation as they are always looking to overcome challenges and reach goals. Video games have a huge impact on many social, cultural, and economic aspects of our society, far beyond their intrinsic entertainment value—new forms of interaction and communication in online multiplayer games, the millions of viewers of professional e-sport competitions, the huge following of gaming streamers on social channels such as Twitch, the communities of players that are formed around a specific title, and the size of the industry itself are just some examples of the impact of games in modern life.

Serious games explore the impact of games and the inherent motivation and immersion of players for other “serious” objectives, such as education, marketing, social awareness, health and care, research, etc. Education and training are the areas with more (successful) examples of the use of serious games (designated more commonly as educational games). The term game-based learning refers precisely to pedagogical processes based on the design, development, and use of games created to accomplish specific learning objectives. Gamification, understood as the application of game principles, elements and mechanics in other non-game contexts has also been extensively used in education to reinforce the motivation of learners.

This Special Issue aims to present and discuss new advances in game-based learning, gamification in education and serious games in general that can enhance the effectiveness and outreach of education, advertising, social awareness, health, policies, etc. We invite publications referring to new scientific approaches, results from experiments, and real-life applications. Topics of interest include but are not limited to the following:

Serious games;
Game-based learning;
Gamification in education;
Advergames;
Exergames;
Pervasive games;
Awareness-raising games;
Models and practices with serious games;
New technologies for serious games:
Assessment and evaluation of serious games;
The psychology of serious games;
Social and collaborative games;
Security and confidentiality in serious games;
Case studies in serious games.

Dr. Carlos Vaz de Carvalho
Dr. Hariklia Tsalapatas
Prof. Dr. Ricardo Baptista
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Computers is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

game-based learning
gamification
serious games
educational games

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

Open AccessArticle

Evaluating Video Games as Tools for Education on Fake News and Misinformation

Ruth S. Contreras-Espinosa

and

Jose Luis Eguia-Gomez

Computers 2023, 12(9), 188; https://doi.org/10.3390/computers12090188 - 21 Sep 2023

Viewed by 204

Abstract

Despite access to reliable information being essential for equal opportunities in our society, current school curricula only include some notions about media literacy in a limited context. Thus, it is necessary to create scenarios for reflection on and a well-founded analysis of misinformation. Video games may be an effective approach to foster these skills and can seamlessly integrate learning content into their design, enabling achieving multiple learning outcomes and building competencies that can transfer to real-life situations. We analyzed 24 video games about media literacy by studying their content, design, and characteristics that may affect their implementation in learning settings. Even though not all learning outcomes considered were equally addressed, the results show that media literacy video games currently on the market could be used as effective tools to achieve critical learning goals and may allow users to understand, practice, and implement skills to fight misinformation, regardless of their complexity in terms of game mechanics. However, we detected that certain characteristics of video games may affect their implementation in learning environments, such as their availability, estimated playing time, approach, or whether they include real or fictional worlds, variables that should be further considered by both developers and educators. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Game-Based Learning, Gamification in Education and Serious Games 2023)

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Open AccessArticle

FGPE+: The Mobile FGPE Environment and the Pareto-Optimized Gamified Programming Exercise Selection Model—An Empirical Evaluation

Rytis Maskeliūnas

Robertas Damaševičius

and

Computers 2023, 12(7), 144; https://doi.org/10.3390/computers12070144 - 21 Jul 2023

Viewed by 522

Abstract

This paper is poised to inform educators, policy makers and software developers about the untapped potential of PWAs in creating engaging, effective, and personalized learning experiences in the field of programming education. We aim to address a significant gap in the current understanding of the potential advantages and underutilisation of Progressive Web Applications (PWAs) within the education sector, specifically for programming education. Despite the evident lack of recognition of PWAs in this arena, we present an innovative approach through the Framework for Gamification in Programming Education (FGPE). This framework takes advantage of the ubiquity and ease of use of PWAs, integrating it with a Pareto optimized gamified programming exercise selection model ensuring personalized adaptive learning experiences by dynamically adjusting the complexity, content, and feedback of gamified exercises in response to the learners’ ongoing progress and performance. This study examines the mobile user experience of the FGPE PLE in different countries, namely Poland and Lithuania, providing novel insights into its applicability and efficiency. Our results demonstrate that combining advanced adaptive algorithms with the convenience of mobile technology has the potential to revolutionize programming education. The FGPE+ course group outperformed the Moodle group in terms of the average perceived knowledge (M = 4.11, SD = 0.51). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Game-Based Learning, Gamification in Education and Serious Games 2023)

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Open AccessArticle

Adaptive Gamification in Science Education: An Analysis of the Impact of Implementation and Adapted Game Elements on Students’ Motivation

Alkinoos-Ioannis Zourmpakis

Michail Kalogiannakis

and

Stamatios Papadakis

Computers 2023, 12(7), 143; https://doi.org/10.3390/computers12070143 - 18 Jul 2023

Viewed by 1005

Abstract

In recent years, gamification has captured the attention of researchers and educators, particularly in science education, where students often express negative emotions. Gamification methods aim to motivate learners to participate in learning by incorporating intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors. However, the effectiveness of gamification has yielded varying outcomes, prompting researchers to explore adaptive gamification as an alternative approach. Nevertheless, there needs to be more research on adaptive gamification approaches, particularly concerning motivation, which is the primary objective of gamification. In this study, we developed and tested an adaptive gamification environment based on specific motivational and psychological frameworks. This environment incorporated adaptive criteria, learning strategies, gaming elements, and all crucial aspects of science education for six classes of third-grade students in primary school. We employed a quantitative approach to gain insights into the motivational impact on students and their perception of the adaptive gamification application. We aimed to understand how each game element experienced by students influenced their motivation. Based on our findings, students were more motivated to learn science when using an adaptive gamification environment. Additionally, the adaptation process was largely successful, as students generally liked the game elements integrated into their lessons, indicating the effectiveness of the multidimensional framework employed in enhancing students’ experiences and engagement. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Game-Based Learning, Gamification in Education and Serious Games 2023)

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Open AccessArticle

Preschool Children’s Metaphoric Perceptions of Digital Games: A Comparison between Regions

Elçin Yazıcı Arıcı

Michail Kalogiannakis

and

Stamatios Papadakis

Computers 2023, 12(7), 138; https://doi.org/10.3390/computers12070138 - 11 Jul 2023

Viewed by 523

Abstract

Preschoolers now play digital games on touch screens, e-toys and electronic learning systems. Although digital games have an important place in children’s lives, there needs to be more information about the meanings they attach to games. In this context, the research aims to determine the perceptions of preschool children studying in different regions of Turkey regarding digital games with the help of metaphors. Four hundred twenty-one preschool children studying in seven regions of Turkey participated in the research. The data were collected through the “Digital Game Metaphor Form” to determine children’s perceptions of digital games and through “Drawing and Visualization”, which comprises the symbolic pictures children draw of their feelings and thoughts. Phenomenology, a qualitative research model, was used in this study. The data were analyzed using the content analysis method. When the data were evaluated, the children had produced 421 metaphors collected in the following seven categories: “Nature Images, Technology Images, Fantasy/Supernatural Images, Education Images, Affective/Motivational Images, Struggle Images, and Value Images”. When evaluated based on regions, the Black Sea Region ranked first in the “Fantasy/Supernatural Images and Affective/Motivational Images” categories. In contrast, the Central Anatolia Region ranked first in the “Technology Images and Education Images” categories, and the Marmara Region ranked first in the “Nature Images and Value Images” categories. In addition, it was determined that the Southeast Anatolia Region ranks first in the “Struggle Images” category. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Game-Based Learning, Gamification in Education and Serious Games 2023)

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Open AccessArticle

Stealth Literacy Assessments via Educational Games

and

Computers 2023, 12(7), 130; https://doi.org/10.3390/computers12070130 - 25 Jun 2023

Viewed by 812

Abstract

Literacy assessment is essential for effective literacy instruction and training. However, traditional paper-based literacy assessments are typically decontextualized and may cause stress and anxiety for test takers. In contrast, serious games and game environments allow for the assessment of literacy in more authentic and engaging ways, which has some potential to increase the assessment’s validity and reliability. The primary objective of this study is to examine the feasibility of a novel approach for stealthily assessing literacy skills using games in an intelligent tutoring system (ITS) designed for reading comprehension strategy training. We investigated the degree to which learners’ game performance and enjoyment predicted their scores on standardized reading tests. Amazon Mechanical Turk participants (n = 211) played three games in iSTART and self-reported their level of game enjoyment after each game. Participants also completed the Gates–MacGinitie Reading Test (GMRT), which includes vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension measures. The results indicated that participants’ performance in each game as well as the combined performance across all three games predicted their literacy skills. However, the relations between game enjoyment and literacy skills varied across games. These findings suggest the potential of leveraging serious games to assess students’ literacy skills and improve the adaptivity of game-based learning environments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Game-Based Learning, Gamification in Education and Serious Games 2023)

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