Examining Students’ Perceived Competence, Gender, and Ethnicity in a Digital STEM Learning Game

The present study explores how gender, ethnicity, and performance-based perceived competence impact students’ learning, performance, and enjoyment from playing a digital STEM learning game. We had 199 9th-11th grade students play a 2D digital STEM learning game across six science classes. Based on the results of demographic surveys, matched pretests and posttests, and satisfaction questionnaires, we found no interaction between gender and ethnicity for performance-based perceived competence, performance, and enjoyment. We found a significant difference between males and females in performance-based perceived competence and in-game performance both favoring males over females. Among ethnic groups, we found a significant difference with in-game performance favoring White and Hispanic students over Black/African American students. However, the differences in gender and in ethnicity were insignificant once we controlled for both perceived competence and pretest scores. This supports the idea that neither race nor gender truly influence one’s ability to perform in digital learning games.

Multiple Intelligences and Digital Learning Game Design

Empirical research that draws a framework on how the theory of MI could be incorporated in (learning) games is non-existent. Furthermore, the theory of MI fits well into the concept of individualization, as it distinguishes between individuals in terms of their abilities. In light of this, the chapter reports on the first evidence-based set of mappings between this theory and fundamental constructs of games known as mechanics. These mappings can be utilized by designers in the individualization paradigm of player-centered game design as guidelines on what mechanics to include in their design when targeting an audience with specific MI profiles. Such individualization can potentially positively affect the game experience of players while establishing the proper frame for affecting learning. As such, these mappings, available in form of a recommendation tool, act as guidelines on how to design (learning) games while considering the intelligences of the target audience.

Copy the In-group: Group Membership Trumps Perceived Reliability, Warmth, and Competence in a Social-Learning Task

Surprisingly little is known about how social groups influence social learning. Although several studies have shown that people prefer to copy in-group members, these studies have failed to resolve whether group membership genuinely affects who is copied or whether group membership merely correlates with other known factors, such as similarity and familiarity. Using the minimal-group paradigm, we disentangled these effects in an online social-learning game. In a sample of 540 adults, we found a robust in-group-copying bias that (a) was bolstered by a preference for observing in-group members; (b) overrode perceived reliability, warmth, and competence; (c) grew stronger when social information was scarce; and (d) even caused cultural divergence between intermixed groups. These results suggest that people genuinely employ a copy-the-in-group social-learning strategy, which could help explain how inefficient behaviors spread through social learning and how humans maintain the cultural diversity needed for cumulative cultural evolution.

Music to My Ears: Developing Kanji Stroke Knowledge through an Educational Music Game

Millions of people worldwide are taking up foreign languages with logographic writing systems, such as Japanese or Chinese. Learning thousands of characters necessary for literacy in those languages is a unique challenge to those coming from alphabetic backgrounds, and sustaining motivation in the face of such a momentous task is a struggle for many students. Many games exist for this purpose, but few offer production memory practice such as writing, and the vast majority are thinly veiled flashcards. To address this gap, we created Radical Tunes—a musical kanji-writing game—which combines production practice with musical mnemonic by assigning a melody to each element of a character. We chose to utilize music as it is a powerful tool that can be employed to enhance learning and memory. In this article, we explore whether incorporating melodies into a kanji learning game can positively affect the memorization of the stroke order/direction and overall shape of several Japanese characters, similar to the mnemonic effect of adding music to text. Specifically, we conducted two experimental studies, finding that (1) music improved immersion—an important factor related to learning; and (2) there was a positive correlation between melody presence and character production, particularly for more complex characters.

Fostering digital literacy and German language with the use of digital learning games in the middle school

In this article, fostering the German language using digital learning games plays the central role. The endless possibilities of digital media and tools for language acquisition offer teachers and learners the opportunity to learn a foreign language creatively, playfully, in a fascinating way and with a certain degree of facilitation in teaching. Through our research we tried to prove the priority of digital media in the field of education and formation. We selected as the target group of the research the pupils of two fifth grades, who learn German as a foreign language in a Romanian school. The use of the chosen learning game led to a considerable increase in the participation of the students in German lessons, created a suitable learning atmosphere in the room and increased the motivation of the participants. The results of this research prove what we expected for the relationship between German lessons and the use of digital learning games in the classroom.

Optimization of Gobak Sodor Based Neuroscience Learning Game as Character Education in Intellectual Disabilities

The purpose of writing this article is to find out the optimization of traditional gobak sodor neuroscience learning-based game activities as character education in intellectual disability with grade medium (ATG). Referring to the problems, most schools do not have policies and administrations regarding character education, most schools that have an environment that supports the implementation of character education, most teachers do not have good knowledge and attitude in character education, most teachers do not have good competence, most schools have used the curriculum and most teachers have not used assessments that are suitable for children. Character education and most of the community has not supported the course of character education. The purpose of writing this article is to find out the optimization of traditional "gobak sodor" neuroscience learning-based game activities as character education in children ATG. The method used in writing this article is the study of non-systematic literature from national & international database. Based on the concept of a previous relevant frame of mind, schema, and research, it can be concluded that there will be optimization of traditional "gobak sodor" game activities based on neuroscience learning as character education in children. Optimization of adaptive physical education learning can occur through synergistic contributions through neuroscience learning in traditional games and character education of lightly impaired children. The results of adaptation of these mechanisms are able to reduce the barriers of cognitive domains, practice domains, and social domains of lightly impaired children. Keywords: character, neuroscience learning, traditional games, ATG

An Interactive Self-Learning Game and Evolutionary Approach Based on Non-Cooperative Equilibrium

Most current studies on multi-agent evolution based on deep learning take a cooperative equilibrium strategy, while interactive self-learning is not always considered. An interactive self-learning game and evolution method based on non-cooperative equilibrium (ISGE-NCE) is proposed to take the benefits of both game theory and interactive learning for multi-agent confrontation evolution. A generative adversarial network (GAN) is designed combining with multi-agent interactive self-learning, and the non-cooperative equilibrium strategy is well adopted within the framework of interactive self-learning, aiming for high evolution efficiency and interest. For assessment, three typical multi-agent confrontation experiments are designed and conducted. The results show that, first, in terms of training speed, the ISGE-NCE produces a training convergence rate of at least 46.3% higher than that of the method without considering interactive self-learning. Second, the evolution rate of the interference and detection agents reaches 60% and 80%, respectively, after training by using our method. In the three different experiment scenarios, compared with the DDPG, our ISGE-NCE method improves the multi-agent evolution effectiveness by 43.4%, 50%, and 20%, respectively, with low training costs. The performances demonstrate the significant superiority of our ISGE-NCE method in swarm intelligence.