Beyond Nintendo: design and assessment of educational video games for first and second grade students

“Those findings seem to support the outcomes of certain prior studies (Klawe, 1999; Rosas et al., 2003) and those of a very recent study (Ke & Grabowski, 2007) on school children, which showed that educational computer games contributed to increased academic achievement and motivation compared to traditional teaching i…”

“Many of the studies also left out important demographic details (Cowen, 1993; Kim et al., 2002; Ronen & Eliahu, 2000; Rosas et al., 2003; Shifroni & Ginat, 1997) or did not describe the programs and activities they used as interventions in sufficient depth for us to categorize them with confidence (George & Sleeth, 19…”

“, 2006), intrinsic motivation (Cameron & Dwyer, 2005; Rosas et al., 2003), and experiential theory with Kolb's learning cycle (Egenfeldt-Nielsen, 2005; Garris, Ahlers, & Driskell, 2002; Isaacs & Senge, 1992; Kiili, 2005; Lainema, 2003).”

“Some studies did not randomly assign units to treatment and control groups (Heyneman, Jamison, & Montenegro, 1984; Inamdar, 2004; Nitsaisook & Anderson, 1989; Rosas et al., 2003).”

“The repetitive nature of video game play is thought to be a key mechanism that promotes learning in games as well (Rosas et al., 2003).”

“1 The majority of this work, following the seminal studies of Jacob Mincer (1970, (1974), has focused on how school attainment relates to individual earnings, and there are now estimates of the return to schooling for a majority of countries in the world (Psacharopoulos and Patrinos (2004)). More recent work has added…”

“In a high-quality paper, Rosas et al. (2003) demonstrate the capacity of visual aspects to improve attention, concentration, and self-esteem.”

“Several other studies on deep learning in ICT contexts have been conducted (Crisp & Ward, 2008; Greene, Bolick, & Robertson, 2010; Ke & Grabowski, 2007; Kebritchi, Hirumi, & Bai, 2010; Kwon & Cifuentes, 2009; Lopez-Morteo & Lopez, 2007; Owston, Wideman, Ronda, & Brown, 2009; Rosas et al., 2003).”

“…was not signi fi cantly different from that of the CG students, a fi nding which echoes those of previous studies (Ebner & Holzinger, 2007; Ke, 2008; Rosas et al., 2003) which showed no difference in students ’ academic achievement between traditional instruction and digital game-based learning.”

“Ros03 [37] Elementary Developer Experiment Neutral Mathematics”

“There has recently been a great deal of interest in harnessing the motivational qualities of computer games in order to create powerful, engaging educational tools [22,49,48,46].”

“…could be an effective learning tool for students to manage the acquisition of new information, depending on their prior knowledge and experience, learning progress, learning style, preferences and needs (Condie & Munro, 2007; Cordova & Lepper, 1996; McFarlane et al, 2002; Rosas et al, 2002).”

“Some earlier studies imply that interest triggered by educational software may be short-lived (Goodwin, Goodwin, Nansel, & Helm, 1986; Kerawalla & Crook, 2005), but also relatively long-lasting interest has been observed (Rosas et al., 2003).”

“However, in experiments like the one performed by Rosas et al., (2003) or Yang (2012), it can be observed that they obtained similar results to our study, but not as high as ours.”

“Instructivism, the more common approach, involves the design and use of “educational” games in school or afterschool program curricula, based on the belief that games are inherently more motivating than traditional classroom activities (e.g., Kirriemuir & McFarlane, 2004; Rosas et al., 2003).”

“At least one study has suggested potential positive effects of video game play on attention or educational outcomes (Rezaiyan, Mohammadi, & Fallah, 2007; Rosas et al., 2003).”

“Finally, the technology compatibility is related to the technical barriers identified by another group of authors (Gros, 2003; Rosas et al, 2003).”

“It has been generally known that video games have positive effects on student interest, motivation, engagement, and classroom dynamics (Kearsley & Schneiderman, 1998; Provenzo, 1992; Rosas et al. 2003).”

“The ability of digital games to powerfully engage and intrinsically motivate players is well documented (Rosas et al., 2003; Dickey, 2005; de Freitas, 2007; Hoffman & Nadelson, 2010).”

“Through the use of new technologies in the classroom, there is promising evidence of a relationship among computer-supported recreational activities, positive attitudes towards mathematics, improvement in mathematical learning, and student performance (Kenneth, 1996; Rosas et al., 2003).”

“Previous research has shown that using video games into the classroom can be rewarding on many levels including academic achievement, motivation, and classroom dynamics [5].”

“Likewise, with the studies of Rosser et al., (2007), where laprascopic surgeons improved their skills play “Super Monkey Ball”, and Korczyn et al.”

“As widely recognised, the approach based on games makes the attainment of educational objectives and the learning process easier, more student-centred, fun, interesting and more effective (Lepper and Malone 1987; Papastergiou 2009; Prensky 2001; Rieber 1996; Rosas et al. 2003).”

“Many of the cognitive processes used while playing games (eg, self-regulation, motivation, and higher-order processing) are necessary components of learning processes.(5,22,23) Metacognition is another important element of well-designed games.”

“…other studies which show no difference between educational computer games and conventional instruction (see Annetta, Minogue, Holmes & Cheng, 2009; Rosas et al , 2003; Wrzesien & Alcañiz Raya, 2010), the post-test revealed statistically significant differences in vocabulary acquisition between the…”

“The research papers use the general term for example for “Video Games” (Rosas et al. 2003), “Websites with Online-Games” (Yip/Kwan 2006) or a “massive multiplayer online role-playing game” (Suh et al. 2010).”

“In future research on MobileMath, we hope to be able to measure learning effects, and thus show that MobileMath can contribute to students’ learning of mathematics, just as some other digital games have proven to do (Kebritchi et al. 2008; Rosas et al. 2003; Shin et al. 2006).”

“Different proposals have been presented [4,12,13] to indicate certain features that educational videogames should have.”

“(Rosas et al., 2003) Many games combine verbal cues with written ones, and the topic of conversation is additionally supported with other visual queues.”

“…games can increase motivation (e.g., Kebritchi, Hirumi, & Bai, 2010; Papastergiou, 2009; Prensky, 2003; Randel, Morris, Wetzel, & Whitehill, 1992; Rosas et al., 2003; Schwabe & Göth, 2005), engagement (e.g., Barab, Pettyjohn, Gresalfi, Volk, & Solomou, 2012; Parker & Lepper, 1992), and learning…”

“…eight studies were categorized as highly relevant (Main and O’Rourke 2011; Miller and Robertson 2010, 2011; Roberts and Va¨nska¨ 2011; Roberts 2009; Rosas et al. 2003; Zurita and Nussbaum 2004; Zurita et al. 2003), while the rest of the studies were categorized as either good or satisfactory…”

“One of the potential benefits of educational games is that they tend to engage students in learning more effectively than traditional instruction (e.g., Annetta et al. 2009; Rosas et al. 2003; Wrzesien and Raya 2010); however, there are contradictory findings on this as well (Wouters et al. 2013).”

“Several studies have been conducted concerning different parameters of this research topic (Connolly, Boyle, MacArthur, Hainey, & Boyle, 2012; Rosas et al, 2003).”

“The pseudo-intervention in the control group prevented the effect of the mini-games from being obscured by the positive effect that participating in an experiment may have by itself (Hawthorne effect, see Parsons, 1974; Rosas et al., 2003).”

“Woo (2014), carried out a survey among 63 university students for 8 weeks in order to find out whether Digital Game-Based Learning supports student motivation and cognitive success.”

“al [37] the adoption of games through computer technology in the classroom still creates resistance.”

“Hence, our results reinforce the emerging findings that video games (e.g. McFarlane et al. 2002; Rosas et al. 2003; NRC 2011; Young et al. 2012) provide a natural venue to engage students in scientific practices.”

“A compelling narrative can provide an external motivation that the materials themselves may not be able to provide.”

“As to the educational benefits of using games, different positive effects are pointed out by different authors in a number of fields: motivation and classroom dynamics (Rosas et al., 2003), attention and concentration (Garris et al.”

“Game-based learning environments can help motivate students to learn, and provide students with a variety of learning opportunities to improve their learning (Prensky 2001; Gee 2003; Rosas et al. 2003; Kiili 2005; Ke 2008; Squire 2009).”

“Rosas et al. (2003) surveyed research on applying digital games as instructional tools, and identi fi ed four dimensions of learning that games can support and strengthen: school achievement, cognitive abilities, learning motivation, and attention and concentration.”

“Rosas et al (2003) presented a study whose main goal was to evaluate the effects of the educational video games into the classroom, on basic mathematics and reading comprehension.”

“There is also a good amount of micro-level work that looks at computers and children within the family; much of this work has been more focused towards computer games (Prensky 2003; Rosas et al. 2003; Selwyn 2003) in homes in the developed world.”

“Games often include written and spoken elements – for game play, as well as for direction and help. [ 13 ]”

“In addition to the motivational aspects of GSRS, classroom dynamics has also been the focus of numerous studies within the literature (Rosas et al. 2003; Wang 2015; Licorish et al. 2017) .”

“According to Kenneth (1996) and Rosas (2003), there is evidence of a connection between computer-supported leisure activities, positive attitudes towards mathematics, progress in mathematical learning, and student success through technology in teaching.”

“Studies have revealed that video games have many potential advantages that can promote instant feedback, e ffi cient learning, self-regulated learning or team collaboration in education (Rosas et al., 2003).”

“Research evidence suggested that by using digital games for teaching Mathematics, at primary school level and regarding the achievement of the learning objectives, the results are at least the same compared to teaching methods in which no games were used (Ke 2008; Rosas et al. 2003; Shaffer 2006).”

“The main game runs on the teacher’s portable PC projected on a large screen, whereas the students will interact with the game using their own mobile phones.”

“Games have always played an important role in human life; not only for entertainment, but also in fields such as education [29].”

“…examining video games in relation to academic improvement (Alberti, 2008; Din & Calao, 2001; Greenfield, 1984; Lacasa, Méndez, & Martínez, 2008; Rosas et al., 2003), and advocates (Gee, 2003; Prensky, 2001) suggesting that most video games require players to be active, engaged learners who…”

“Moreover, as several works have proved (Prensky (2003); Rosas et al. (2003); Shih et al. (2010)), students' motivation is improved since games are very popular among students.”

“These games develop the spatial view and awareness of the adolescents, 12–14 their attention, 14–16 and concentration or also their thinking.”

“Multimedia elements, such as attractive visuals, affect especially emotional engagement (Rosas et al., 2003; Tan, Goh, Ang, & Huan, 2013).”

“On the other hand, there has recently been a growing amount of research into the possible benefits of game playing, such as that of promoting ICT skills, and of its being an added motivational component for sports training, and even formal education (Fery & Ponserre, 2001; Huggins & Izushi, 2002; Rosas et al, 2003 ).”