The effect of writing with computers versus handwriting on the writing achievement of first-graders
Information Technology in Childhood Education Annual
What makes things fun to learn? heuristics for designing instructional computer games
SIGSMALL '80 Proceedings of the 3rd ACM SIGSMALL symposium and the first SIGPC symposium on Small systems
GameFlow: a model for evaluating player enjoyment in games
Computers in Entertainment (CIE) - Theoretical and Practical Computer Applications in Entertainment
Using the fun toolkit and other survey methods to gather opinions in child computer interaction
Proceedings of the 2006 conference on Interaction design and children
All work and no play: Measuring fun, usability, and learning in software for children
Computers & Education - Virtual learning? Selected contributions from the CAL 05 symposium
Hi-index | 0.00 |
This study investigated the effects of two game features (the level of challenge and the reward system) on first and second graders' engagement during digital game-based learning of reading. We were particularly interested in determining how well these features managed to maintain children's engagement over the 8-week training period. The children (N = 138) used GraphoGame, a web-based game training letter-sound connections, at home under the supervision of parents. Data regarding the children's gaming and engagement were stored on the GraphoGame online server. A 2 x 2 factorial design was used to investigate the effects of the level of challenge (high challenge vs. high success) and the presence of the reward system (present vs. absent). Children's engagement was measured by session frequency and duration and through an in-game self-report survey that was presented at the end of the each session. According to the results, the children enjoyed GraphoGame but used it less frequently than expected. The reward system seemed to encourage the children to play longer sessions at the beginning of the training period, but this effect vanished after a few sessions. The level of challenge had no significant effect on children's engagement. The results suggest a need to investigate further the effectiveness of various game features in maintaining learner's engagement until the goals set for learning are achieved.