This study developed a realistic, interactive English blockade-running game that integrates virtual environments and mobile devices to conduct a collaborative and competitive contest to promote English learning among technical college students. In addition, it also explored students' learning effectiveness, perception of peer collaboration, and…

This qualitative study aimed to examine ways young children practice social skills and use language while playing the digital game Roblox in pairs, using a single electronic device, as framed through Vygotsky's Socio-cultural theory of learning. Roblox is a sandbox-style game comprising several mini-games, such as hide-and-seek simulators and…

Digital educational games (DEGs) constitute an effective teaching approach, particularly when they are used in combination with collaborative learning scenarios. However, when changes are made in the teaching and learning process, teachers are responsible to apply and realize them in practice. Therefore, it is vital to understand their views and…

Games are a way to engage students with course material in a low-stakes environment. In the popular game app "Heads Up!", participants give clues to a guesser who is holding a word on their forehead. Here, we present a modified version of this game where students are required to give clues in a specific order that emphasizes higher-order…

This article reports an empirical study that explores gender differences in both cooperative and collaborative social gaming in relation to achievements and attitudes. Another aim was to compare students' game attitudes, feelings toward group work, and achievements in cooperative versus collaborative digital game-based learning environments. One…

Science Hunters is a UK outreach project that uses "Minecraft" (a computer game that allows children to build with a wide range of blocks) to engage children with science. Sessions are based on a range of science topics and include practical activities. A new topic, on bioluminescence, was designed in collaboration with staff and…

This study attempts to provide an in-depth understanding of the influence of collaborative digital gameplay on students' behavioural, emotional and cognitive engagement in mathematics. This mixed-method study used pre- (N = 45) and post-test (N = 43) engagement surveys and photo-elicitation interviews (N = 6) to investigate how a six-day…

Pair programming is a collaborative learning mode to foster novice learners' computer programming. Previous empirical research has reported contrasting conclusions about the effect of pair programming on student learning. To further understand students' pair programming, this study uses a mixed method to analyze three contrasting pairs'…

It is important for students in the built environment related disciplines to acquire subject-based knowledge and skills from reflecting on their experience. In return, the learning-by-doing approach has been widely adopted in the academic cluster of built environment. To further strengthen this, this paper proposes a Virtual Reality (VR) based…

Background and Context: Pair programming is used in classrooms to promote learning and engage a more diverse group of students in computing fields, but little is known about what it looks like in middle school. Objective: The aim of this study was to examine how programming pairs were interacting and about what. Method: Video, audio, and screen…

This study explores the pedagogical use of "Astronautes Français Langue Seconde (Astronautes FLS)", a cooperative digital game, in second/foreign language (L2) French teaching. It has two goals: (1) to introduce "Astronautes FLS" and its conceptualization, and (2) to report the results of a feasibility study in which we…

Facebook is growing fast in various fields including education field. Most studies showed that today students in higher education use Facebook to communicate, cooperating and finding solutions. The main purpose of this study is to investigate and reflect on students' perspectives regarding the use of Facebook and its influence on students'…

"Game Maker" is widely used in UK secondary schools, yet under-researched in that context. This paper presents the findings of a qualitative case study that explores how authoring computer games using Game Maker can support the learning of basic programming concepts in a mainstream UK secondary setting. The research draws on the learning…

Digital educational games research tends to lack ecological validity by not adequately taking into account the views and perspectives of children and young people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This paper is a pilot study that explores and analyses an academic-based educational game that was co-designed with and for young people with ASD.…

A design-based study was conducted in iterative cycles to test the effectiveness of the updated goal-access-feedback-challenge-collaboration (updated-GAFCC) gamification design model. The test-bed was a 10-week undergraduate introductory information management course. Students from three consecutive school years participated in the study, with the…