The first obstacles to overcome when a student has to face the task of programming for the first time are the abstraction level, the comprehension of a language with unfamiliar concepts for him/her and the specific syntax for each programming language. This work presents the qualitative results obtained in a study focused on the gain of skills for…

The purpose of this study was to explore the educational outcomes of four different methods of instruction: a traditional slideshow control group, and an educational video game played either individually, competitively in small groups, or cooperatively in small groups. The instructional tool of interest was an educational video game designed to…

The purpose of this qualitative case study study is to examine the ways in which mobile videogames can be used in non-formal educational environments, to support students to develop decision-making skills through negotiated play. In the context of this study, the health literacy mobile videogame, "PlayForward: Elm City Stories" developed…

A large literature shows that relatively young students perform worse in class. Using data from the 'Health Behaviour in School Aged Children' international survey, we additionally find robust evidence that they are aware of performing poorly, they spend more time watching TV and less time doing sports than older peers, while tending to spend as…

Evaluation professionals need to be nimble and innovative in their approaches in order to be relevant and provide useful evidence to decision-makers, stakeholders, and society in the crowded public policy landscape. In this article, we offer serious games as a method that can be employed by evaluators to address three persisting challenges in…

The aim of the current study is to investigate the use of screen in young children before and during the pandemic and the attitudes of mothers towards their children's screen-viewing time. To achieve this, 20 mothers who have children between 1.5 and 6 years-old included in the study. The design of this qualitative study is phenomenology to…

In an attempt to investigate concerns expressed by high school counselors, the researchers developed a quantitative Likert-scale questionnaire to assess the relationships among school experiences and video gaming and texting. Questions about video gaming and texting appeared with other questions about social relations, extra-curricular activities,…

Little is known about what design elements in digital learning games enhance learning; especially in the case of child audiences. This study examines the effects of a learning game's visual design on perceived attractiveness and learning outcomes. We developed two visual designs for the game: one with supposedly high esthetic value and another…

Digitisation is an ongoing process in society as well as in physical education (PE) and research has identified digital technologies as a trend that influences the PE curriculum. A number of studies have explored the topic from different angles, although very few have empirically looked at the critical aspects of digitised PE in educational…

Game design offers a unique but often misunderstood pedagogical opportunity. The author draws on learning theory, feminist epistemology, and game studies to analyze a novel genre of games capable of realizing this opportunity by mobilizing knowledge through play--praxis games--founded on the concept of situated praxis. Situated praxis encourages…

The current feasibility study examined the adherence, reliability, and assessment potential of an evidence-based game-like mobile Monitoring Tool (Akili Interactive Labs), to monitor 100 participants' cognition for eight sessions at a summer camp for children with special needs. A validated measure of attention was administered at baseline. In the…

We conducted an exploratory study on affect regulation during game-based learning where 110 college-aged participants (M[subscript age] = 22.14, SD[subscript age] = 1.24; 50.0% female; 70.0% White) played an easy, medium, and difficult level of an educational game (Physics Playground) while self-reporting their strongest affective state and…

Slow vocabulary development and poor comprehension among English Language learners (ELLs) (August, Carlo, & Snow, 2005) have resulted in an academic achievement gap between ELLs and native English-speaking learners in the United States (Klingner, Artiles, & Barletta, 2006; Wilde, 2010). This mixed-methods sequential explanatory research…

Training in social and emotional skills is critical for success, both in school and life. The lack of funding for programs and trained, skilled professionals leaves many children without the essential tools required to form emotional coping strategies and navigate social relationships. An Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) is an effective tool that…

Informed by the stories of transnational youth's participation in massive multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) in Mexico, this study explores the language/identity development and successful (re)integration of these youth in Mexican schools and communities. Drawing on students' voices, we utilize a multimodal systemic functional…