Educational Games as a Motivational Tool: Considerations on their Potential and Limitations

Marcello Passarelli, Francesca Dagnino, Jeffrey Earp, Flavio Manganello, Donatella Persico, Francesca Pozzi, Chris Bailey, Carlo Perrotta, Thomas Buijtenweg, Mata Haggis

2019

Abstract

There is considerable interest in leveraging video games to support students’ motivation. This involves employment of educational (serious) and entertainment games. However, while evidence indicates that games can enhance learning outcomes, doubts persist about whether they retain their enjoyable character in formal learning contexts. This study was carried out within the H2020 Gaming Horizons project, which involved a review of academic literature on the role of games in society, as well as 73 semi-structured interviews with relevant stakeholders, including players and educators, investigating their positions on game-related issues. The interviews suggested that players tend to view game-based learning – and specifically serious games at school – with scepticism. This is partly attributable to the perception that serious games have lower production values than entertainment games, and that gaming, as a voluntary, self-driven activity, clashes with the structured nature of school. Some educators reported individual and gender differences in the motivating power of games. However, the use of entertainment games to foster learning outcomes was seen favourably. Two focus groups devoted to the issue highlighted the need for carefully tailoring the gaming experience to both context and student, and the importance of developing a sustainable business model for enhancing serious games quality.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Passarelli M., Dagnino F., Earp J., Manganello F., Persico D., Pozzi F., Bailey C., Perrotta C., Buijtenweg T. and Haggis M. (2019). Educational Games as a Motivational Tool: Considerations on their Potential and Limitations.In Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Computer Supported Education - Volume 1: CSEDU, ISBN 978-989-758-367-4, pages 330-337. DOI: 10.5220/0007586503300337

in Bibtex Style

@conference{csedu19,
author={Marcello Passarelli and Francesca Dagnino and Jeffrey Earp and Flavio Manganello and Donatella Persico and Francesca Pozzi and Chris Bailey and Carlo Perrotta and Thomas Buijtenweg and Mata Haggis},
title={Educational Games as a Motivational Tool: Considerations on their Potential and Limitations},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Computer Supported Education - Volume 1: CSEDU,},
year={2019},
pages={330-337},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0007586503300337},
isbn={978-989-758-367-4},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF

JO - Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Computer Supported Education - Volume 1: CSEDU,
TI - Educational Games as a Motivational Tool: Considerations on their Potential and Limitations
SN - 978-989-758-367-4
AU - Passarelli M.
AU - Dagnino F.
AU - Earp J.
AU - Manganello F.
AU - Persico D.
AU - Pozzi F.
AU - Bailey C.
AU - Perrotta C.
AU - Buijtenweg T.
AU - Haggis M.
PY - 2019
SP - 330
EP - 337
DO - 10.5220/0007586503300337