‘Play Is Serious Learning'

In this chapter, the authors report on a mobile augmented reality game designed to support serious science learning in a playful, collaborative way. School Scene Investigators: The Case of the Mystery Power immersed eighth grade students in a fictional crime scene investigation at their school. Game-based learning was compared to business-as-usual. In the post-hoc analyses, the authors investigated how individual level factors affected learning. First, girls and boys both learned more during the game, yet boys seemed to experience a slightly bigger impact from the treatment. Second, students from both teachers learned more during gameplay; however, the game seemed to mitigate the novice teacher's inexperience resulting in a teacher effect. Lastly, there is some evidence that treatment varies by prior knowledge; students with lower prior knowledge may have benefited more from the game. This study demonstrates that the non-traditional practice of mobile augmented reality gaming promotes more effective learning than business-as-usual.